Mum of Britain’s biggest family Sue Radford reveals clever trick for getting 22 kids to the airport on time
GETTING your kids out the house and organised can be a struggle - so imagine what it’s like for mum-of-22 Sue Radford.
Thankfully Sue, who is mum to Britain’s biggest family, has a few very clever tricks up her sleeve, especially when it comes to getting her bumper brood to the airport for a holiday.
This week, the Radfords jetted off for their 18th holiday in 20 months, and have been soaking up the sun in Miami, as part of the kids’ school break.
Here are the clever tricks the super mum used to calmly get her large family to the check-in desk on time…
Staying the airport hotel
One of Sue’s best strategies for not missing a flight is getting everyone ready the night before.
The Radfords recently stayed in an airport hotel ahead of their 11am flight across the pond, and it meant there was no rushing in the morning.
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Sue said: “We stayed in the Hilton last night which was nice so we didn’t have to get up super early.”
Sue and Noel are parents to Chris, 34, Sophie, 29, Chloe, 28, Jack, 26, Daniel, 24, Luke, 22, Millie, 21, Katie, 20, James, 19, Ellie, 18, Aimee, 17, Josh, 16, Max, 14, Tillie, 13, Oscar, 11, Casper, 10, Hallie, eight, Phoebe, seven, Archie, five, Bonnie, four, and Heidie, three.
Sadly the couple's 17th child Alfie was still born on July 6, 2014.
Hotel breakfast
Instead of having to cook food for her huge family on the morning of a trip, staying in an airport hotel means Sue can get a breakfast made for them.
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The Lancashire-based mum said: “Just heading for some breakfast now, Chris took some of the kids which was nice.
“Heidi is having a little hot chocolate, and sausage, beans and egg.”
And the best part is there is no washing up either.
The couple have claimed Heidie is their last baby, after Sue has spent around 6,000 days of her life pregnant.
Packing cubes
When it comes to packing their staggering 15 suitcases, Sue has a hack to streamline the process: packing cubes.
Sue explained: “Loads of people ask me on Instagram about these packing bags.
“They are absolutely amazing.
“I got mine from Amazon. You can get bigger ones like this.
“I put things like hair bobbles, clips, sunglasses in.”
Showing another bag, she said: “These can be used for dirty laundry.”
Each kid has their own cube for their holiday clothes, and she can fit multiple cubes in one suitcase.
Outfits laid out night before
Sue revealed that the key to making sure her household runs smoothly is preparation in advance.
From laying out their outfits to making food, the busy mum gets everything done the day before a big event - be it the first day of school or holiday.
She previously told The Sun: "If I'm doing a packed lunch for everybody, it’s two loaves of bread, three packets of sausage rolls, 24 packets of crisps, a bottle of cordial, it’s massive.”
Packs with the ‘roll’ method
Sue also has a trick for squeezing all the clothes in the bags.
She said: “You roll them like this, and it’s amazing how much stuff you can fit in them.
“It’s so easy, and when you get to wherever you are going, you can just pull them out of the suitcase.
“You don’t really need to unpack, which is great.”
Lost luggage trick
She also has a good hack for ensuring that she is never caught out by lost luggage when flying.
Sue explained: “I don’t know about anybody else, but I always worry when you go abroad and go on a plane that some of the luggage is going to get left behind.
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“So what I do is separate it into different suitcases so if they do lose a suitcase, everybody has always got something when we get to the other side.
“Some of the swimming costumes are in one bag, some are in different suitcases, and then same with the kids’ clothing.”
