In my experience a 2 hour flight can be as bad as an 8 hour flight. I have never found that mine stay awake beyond the first couple of hours, if that, and, if you can time it right, fitting in with their sleep schedule, you could get away with them sleeping for most of the flight. <BR> <BR>Comments about you enjoying the trip per se without your child are probably accurate but I know I would have no-one I could confidently leave my child with. If you have someone you can leave the child with and feel that he will be happy and you have complete confidence in them, I would think seriously about doing that. You will be able to enjoy your trip more. But if you would feel happier having your child with you, take him along. You've certainly had enough "advice" in this column to see all the pitfalls. And don't worry, you certainly won't be the only people with young children - I'm sure the planes to Hawaii and loaded with them. Just book your bassinet position early. <BR> <BR>

for what it's worth, my parents used to pump both me and my younger brother full of whatever it took so we could fly with them... and i turned out just fine. i don't have any children of my own, but from what i have seen most parents keep a pretty tight rein on their kids when flying - i haven't witnessed bad behavior much at all. maybe i am just lucky.

from the sounds of this chat - you all are too immature, impatient, disrespectful to eachother, yadda, yadda- to fly anywhere. what ever happened to 'play nice'. <BR>

Calm down xxxx--While I'm not going to resort to name calling, Lisa was pretty arrogant in some of her comments. People here have a knee jerk reaction to one's comments. Lisa asked for the negativity directed toward her.

I beg to differ. There is no excuse for the offensive language here. At least Lisa has enough sense not to use profanity.

Do you really think that no more than one person has been put off by this type of language? Check your dictionary--you'll find your picture listed under ignorant.

Hey xxxx, <BR> <BR>I really shouldn't give you the satisfaction of me writing back to you again, but what the heck... <BR> <BR>I don't need to hide. Believe me, I can dish as take it. Honestly, I wasn't offended by your name calling. It's only a post. I KNOW there are no-life losers out there who get a rise from posting such crap. Hope you had a good one. I think it's time for you to find another topic to get off on, maybe it'll make you feel better. <BR> <BR>Thanks to all who also thought xxxx was a loser. I promise this is the last post from me regarding this topic. It's getting old and abused. <BR> <BR>Okay, now I'm outta here. ;)

"Can't we all jez get along?"

Geez and Miss - <BR> <BR>Did Lisa get on your nerves too? Do you think she did it on purpose? Maybe she’s a troll. Maybe she isn’t a she. Maybe she doesn’t even have a child. Maybe she has her own business and posts whenever she feels like it. Maybe she posts during work hours. Maybe she posts while her child runs around her. Who knows, who cares! <BR> <BR>All that is evident around here is that she got to you! Bashing her only makes her look like she accomplished something, and by the looks of it, she did. Let’s all let it go!!

Well enough, if you're so nonchalant and "who cares" then why are you here reading and posting on this topic? Guess it got to you, huh? <BR> <BR>Troll or not, the traveling public is subjected to thousands of real life Lisas every day -- the "I know my rights" type (obviously American) who haven't the vaguest clue as to civility, maturity or consideration for others. They reproduced, so they now feel empowered to drag their offspring along no matter inappropriate or unsettling for the offspring or anyone else. These qualities of immaturity, selfishness and complete disregard for anyone else (including their own kids) will without a doubt be passed along to the kids, just as Lisa and her ilk learned it from THEIR clueless parents.

Unfortunately for you, Lisas and THEIR children do have rights. <BR> <BR>Lisa stated she had immediate family overseas, so I don't think that makes her "obviously American." <BR> <BR>If you ask me, I think you all have a crush on Lisa. bash, bash away!!

Can someone clue me in...I don't get why you're bashing "Lisa". Does she have a history of trouble-making on the board? I haven't read anything she's written on this thread that is particularly obnoxious.

My god, I cannot believe all that's being said on this message board. Somebody asked for opinions on taking their FAMILY on holiday and because of that the answers are downright abusive! What is wrong with taking children on planes???? Why should people with children be turned upon??? We all have a right to do what we please - there is no need to get nasty and personal! Has anyone thought that they may not want to leave their child behind - anyway why should they - just to please all you anti-children brigade. I have never seen such a hostile forum. Haven't you heard of live and let live??? As for keeping children drugged up - that's just bloody disgusting - we are talking about a 16 MONTH old baby!!! You do not drug a child up just to shut them up. That's a form of child abuse! The only advise that a GP would give on soothing ears on take-off and landing would be to make sure the baby can suck on something i.e. dummy/pacifier or a bottle.

I don't Get It -- read and figure it for yourself.

I'm with you, I don't get it.

Boo-Believe it or not, some pediatricans are telling parents to give their kids over the counter drugs to make them sleep on planes! My ped. told me to have them drink something on take-off and landing and he is totally against giving any kind of over the counter drugs in this situation. Over the counter drugs do have side effects. <BR> <BR>As for the original question-An 8-10 hour plane trip is hard on adults. Save Hawaii for when your child is older and go closer to home. The Sanibel/Captiva area is great for families. Your child can sit on the beach and make sand castles and will be happy as can be. Mom & Dad won't be so stressed after traveling that long. Nice compromise!

Hi, <BR> <BR>Sorry if my message doesn't read correctly. I felt that some of the messages were a bit out of order and pretty unfriendly. I have actually been twice to Orlando from the UK which is a 8hr flight. Once with my 18m and 2 years later when he was just over 3yrs and my second child was 18mo. To be honest, the kids were great I had no crying or anything from either of them. And no, they weren't on any kind of medication! As someone else has pointed out it's best if you can to try to keep baby awake before you board the plane, keep lots of toys & picture books handy, and I gave my 2 treats of chocolate buttons. I also used a dummy when they were getting fractious and they settled ok. I appreciate peoples comments about it being difficult for a 16mo but I think every child is different - you may get a child who is on a short flight of about 2 hours (as people seem to recommend) and they may cry non-stop and you may get a child who can do an 8hr journey quite happily as I can vouch for. I found on our flight there were far more obnoxious adults! You'll never know how your child will be unless you try it! Only you know your child best. It's a free trip - you want to go and you want your child to go! And for all you miserable gits out there who think that kids should be banned from flights - we will be going, once again, to Florida with our (now) 3 children - aged 5, 3 & 16m and keeping my fingers crossed that I won't be sitting next to any of the anti-children brigade!! <BR> <BR>ps. Not everyone is fortunate enough to leave their children behind with relatives when they go on holiday. <BR>

Boo's right, every kid's different. And that applies to all this flap about medication, too. <BR> <BR>A lot of children in this age group have continuing low-level problems with ears, sinuses, noses, allergies, etc. Some children have non-specific constant runny noses. Such things can be aggravated and the kid be made very uncomfortable on planes because of the cabin air and the altitude and pressure changes. It's kinder to them to help them out with medication. <BR> <BR>But of coure, medications affect different children differently -- something like Benadryl will completely snow some kids and totally wire others. You need to know dosage and response ahead of time. And -- I'm sad to say -- it's also a matter of different parents with different awarenesses and sensitivities about what is happening to their child. <BR> <BR>So, of course it's best to talk to your doctor first, and it's a terrible idea to have the flight be the first time the child's ever had the particular medication. <BR> <BR>But there's no need to be in such a tizz about "DRUGgging" children. Which is worse: trying to prevent discomfort on a difficult flight or letting your kids watch hours of TV, eat lots of fatty fast-foods, and drink soft drinks (esp. with caffeine in them)?

To KidDocsWife: Not all kids have runny noses etc all the time, unless they are shoved in day care which is another matter. I do not agree with giving kids any kind of medication unless it is absolutely necessary. Too often people overuse medication. They think a pill will cure everything. And, doctors and HMO's are getting kickbacks from the drug companies which makes it worse. No wonder we have epidemic drug problems in this country! <BR> <BR>

WOW! I don't think I ever want to be faced with this decision...I'm on this site for Honeymoon advice and instead I found advice for having children! No kids for me until I'm 30...we better start now on all our pre-baby long vacations! Poor Dave! Good Luck! And I thought planning my wedding was tough.