Air Travel with 16 Months Old.

Hi I may be too late responding! I just got back from a plane trip with my 16 month old, we did bring food and bought juice once we got through security for her. We brought a laptop that we put a computer game on and she played with that for about a half hour then she played with the window shade up and down for about 1/2 hour and dad let her turn the light on and off, she enjoyed the take off and landing so that was entertainment all by itself. I she read through all the magazines. I'm sure she will be great for you! Good luck! Let know how it turns out and if you came across any more helpful tips! Have a good time.

Hi Beata,
I have been up and down the East coast with my daughter several times since she was 3 months old, and it is challenging esp. because my husband never goes with us. But here is what I do, and hopefully some of this will help. I have one of those backbacks with a "leash" (that just sounds wrong, but I don't know what else to call it) and I use that to let her walk around at the gate when we are waiting to board. I also give her some tylenol 20 or so min. before we take off because like the previous mom said - the pressure change really does hurt them - I let mine have her pacifier if she won't drink for me. Then a couple of weeks before the trip I gather small toys, books, ect. and I hide them so it's a nice surprise when we are in the air. I also buy some new ones and I get the max. time out of them before I move on to a new thing when I pull them out on the plane. i bring an old recieving blanket to use in the plane bathroom because not all planes have baby changing stations and it is challenging to change a baby on a toliet seat lid - so i figured that she may as well stay clean. I also bring lots of snacks, because when all else fails - my daughter will eat. I don't know how your daughter is with tv, but I have used a portable dvd player with some of her favorite dvds and that seemed to buy me time as well. I also bring our stroller right to the gate and they almost always have it set up waiting for me when we land and I always gate check her car seat as well (I usually don't buy her a seat, and sometimes they will tell you if no one is sitting next to you that you can bring the seat on board). I almost always run into people who are very eager to help - even if only to talk/ entertain her for a little while. So that's what I do, have a really great time on your vacation, I am also planning a trip with my daughter soon (she's 15 mo) so I'll be doing all of this again in a couple of weeks. Thank goodness you have your husband going with you, I would love for mine to come with my daughter and I sometime. Take care and good luck!

Hi Beata!

Congratulations on being a new mom! Your first trip with a baby can create a bit of anxiety. In my opinion, babies have the ability to pick up on those anxieties so my first advice would be to be excited about the trip with a positive outlook. Along with all the amenities that you need for babies, also bring toys books or whatever your child likes for her entertainment. Bring a favorite blanket from home so she feels the comforts of home. And lastly, here's a little secret I've shared many times with parents of crying babies due to air-pressure affecting their ears. It's going to sound a little silly but...if this happens, ask a flight attendant for two plastic cups, moisten two pieces of paper towel with warm water and put in the cups, place the cups over the babies ears. It releases the pressure and they are comfortable again. They even think it's some kind of game that they're playing. Try it and let me know what happens! Have fun in the Big Apple! The good thing is the trip is only about 2 1/2 hours!

Hey, I'm a mother of four (with a set of twins), traveled many times with them. I know how to get creative especially when I don't want my children to disturb other people. I know it works. I live in Tampa as well and guess what, I'm from NY! Whoo Hoo! Go Yankees! All the best!

M. S. ____@____.com

I use to travel all the time when my oldest daughter was a baby. One of the best tips that I can offer is to make sure that your daughter is hungry and will take her bottle or sippy cup during take off and landing. The sucking motion of her mouth will help equalize her ears. Another good tip is to have an activity bag to keep her busy during the flight.

Travel safe.

Beata,

I flew for the first time with my daughter over the holidays she was a year old. I bought a Go Go Babyz TravelMate. This is a device that you can attach to the car seat to make it a stroller. It was like $90 & works with MOST seats. Not too bad to assemble. You just detach it to use the carseat as a carseat. Which I think all kids should be in a carseat on the plane anyhow.

The flight itself, just get her to chew, or sip on something for ascent & desent. The first desent was horrible. We couldn't get her to take anything. Someone offered twizzlers, which worked for 10 seconds. On the flight back we just shoved graham crackers in her mouth & finally chewed & it helped.

Lots of Dum Dum lollipops are good and sippy cups. That is the life saver for us. When my boys were really little, we would give them Tylenol or Motrin before boarding to ease any potential pain too. We were fortunate to have good flights, other than a couple of flights with upset tummies due to early morning travel.

Good luck! I always take enough lollipops for little ones around too and we have been thanked by other parents a few times.

best travel advice I ever got and will give is a Sit and Stroll Stroller. Well worth the investment if you plan on taking baby on travel and plan on having more. Its a stroller that converts into a car seat. You take it right on the plane, it sits in the seat then converts into stroller, and car seat for taxi to and from etc... You can check it out on the web and they sell them sometimes on Ebay. I bought mine new and it was WELL worth it! Enjoy! K.