Best tricks for a peaceful plane ride (update-in replies)

[cece]

We have our first flight tomorrow with DD (20 months).   We leave around noon, and she will be in DH's lap.  It's about a 90 min flight so not terrible.   I loaded her iPad up with apps, I will have pouches and snacks, and maybe a jelly sandwich for her.   She will have a pacifier.  Am I missing any good tricks??  

[countthestars]

Lollipops
Low expectations

[cece]

Mar 26, 2015 19:39:08 GMT -5 countthestars said:

Lollipops
Low expectations

Oh hell.  I really am kind of dreading this!

But there is a beach at the end....

[moopoint17]

Remember to give her something to eat/drink/suck on for take off and landing.

[longtimenopost]

Daniel tiger and caillou

[Deleted]

My lap baby flight went really well for the first 90 minutes...but unfortunately we spent that whole time sitting on the tarmac waiting for them to fix something on the plane. (wilted)

But when we got in the air he was bored as hell and I had basically no shame so we walked up and down the aisles six times and he said hi to everyone.  Just smile awkwardly and it will be over soon.

[rupertpenny]

90 minutes is nothing! You sound well prepared, you will be fine.

[cece]

Mar 26, 2015 19:53:49 GMT -5 @vicmo said:

If you bring a straw cup, it will explode / squirt everywhere if you don't release the pressure occasionally. Maybe don't bring one, haha.

This is good to know.  I was going to bring a straw cup!  

[spk926]

ipad and treats and you'll be fine. That's a short flight that it will be over before you know it!

[cece]

Mar 26, 2015 20:18:44 GMT -5 @cookiemonster03 said:

Low expectations. That age was THE. WORST. In terms of travel. It got so so much better after 2.5 (sorry just being honest)


And I agree. Straw Cups and planes don't mix. Huge mess even closed.

It will be ok. Just think beach and remember you will never see the other people again.

Shit.  Just shit.   Beach, beach, beach. 

[pippa]

lol at low expectations. That's the truth.

Post it notes. They bought us at least 15 minutes of focused silence.

[antoniamarchette]

My first flight with 21 month old ds is Sunday. I'm so nervous! Good luck with your flight!

[nomad]

I just wanted to say good luck. We are flying this weekend with my twin nearly 19 m olds both as lap babies. We went to Hawaii when they were one with one in a seat and one a lap baby. They slept a lot then and the flights were surprisingly easy. I'm more nervous about this trip. Are sippy cups the only answer for drinking on the flight? Ugh.

[lolo]

Bring a gallon zip lock bag in case of any accidents

Pack an extra set of PJs a carry on in case of delays

Make sure your phones and iPad are fully charged

We most recently flew with DD at 18m and it was fine. We will be going cross country next month when she's 23m so we'll see how that goes. (She has also flown at 2.5m, 7m, 12m and 14m.)

[mrshandy]

Mar 26, 2015 19:54:33 GMT -5 swizz said:

Mar 26, 2015 19:53:49 GMT -5 @vicmo said:

If you bring a straw cup, it will explode / squirt everywhere if you don't release the pressure occasionally. Maybe don't bring one, haha.

I shot the flight attendant with milk.

Yes!!! I did this to three people sitting next to me!

I wanted to disappear into the seat.

[cece]

Mar 26, 2015 20:31:06 GMT -5 antoniamarchette said:

My first flight with 21 month old ds is Sunday. I'm so nervous! Good luck with your flight!

Thanks!  Same to you!!

[cece]

Mar 26, 2015 20:35:24 GMT -5 nomad said:

I just wanted to say good luck. We are flying this weekend with my twin nearly 19 m olds both as lap babies. We went to Hawaii when they were one with one in a seat and one a lap baby. They slept a lot then and the flights were surprisingly easy. I'm more nervous about this trip. Are sippy cups the only answer for drinking on the flight? Ugh.

Good luck to you! I am not sure what we are gonna do since sippy cups don't do well on planes!

[vcubergirl]

As long as you unscrew the top for a second to equalize the pressure on the way up, straw cups are fine. I did that with ours and it didn't make a mess at all. I put SO MANY apps on my phone. We spent a good 20 minutes looking at/tearing up the magazine from the seat back. We were also about a 90 minute flight, it was DS and I in a 3 wide seat with business travelers on either side. They both slept the whole way, and it was just fine. On the way home we had trouble though, because it was super turbulent and I vomited =D Yay for letting a complete stranger hold my son! Thankfully it was an older lady, and she completely took pity on me. I gave her the 2 fancy chocolate chip cookies I had in my bag.

[Brie]

If all else fails let her rip Sky Mall to pieces and have M&MS in your purse.

I flew with C about that age (and many other times) and really it was fine. He is a super active kid but the novelty of the environment usually buys us a good chunk of the flight.

[dulcemariamar]

I would bring more activities like stickers, post-its, crayons etc.

[mannah]

ryry gave me a great tip a while ago which was fantastic--when it's time to board and they let you get on first since you're traveling with a child, have you H get on with the bags and get situated awhile you stay off the plane until as late as possible! Let her run around and not be confined until the last people are boarding and then you get on. No sense adding 45 minutes to the flight. Then we she does get on it will be new and interesting and the novelty will last longer into the actual flight. Genius!

[momin2013]

The straw cups! Why didn't anyone tell me about the straw cups?! We flew with DS at 21 months, and just after take-off poor DH ended up with a faceful of water! I guess milk would have been worse, though...

Our trip went pretty well, actually. I think our saver was the portable DVD player; that held him through about 3/4 of the 2 hour flight. He also had his own seat, which may/may not have made a difference to him being so agreeable.

[northeastern]

I second the stickers idea. DD loved to stick them to the tray table and I just picked them off at the end of the flight. Good luck!

[jaybird]

I agree with getting on last and bringing lots of snacks, especially small snacks like cheerios or fruit cut into little pieces since they take longer to eat. If your child is friendly, look around for friendly faces. DD normally spends about 20 minutes waving to people who will acknowledge her. She also liked blocks (I brought like 4 blocks and she knocked them down) and a ball she rolled around.

[Deleted]

90 minutes is nothing. People won't even hate you on a 90 minute flight if it goes terribly. Hopefully things are on time, you'll be done before you really start getting to the awful point.

[deo]

Make sure you have an extra change of clothes for you. We had a horrible flight last month where DS2 puked on me twice, I ended up wearing just my jacket by the end of the flight.

90 minutes will go by fast. On our last flight I brought a ziplock Baggie with Legos and ds2 spent a good 30 minutes putting them together and breaking them apart.

[vcubergirl]

Oh, just an FYI, as a matter of policy most airlines don't require the gate agent to board people with little kids first. It depends on the gate agent. When flying solo with DS I prefer to get on early.

[mrsGreeko]

For kids that age I packed my backpack carry on in a very specific way.

I had a gallon sized ziploc with diaper changing supplies and an extra outfit in it. A gallon ziploc filled with every snack I could possibly put in there. A gallon ziploc with books. A gallon ziploc with small toys. And a gallon ziploc with triangular crayons (so they don't roll), coloring books/plain paper, and stickers). This way I could easily pull out a new bag every time we had to switch activities and I had bags if I needed them on the flight or at our destination.

My oldest is almost 9 so most of my flying with young kids was pre-iPad times. Now I bring some of the above and leappads, iPads, and iPhones. .

90 minutes should be no big deal.

[cece]

Thank you everyone! She did so well! She played on the iPad, looked out the window, ate snacks, it really wasn't terrible!