Scarlette

This is kind of an odd question, but...I'm flying this weekend with my toddler who'll be in a front-facing car seat. He loves to play with cars, so I was wondering if we'll be able to fold the tray table down for him to roll the cars on? Will it extend far enough for him to reach, or be high enough? Or should we bring something like a bed in breakfast tray with us for him? I appreciate any responses.

x

He should sit behind me and roll his cars over the tray for hours. Wow, that sounds great doesn't it? I'm pretty sure the bumping and vibration would not be a bother at all!

rose

You may be over planning. A toddler doesn't need to be entertained 24-7. Get on your flight and consider yourself lucky if he doesn't throw a fit...tray or no tray!

kat

Rose you're probably one of those same people that would turn around and bash Scarlette for not keeping her toddler entertained on the flight and therefore bothering everyone else on the plane.

Seeing that you've gotten two less than worthless responses, I'll chime in. The first time I flew with my son, I brought a front facing car seat. What a nightmare hauling that thing around, but that's another story. I remember him playing with his legos on the fold down tray table so it must have been low enough and it couldn't have been any more bothersome to the person in front of us than if I had been writing or working on a laptop or something for Pete's sake.

One note, I never took a car seat on a trip again because of the hassle. Fortunately he was big enough to sit on the plan without it shortly thereafter and we got car seats from the rental car company as well.

By the way x, I'd take sitting in front of my six year old over sitting behind Mr. Sinus Passages from Hell like I did on my last flight. If I heard him hock one more time I was going to hit him over the head with my purse. Kids are the only problem flyers so have a little compassion.

ilisa

Rose, she is not overplanning at all. Having some activities planned for a toddler in a carseat on a plane is always a good idea. Scarlette, we have traveled with the Britax Roundabout and found that we could not put the tray table down. Just keep in mind that cars will drop to the floor and be prepared to strain to pick them up (his seat will need to be next to the window which can make it difficult to pick up things that fall). A breakfast tray will also be very cumbersome in that very small space. Your best bet is to find other small toys to occupy him. Our daughter loves her Travel Magna Doodle.

a

My fisher price carseat always fit well and my kids were able to reach the tray. I agree with the previous poster that you will spend some time picking up cars off the floor. Make sure to bring some surprise toys - I brought pipe cleaners and believe it or not, my kids loved them! I also made puppets with the kids by coloring the barf bags. And bring snacks, too.

Emily

I have a 2 1/2 yr old & have flown with him many times, by myself, from CA to OH (4.5 hrs). The problem with the trays when they are down is that my son kicks them, then you have to put it back up, then he gets pissed off. Just be forewarned, it is a possibility. I've had better luck letting him play with his cars in the airport than on the plane. Especially, since we have to be there so early now. For the flight, I agree magna doodle, STICKERS! (hand out one at a time, I've gone through 12 sheets on 1 flight) books to read, animal flash cards (if old enough) and actually my son listened to a walkman for an hour on our last flight, it was great. Lots of snacks, that you can hand out slowly. Raisins, crackers, teddy graham cookies, goldfish, etc.

Best of Luck!

patg

You've gotten 3 great responses; here's my 2 cents worth:

It depends on the car seat. Don't bring an extra tray, you can probably make-do with a 1-inch thick binder notebook, which is good for putting all sorts of paper projects into. Soft foam puzzles are good distractors, as are self-contained games, and toys that unfold but stay in one piece (transformers). The problem with the toy cars is the noise - not just the wheels, but the "vroom vroom" that most kids love to make!

Scarlette

Thanks for the replies! I knew I'd get some that were less than helpful, but thats to be expected on this website. Especially when the subject is toddlers. Very good points on the picking up dropped toys! I'm 6 1/2 months pregnant besides, and I don't think I could even *physically* bend over to pick them up, lol! My husband and MIL will be with me though, so at least I won't be alone!! Again, hopefully he will sleep the whole way as planned, but I am bringing along a bag of suprise presents and snacks. I'll be going to the $ store today to pick up a bunch of nic-nacs. I love the sticker idea, he hasn't had stickers before, so it will be totally new to him! Another idea I liked was one of those hand held fans that have soft blades. He'll like turning that on and off. With his cars though, I'm not worried about the noise, he doesn't ever crash them, or bang them, and really doesn't even make the "vroom" noise! Its kinda funny, he just drives them slowly around and parks them! Maybe he'll be a valet, lol! Thanks again!

Emily

I almost forgot, you can rent a DVD player at some airports & drop it off when you land, I think for $12-15. I am trying this on our next flight at Christmas time.

The website is www.inmotionpictures.com They even have children's movies to rent.

Have a great trip!