Yea. Drink lots!!!!

travelmom -- can't help with personal experience, but I'm sure you'll get some good tips. In the meantime, if you type plane + baby + advice it will bring up some previous threads on this topic. Good luck!

Here is one of the threads:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=1&tid=34482813&start=0&dirtyBit=1

Patrick- not such a bad plan???

I happened to be searching under "bulkhead" and found a thread similar to my original question and needless to say the majority of the responses to this person's post asking for tips...was very negative.

So I guess to try and difuse a FIRESTORM...let me preface my previous question by saying my daughter is extremely mellow and not a "wild child". Also may I add that we are going to Hawaii for a large family vacation and the option to leave my child home is...well not an option. I feel the same as most people when it comes to crying kids on airplanes. I am very sensitve to this...so that is why I am asking for tips on how to make a "not so fun experinece" better, not only for myself but for those people around us.

With that said...I would appreciate any tips. Thanks in adavnce!

Read my post under most embarrasing things children did during travel!

Prior to trip (i.e. at airport). Get to airport extremely early, use time to wear him or her out by allowing to crawl/toddle/whatever all over the place. Try not to allow to nap. Underfeed so that (s)he's good and hungry just as you take off.

What to bring: Plenty of small and medium ziplock bags (for poop erps, old food, wipies), bring plenty of wipies, 2 sets of clothes for kid, one extra carry on shirt for you and hubby. keep all wipes and bags on outside pockets of diaper bag. keep shirts, clothing changes on inside of bag. Bring a carseat. If no extra seats or you did not buy your 1yo a seat (we started buying a ticket at about this time, justifying the extra cost with peace of mind), just gate check the carseat. If there are extra seats, and you have a flight attendant with a modicum of decency, you can strap your little kiddo right in using the seatbelt on the airplane seat as you would in the car. then just buckle up your little one by the window.

this is obvious -- bring one or two extremely familiar toys/stuffed animals.

if you really, really, really want to enjoy the trip you can purchase a portable dvd player and a few baby mozart dvd's, it works like a charm.

bring benadryl, and a decongestant. if baby is sick or has a stuffed nose, there's nothing worse than the pressure that can build up in those little ear canals. you may not use it, but if you need it you'll be glad you have it.

most of all, bring your sense of humor and patience with eachother -- we found that the kid really feeds off that. we also have found people to be much more understanding than we thought they'd be, and have a ball!

Aloha TM,

Maybe new toys, fav snacks, much juice benadryl...

davensteph- THANK YOU!!!! Those tips were so helpful! With the DVD player...did you use headphones? My little girl loves baby mozart!

What about bulkhead seating? Do you know anything about that? I've heard from people that it is good to get...but I'm not sure if I know where it is or how you reserve it.

I flew from East Coast to West Coast when my son was one. Spoil him and bring lots of food, drinks, toys/diversions--including some new ones she hasn't seen before. I'm sure you normally feed her an extremely nutritious diet, but make an exception for this trip...go with stuff she'll be sure to like and that will keep him quiet for a while, so you'll get a break (e.g., Froot Loops instead of Cheerios). Take along lollipops for the ascent/descent. About once an hour, walk her up and down the aisles. If you can, get "bulkhead" seats--the ones with a partition in front--because you'll have a little more floor space and she'll be able to stand instead of sitting.

Do a Web search for "travel young child" and you'll find plenty of helpful articles.

travelmom, I think the other threads started to get testy because mom was convinced her child was safer in her arms than a seat even after being given evidence to the contrary.

The only thing I can add is that from my experience, when mom is calm, so is the child. When mom starts to get nervous, baby is upset.


Have a good trip!

Neither of my kids had or gave any problem on airplanes. Now they're 11 and 14 and addicted to travel. I agree; do a search and you'll see a big variety of opinions and advice.

Whenever possible, I took their car seat so they would have a familiar place to sit. I always took lots of little toys, books, baby snacks, juice, etc. Both mine were still nursing when they were one, so I nursed them on takeoff and landing to help their ears cope. I also gave them Sudafed to improve the chances that their ears wouldn't bother them. They never seemed to have ear pain on planes, although they both were prone to ear infections otherwise. I learned the hard way not to try to feed them at their usual times if they weren't hungry.

On long flights, there always seemed to be a grandmotherly type who wanted to play around with them for a while. (And 1 year olds are SO cute!)

Bring enough toys, etc in your carry-on to keep her busy.

If possible, keep her up an extra few hours the night before the flight, or get her up a few hours early that morning, and with any luck she'll sleep (or at least nap) through it. Much easier for her, you, AND everyone else on the plane.

If your daughter doesn't behave on the flight, try walking her around the aisles a few times. Please just don't sit there and upset the 30 other people sitting around you.

TM--in addition to advice from frequent flyers on this forum, talk to your pediatrician. I'm sure he or she has dealt with this issue.

the headphones won't stay on. well, i'll speak for my son, they stayed on for a few minutes, but not enough. really the best you can hope for is a good long sleep. my son is almost 4 and you should see him now, he sits like a perfect gentleman for hours. i think he's come to appreciate the 1:1 quality time he gets, not to mention acting like the pilot but i agree with the idea that if one thing isnt working and she's thrashing about and crying, you need not try to continue to fit the square peg through the round hole. get a change of venue. the galley is a great place, particularly on larger airplanes, and after the first food service the attendants will be back there and can also be a pleasant diversion. the baby mozart dvds are really the best, because even w/o headphones all anyone hears is some soft classical music. i remember, though, one thing, ... we had all the paraphrenalia and the best thing my son had was a newspaper hat i made him!!

Good advice all of you! I agree with the idea of "not trying to fit a square peg into a round hole". We will be as preapred as we can possibly be...pullin' out all the stops on this trip.
My husband and sister (whom my daughter ADORES) will be sitting with us, so that should help.

We have tried to reserve the bulkhead seats, but were told that those seats can only be claimed the day of. Has anybody been successful in reserving those seats before hand? We are flying Hawaiian on a 767. We have a 8:45am departure and getting to the airport 2 1/2 hours early might be more detrimental to our "keep our kid quiet cause" due to lack of sleep. Thoughts???

This was posted by my friend almost a year ago regarding her trip overseas with you 1 year old. Hope it helps.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?screen_name=SRC51102&fid=2

travelmom, bulkhead seats are the first seats to go after first class by the frequent flyers.

Are you flying with your regular carrier?

Do you have a lot of ff miles with this carrier?

If yes to both, call the airline until you get some help.

If you aren't a ff with this airline, chances aren't good for a bulkhead seat.

You did purchase a seat for your child, correct?

We've been traveling with our two children since our son was about 6 months old. He's now 2 1/2 and has been to Europe twice and California 3 times.

Your biggest enemy is boredom. Keep her amused. With our kids, we'll take a few of their favorite toys away a week or so prior to leaving. We'll break them out as needed during the flight. We'll also prick up a new toy or book.

Both our kids really like the Animal Cards from Baby Einstein. That'll kill some time.

If you have a portable DVD player, certainly bring it.

In terms of a seat, on a long flight, it would be a mistake not to get them their own. If possible, get the bulkhead. There is enough room so that you can let your child play for bit on the floor in front of you. (I'm sure some of those perfect parents out there will tell me that this will make my child sick or put them in danger.)

Definately bring your own food and some snacks. We've never had a flight attendant be less than courteous when we've asked for some milk or water.

If your child doesn't have a problem napping, the change in air pressure shortly after take-off may help them nod off.

People have been known to give their children 1/2 a Benadryl to help them nod off. Our Pediatrician stated this was perfectly safe. However, as with our son, some kids become hyperactive instead of drowsy. If your pediatrician says its ok, you might consider trying it at home.

Good luck with the bulkhead... I am a bulkhead person and can tell you that it will depend on the airline.
If you are traveling to Hawaii on AA out of LAX, the bulkhead seats will probably go to someone -connecting- in LA. They will have checked in many hours prior and if they are like me, they will request bulkhead on the connecting city as well.
Good luck with your baby. Follow the suggestions above and don't sweat it. Your concern tells me that you care... and that's all that really matters.
If your baby cries or acts up a little, please do not feel awful. It's normal and most likely it will only last a few minutes.
Most of us are tolerant of babies... less so of rude children who have parents who simply do not care that they are kicking our chairs or have the gameboy cranked up so loud it disturbs everyone.

Ditto - plenty of snack sized ziplocs with cheerios, etc in them; juice boxes or bottles (maybe the smaller size?), small toys, I've even seen baby-size earphones for soft music if he/she normally has some music on before bedtime. Its ok to let him/her stand on your lap and look around - you may get folks playing peekaboo! The only time I've gotten a little annoyed (and I'm a travelling mom for a long time) is when the child is allowed to scream and scream with absolutely no effort on the part of the parent to calm the child. You can't just ignore. Get up, walk, etc. bring the same blanket, little pillow and soft toys. If you can, use an empty seat to make a place for the baby to lie down. Flight Attendents are usually gaga over babies as well.

I didn't see this mentioned, and it's been awhile (my daughter is 20 & a senior in college), but I was told the trick was to keep them swallowing--and a pacifier worked well for this. Good luck!

Benadryl rules! I always gived her a chance to behave, supplied all the toys and comfortable blankies. At the first sign of trouble the Benadryl came out and twenty minutes later so did the baby.

This is totally unpredictable, we had short flights were the Benadryl was needed (she was toothing at the time) and long overseas flights with multple stops where it was not.

It is very important to pretest the babies reaction to the medication, some do become extremely hyperactive with it.

I also did the first time my daughter travelled by herself to visit family, she was ten yrs old and mom was twice as nervous as the kid. I stayed home and hit the coctails, for medicinal purposes only. She slept most of the trip and came back all happy and proud of herself.

Haven't read all the responses. Bring a bottle so she can suck during takeoff and landing in the hopes of unplugging her ears. Does she have a seat? Car seat? Using a Baby Bjorn may be good on landing.

The tips on having a pacifier of bottle are good. Sucking on these are a big help for it makes them swallow which lessens the pain of pressure changes.

We went to Europe with 3 boys (4,2,1) and they were so good on the plane- I was surprised! I brought a ton of entertainment (coloring, toys, books) and they barely used them. They all slept quite a bit or just hung out. The baby be fine- My only suggestion is a change of clothes,diapers, and of course plenty of water/formula.

Last suggestionRING A CHANGE OF CLOTHES FOR MOM!!! Nothing worse than clothes with spit-up on them for an entire plane ride!

I flew to Paris last week on American, and on both flights, there were families with a baby occupying the bulkhead seats. I would suggest that you check in very early and put your request in.

By the way, on both flights, the babies were remarkably well behaved. I think they both slept most of the time.

Good luck & bon voyage!

The change of clothes for adults idea is realy good. Eleven years ago, I was flying with my 6 month old son. He wasn't hungry, but I got him to eat at his usual time, beause I wanted to keep him on his normal routine. Ha! He then proceeded to throw up all over me on the first leg of a 3 leg flight that had to be rerouted five minutes before we got to our destination. Instead of meeting my husband (and my luggage) in Reno, I got to spend the night with my infant son in an Oakland motel. I really wished I had brought a change of clothes for me!