Travelling with a baby may sound like a daunting experience, especially if it’s their first flight and you don’t know how they’ll react.
While parents or guardians will most likely make sure to pack toys and activities for their children to enjoy throughout the hours they spend in the plane seats, entertaining a baby can be a bit more tricky.
Packing their usual favourite toys or booking a flight that takes off around the time of one of their naps are some of the more popular ways to make sure to keep them content during flights, but sometimes, you might want to bring something else just to be prepared.
One mum known as Lala online took to her TikTok account, where she has over 6.1 million followers, to share the main activity she packed to keep her seven month old baby occupied during their three hour flight from Germany to Spain – and it’s not what you might expect.
“If you don’t pack a head of lettuce for your next flight with your baby, what are you even doing?” she said at the start of her video as she showed herself packing a head of sweet gem lettuce into a ziplock bag.
The video then cut to Lala and her husband boarding the plane with their baby, who was sleeping in her arms as they were seated. In the voiceover, she explained the baby had slept throughout take-off, but eventually woke up as they were in the air.
“Whenever we want to eat in peace at home, we always give her a piece of lettuce, and it always keeps her occupied for so long. And I thought, if it works at home, why would it not work on a plane?” Lala explained as they were seen showing their baby the veg before letting her rip one of the leaves.
Lala went on to explain: “She loves tearing things, like anything really. Like, bread, paper, tissue, anything. But bread is way too messy, like there are crumbs everywhere. And with paper or tissue, we always have to keep an eye on her that she doesn’t eat it. But lettuce, lettuce is genius.”
She continued to say that while it brings a fun and unique texture for the baby to explore while ripping the leaf, it also makes for a healthy and hydrating snack if she chooses to bring it to her mouth.
“This kept her occupied almost the entire flight,” Lala revealed. “She had so much fun, and the best part when it’s time to clean up, you can just eat it. This way, I’m not only entertaining my baby but I’m also getting my greens in.”
She then added: “We were so nervous about her first flight at first, but this was such an amazing experience for us. She did so well, she was just having fun the entire flight and we’re so proud of her.”
People soon took to the comment section of the video, with many sharing their thoughts over the unique plane activity.
“I have a 14 hour flight with my baby next month. I’ll just bring a whole field,” one person wrote, while a second person pointed out: “Plus points cause it helps her develop her fine motor skills.”
Another mum wrote: “You Lala have just unlocked a whole new toy for all of us mums out there thank you.”
“That’s effing genius! I’m trying this on the next flight!” said another person.