Air Travel with Toddler

I think each child's temperament/personality will affect how well he/she will take to the air travel. But FYI many flight attendants and child passenger safety technicians strongly recommend using the child's car seat on the plane for safety reasons - details here: http://carseatblog.com/6599/airplanes-carseats-and-kids—w... and here http://carseatblog.com/6635/airplanes-carseats-and-kids—w...
good luck and have a safe trip :-)

We traveled with our little guy as a "lap child" as long as humanly possible for several reason. First, cost. Second, if she has a seat they will expect your child to be "strapped in" no matter what when the seatbelt sign is on- even if your child is happily napping on you or laying in the seat. It never failed that our son would fall asleep just before landing and now we have to wake him up to strap him in. We would raise the arm rest b/w our two seats and let him sit there when he wanted to sit on his own.

Traveling will throw off your child's schedule no matter what you do so get a good price on your tickets and cross your fingers. You could fly at midnight and have a wide-awake toddler b/c flying and people-watching is interesting! Just know that it will take you all a day or 2 to get back into a routine on either end of your trip.

MINI DVD PLAYER OR IPOD. We bought an iPod dock for our traveling and it was the best $100 we spent. We don't allow much t.v so having unlimitted screen time on a trip was a lifesaver! Also make sure you have plenty of snacks, fluids, diapers, wipes, change of clothing and a few small "new" or "not recently played with" toys to keep your little one entertained.

Don't be afraid to walk up and down the aisle throughout the flight.

My children have pretty much been flying since birth... No really! My daughters first flight was when she was 7 days old! They have flown all over the world and a 5 hour flight to them is nothing. I suggest buying a seat for her. Planes tend to have extreme tempatures and who wants to be sitting on someone for 6 hours when its hot! Also on the comfort side of things.. if she likes the car seat and sleeps in it well she will do the same on the plane. Carseats MUST go at the window so she gets a nice pretty view of the outside which at her age would be fun! the last reason for us is safety.. If you have ever flown you know how one minute you are sitting there relaxed almost asleep and Bang you drop 5000 feet and the whole plane gasps! Turbulance is almost always a given and I have seen more then one kid who was innocently sitting on a lap or standing on a lap people watching and turbulance hits and they go up in the air causing panic to everyone. Bottom line here is you put her in a car seat in a car why is a plane any different? Also if there are 3 of you you have the whole area to let her stand up and move between the two of you if you lap her there is a third person who you will be bothering and that unfortunatly is when people get hacked off! Also make sure if you do take a car seat you make sure it has the FAA sticker. We now fly with the kids safe belt system my kids are 3 and 5 now and they both like it. Only problem is my 3 year old is not tall enough to look out the window. Boosters are not allowed to be used.
As for the time of flight I like late morning simply because its close to nap time. I wake them up as usual get them dressed we head to the airport and off we go. Each of them get a rolling bag with their small toys, nothing we would be afraid to loose and a few new things from the dollar store. I take a stroller but I let them walk the object is to get them tired in the airport. We always get to the gate a bit early but when I travel with someone someone preboards to get the seats ready or if im alone we dont preboard to early simply because its a long wait on the plane! Once boarded they are (were) strapped in and we chat, no toys or snacks until the plane is "wheels up" this is when I give them a sippy (even my 5 year old gets one since its less mess) of WATER! And a snack. Once we are cruising they can play with a toy or watch a DVD. I keep things light and always make friends with the airline attendants, they are your best line of defence! I have noticed that the kids who are screaming and freaking out are the kids with parents who are stressed or worried. Just relax and she will follow your que! I dont tend to bring crayons as they tend to roll off or things get drawn on... My two kids are good sleepers so its not long that they are both passed out and sleep a few hours from the white noise.
Changing tables are in the bathrooms, smaller planes might only have one but all planes have at least one. I dont ever have issue with time change I just pretend we havent changed and keep our regualr hours. If we fly to cali and we get there at 4pm we do our normal stuff and get ready for bed at 6. They might be a little cranky but who isnt that first day adn we start over new the next day. Its all about going with the flow and not freaking out!
You can always go to www.tsa.gov to make sure what you can bring while traveling with a child, yes the rules are different! also www.flyertalk.com has a huge forum on traveling with kids which might be worth a ready!
It all ends up being what you feel best about, you know your child best! Enjoy your trip!

Hi, D. -- if you search past postings here you will find these questions asked in the past.

We have flown a lot with our daughter since she was an infant, since we have family overseas.

Buy a seat. It is worth the expense. Reason one: Safety. In serious turbulence, you just cannot depend on being able to keep your arms around a child and prevent the child from flying out of your grip. You would not dream of letting your child ride in a car without a proper car seat, right? So don't let her ride in an aircraft without proper restraints either. Take her car seat but check with the airline well in advance that your particular seat fits their seats -- measure your seat in all dimensions. Seats will advertise that they are airline approved but that doesn't mean a lot -- talk to the airline. Someone posted that the airlines require you to keep small children buckled all the time -- I haven't been ordered to do that, but keep my daughter buckled all the time anyway for safety, and it's not a big deal. Airplane seatbelts can be made quite loose to go around a child who's sleeping in an odd position. And if she's in a car seat it's a moot point anyway -- she'll be secured as if in the car.

Reason two: Your sanity. You will arrive hot, sweaty, exhausted and frustrated after a six-hour flight with a child on your lap (even if your husband has her half the time --then both you and he will arrive sweaty and exhausted). In her own seat it will be easier to keep her entertained and you might get a better nap out of her.

A night flight that short, under 6 hours, will mean she gets little real sleep (unless she's a kid who really conks out easily). By the time she actually gets over all the noise, excitement, new environment, pressure in her ears, etc. she will be some time into the flight, and then will get a little sleep before being forced awake by the lights coming on, breakfast carts rattling down the aisles, etc. Overnight can work, but six hours is just short enough that she would not get "a full night's sleep." See if you can do a daytime flight that covers her nap time because a nap may be all she can get, if that.

Bring new things to distract her. A new toy, new small game, crayons and paper, etc. I am not a fan of using portable DVDs etc. to distract kids since they get used to that stimulation and don't learn to entertain themselves if it's done repeatedly, but if you need to use the DVD route, that's fine too.

Even though she's not an infant, have her drink during takeoff and landing to equalize pressure in her ears. That pressur can be very painful for little ones.

Please don't medicate her -- some parents say to use Benadryl to get kids to sleep but the medication itself includes warnings not to use it just to make kids drowsy, and it can have the opposite effect -- it totally winds up some kids and makes them more awake! I didn't use it for flying but the one time I used it for my daughter for allergies, it wired her instead of making her drowsy.

I just completed a 10 hour flight to the UK with my 2 year old - the night flight rocks, she fell asleep after about an hour, and slept all the way.
If you have plenty of money (lol?) then buy another seat, otherwise if there are two of you you can save a few hundred by trading off holding her while the other rests.
buy some new toys they have never seen and bring them out one by one.
healthy snacks and drinks.
your laptop with dvd's or a portable dvd player - most flights have a plug these days to charge stuff, otherwise make sure it is fully charged.
keep some candy for take off and landing in case of ear pain

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My daughter doesn't sleep on flights, even overnight ones, so we fly first thing in the morning. We sit her on our lap, and we just did so for a 3 hour flight. It's tough and uncomfortable, but worth saving the $300+. 2 months ago, we were on a flight that was half empty, so she had her own seat, and never sat in it. She preferred our laps. If you do buy a seat, a lot of people recommend car seats because it contains them and it makes it easier for them to fall asleep. I always let my daughter walk up and down the aisles when she wants, and we watch Yo Gabba Gabba on our DVD player, she loves it and will sit still for hours. I know this isn't the healthiest thing in the world, but we get a can of the Gerber Graduate Puffs and let her eat out of the container. She loves it and again will sit for a long period of time.

I traveled form Oklahoma to Florida when my son was 25 months old. He did great. I took a back pack with some new toys and books, snacks and gummy bears for his ears. We also had an ipod touch with games and movies that helped a lot. I would buy her a seat and don't worry about taking a car seat on the plane. My son thought it was cool that he got to sit in the seat like a big boy and even kept his belt on when the light was on. It was nice to have the extra room especially if she does want to sit on your lap, you can sit with your back against the side of the plane and your feet up for most of the flight. I found a book at target about a plane and bought him a $10 model so I could explain what was going on and where we were sitting. But in all reality he was usually asleep before we were in the air. Good luck and have fun!