Every travelling parent knows all too well about the trials and tribulations of flying long-haul with kids. In our article Ten Tips for surviving your First Flight with a Baby, we recommend booking an overnight flight to encourage your baby to sleep most of the hours in the air.
This is still true as your kids get older, but with bigger kids no longer able to fit into a bassinet, this inevitably means they end up stretching out all over mum and dad, who consequently get no sleep at all!
I was therefore very excited to recently discover and test-drive a new travel product on the market – the 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow.
Read on for my 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow review.
We have reviewed other travel pillows, including neck pillows and seatbelt pillows too. Read the full article here.
What is the 1st Class Travel Pillow?
The 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow is an inflatable travel pillow that fills the legroom gap on the airplane, effectively turning your child’s economy seat into a flatbed – turning your kids into first class kids!
When deflated, this leg rest travel pillow is small enough to squeeze into your hand luggage bag, (or kids Trunki).
How do you inflate the travel pillow?
To inflate the kids travel pillow, you have two choices – on some (older) aircraft, you can use the overhead air vent to force air into the pillow. We managed this easily, and the airhostesses didn’t bat an eyelid – you can only fill it part-way to allow you to squeeze it into the seat’s footwell, and then can complete inflation by mouth.
On aircraft without a suitable nozzle for inflating the blow up travel pillow, you can just do the full inflation by mouth – I have done this several times and it takes surprisingly little puff, you just need to take it slowly when you are on the plane.
One point to note – when you use this children’s travel pillow for the first time, the inflation valve may be difficult to pull out.
Be sure to check this before you set off for the airport – a quick blast with a hairdryer or pouring on a little hot water will soften it up and allow you to pull it out easily (I used the hairdryer option and it was simple).
The 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow in Action
Here’s a photo of my son relaxing with his feet up once his inflatable leg rest for flights was in place:
The other benefit to this first class travel pillow for kids, is that it is the ideal solution to stop your kids from kicking the seat in front.
My 5-year olds’ legs seem to be the exact right length for this, and she just can’t resist the urge to constantly pound the seat in front with her feet – leading to much frustration to the person in the seat, and embarrassment to me.
By propping her feet up on the children’s travel pillow, this takes away this temptation, making life easier for everyone.
For the purposes of this First Class Kid Travel Pillow review, we tried out the airplane sleeping pillow on a short-haul flight with AirAsia.
This meant that legroom was smaller than most long-haul flights we would take, and I found the distance too small for my (tall-for-her-age) 5-year old daughter to use the inflatable airplane footrest, but perfect for my 3-year old son.
I feel confident that on an airline that offers more legroom – or in a Premium Economy seat – that the blow up airplane pillow would work equally well for my daughter. If you are looking for a toddler travel pillow, you would be able to get the toddler completely lying flat on it.
*Update* I have since used the 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow on several long-haul flights on Cathay Pacific in both Economy and Premium Economy. It is perfect for my 5-year old – and as my 3-year old ended up sleeping sideways, I had a go with the inflatable airplane pillow myself and found it really quite comfy to curl my legs up on!
*Update* Now my daughter is a bit older and taller, I still use this kids travel pillow for sleeping, but her legs are now too long to use it when her tray table is down. She is now a very tall six year old. My 4-year old can still use it no problem.
Conclusion of our 1st Class Kid Pillow Review
Although we only tested this travel sleep pillow on a 3-hour flight, I really think that as a travel pillow for long haul flights, this could be a game-changer. I will definitely be packing my 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow for future long-haul flights.
Of course there are the privileged few, who get to fly business class with their kids and enjoy the benefits of a real flatbed for the flight. For the rest of us there is inflatable leg rests for flights such as the 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow!
Note: Some airlines (eg. Qantas, Jetstar) have banned the use of these travel pillows for airplanes. Other airlines such as Singapore Airlines have specific guidelines on which seats they can be used in (eg. not on aisle seats). Check with your airline before you fly to ensure it can be used and what their guidelines are.
Visit the 1st Class Kid website for more information. You can also order the 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow online at Amazon here.
You can read our reviews of other kids travel accessories we love: the foldable mifold car booster seat and the Up & Away multiple passport holder.
Everything you need for a comfortable flight!
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Note: Mum on the Move was provided with 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow for the purpose of writing this review. This did not influence my review in any way, and all opinions expressed are honest, and my own.
Mum on the Move is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Lovely post Marianne!!
Impressive! Glad to know there’s a solution for those little kiddos on flights. Too bad this wouldn’t work for me, too! 🙂
Hi Holly
This is Tracey from 1st Class Kid. Even though this pillow was designed for kids it helps with comfort for all ages.
I use a pillow personally myself. You can see some pics on our website. http://www.1stclasskid.com
Whatever you can do to make the kids happy on the plane is a good thing for everyone. I wish I could put my feet up on that pillow while traveling. We all need a more comfortable way to travel!
Hi Laura
This is Tracey from 1st Class Kid. Even though the pillow was designed for kids it can help with comfort for any age.
I use one personally myself! You can see some Pics on our website http://www.1stclasskid.com
Tracey recently posted…1stClassKid with Mumonthemove.com
Wow. What a cool invention. We have been on many a long flight with our kiddos where this would have crazy come in handy!
This looks ideal for a few moms I know! Totally sharing!
This is awesome! I might buy this for my little cousin. Great post, thanks for sharing!
Happy travels 🙂
Lauren Meshkin @BonVoyageLauren recently posted…3 Reasons To Explore The English Countryside! [Video below]
We always use travel pillows for our girls….and enjoy the benefits of sharing them when they aren’t using them! Blow up ones are nice for storage purposes, but I LOVE the idea of using the overhead vent! Genius!
Looks like a great product for long haul flights. My uncle will be traveling to the US from the UK. I’ll definitely be recommending this for his kids.
I’m sure the person in front was very thankful for the pillow. Having your seat kicked during the flight can drive one batty.
Lara Dunning recently posted…Travel Shoes I Love: Bogs◦ Urban Farmer Shoe
Looks like a cool way to turn a chair into a bed for plane travel! Yay! No more feet kicking me on overnight flights!
Neat. I would love to try this pillow. Is the person in front still able to recline? That’s what I would want to know if someone inflated a pillow behind my seat.
Hi Julie
This is Tracey from 1st Class Kid. The pillow fills in the space where your legs would be so it doesn’t interfere with the seat in front or prevent recline.
Hope that helps.
Tracey recently posted…1stClassKid with Mumonthemove.com
Thank you Marianne for the review on 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow. We know personally how much difference this pillow can make on long haul flights but it is great to hear stories and see pictures of your little ones comfortable and happy.
Our new batch of pillows has softer plastic that surrounds valve so it is easier to pop up. Stock is close to arriving to HQ in USA. We have distributors in Hong Kong who presently have stock and Australia’s stock will be arriving soon. You can find distributors on our website http://www.1stclasskid.com See ‘Where to Buy”
If you have questions regarding 1st Class Kid Travel Pillow please email info@1stclasskid.com
Tracey recently posted…1stClassKid with Mumonthemove.com
thanks for sharing
I would love to try this pillow. Is it suitable for children under 2 years old in an economy seat? I will be bringing my 1.5-year old son on a long-haul flight next week, and I am debating whether to put him on a car seat or use the travel pillow instead of the car seat. Will he be able to completely lie flat on the pillow? He is about 83cm tall.
Hi,
I live in London, uk. Where can I get these?0
Sorry Emma I’m not sure about that – you’ll need to check with 1st Class Kid directly.
Hi! I
know this is a old post but wondering how the pillow worked in Premium Economy? Is the pillow stable when it isn´t wedged in between the seat in front? Dreading a 10 hour flight as we did´t get any sleep last time we flew long haul so thought maybe this pillow could be useful.
Thank you so much in advance!
Hi Ann – it was fine in Premium Economy. We used it on a Hong Kong – Manchester return flight a couple of times and it was absolutely fine. In reality you don’t get a huge amount of extra leg room in Premium!
I have been using Trtl travel pillow for past three years & it works good enough. I found another good pillow for my kid through this article. I’ll definitely pick one of 1st class kid travel pillows for my darling soon.