The extremely cheap flights currently being offered by the low-cost airlines are just too tempting. So we're all off to Ireland for half term.

But going charter with three kids can be an exhausting start to a short break. First, there's the problem of serve-yourself seating. In my experience, the "children and families first please" over the Tannoy never works, as people push in front bidding for a window seat. Holding on to the buggy until the gate helps, as it can be used as a tactical weapon in the scrum with the childless, blocking them from handing over their boarding cards before you. (Anyone reading this who's travelling without children, please wait politely in the queue next time. We'll all get on quicker that way.)

Of course, the six-month-old twins get no seats and - more importantly - no baggage allowance, particularly punishing as they get through 100 nappies a week between them. And following the New York atrocities, with the request by airlines to limit hand luggage, the box of rice cakes and parent's clean T-shirt in the changing bag has to go. (Updates on airlines' hand baggage rules with regards to kids can be found on babygoes2.com.)

With only a minimal amount of miniature toys to keep them occupied, it's even more important to retrieve them once they've been thrown under the seat in front. Reader Juley Howard flew to New York via Reykjavik with her 22-month-old daughter on her lap. "Perhaps the most useful thing I could have taken was a grabber - the sort of thing people use when they have difficulty reaching to pick something up off the floor. Because in a cramped airline seat with a toddler on your knee, it's almost impossible to see the floor, never mind touch it."

I hope they'll let me have one in the hand luggage.

If you have any experiences of travelling with kids, email: deabirkett@cs.com