Long Airplane Trip

Sometimes it's worth buying the extra seat so you can put her carseat in it. With my kids, that's the only way to keep them put. Then with them in the carseat, bring along the DVD player. Good luck!

We took our son on a flight when he was 16 months old and it was tough. What made it a little better was buying him a seat and putting him in his car seat for the flight. We brought lots of munchies and drinks. When we do it again we'll bring a portable dvd player and some new videos along too.

Good Luck!

First off, if you are uptight about this trip, your little one will feel that stress and it will just compound the stress. Relax it is only 4 hours of your life, will it matter in 10 years? Bring along lots of NEW and different little toys that are quiet toys. Do not let her see or know there are more in the bag. Bring a cd player with the music you put on when she falls asleep to relax her. If she watches movies or shows, invest in a small dvd player, it is wonderful. Make sure you have her blanket, or sheet from her bed, not washed, so it smells like her own. That is very calming for her. Be sure she is drinking something out of a sippy cup, or a bottle as you are taking off and landing. Ask for the farthest seat in the back. Less distraction for your little one, and less concern for you about bothering others. Fly during her naptime, or bedtime, if possible. I have heard of friends actually giving there toddlers benidryll for the flight, so it makes them sleepy. I have never tried that. We took this time as a special time to do the long reads of their books. "See the blue bird on this page. How many flowers are in this picture" and really looked at everything on each page, relaxed and looking forward to having the time to be with my little one without interuptions. Not easy, but doable. Good luck.

The ONLY sane way to travel with my antsy son was to buy him his own seat and bring his car seat because he is accustomed to be restrained in that. I tried one flight leg with him in my lap and it was horrible! (and that was at only 6 months old). I also bring lots of snacks, some favorite toys/books and some new toys/books wrapped in gift paper (DVDs never kept my son occupied at that age). If you can't buy a seat at this point, then still bring the car seat . That way if there is an empty seat you can use the car seat (if there is not an empty seat then you can gate check the car seat)...we had a car seat that converts into a stroller (from One Step Ahead) and it made life really easy. If you reserve an aisle seat and a window seat in a 3 seat section you are more likely to end up with an empty seat between you. Otherwise just be willing to ask the attendants to help you rearrange seating if there is an empty seat anywhere on the plane.

Aah, the other key for us is running the heck out of my son while we are waiting to board the plane and whenever we have a layover.

Have a great trip!

I had the same worries when traveling with my son when he was 20 months old on a 3.5 hour flight. We did not buy him a seat but we brought his car seat (we needed it when we got there anyway). We didn't check it but brought it to the gate. We asked to be seated in a row with an empty seat and put him in the car seat. If there hadn't been an empty seat we would have asked to have the car seat stowed. He sits very nicely in his car seat and understands he can't move around so it worked great. We also brought a bunch of little toys, treats that he hadn't had before, new books, etc. I was a nervous wreck but the flight was just fine. Good luck!

Buy her a seperate seat. It might be expensive but its WORTH it. Kids know that they must sit in their car seats and its very safe and they are comfy in their car seats. You can pre-board to make sure you get the seat(FYI, they MUST sit next to the window--not enough room for a person to get past them if there is an emergency). OUr two year old, is a very busy guy, we flew to Florida in October with his own seat and car seat and it was great.
**Bring lots of toys (preferably new ones, that he hasnt seen). Try and stay away from noisy or loud toys (or cover up the speakers on the toys).
**M&M's, goldfish, cheerios, puffs, cheese, crackers(basically any snacks that your little one likes. Make sure to have a variety of snacks and things to do. I know that playing with your food isnt appropriate, but you can make a simple game out of colored snacks (M&M's, colored goldfish).
**Stickers are great too, as long as she doesnt eat them.
**Mini board books (Half Price Books has a great variety and cheap).
**Make sure to bring her lovey (pacifier, blanket, stuffed animal)
**Sippy cup or bottle (helps with ears popping).
**Pictures of family or pictures with lots of things that she can point out (can you find the _____).
**DVD player and movies
**Lastly and most importantly, dont stress out about it. Your daughter can sense that and will feed off your emotions.
I have a great link/website for finding play areas in airports...I will PM you later with that website. Its very helpful and offers a wide variety of places for kids to run around in the airport.

I have twins who are now 7 and they have flown lots! When they were just 6 months old I flew by myself with them from Buffalo, NY to Anchorage, AK. It took 12 hours on three flights. I thought it was difficult and thought oh, it will be nice once they are a little older and can walk... Boy, did I have that wrong. Once they could walk it become so much harder and more exhausting to entertain and keep up with them. The best thing I can tell you is to first have a good attitude about it. Yes, it will be tiring you just have to accept that going into it. But, four hours at first sounds like a long time but in the grand scheme of things four hours is nothing. You can do just about anything for four hours. Children can really sense our emotions no matter what age and if you are relaxed and accepting of the experience that will help them to be relaxed. If your child will watch movies and you don't have one, you can rent dvd players with movies at the Minn Airport and you return them at your final destination or mail them back. It does not cost very much. Be sure to either explain to your child that you will have to put it away during take off or do not bring it out until after take off so she does not get upset when it must be turned off for take off. I know my son with movies was perfect but my daughter was good for about 10 minutes with a movie. She was much easier entertained though with quiet activities. My sons activities were always very noisy and involved lots of movement where he was kicking the seat in front of us or constantly dropping things. Try to pack some new toy or activity in your carry on. Something she will not see until she gets on the plane that she will like. But, honestly I think the best thing you can do is go on to the plane with a really good attitude and realize that 4 hours does sound like a long time at first but if you really think about it 4 hours is nothing. Good Luck

I suggest dvd player, little toys to pull out that she has never seen. Silly putty is small and inexpensive and does not make a huge mess like playdoh. Also stamps and stickers with a sticker book, cheap and easy. Just know we all have been there and probably so has everyone on the plane. Your nervousness can make her nervous so just relax and enjoy your trip..

I would highly suggest investing in a portable DVD player. She's getting to the age now where she will start to be able to watch something for upwards of 1/2 hour or more and her attention span will grow. These are good on car trips too so you'll definately get your money's worth for all sorts of trave. The prices are actually pretty reasonable. I'd check out Best Buy.

Buy her, her own seat! Especially for that long of a flight. If a carseat would help restrain her bring it.

Just visualize trying to restrain your daughter on your lap for 4 hours at home on your couch, then visualize doing that on a crammed pack airplane where you can bother others. NO thankyou!

My daughter is 6 and has flown about 12x now. I only have one really awful memory of flying. She was about 15mos. old and we had a 3 hour flight and she was a lap child because it's cheaper. I am a single mom flying alone. It was hell. I vowed to never do that ever again. I thought to myself it would have been worth paying for her seat. After 2 years old you have to pay for their seat anyways so I didn't have that dilema again but it was horrible. When they're on your lap like that it's almost impossible to get toys,treats, dvd player out or have any room to even look at a anything.

There's a great blog/reader panel called "ask moxie." There's a whole section on traveling with young children. Here's the link: http://www.askmoxie.org/traveling/index.html

When you get there, you'll be able to scroll down a whole bunch of posts about traveling. When you see ones that are relevant to your situation (and there are at least a couple--"summer air travel nightmare,"going overseas with a 6 month-old," etc.), go into the comments section and there you will find a TON of suggestions to fit a variety of different ages and temperaments. I have really come to love this site. I hope you find it helpful. Safe travels!