Babble

The good news is that we have friends living outside of Puerto Vallerta who have invited us to visit them next month for a week and stay for free. I found tickets for $190/round trip from dreary Chicago in January.

The bad news is that my 15 month old can't sit still for five minutes, much less the five hour plane trip it will take to get to PV. Is it fair to him (not to mention the other passengers) to attempt such a trip? Do any of you have magic secrets for getting your kids to fly?
 

We took our Lads to Costa Rica when they were about 21 months old, an effort to go as far as we could on the reduced-rate-for-laps before they turned two.  Two three-hour flights as well as about eight hours of delays on the way there, four hours on the way back.  Unfortunately, I have no real tips to provide, and they were less than enthused by the whole process.  I will say it was worth it anyway -- it was a great trip and they loved "Rica" and the "cano" (volcano).

You could do a Benadryl dose if it will help him sleep; with our guys it either knocks them out or makes them extra-grumpy, so we didn't chance it. 

My family is on the west coast so we did a lot of flying back and forth (flights from NYC to SF are about 5-6 hours.) Here are my suggestions for easy flights:

1. Pack a lot of finger foods -- and not that you want your child to be hopped up on sugar, but trading in some regular cheerios for the honey nut ones will make for a wonderful flying treat and keep your child occupied for a good long time.

2. Coloring books, sticker books or other activity books. Though your child won't be able to do this alone, it's definitely something that will keep their interest.

3. A laptop computer with DVD capabilities. I KNOW this is a cop out, but nothing kills time like a good Baby Einstein video. Though some airlines have strong suggestions about using headphones with your DVD players, but your neighbors won't complain if you're keeping a toddler occupied.

4. A brand new toy, something special just for the plane. I let my little guy pick something he likes. He usually picks a new car.

5. Bring bottles or pacifiers to help with the ear problems.

6. Most importantly try to fly during nap or sleep times. We try to time flights so that the take-off time is just around nap time or bed time. By the time we're on the plane and settled our little one is usually fast asleep or on the verge of sleeping.

By the way, you should definitely go. Have fun! Family vacations are great.

 

All of the above is very right and might help, but... we flew with our 20 months old son this summer to Rome, Italy, and back to New York. Both flights were hell: to Italy 5 hours of screaming and to New York 7 hours. I suggest you to also prepare youself mentally for such a horror scenario.

I say go for it. In the end, you'll be glad you went on vacation and your child will have a blast. But, I do have to tell you-your flight will probably be hell. We took my oldest son on 4 or 5 long plane trips before he was a year old and had no problem (we were really patting ourselves on the back for our amazing parenting skills). Finally I decided to take him to see family in NY (we live in CA) when he was about 16 months old. Something about that age... they want to do everything, touch everything and don't want to sit still. He squirmed and screamed when the seat belt sign was on. He wouldn't nap (and he naps anywhere, anytime) and in the airport he was running all over the place (wouldn't sit in the stroller and screamed if I picked him up.) On the way home he screamed for 2 hours straight. Not a single steward asked if they could help me. All I can say is USE DRUGS (maybe for yourself too!) Buy a bottle of Benedryl. Try out a dose before your trip and make sure it doesn't make your child wild (it usually makes them sleepy) and give it to them after the plane takes off.

Good luck.

We've flown a lot with our son (starting at 4 months, he's now 22 months) and we've experimented with a wide range of things to ensure a relatively calm flight. We tried Benadryl and, of course, our son was in that small percentage of kids that go bananas on it. He would not sit still and we were on a 10 hour flight to Hawaii. Was a lot of fun. So here's our current recipe:

- We buy our son his own seat (and did so starting at 1 year) and put him in his car seat. This offers parents some freedom and sanity and he's familiar with his car seat, which I think helps.

- We never travel without a portable DVD player, with a stash of his favorite films.

- Dramamine -- Totally safe for infants / kids (get the orange flavored chewable kind) and there is no risk of them becoming hyper on it. We have found that 1/8 - 1/4 tablet is the right amount - doesn't knock them out, but calms them and, in our experience, a nap will always come at some point because of it. I talked extensively with my Dr about it before giving to my son  ... it's totally safe.

Good luck!

 

We fly all the time w/our 2 kids, and mostly I fly w/o my husband, so I'm outnumbered! I say get a cocktail as soon as possible! Bring tons of stuff to do like someone else said. I say forget the car seat, as its a nightmare to carry through the airport and the Britax rides up so high on the sides you can't fully open the tray table in front of child. Bring tons of wipes, and wipe everything down before they lick, touch everything. Planes are gross germ magnets. We do lots of walking down the aisle. Sometimes we stand in the kitchen area of the plane (when the flight attentdants aren't there) and play quiet games. As far as crying--it happens. Not much you can do, but PLEASE don't look around at the others who may be annoyed at you or glaring w/dirty looks, it will only make you more annoyed and frustrated in your situation. Just stay focused on yourself and your family and do the best you can! Plus, nowadays almost everyone is wearing head sets and is self-involved so hopefully they won't be too 'disturbed'. If they fight wearing the seatbelt, I sometimes will remind my 2 year old that the pilot (or flight attendant) needs everyone to ______(wear seatbelt, not kick seat, etc), so its like coming from someone other than me. Have fun!!!

I'm a single mother who has flown once with her 8 month old son. This coming february we have a trip (just the two of us) to Austria to visit a friend of mine. I have purchased my son his own seat and the flight is an evening flight so hopefully he'll sleep through most of it. I got a direct flight from Charlotte to Frankfurt and then from Fankfurt to Vienna... I am actually more concerned about adjusting my son's sleep paterns for the 10 days that we are there. Anyone have any suggestions on this - or am I totally out of luck?

I say the car seat is worth trying, given that kids are familiar with them, sit more comfortably in them and rest their head against the sides of them when they do finally fall asleep and you won't have to fight to keep them in their seats, buckle seat belt, etc ... basically, it helps constrain them more, which is a good thing! In terms of having to lug the car seat to the gate, i agree that it's not ideal, but we pull the straps out as far as they will go and put it on like a backpack, so it's not really that cumbersome (it's only a few pounds). As for not being able to pull the tray table out, we just put the portable DVD player on our tray. Most important thing is activities to engage them (movies especially) and Dramamine!

Our son flew about twenty times between three months old and 27 months. The last flight was the longest, Amsterdam to Australia, 24 hours with a 2 hour stop over in Singapore. All of these went reasonably well but you do have to work at it. Our son is one of the most active kids I've ever seen and you have to be prepared with lots of activities but at the same time keep it balanced so that you don't go over the top and wind them up with over stimulation. Airports and aeroplanes are horribly stimulating environments for a small child with heaps of back ground noise, artificial lighting, dehydrating atmospheres and announcements and bright lights at ALL the wrong moments. On a big plane the trick is lots of walks, up and down the aisles. This may annoy some peole but not as much as if he starts screaming! And let him play with the toilet doors, unless someone wants to use it, and anything else he can find that won't cause the plane to crash.

The more leeway you give him the more easily he will accept being back in his seat when he has to be. We have never used any drugs, I would try and avoid them, I think the whole experience of an 15 + hour flight is going to be more than enough for him to cope with. Games, songs, puzzles and most important of all, don't let him smell your fear or anxiety!

Ciao 

 

Ugh, avoid the Benadryl.  Dramamine works okay.  Talk to your pediatrician about options.  I've flown with my 7 kids at lots of different ages - infant on up.  Toddler age is probably the most challenging.  Take all the ways you don't enjoy flying and multiply them by 10 and you get a close approximation of flying toddler.

The previous suggestions are good ones.  Be prepared to spend the entire flight doing nothing more than entertaining your child.  If you have the luxury of only one kid, then tag team with your partner.  Getting bulkhead seats sometimes provides a little extra space for down-on-the-floor play.  ANY extra room helps.  Try NOT to fly at the times that business travelers tend to dominate - business travelers are complete assholes when it comes to dealing with flying toddler.  They forget what it was like or are too important to do more than complain about the hell they are being put through by a noisy/fussy child.  Board as early as you can.  Getting settled before the herd of braying, storage-stealing donkeys is good.  It can also give you a chance to make a snap judgment about which flight attendants are helpful and understanding and which ones are prigs who won't deign to deal with children.   

Though it can be excruciating at the time, it looks better in hindsight.  You learn a lot about your child and their limits.  Not to mention about yourself.

 Jah

We are about to fly from Buenos Aires, Argentina back to the States not just with a 2 month old, but all our various luggage, two big dogs, and two cats...thank goodness for a cool mother in law and her b.f. to help us!!!! and they're coming all the way from Europe to help no less.

 Anyway, in our search for more info on flying, I came across this blog which I wanted to share... Flying with Children

Hope others find it useful.

Laura
 

Living overseas, we fly from London to the States about four times a year. My four year old just passed 129,000 miles on our recent Christmas trip!  From experience, I can tell you that the most difficult age to fly with is 15-20 months. They're a little too young to understand the concept of airplane/sky/whee! My daughter just didn't get why she had to sit still for 10 hours in, what for her was a very tiny little room with Mummy and Daddy constantly trying to entertain her. So, I'm afraid I'm not much help other than to say that it's only five hours of your life and you may be surprised how well your child handles it.

After that age, it got much easier (and it was easy when she was little as well). We always have a flight attendant come over and explain the seatbelt light idea.  I used to haul on half of Toys R Us, but can do it now with a few small books, a sticker book, (paint with water is also good), crayons and a colouring book. You can do plenty with the stickers (those 'window cling' plastic things are good fun too if you're sitting by a window - they're fun because you can put them on, take them off, put them on, take them off .. well, you get the idea). With the stickers, we let her decorate our drink cups and anything else that she wants, really. Put the sticker on the Mummy is a fun game that amuses for quite a while.

We have three movies for her on our PSPs and she has her own noise cancelling headphones (she gets far less cranky with those on).

Another trick we use is to never let her walk around on the airplane. If we go to the loo, we carry her. The idea behind that is to never really let her get the idea that roaming around the plane is a good idea. She can stand in front of our seats, but never in the aisle. I've seen too many toddlers almost mowed over by adults not looking down.

I take on a few snacks - usually pre-packed items that she wouldn't normally have the luxury of having, like fruit roll ups or other less than nutrional items that have entertainment factor. I pack them in a tupperware sandwich container that she can, again, decorate with stickers (the cheaper the stickers, the easier they are to remove). I used to take milk/juice boxes but don't worry about that so much now as she is old enough to get milk from the trolley when it comes around. I do keep a bottle of water in my bag (with the new restrictions, I skipped that this year and we were fine).

While some of our earlier flights were less than peaceful - we now have a child who gets on the plane, says hello to the staff politely, sits in her seat, puts on her seatbelt and leafs through the saftey brochure (it's comical, but she loves to look at those pictures). If you ask her what she does on the airplane she'll say, 'I get on, have some lunch, watch a movie, take a nap and then I'm there!'.  It's cute.

There is also the idea of making them slightly sleepier than normal by giving them a dose of Benedryl (or another over the counter allergy medicine that has drowsiness as a side effect). I admit - I've done this and my advice is to give a dose of the medicine before you go to see how your child will react. Mine - went the other way and was hyper. Not a joy at 29,000 feet.

Best of luck!

-elizabeth

Our daughter just turned 15 months and we just got back from a trip to Florida from Chicago.  The flight was about 3 hours (from O'hare to Miami airport), which is about an hour or so less from Puerto Vallarta (we were in PV in November without our child!).  Anyway, our SAVING GRACE was that we purchased a portable DVD player and we brought about 5 DVD's (most of them were "Elmo's World).  She either watched the DVD's or she sleps.  She did have a couple meltdown's on the flight home, which I felt horrible about (I felt bad for the people around us), but their meltdown's are not something we can easily control.  The best thing we ever did though was purchase this portable DVD player.  She watched the DVD's throughout our trip, which was also very helpful.  We also gave her a little children's motrin before each planeride as well, which we think helped a little (her molars are coming in!).  Hope this helps!

What to do if your kid doesn't enjoy watching movies yet? Any suggestions??