Alli

I will be flying from FL to CA with my one year old daughter. Any ideas or suggestions to keep her happy and occupied for such a long flight??

Max

Ali-First of all, I hope you purchased a seat for her and are taking her car seat along. For safety and your own sanity buy the extra seat. There is tons of advice on flying with babies on the Smart Travel Tips section of the Travel Lounge. Go to Travel Lounge Home and click on Smart Travel Tips, do a text search for flying with babies/children. There is lots of info available there.

Gary

Alli:

I have twice flown alone with tiny children. Unfortunately, the state of their moods appears to be a random event (much as it is at home). On one round trip, my son (one and one-half at the time) fidgeted and whined and cried for two thousand miles; he slept the entire return flight. A one-year-old is really tough. I had a little container of Cheerios and sesame cookies; that kept him busy for a little while (I made sure the container was easy to open and close, but I still spilled it). It can be VERY stressful, but in my opinion that only makes her mood worse. Try to relax, and maybe she will.

Joseph

Don't all the airlines REQUIRE you to buy a separate seat for a 1 year old now or is that a 2 year old? Anyway, I would definitely buy a seat and take the car seat. Good luck in keeping her in it, Alli. I'd try to fit the flight into her schedule, i.e., the flight time being during her normal nap time. That's what my son tries to do with his daughter. When your flight seems real long, remember that my son took his 2 yr. old to China last year, 23 hours, I think! He says he now knows the definition of a LONG flight! Keep your sense of humor and relax!

Geo

Joseph-The age is 2 when you are required to buy a seat for a child. I have heard that the FAA is going to make it mandatory that all kids will have to have a seperate seat and a car seat be used.

Noach

See www.noach.com for more information on this subject

Gary

No, Joseph, it's two and over.

I know I'll get heat for this--I read the thread from last month--but I disagree about the car set for a one-year-old child. They are small enough to hold, and they feel good too. Why waste the money on an extra ticket? I don't really get the "safety" thing. Where are they going to go? I've flown close to one million miles, and I don't think I've experienced turbulence sufficient to cause me to spill my drink, let alone drop a child.

Fuming

Gary-Regarding the seat for under one, both the FAA, the National Association of Flight Attendants and the Department of Transportation urge parents to use a car seat for children. Clear air turbulence is a very real danger in flight. A small child not properly secured in their seat can become a projectile and their is the incident in the Sioux City Iowa crash where the child was placed on the floor and was thrown and killed. I have been on flights where the tubulence was so bad that a child was ripped from their parents arms and hit their head on the luggage bin. You need to get your head out of your drink buddy!!

also fuming...

to fuming: amen.

SF Ghost

I took my the 1 year old son from SFO to Hawaii and back. I paid for the extra seat (some airlines charge you half price) and took his car seat. He was very comfortable in HIS familar seat. We placed him in between me and my wife so we minimized him grabbing at someone else. We brought along snacks that he liked and had plenty of juice and milk prepared in their containers n hand. We also had NEW picture books and beanie baby type characters as well as his very favorite books and little stuffed animals. I agree that you should time your flight to their usual nap and/or keep them up so that the usual motion and white noise that the aircraft makes will put them right asleep. We also gave him a dose of childrens Tylenol just so he was totally comfortable. Even with all the prep he still got antsy on the way back. Be prepared for it. Try limiting the pacifier (if you use one)until it's really needed. Also go through the usual pit stop checks when they seem irratated (cold, hungry, wet). Good luck and try not to let the nasty looks get to you. We all were babies at one time.

ilisa

Regarding a car seat on planes, I can't believe people even consider it to be an option. It is clearly the safest way to fly. What if you don't buy a seat and g-d forbid, something happens? Will you then say "But hey, look at the money I saved?" To Gary, who said that he has flown close to one million miles without incident. Does that mean severe turbulence never happens, or never will happen? Are you the sole indicator of flight conditions? I know many pilots, all of whom can attest to what will happen if a child is not strapped in. Most airlines will offer the seats for 1/2 price. Make sure you ask for the 1/2 price discount. We flew to Florida in April with our daughter who was a year old. Things went perfectly. She was content the entire time, both going down and returning. She was also the only infant on the plane with a car seat and the only content child. We made sure she had a bottle to suck on during takeoff and landing to minimize the pressure on the ears. We also had her favorite toys and some snacks. Frankly, she slept most of the way. I took her out of the seat for about 15 minutes on both flights, but that was it. Make sure you also pack enough diapers for each hour of the flight, an extra change of clothes, and prepare for possible delays. The one thing I don't understand is how SF Ghost flew with the carseat in between him and his wife. Regulations state that the car seat has to be installed next to the window. Anyway, he had some good advice. Don't worry, you will do just fine.

Joseph

Alli,

One more thing, my granddaughter's pediatrician also suggested they give her Benadryl to actually sedate her a little, and it also helps if there's even the slightest congestion in their little eustachian tubes. Helps with the pressure from flying.........

Max

Make sure you try the Bendadryl out before you fly, in some kids it hypes them up! Also, my ped suggested a decongestant to help alleviate the ear pressure. Again, make sure it doesn't hype your kid up. Also, make sure they drink on a bottle or suck on their paci on take off and landings to alleviate the pressure. Take along books, snacks and toys. I bought my daughter a travel magna doodle and she loved it. Kept her occupied.

xxx

There are two ways you can fly with the child between the parents. The first is if the flight attendant doesn't say anything about it. Sometimes they do not. The second is if you are in a five-across configuration.

Gary, you are not evil or ignorant. Plenty of people make the choice to fly with a "lap baby." For a lot of people these days, the only acceptable risk is no risk. Others may choose to do something different and play it safer, and that is their right. Frankly, if someone told me they would buy the extra plane seat but skimp and rent a sub-compact rental car, I would think they had their risk assessment exactly backward because cars are much more dangerous for kids than airplanes. I just don't think there is any need to be quite so judgmental, that is all.

Gary

OKAY--I'm sorry! Just don't yell at me! I'm a horrible parent and ten years ago I endangered my son's life by holding him in my lap while riding on a twenty-million dollar airliner. I promise not to do the same with my grandchildren.

SF Ghost

Yup it was a 5 across center section. We made our travel agent change our seats so we could achieve this. Another tip is don't wait till your checking in to pre select your seat. Do it in advance if you have any special needs. We purposly selected seats in the last or second to last row so we could quickly use the rest rooms. We could also get up several times without disturbing the other passengers while they were watching the movie. Definatly take advantage of the early boarding call as well.

ilisa

Definitely do the pre-boarding. If your airline no longer pre-boards, ask for it anyway, especially if you have the carseat. We flew Metrojet to Florida; they do not preboard. However, we explained to the gate agent that it would take awhile to install the seat and would hate to hold things up. They appreciated this and let us on early to install the seat.

Calicoskies

Travel at night, dress baby in jammies after a nice bath, pack bottles of milk or formula, fave blankie, bedtime book and the plane noise should lull her to sleep. The sucking on the bottle will help with her ears too. Always worked GREAT when we traveled with our twin sons while they were babies. Never once had a crying baby on an airplane.

If you have to travel by day, try to fly at naptime and follow directions above. If she doesnt nap regularly, another trick I have used when my sons were older was to buy a few new, inexpensive toys/books and wrap them up like little gifts. Can be a matchbox car, action figure, new coloring book/crayons...small lego kit, youget the idea. Make the new stuff age appropriate. The newness will keep your childs attention better than old toys that have lost their charm. New story books were always a huge treat for my sons. And never underestimate the power of a good snack! And by good, I dont mean healthy, lol...I mean the stuff they like: candy, cookies, crackers, CrackerJack. Save the healthy stuff for home and give them whatever will make the plane ride easy for everyone involved. Good luck

I flew about a dozen times from NC to IL with twin sons under 5yrs old. Never had a tantrum (me or the children, lol) Just know your child, be prepared and pay attention to them. Dont expect to sip a cup of coffee and read a new magazine.

Calicoskies

I hate to say this for fear of the wrath that will come down on me...but back 9yrs ago, my pediatrician suggested dosing my babies with Benedryl (per dosing instructions on pkg, not OVERDOSING) right after boarding. I never needed to do it, but had the Benedryl liquid in my bag He says it makes them sleep easier. I dont give this as medical advice, just hearsay from my pediatrician to me.

calicoskies

message to myself:

In the future read the thread first before posting your reply and just repeating all the good advice already given Sorry yall...I am impatient.