[krislati]

has anyone done it yet? How did it go?

We will be going on vacation in 38 DAY, (i'm not counting down or anything..lol. Now that Tommy is more mobile I am afraid he will not want to sit in his seat for the flight. Any suggestion on how to keep a almost 1 yr old entertained?

[Irish_Wristwatch]

i havent yet, but we will be on the 30th (eek) im pretty nervous about it, but im bringing lots of toys and snacks and hopefully he will do alright, the flight isnt very long though so that makes it a little less scary

[krislati]

Originally Posted by Irish_Wristwatch

i havent yet, but we will be on the 30th (eek) im pretty nervous about it, but im bringing lots of toys and snacks and hopefully he will do alright, the flight isnt very long though so that makes it a little less scary

You'll have to let me know how it goes! I am a little nervous about it too, the flight is only 2 hr 25 minutes but that is a long time for Lo to stay still. I am going to try to keep him from falling asleep on the way to the airport and while waiting so he will be tired...hopefully. The airport is 45 minutes from my house though, so that might be tough keeping him up.

[noworries]

It is easier when they are little because they aren't so mobile and they sleep more. Our next flight with the kids is when Isaac will be a little over a year old and I'm not looking forward to that.

Take plenty of snacks, board books, little toys, etc.
And try not to stress too much, they can totally pick up on that.

[Lisigirl13]

How about a portable dvd player melanie loves watching the backyardigans and stuff
That keeps her entertained on long trips in the car. I bet it would work on the plane for a while.

Um maybe a nice pop up book, snacks, and just little toys

OHH
if you have one of ur husbands wallets or ur own that nobody uses i put business cards in there or just papers and melanie is happy for a while taking everything out and looking at it

[amhk]

I flew alone with Kinley in April, across the country and back, and she did amazing... didn't cry one single time. I think because she had my constant attention. I had toys and snacks to keep her busy. I bet Tommy will do great also!

[Juliebird18]

I flew across the country in March but it was a late nigh flight and Stevie slept almost the whole time.

I am doing it again next month. I hope he sleeps again! What time is your flight?

[krislati]

Thanks for the tips! I don't know why I am anxious over this, I just picture him screaming the whole time. He is really mellow normally so I don't know why I am nervous about it.

Originally Posted by Juliebird18

I flew across the country in March but it was a late nigh flight and Stevie slept almost the whole time.

I am doing it again next month. I hope he sleeps again! What time is your flight?

On the way there our flight leaves at 11:30am on the way home 8:25 am. I am hoping to keep him awake most of the morning, so he could take a long nap on the plane, I just hope it works out!

[mommydiva]

I flew in March with Rosie. She did great. I had a red eye flight out and a early evening on the way back. She did fine both times. She did get frustrated at one point cause she wasted to crawl but the toys seemed to help. For me next time she is getting her own seat...lol way to uncomfortable for me holding her at this point where I think she would have done a lot better in a car seat type thing..lol

[Magicaledelishus]

We traveled to CA from WA (about a 2 1/2 hour ride) with Orion when he was about 5 months old (Christmas day). It was alright the way there. He was tired and slept in my arms the whole way. On the way back, he had a double ear infection and so he cried. A LOT. Half the flight he screamed. Everyone felt bad for us and were offering advice. But ultimately he did fall asleep. Sigh. I think now would be better except that I think he'd be bored because he likes to get down and crawl everywhere.

[crystaljean81]

I have flown with Lyla twice. Once with DH to California (Lyla was 7m) and once on my own to Mexico (just last week). Both times were fairly easy. I give Lyla her bottle as soon as we are in our seat and she will fall asleep. If she wakes up, I have snacks and toys on hand. Plus she is such a flirt, that the people around us occupy her!! This is my best tip: Put one diaper and a disposable changing pad in a ziplock baggie. Take the baggie and your wipes only to the bathroom for diaper changes. Put everything yucky in the baggie and throw it away. There is no room to maneuver a diaper bag, baby, and yourself in an airplane bathroom!!

[krislati]

Originally Posted by crystaljean81

I have flown with Lyla twice. Once with DH to California (Lyla was 7m) and once on my own to Mexico (just last week). Both times were fairly easy. I give Lyla her bottle as soon as we are in our seat and she will fall asleep. If she wakes up, I have snacks and toys on hand. Plus she is such a flirt, that the people around us occupy her!! This is my best tip: Put one diaper and a disposable changing pad in a ziplock baggie. Take the baggie and your wipes only to the bathroom for diaper changes. Put everything yucky in the baggie and throw it away. There is no room to maneuver a diaper bag, baby, and yourself in an airplane bathroom!!

That's a great idea, thanks for the tip.

[mommydiva]

Oh yes the bathroom was the worse for me. But thats because there was no changing table. I was in there for a good 15 minutes looking all over for things to pull out fold down and nothing so I finally had to change her on the toilet lid which was yeah oh so fun.

[mshah]

My best suggestion is not to overload yourself with crap. I've found people and the activities surrounding him kept Omair pretty well occupied. The toys and stuff only caused stress on myself because it overloaded the carry-on, and I couldn't get to the things I needed the most when I needed them (like bottles and diapers). After flying halfway across the world and across the country, minimize minimize minimize. Play peek-a-boo a million times. Talk to him, sing to him, tickle him, etc...

After all, it will be over before you know it, and who cares if they cry. You'll never see those people again.

Try feeding on takeoff and landing, to help with popping the ears, and chances are he'll sleep most of the flight anyway due to the white noise and vibrations of the plane. Just take a deep breath and relax, it will be fine!

(btw I always get people commenting on how "well behaved" omair has been on flights. It's not that he's well behaved, it's that I made sure to interact with him the whole time. I used it as special one-on-one time with him - no toys. It made him so happy and relaxed that it made for an extra smooth trip).

[Celine]

I flew w/ Sophia when she was 8 months. The flight was 8.5 hours (to London). I think your flight is short enough that you can entertain him w/o him crawling around on the airplane floor. I assume you are taking your little girl as well, so you have an extra child to occupy. Maybe you can recruit your little girl to play w/ Tommy?

I packed food and drink and had a few new toys that I would bring out when the whining started. For Sophia it was too loud to sleep on the plane (and we had a little cot for her to sleep in). We had tried to get her to sleep a bunch of times both to and back but we finally gave up and let her play and just hang out and absorb the whole plane trip atmosphere. There were so many loud children (screaming loud) next to us it was impossible for her to sleep. We just distracted her from the screaming kids so that she wouldn't start to scream, too. Hopefully you won't have screaming kids next to you.

It is kind of exciting to be on the plane for the babies/children- so many people- different smells, etc. I think the babies like it (except for the pressure difference)- I nursed when we landed and took off. We didn't have a problem w/ the ears hurting. The stewardesses on the plane were really good, they always stuck their head in the aisle when they passed and talked to Sophia (they felt bad for us that we had to sit next to the screaming kids).

My advice to you is to go w/ the flow. Don't expect too much (I mean don't expect that Tommy will sleep the entire flight) and if he cries it is not the end of the world. If he screams it is ok, too. I felt bad for the mom w/ the screaming kids next to us. She had no help from her husband (he was watching a movie w/ headphones on a laptop; oh yeah he was laughing b/c he was watching a comedy; after the movie ended he put in earplugs and then he fell asleep while the kids are screaming and the mom is trying to calm them down) and the kids were so wound up and she was so tired.

[mommy_2_ava_1109]

I'm flying with both the kids first thing in the morning. I'm nervous as hell! fortunately, we're only going from Texas to Louisiana, so the flight is an hour and 15 minutes. Wish me luck! lol