Plan 3 to 4 hours at a connecting hub rather than the published minimum connection time, which can be as short as 60 to 90 minutes. On a multi-stop fare the longer connection usually costs nothing extra, because both segments are already priced into the itinerary.
Plan 3 to 4 hours, not the minimum. Every airport publishes a minimum connection time, the shortest legal gap a booking system will sell between two flights, and at a large hub that can be as little as 60 or 90 minutes. It is a legal minimum, not a recommendation, and search tools drift toward it because a shorter total travel time ranks better.
A 90-minute connection assumes you walk fast, the first flight lands on time, and nobody needs to stop. Three to four hours turns that sprint into a walk, a meal, a bathroom with no queue, and a seat somewhere quiet before the next boarding call.
On a multi-stop or round-the-world itinerary the extra time is usually free. Both segments are already priced into the fare, so you are simply choosing a later onward flight rather than buying anything more.
If a full day of transit is not survivable, push further and turn the connection into a stopover: land, sleep in a hotel, fly on the next day. Multi-stop fares often permit a stopover in a connecting city under the fare rules, so the night costs you a hotel and nothing in airfare. The trade is one very long day against two unfamiliar nights, and only you know which one your child recovers from faster.