If you’ve ever had to experience a screaming baby or toddler on a flight (as a parent or passenger) you know how unpleasant it can be. But, parents are in luck. A new mathematical formula has been revealed for ‘tantrum-free’ flights for parents travelling short-haul distances with tots in tow. 

Mathematician Dr Tom Crawford of Oxford University addresses the four main tantrum triggers for children on flights and the most reported effective ways of managing outbursts. The four main tantrum triggers identified are sleepiness, boredom, hunger and noise. 

The method calculates the amount of time until a tantrum is expected to occur during a flight, so parents can put off the tantrum and avoid it happening mid-air. Further research by Asda Money found that children are most likely to have a tantrum 27 minutes and 48 seconds into a flight, with each tantrum lasting an average of 15 minutes and six seconds. 

In creating the formula, each trigger has been scored from zero to ten, with zero meaning the issue is being ignored and ten meaning the issue is being managed successfully.

Dr Crawford comments: ‘If all four of the main causes of a tantrum are addressed, meaning they score 10, the average time until a tantrum occurs on a flight can be increased to 129 minutes, which is almost five times more than the expected time until a tantrum without any intervention. 

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‘This means parents will have a tantrum-free journey for flights under 129 minutes, which covers many short-haul flights.”

‘To score ten and effectively address the four main tantrum triggers, parents need to ensure children are taking a nap for 37 minutes to conquer sleepiness and will need to prevent boredom by either drawing, watching movies or giving their child a tablet or phone, which is reported to entertain them for 31 minutes.’

On top of this, Dr Crawford says parents will need to set aside 19 minutes to enjoy snacks to prevent hunger. Finally, they’ll need to ‘omit noise through music or reading’, which is reported to preoccupy kids for 14 minutes. 

Travellers who do have young children will know that even the best of intentions of keeping them content throughout a flight does not guarantee a tantrum-less flight. At the end of the day, they are just small people who are experiencing something very new and exciting and no amount of snacks, movies or books will be able to keep them quiet. 

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