Asia with a toddler

[CloudBee]

Would flying in coach ruin my marriage if my husband is opposed to such a long flight with a toddler?

We're not paying for business or first, and don't have enough points to make such an upgrade.

DS does great in his own seat, but he can only watch so many videos, you know?  And the longest flight he's been on to date was 4-5 hrs.

Share your experiences with flights over 10 hr for kids ages 2-4.  He turns 2 in March, and that's around when I'm looking to book our next big trip.  (Already have something scheduled for next month - but it's only the Caribbean, so not far.)

I'm thinking direct from NY to Asia.  So a 14+ hr flight.

[frlcb]

We have done 10+ but not 14. It sucks, but it would suck regardless. I wouldn't spend the money on first/business unless you could upgrade.

[rupertpenny]

I've only done that flight with a much younger baby, but there were plenty of toddlers on all the flights and it seemed fine.

My only suggestion would be to check seat guru (I think that's what it's called?) to see what the seat configuration is on different flights. Being on a plane that was 2 5 2 might make the whole thing more difficult. I'd want it to only be my family in one row.

Where in Asia?

[traveljunkie13]

I've done 10-11hr flights with a 16mo and again (alone) with a barely 2yr old. I did not buy her a seat at 16mo which was rough but worth the $1500. Both times in coach.

Overnights were pretty easy. First few hours we did movies/toys and then after dinner. was finished I changed her into pjs, read some books and paced the aisle for 15min or so until she slept. She slept until breakfast came around. Hardest part was she slept on me so I couldn't get a good sleep and was crazy sore!

Coming home was rougher because of a day flight. I bring millions and millions of snacks all in little seperate baggies as well as new movies for the DVD player and emergency treats (dumdums usually). I was exhausted and over it by the time we landed...but we all survived.

I'm headed to Japan alone with my 4yr old and 19mo old. All three of us have seats (coach). It's 14hrs total and I'm dreading it.....but we will survive! All rules go out the window...whatever keeps the peace they get!

[anna7602]

What time of day is it? I did a 13-hour flight, solo, with DD when she was just shy of turning 3. She slept almost the entire way, but we took off around 8pm. It was a night flight in both directions  (South America). 

[origami]

I recently flew with my 3.5 yr old twins on a 13.5 hr flight to asia. We were in business though. It was much easier than I imagined. It was an overnight flight for US time, daytime flight for our destination's time. My kids either played on an iPad/plane's entertainment unit or slept. I had a bag of toys and snacks but we barely needed them. I requested kids meals from the airline so they had chicken nuggets IIRC and other foods they would actually eat. I'm not sure if having a flat seat made sleeping easier or not. I'll find out when I fly back to the states in coach later this year. What sucked way more than the flight was the time change. My kids woke up around 4 am for a week and a half.

[marclovesme]

My child is a dream on planes, but I wanted to die on our last transatlantic flights (and I think she did too). We were supposed to go to Copenhagen or Stockholm this year and DH made me cancel because he thinks she's not ready for a repeat... sadly, I would tend to agree.

[earlybird]

We flew to/from Asia (12-13 hour flight + a second 6-7 hour flight) with our toddler. She was 22 months old at the time. While she could have been better, she also could have been a lot worse. She's a light sleeper and didn't sleep well, or very much, on any of the flights. If you want to go, I wouldn't let the flight stop you. But I'd also try to get your husband on board with the idea.

[dulcemariamar]

My DH can be like this about toddlers and flying. He is always trying to find perfect time, route, seat, etc for the flight but it doesn't make a difference because it will be your toddler who decides on the day of the flight how they are going to act. (Although having lots of snacks, toys, videos, iPad makes a huge difference) I have had fantastic 10+ hour flights where my 16 month old was a dream for the flight even though she didn't have her own seat and other times where she was a complete beast on shorter flights (2 hours or less).

But try to get your DH on board. We travel quite a bit but only when it feels like the trip is worth it for us (seeing family or going on a real cool vacation). We pass on a lot of weekend travel because we dont want to deal with the hassle.