Toddlers and Flying

[Red&Black]

Anyone ever take an under-2 on a plane? any advice? am taking the boy to grandma's for thanksgiving (flying from Maryland to Oregon). long flight, one stop...

[gremista]

please someone help out here...i also am taking a two year old on a long flight in February and need advise

[Ian Lozada]

Pay for the seat. A toddler's tough to have on your lap. It's just safer, too. I wouldn't want to deal with turbulence with an under-2.

Also, a little bit of pre-flight chocolate seems to insure a sleeping kid within 5 minutes of takeoff.

[billreeves]

For a long flight, I would buy a seat for them, just so you have room to maneuver -- if the flight is full and they're on your lap, it's a huge pain in the ass if you're trying to get at his stuff.

I hope that you have a 2-to-1 ratio of parents to toddlers. I've only flown solo once with my little guy (just last week, and just an hour long flight from San Jose to LAX) and it was a ton of work. Security was practically impossible: remove my shoes, remove child's shoes, load up bins and start shuffling stuff through the machine, plead with child to give up current toy or blanket so you can put it in a bin, watch the line get longer, forcefully remove current toy or blanket from child, put it in bin, remove crying child from stroller, try to fold up stroller with one hand, carry crying child through metal detector -- and then do it all again in reverse.

My son is a veteran of flights, but mostly of the hourlong variety from the Bay Area to LAX or San Diego to visit family. He went to Hawaii when he was 5 months old, but that was easy, he just ate and slept.

We got a portable DVD player for his first long flight as a toddler (SFO to Fort Lauderdale via Charlotte last March) so he got to watch Thomas, 101 Dalmatians, etc. -- that killed about half of the time at the flight. We had books, crayons, etc. for the rest of the time, and some trucks and stuff to play with during the layover. He slept some, but not much, and only melted down once towards the end of the first leg when he was cranky due to lack of sleep but didn't want to nap. We never go anywhere without the portable DVD player now.

[BorrachoNJ]

We got a portable DVD player for his first long flight as a toddler (SFO to Fort Lauderdale via Charlotte last March) so he got to watch Thomas, 101 Dalmatians, etc. -- that killed about half of the time at the flight. We had books, crayons, etc. for the rest of the time, and some trucks and stuff to play with during the layover. He slept some, but not much, and only melted down once towards the end of the first leg when he was cranky due to lack of sleep but didn't want to nap. We never go anywhere without the portable DVD player now.

I am an asshole for not getting these items for our trip to Costa Rica with our 4-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl.
I swear, I would've cleaned out all of Blockbuster's videos had I known it was gonna be a disaster to and from.:D

But the trip itself was great!

[gremista]

Thanks for the tips...the portable DVD idea may keep me out of the insane asylum

We are planning on going from Budapest to San Antonio (a few days there for a confernce) and then to my parents home in California. Am already worried about the whole thing so these tips let me know it can be done

[IASocFan]

For the very young, a pacifier or bottle is great for ear popping on take offs and landings! If they're old enough for chewing gum, that works too. For those in between, a drink helps. For the rest of the trip, a new toy with not too many pieces or a doll or animal is helpful.

[Barbara]

Anyone ever take an under-2 on a plane? any advice? am taking the boy to grandma's for thanksgiving (flying from Maryland to Oregon). long flight, one stop...

http://images2.cafemom.com/images/sponsor/jnj_kids/logo_benadryl.gif



You can tell I don't have children. :D

[Red&Black]

http://images2.cafemom.com/images/sponsor/jnj_kids/logo_benadryl.gif



You can tell I don't have children. :D

i had to give the kid some recently and the drowisniess effect didn't work on him :(

[Ismitje]

Here's something: go back in time and ensure that you weren't a prick to harried parents dealing with toddlers on flights you took when childless and fancy free, so karma doesn't come back to bite you on the butt. :) In all seriousness, having the good fortune to have tolerant and understanding folks around you makes a big difference.

"Stuff" to do is important, as are snacks guaranteed to not generate hyperactivity (I am often surprised by how frequently people ply their youngsters with sugary treats on a lengthy, enclosed space).

Finally, think seriously about the option they offer to board early, which they usually let people traveling with small children do. It might be handy to send in one of the adults but not the child in initially - you need to get space in those overhead bins before they get full - but with flights sitting at the gate for 30 minutes after loading on most flights, and the air flow being restricted during that time, it may be worth boarding last if you have someone to claim space for you.

Good luck!

[DoctorJones24]

Anyone ever take an under-2 on a plane? any advice? am taking the boy to grandma's for thanksgiving (flying from Maryland to Oregon). long flight, one stop...

Some have recommended buying the extra seat, which is great advice if the cost isn't too huge, but I think you really won't need it.

Especially if you and the wife are both going, you can trade off, so that you each get turns relaxing. We took our twins on a couple flights when they were infants, and never bought extra seats. We probably did it 3 or 4 times and had no regrets.

Ismitje had the good advice to board last (rather than first). I've actually never understood why ANYONE is in such a hurry to board. But especially with little children, the less time being cramped, the better. This has the added benefit of you being able to see where empty seats are while you are boarding. You might see a full empty row near the back--beeline! More than half the time, I'd say, we ended up with empty seats anyway, without paying for them.

The times we didn't it really wasn't bad, and remember, we couldn't take any breaks, since we each had an infant the whole time.

The key, I think, is that if your kid is upset, then the flight is going to totally suck whether you have an extra seat or 10 extra seats or none. Because an upset kid is going to want to be in your arms anyway, so the seat will go unused in that worst case.

Thus the extra seat is really only useful if the kid is happy/asleep/calm, in which case it's quite nice. But a happy/asleep kid split between your and your wife's lap isn't the worst thing either. Is the difference worth $200? $400? $600? On the lower end, probably, but there's certainly diminishing returns there.

[Red&Black]

Some have recommended buying the extra seat, which is great advice if the cost isn't too huge, but I think you really won't need it.

Especially if you and the wife are both going, you can trade off, so that you each get turns relaxing. We took our twins on a couple flights when they were infants, and never bought extra seats. We probably did it 3 or 4 times and had no regrets.

Ismitje had the good advice to board last (rather than first). I've actually never understood why ANYONE is in such a hurry to board. But especially with little children, the less time being cramped, the better. This has the added benefit of you being able to see where empty seats are while you are boarding. You might see a full empty row near the back--beeline! More than half the time, I'd say, we ended up with empty seats anyway, without paying for them.

The times we didn't it really wasn't bad, and remember, we couldn't take any breaks, since we each had an infant the whole time.

The key, I think, is that if your kid is upset, then the flight is going to totally suck whether you have an extra seat or 10 extra seats or none. Because an upset kid is going to want to be in your arms anyway, so the seat will go unused in that worst case.

Thus the extra seat is really only useful if the kid is happy/asleep/calm, in which case it's quite nice. But a happy/asleep kid split between your and your wife's lap isn't the worst thing either. Is the difference worth $200? $400? $600? On the lower end, probably, but there's certainly diminishing returns there.
thanks to all for the advice. i'm actually traveling with two other people as well as my son and we have the entire row and they are willing to help me out with him. i decided not to buy the seat since we have the whole row anyway so that should be ok. he's pretty active now but between three of us we can likely keep him entertained.

i hope :)

or i'm kidding my self

[chad]

Good luck. For the future:

http://content.onestepahead.com/assets/images/ensemble/detail/13366_1.jpg

Airline certified carseat/stroller. (http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=6805&cmSource=Search)

We have one and have used it for both our kids, lent it to neighbors, etc. If you can, buy one.

[Matt in the Hat]

So with the DVD player, what type of headphones did you use? I'm assuming it would have to be big cans but a squirmy 12 month old might not dig that too much.

[billreeves]

So with the DVD player, what type of headphones did you use? I'm assuming it would have to be big cans but a squirmy 12 month old might not dig that too much.

Heh, we got him some headphones with Disney characters or something on it, and he hated them, so he just watches with no headphones. The plane is loud enough that he can hear (barely) without disturbing anyone else (that we are aware of -- maybe we're being completely selfish a-holes, I don't know). And it's not like he needs to hear everything to follow the plot super closely -- he's only 2.

[Matt in the Hat]

Heh, we got him some headphones with Disney characters or something on it, and he hated them, so he just watches with no headphones. The plane is loud enough that he can hear (barely) without disturbing anyone else (that we are aware of -- maybe we're being completely selfish a-holes, I don't know). And it's not like he needs to hear everything to follow the plot super closely -- he's only 2.

My little one likes to dance. So she kind of needs some sound so she can shake her ass. I'm thinking of getting that pillow speaker thing and puting in that brilliant chair that Chad gave the link to. That should do it.

[Crimen y Castigo]

So with the DVD player, what type of headphones did you use? I'm assuming it would have to be big cans but a squirmy 12 month old might not dig that too much.

I've found these work best with younger kids -- they hang over the ear and have a soft padding. The overhead headphones can freak some kids out, plus I'm not keen on ear buds for little ears:

http://www.techshout.com/images/sony-pspj-15012-headphones.jpg

It's a style you can find most places, ours don't have that wire-based control.

I'd spend some time with the wires, though -- they can get tangled pretty easily so wrapping them up carefully pays dividends in the tight space of plane seat.


Re: Toys / Distractions:
I'm a big believer in unveiling a surprise on the plane -- something the kids have never seen before. This can be very cheap -- a coloring book, a small car, a new (or even borrowed) book. Anything that is new to them has a great cache and can buy you some serious time.


Re: Bendryl:
We gave some to our 2 year old this summer on the way to Hawaii, since he had some serious nasal symptoms -- HUGE mistake. We'd given it to him once before (not on a plane) without problem, but this time he broke out in little itchy hives and refused to nap (which never happens) and he had an awful flight.

Drugs are always a crap shoot -- never again for us. Plus there's a growing sentiment that all common cold medicines for small kids should be avoided.

[Sachin]

We're flying to Connecticut this weekend (1 hr flight) but we're going to LA a week from Friday and returning on Sunday night. This is NOT going to be fun. I'm hoping she sleeps, but I don't think she will.

[elainemichelle]

http://images2.cafemom.com/images/sponsor/jnj_kids/logo_benadryl.gif



You can tell I don't have children. :D

For adults on trans-Atlantic flights:
http://www.cocaineabuse.net/img/ambien.jpg

[Brook]

Drive, please