Flying with a toddler.....

[mrschelseap09]

We are leaving Thursday for an emergency trip to RI. I have never flown with Lila before. Please tell me if there is anything special that I should bring for the flight. Thanks!

[mrsjenrn]

We last flew with Zoe in Decmember so I am sure it will be different now! If I were to fly now with Zoe, I would bring:
her absolutely favorite snacks
a few new toys that she has never seen to hold her interest
books
toys you know hold her interest for a while....are you noticing a pattern here? lol!

and the usual, plenty of wipes, diapers, changes of clothes for all of you (we always brought extra shirts for us too), stroller (we took our chicco and never had an issue).

What are you going to do about a carseat?

[mrschelseap09]

How horrible am I? I didn't even think about her carseat. I guess we will fly it.

My neighbor said she always gave her son benedryl a 1/2 hr before they got on the plane, should I worry about something like that? I want to say that she did that to get him to sleep though, would there be another reason? If its to sleep, I am not interested.

Would ear plugs help with her ears popping? Omg, I am freaking out. She is NOT going to sit still for this flight.

[mrsjason]

No joke, I have flown with Macy over 20 times. Really, it is not nearly as bad as you think it maybe.

Are you renting a car in RI? If so you can also rent a car seat from the car company, which IMO, is much easier than lugging a car seat through the airport.

As for what to bring, I always bring my laptop/ipad with a movie downloaded. I seldom show Macy a movie, only if I a desperate to keep her occupied.

I also bring her a empty sippy cup. Southwest does offer lids with their drinks but Delta doesn't. I can't tell you what a PITA it is to keep a drink on that stupid little tray without spilling it with a toddler sitting next to you.

I always bring a coloring book, another great thing to pass the time. And of course I bring snacks, diapers, wipes, and a blanket.

The only time her ears will be an issue is during take off and landing. Try to offer a drink to her during those times. I do that with Macy. Sometimes she takes a drink, sometimes she doesn't but very rarely does her ears bother her. If they start to, I offer her a drink again.

I promise it's no big deal to fly with a toddler! And if she does cry, don't stress, you will never, ever see those people again!

Oh, and one more tip......change her right before you board. That way you maybe able to avoid changing her in those tiny bathrooms. While not impossible to change her in the airplane bathroom it's much easier to do in the terminal

[jennifer8080]

We flew with Kennedy in April and it wasn't bad at all. Bring her birth certificate for one. I did not give her any Benadryl or anything. As for her ears, try to offer her something to drink at take off and landing. Kennedy wasn't interested all the time, but it also didn't seem to bother her. Definitely bring snacks, drinks, toys. It's worth it to have one or two new toys that she has never seen. Ditto Kathy - we changed her just before we boarded and were able to avoid airplane diaper changes.

We took Kennedy's infant seat because she just barely was under the size restrictions. I personally am not fond of the idea of renting a car seat. I feel like I have no idea if it's been in a crash, or even how clean it is. Plus they charge $10 a day or so. For that price you could almost buy a cheap and decent car seat, depending how long you are going for. My friend suggested one from Walmart that is used a lot for travel and it was like $50.

[alzi]

I don't have a kid, but I can weigh in on the ears. Earplugs won't help with popping. I would have her drink during takeoff/landing if you can - they helps her ears pop.

[amellis2]

Jun 12, 2012 5:42:54 GMT -5 alzi said:

I don't have a kid, but I can weigh in on the ears. Earplugs won't help with popping. I would have her drink during takeoff/landing if you can - they helps her ears pop.

I love having an ear Pro on this board

[alzi]

Jun 12, 2012 7:20:33 GMT -5 amellis2 said:

Jun 12, 2012 5:42:54 GMT -5 alzi said:

I don't have a kid, but I can weigh in on the ears. Earplugs won't help with popping. I would have her drink during takeoff/landing if you can - they helps her ears pop.

I love having an ear Pro on this board

happy to help! Ears are fun!

[tashaandsage]

We flew with Beckett when he was exactly Lila's age, and while it wasn't quite as easy as when he was a smaller baby, it was no big deal at all. We took all the things that were mentioned already (change of clothes, toys, snacks, wipes, diapers, blanket etc.) and a laptop with a few DVDs (short cartoon episodes not full length movies). That really helped to pass the time for him, so he didn't want to get out of his seat and run up and down the aisle. I have no recollection of what we did for a car seat, but I'm thinking we just checked it.

[mrschelseap09]

Thank you all SO MUCH! I am having so much anxiety over this.

[dvroxy]

I bought a travel dvd player when we took MacKenzie on a plane. The stewardess on the plane did give me a hard time since we didn't have headphones for our 18 month old (really? come on...). But I basically told her, it was either make her happy by watching a movie that you could barely hear anyway, or a screaming toddler. She never came back and we watched movies.

Ditto the whole sippy cup. If you can make her drink at lift off, it will help her ears.

I do not recommend benadryl. Every kid can act different and it might have an adverse effect on her. She might go crazy instead of sleep.

The airline left me check a stroller on the aircraft free of charge I believe. So I brought a small umbrella stroller to use in the airport.

Lots of snacks and books are a must.

Good luck!

[mrsjenrn]

Jun 11, 2012 23:05:41 GMT -5 jennifer8080 said:

We took Kennedy's infant seat because she just barely was under the size restrictions. I personally am not fond of the idea of renting a car seat. I feel like I have no idea if it's been in a crash, or even how clean it is. Plus they charge $10 a day or so. For that price you could almost buy a cheap and decent car seat, depending how long you are going for. My friend suggested one from Walmart that is used a lot for travel and it was like $50.

I like the car seat idea. I think if we take a trip that is long enough, we may just buy a carseat when we get there if is going to be equal to or cheaper than renting. I am not sure if I'd want to take Zoe's current car seat bc that thing is expensive and I don't want it to get damaged

[mrschelseap09]

Jun 12, 2012 16:56:17 GMT -5 mrsjenrn said:

I am not sure if I'd want to take Zoe's current car seat bc that thing is expensive and I don't want it to get damaged

I am so worried about this. DH's Uncle offered to let us use one, but DH is stuck on taking ours.

[jennifer8080]

Jun 12, 2012 17:50:01 GMT -5 mrschelseap09 said:

Jun 12, 2012 16:56:17 GMT -5 mrsjenrn said:

I am not sure if I'd want to take Zoe's current car seat bc that thing is expensive and I don't want it to get damaged

I am so worried about this. DH's Uncle offered to let us use one, but DH is stuck on taking ours.

I was okay taking ours because we knew. It would never be used again. I hear mixed things, but I felt more comfortable gate checking ours, because I knew it would likely be tossed around if we checked it. Who are you flying? Southwest will let you bring the seat on, even if you didn't pay for a seat, as long as it isn't a full flight.

[mrschelseap09]

Jun 12, 2012 21:00:08 GMT -5 jennifer8080 said:

Jun 12, 2012 17:50:01 GMT -5 mrschelseap09 said:

I am so worried about this. DH's Uncle offered to let us use one, but DH is stuck on taking ours.

I was okay taking ours because we knew. It would never be used again. I hear mixed things, but I felt more comfortable gate checking ours, because I knew it would likely be tossed around if we checked it. Who are you flying? Southwest will let you bring the seat on, even if you didn't pay for a seat, as long as it isn't a full flight.

We are flying Southwest.

[jennifer8080]

That's who we flew and they were really great. We didn't bring the seat on because it was a short flight (only about 1 hr 20 min) and since Kennedy wasn't real mobile yet I wasn't worried about keeping her in her seat. But you can always ask when you check in if it's a full flight.

[mrschelseap09]

Jun 12, 2012 22:50:20 GMT -5 jennifer8080 said:

That's who we flew and they were really great. We didn't bring the seat on because it was a short flight (only about 1 hr 20 min) and since Kennedy wasn't real mobile yet I wasn't worried about keeping her in her seat. But you can always ask when you check in if it's a full flight.

I lied. Justin wanted to wait till the last minute to book the flight. Its $400 cheaper to fly out of Orlando, to Boston on Jet Blue. They also have tv in every head rest, so I don't have to run out and get a dvd player. So I guess that's the route that we are taking.

I called Jet Blue and they said that it is up to the flight attendants whether or not the car seat comes on board. But they allow her diaper bag, stroller and car seat to travel free of charge.

[jennifer8080]

Hopefully the TV will entertain her!!! Good luck, definitely let us know how it goes.