I'm hoping this won't be as bad as the movie Snakes on a Plane but we are traveling on a four hour trip with our 19 month old daughter tomorrow. We're bringing favorite books and toys and even bought a new book and toy (one she's been asking constantly for for the past two weeks). Does anyone have any other suggestions besides benadryl for keeping her calm and happy on the flight. Oh, and she's traveling as a lap baby.
Thanks for any help,
Ariel
We've tried it twice - once when he was 8 months old as a lap baby and once when he was 20 months old with a carseat. The lap baby trip was a disaster but the trip with his own seat went smoothly. We also upgraded to "economy plus" (more leg room) so he couldn't kick the seat in front of him. The car seat was a great idea because he was already confortable riding and sleeping in it. Plus, we didn't have to worry about getting one from the rental car agency once we were there (they don't always have one available). The other things that helped were bringing books that we could read to him, a portable DVD player, and letting him get up wand walk up and down the aisle with one of us every half hour or so. We didn't let him out of his seat unless we were planning to walk with him which eliminated some other potential problems. The best thing we did was buying him his own seat and having him sit is his carseat. It was well worth the extra money.
Yeah car seat really worked for us our first couple trips he was a lap babyour last few trips were trial by error we tried car saet and it was cool at first untill he got restless we passed him back and fourth over the seat then we tried no seat and tried letting him sit in the seat but that backfired because he wanted to stand up push buttons play with the tray play peek a boo with the people behind us and try to get into the isle so we went back to the car seat and bought a tray for it which works well because he has all of his toys right there in front of him we also found that sticker books work really well with dollar store toys that way if they break or get lost no big deal and French Fries my lil dude likes Steak N Shake Fries so we get them on the way to the airport put the in zip lock bags and youve got an instant snack right out of the bag and the people in front of you will suffer thats just how it is when flying with kids you may not notice but trust me they do so we always appologize before the plane takes off and offer to by a drink during the flight some people turn it down but weve had people thank our son for the drink after the flight LOL!!!! GOOD LUCK! and ENJOY YOUR TRIP!!!!!
Four hours? Try TWENTY FOUR! We have family in Australia, so we've taken Junior there twice - once at 20 months, once at 3 and half. That was no fun. At all.
About halfway through the first one, just as every one had gone to sleep, he had a total meltdown. I mean absolute hysteria. I'm happy to report that another dad helped me out on that one, coming over with some of his kid's toys and giving me the 'It happens to all of us some time' speech.
We've also flown from London to LA with him at 2 and a half, which is even further in one go, come to think of it (when we say we're going on holiday now, he eyes us suspiciously and says 'Are we going on a plane?')
Anyway, books, food, toys and his own seat all helped, but the key is putting yourself in 'the bubble' - remember it's all about getting yourselves through it, don't worry about the other passengers. They will hate you. Really hate you. But you will never see them again. Unless it turns into an episode of Lost.
Thanks for advice guys. We found the Bert doll that she had been asking for for two weeks and that worked for about one and a half minutes. Thankfully she was pretty good. I got a few toddler appropriate apps on my iphone and brought lots of books.
The way back we were able to get a seat (for free. Thanks Alaska Airlines!) but of course she didn't stay in it for too long.
All in all, not half bad. Hats off to you Britdad! My mother-in-law used to fly back and forth from Israel to LA with three kids in tow (8,7,2) by herself!
That's when the carseat comes in handy. You never know when you'll get a free seat and strapping them increases the odds they will sleep. Glad you made it through, Ariel.
My crowning mile-high moment was when my 4YO locked herself in the airplane bathroom (with me outside guarding the door and holding a 2YO). It took me 5 minutes to calm her down and get her to unlock the door. Oh, the looks I got from the back of the plane. 
We recently took a family trip to Disney world. In order to save a some money we drove
4 hours to the nearest big city airport( BAD IDEA!). Our 5 month old at the time was in fits
about half way there. The plane trip was 3.5 hours direct to Orlando. The kids handled the plane rides
OK. But in the future we will buck up and fly out locally. Hine sight is 40/40
John in Colorado
http://littleguymethod.blogspot.com
Glad things went well for you guys, Ariel.
Even though I stayed home with the bambinos, my wife still nursed for two years with each of our boys. On a plane, nursing was key. She would nurse on the take off and landing and if it was a longer flight once more in the air. That made it smooth sailing. I'm sure a bottle would help in a similar way. The feeding helps them not get too bothered with the ear popping.
Now that our boys are older, they can still get pretty irritated on a plane. A few years ago on a long flight, our three year old flipped out about his ears popping. He we tried to get him to drink milk, but all he wanted to do was poor it into his ear. We've taken that flight now several times and it seems as long as we have plenty of books and toys etc we are in good shape, but the most important thing is to have plenty of snacks and drinks. These flights are all day trips and as long as we do that we are golden.
Joined: 2008-10-13
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