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Kaytee
I will be soon travelling alone internationally with my 16 month old daughter. She will be on my lap. When she was a baby, she could sleep in an airplane bassinet during flights, but now she won't fit. I am wondering, how can I make her sleep longer and more comfortably on my lap? What position would you recommend? She's a bit of a fussy toddler, so I expect it may be hard to put her down.
Also, any other life-saving tips for toddler air travel?
Answer
the people who said give your baby benedryl before the flight got a lot of thumbs down, but it really wont hurt. I wasn't too crazy about that idea when I was going to fly with my son at that age for the 1st time so I asked his pediatrician if that's ok. He said yes its totally fine and they told me exactly how much to give. It goes by weight, so to keep your sanity you may want to try it. It wont hurt her, unless she's one of those freakish kids who has the opposite reaction to benedryl and bounces off the walls. toys work for a little bit but cramming a toddler into a small space like an airplane seat confined to your lap.....youre going to want her asleep. As far as what position...I asked the flight attendant for a pillow and then i opened up the little tray in front of me, put the pillow on it and my lap...his head was on my lap his legs up on the tray part. it was a 5 hour flight and most of it went smooth since he was sleeping. When he was awake he kept trying to get off my lap and was kicking the giant guy next to us :)
the people who said give your baby benedryl before the flight got a lot of thumbs down, but it really wont hurt. I wasn't too crazy about that idea when I was going to fly with my son at that age for the 1st time so I asked his pediatrician if that's ok. He said yes its totally fine and they told me exactly how much to give. It goes by weight, so to keep your sanity you may want to try it. It wont hurt her, unless she's one of those freakish kids who has the opposite reaction to benedryl and bounces off the walls. toys work for a little bit but cramming a toddler into a small space like an airplane seat confined to your lap.....youre going to want her asleep. As far as what position...I asked the flight attendant for a pillow and then i opened up the little tray in front of me, put the pillow on it and my lap...his head was on my lap his legs up on the tray part. it was a 5 hour flight and most of it went smooth since he was sleeping. When he was awake he kept trying to get off my lap and was kicking the giant guy next to us :)
Can someone suggest small toys for a 16 month old to use on a plane trip?
LOVE
We have a 14.5 hour flight to Tokyo and I know that I will need lots of entertainment for my little man.. Of course I can't bring big toys, but does anyone have ideas for small toys that I can bring on board?
P.S. My baby is a boy..
Answer
This is a tough age!
I was a Flight Attendant for 13 years and whenever we saw a toddler come onboard, we knew it could get tricky. After 10 years of working on airplanes, I then found myself one of those mothers. I fly, usually alone, with my three children between Europe and California about twice a year, starting when each was 4 months old.
Not to scare you but the hardest trips for me were when mine were this age. They don't like to be confined. You can't really reason or negotiate too well with them ("If you stay seated now...") I had one 11 1/2 hour flight when my son slept all of 20 minutes. Get a good nights' sleep yourself before leaving!
For entertainment, what does he like to play with at home? Probably tons of toys which are big and noisy! My trick was to bring new things. It worked for my mom when I flew as a toddler and I did it with my own kids.
Remember that it only needs to be new to them. Some moms get creative with second hand toys. Have several and pull them out as the flight goes on. My son especially liked things he could take apart and open up. He loved anything with wheels and those cheap plastic animals kept him busy for ages. Buy a whole container of them and divide them up in small bags. Keep pulling out the bags as the hours go by. If you lose one or two, it's no great tragedy.
Books are good, especially those with chunky pages. Coloring pads, magnadoodle pads worked well. Please don't get into drawing things for him. My mistake! I once drew cats all the way across the Atlantic (or at least felt like I had...)
Whether to bring a portable DVD player is up to you. Is he a big "screen watcher"? I only had one of those. The other two had the attention spans of knats so I never bothered. Will he wear the headphones? Perhaps practice at home first. What about watching the imagines without the sound? I never brought one but other moms swear by them. He seems a bit young but by all means, do what you think will work.
I do hope you have a seat for him. I suggest you bring his carseat and use it onboard. Check to make sure it's FAA certified if you're flying a U.S. carrier. Here's a site that explains more;
http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/crs/
If not, check with your airline and/or aviation authority of the the airline's nationality. Huge variations of rules regarding car seats onboard.
He'll probably be more comfortable in his familar seat and he's much safer than in your lap. Having said that, commercial air travel in the industrialized world is very safe and there's very little chance of anything happening. You'll be grateful to have the extra space and be able to put him down when asleep.
Try to book "bulkhead" seats. These are the ones with the wall in front. They are located throughout the cabin. This will give you more freedom to get in and out of your seats and prevent him kicking the seat in front of him. Toddlers are good at this! Unfortunately, you can't sit in exit rows with a child.
He'll want to move so try to do that when there isn't a meal service (or those pesky duty free carts) in the aisle. All the carts are super-heavy and the perfect height to hide a toddler. Keep an eye on him at all times.
If turbulence hits while you're up and about, don't go back to your seats unless it's steady enough to make it safely. Sit on the floor if you have to, one hand to hold on and the other around him.
A great tip I got from a cousin and used myself is to learn to change them standing up. The changing tables in airplanes are small and at this age, they hate to lie down in strange places. Practice at home and then you can use the bigger handicapped lavs instead of trying to cram both of you in the little ones. Keep him away from the emergency button. They are attracted to the red color and love to press it.
A few years ago I wrote an article for a local newsletter. I later expanded it and put it on a blog to share with other parents. Many of them in turn, gave me some more great tips. It's totally non-commercial so feel free to visit;
http://flyingwithchildren.blogspot.com
I go more into packing, getting that car seat through the airport and feeding tips. Information from someone who actually worked in the industry!
Have a great trip to a very child-friendly country!
This is a tough age!
I was a Flight Attendant for 13 years and whenever we saw a toddler come onboard, we knew it could get tricky. After 10 years of working on airplanes, I then found myself one of those mothers. I fly, usually alone, with my three children between Europe and California about twice a year, starting when each was 4 months old.
Not to scare you but the hardest trips for me were when mine were this age. They don't like to be confined. You can't really reason or negotiate too well with them ("If you stay seated now...") I had one 11 1/2 hour flight when my son slept all of 20 minutes. Get a good nights' sleep yourself before leaving!
For entertainment, what does he like to play with at home? Probably tons of toys which are big and noisy! My trick was to bring new things. It worked for my mom when I flew as a toddler and I did it with my own kids.
Remember that it only needs to be new to them. Some moms get creative with second hand toys. Have several and pull them out as the flight goes on. My son especially liked things he could take apart and open up. He loved anything with wheels and those cheap plastic animals kept him busy for ages. Buy a whole container of them and divide them up in small bags. Keep pulling out the bags as the hours go by. If you lose one or two, it's no great tragedy.
Books are good, especially those with chunky pages. Coloring pads, magnadoodle pads worked well. Please don't get into drawing things for him. My mistake! I once drew cats all the way across the Atlantic (or at least felt like I had...)
Whether to bring a portable DVD player is up to you. Is he a big "screen watcher"? I only had one of those. The other two had the attention spans of knats so I never bothered. Will he wear the headphones? Perhaps practice at home first. What about watching the imagines without the sound? I never brought one but other moms swear by them. He seems a bit young but by all means, do what you think will work.
I do hope you have a seat for him. I suggest you bring his carseat and use it onboard. Check to make sure it's FAA certified if you're flying a U.S. carrier. Here's a site that explains more;
http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/crs/
If not, check with your airline and/or aviation authority of the the airline's nationality. Huge variations of rules regarding car seats onboard.
He'll probably be more comfortable in his familar seat and he's much safer than in your lap. Having said that, commercial air travel in the industrialized world is very safe and there's very little chance of anything happening. You'll be grateful to have the extra space and be able to put him down when asleep.
Try to book "bulkhead" seats. These are the ones with the wall in front. They are located throughout the cabin. This will give you more freedom to get in and out of your seats and prevent him kicking the seat in front of him. Toddlers are good at this! Unfortunately, you can't sit in exit rows with a child.
He'll want to move so try to do that when there isn't a meal service (or those pesky duty free carts) in the aisle. All the carts are super-heavy and the perfect height to hide a toddler. Keep an eye on him at all times.
If turbulence hits while you're up and about, don't go back to your seats unless it's steady enough to make it safely. Sit on the floor if you have to, one hand to hold on and the other around him.
A great tip I got from a cousin and used myself is to learn to change them standing up. The changing tables in airplanes are small and at this age, they hate to lie down in strange places. Practice at home and then you can use the bigger handicapped lavs instead of trying to cram both of you in the little ones. Keep him away from the emergency button. They are attracted to the red color and love to press it.
A few years ago I wrote an article for a local newsletter. I later expanded it and put it on a blog to share with other parents. Many of them in turn, gave me some more great tips. It's totally non-commercial so feel free to visit;
http://flyingwithchildren.blogspot.com
I go more into packing, getting that car seat through the airport and feeding tips. Information from someone who actually worked in the industry!
Have a great trip to a very child-friendly country!
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