Air Travel Advice for Twenty Month Old

I travel often with my 2 year old. If you can afford it, get a seat for your son. It gives him his own space and quite frankly you a break too. You'll have to take a car seat with you though. www.onestepahead.com has a couple of options to carry the car seat. There's a backpack and a rolling cover. Also, if he's over 22 lbs. the FAA just approved a new restraining device that only weighs a pound. You can get it at www.kidsflysafe.org. It's about $75, but can be used up to 40 lbs. It's called the CARES device. We used it on our last trip and it was a life (and back) saver! Also, a portable DVD player works great. We don't do too much TV at home, so on the plane it's a special treat for my daughter and she just LOVES it and stays calm for most of the flight. I've found toys and books are tough because they end up all over the floor and it's hard to bend over to search for them. Good Luck.

Don't give Benadryl, it will more than likely have the OPPOSITE effect on your child and make him crazy hyper. You don't need to drug him up to have a good flight! Bring some snacks, a sippy cup, and some fun new toys. Remember kids don't need expensive toys, a few new things from the dollar store work great, and are small enough to fit in a diaper bag. Bring your stroller right to the gate, they tag it and put it on the airplane so you don't have to lug a toddler through the airport. If you can swing it, buy him a seat. Most airlines offer 1/2 price toddler seats. If not, in your lap is ok too, and at 20 months he'll be so interested in the airplane and whats going on he'll be fine. And if he's like my boys, he'll fall asleep as soon as the plane taxi's out. :) My oldest is 4 1/2 nad has been flying since 2 months old and we've never had a problem. Good luck and have a great flight!

Hi C.,
Much advice regarding this question has been posted in the recent past and lots of good advice has been given. Make sure to review these. Good luck.
B.

A portable dvd player and some movies usually works for us.

Due to a divorce my now 4yr old has been traveling to CA four times a year since he was 18mos old. Pack snacks/drink for the ear pressure. Distraction and attention getters are a portable DVD player (pick up at Target for $100), stickers, hand stamps, crayons and coloring books, favorite reading books w/flaps, pull tabs etc. Some of these things can be wrapped up like gifts to take extra time of opening up. Pack little figures/plastic play toys the child likes. You will get the hang of it, but we have found the DVD player to be the best. Another option would be fairytale stories on a portable CD player as well (that give you a bit of a rest as well!).
Good luck and have fun. Meeting the pilot is always exciting too!

Just came back from Germany with a 19 month old. It was not as bad as I anticipated. Her Pediatrician recommended giving her Benadril to make her kind of sleepy and we used it on the way there. If you get it make sure to get a prescription to allow you to take it on the plane.
Otherwise get some new! small toys he can play with and coloring books to keep him busy.
Good luck!

We just flew in from Arizona last night with our 3 year old and 18 month old. It went fine BUT I too was petrified and almost had an anxiety attack when we boarded the plane...he was fussy and did NOT want to sit.
We brought a car seat and had him sit in it - we didn't buy a seat for him, only for our 3 year old but we had her sit on one of our laps and put him in the car seat. That helped!
I brought baby fruit snacks, craisins, little books, his blanket, milk (planes don't have milk onboard), and prayed that he'd sleep. He did but not for nearly as long as I'd have liked. My best advice is, don't panic. It will be fine. Good luck!!

I've travelled many times with my children. The last time I was by myself with a 4yr, 2yr and I was 7mnths pregnant. The best thing to do it to relax and not get stressed out. Bring some toys for them to play with. If they like to color bring the gear. Books is a good one to distract them and you if either of you get anxious. We love the I spy books because you can look for so many different things. Bring snacks and sandwiches for them. Doubtful they will have anything on the plane that the kids will eat. The airports are the worst part, because it's harder to contain them. So just be careful there. We lost our son for 20 minutes in the Dublin airport. Very scary! You can bring the stroller to the gate, so do that.

Good luck!

I'm travelling with my 15 month old son next week on a plane for 2.5 hrs. The last time we took a plane trip I went to the thrift store and bought some "new " toys to take along that he had not seen before(washed and cleaned before travel). I figured if we lost any toys it was no big deal as the entire bag was less than $5. He really liked the toys and they were able to keep his attention. He sat in his carseat most of the trip. My son likes cardboard books with thick pages we brought a few with too. Cheerios and milk in bottles helped to keep him fed and happy. Hope this helps you. D.