Flying with a 14 month old on your lap.

[kevin harrison]

There is no way my children could have sat on my lap for 9 hours. Anyone brave enough to try that with their kids in Economy deserves a medal or an award for services to tightness

 

[UKDEB]

What about using your RCI availability to one of the resorts off site but close to WDW? Orange Lake or Vistana for example?

Not something I've ever needed to consider, Obi, so it wouldn't have occurred to me, but I'll look into it. Thanks.

Anyone brave enough to try that with their kids in Economy deserves a medal or an award for services to tightness

Tightness is something we could never be accused of, Kev. We're generosity personified, but in the financial doldrums at the moment, so can't afford to help them out (other than to give them "free" accommodation courtesy of our DVC).

 

[UKDEB]

Thanks to everyone for your responses, btw - it's been really helpful.

 

[PoppyAnna]

When youngest was 19m we bought a VA economy seat, as we've always bought a seat I have nothing to compare it to, youngest wasn't a sit still toddler so this is what made our mind up. With my eldest it may have worked quite well, I really think it depends on the child and their routine (how well they sleep in awkward places etc).

In my opinion if it was the difference being going and not, I'd go for it

HTH

 

[UKDEB]

Little Lou is a happy little chappy - always smiling and nothing fazes him. He sleeps from 8:30 at night until 8:30 the next morning, plus a couple of naps during the day. The rest of the time he's always on the go, so goodness knows how he'll be on a plane, but you've all set my mind at rest that it's not a totally ludicrous proposition.

Here he is on his first birthday in July.

 

[Cyrano]

Deb can't offer any advice but just wanted to say that your grandson is a little trooper

 

[disneyholic family]

i never bought a seat for them until i had to...

it's doable - hard, but doable..

if you can get a night flight, it's easier...then at least they sleep most of the time...
otherwise it can be the 'flight from hell'....still, better than paying the ridiculous airline fares...

 

[Elise79]

For reference the child fare is slightly less than adults but what kills is that they have to pay full taxes

Hope you can get something sorted for them

 

[wilma-bride]

Deb, no advice to offer but just wanted to say I hope you manage to get something sorted for them

 

[tony64]

Hi Debs
Not flight related, just picking up on the Vistana option.

Will they have a car? If not there is a scuttle bus service from Vistana but it's not free and not frequent.

Hope you get it sorted.

 

[grannyed]

I also have read this thread with interest since we are wondering the same thing for our DGD who will be 18 months when we travel next August....and we need to make our mind up since we will probably be able to book next month.

Also just wanted to say what a lovely little boy he is!!!!

 

[jockey]

We have always bought seats for the kids and taken their car seats on board but last trip DD spent most of the time on my knee so we have decided to take DD as a lap baby! I reckon bring lots to keep them occupied and it will be fine

 

[dc1964]

dont want to be a party pooper but what is it like for someone sitting next to a parent with a nearly 2 year old on their lap, especially in economy, i would imagine it has the potential to be a flight from hell.
I would imagine in UC it is not so bad unless the baby is crying all the time and then it would also be unpleasant for other UC passengers
I am not having a go here trust me, my kids are now 21 and 19 so have been there, but the knock on effect to other passengers has to be considered.

 

[Netty]

Deb sorry no advice from me on this as our youngest was 6 when first went on a plane. Just wanted to say your grandson is absolutely gorgeous!!

 

[Lizzybear]

I would do it, it's not just a matter of a small saving in most cases but several hundred pounds so I really don't see how being 'tight' comes into it I think the thing with economy on a longhaul flight is that's it really not that hard to annoy others even unintentionally since everyone is in a cramped space for an extended length of time... There are far worse things someone could do than have a young child on their lap!

 

[Head_in_the_clouds]

dont want to be a party pooper but what is it like for someone sitting next to a parent with a nearly 2 year old on their lap, especially in economy, i would imagine it has the potential to be a flight from hell.
I would imagine in UC it is not so bad unless the baby is crying all the time and then it would also be unpleasant for other UC passengers
I am not having a go here trust me, my kids are now 21 and 19 so have been there, but the knock on effect to other passengers has to be considered.

I don't know how they do it given that with online check in etc, you tend to be able to pick your own seats but with Virgin, i've tended to notice that if there are two different families with babies for example they will tend to sit them together in the first row of a set of seats. I'm sorry I don't know for definite what they are called, it is the Bulkhead Seats? Because we have flown a lot outside of term-time over the past few years, we have had a lot of babies on our flight. I have to say, in general, I've found that they have been better behaved than a lot of the adults and certainly the older kids! At least they don't kick the back of your seat constantly, or recline the seats in front of you during your dinner, or decide to stand up in the aisle next to you, lean on your seat and have a full blown conversation half way through the night flight while you are trying to sleep . The worst thing baby related that I remember was the mother who didn't change her little boys nappy once in the whole flight - the smell was just so erm ! It was a five year old that ruined my night flight home once as a teenager. She had her own seat but lay across both her parents... and me. She kept kicking me, thumping me across the face when I fell asleep and at one point kicked me in the head. Her mum just ignored what she was doing . We have had screaming babies on board but honestly, its not that bad.

Debbie your little Grandson is a stunner! I could just imagine him now with a pair of mickey ears on running around disney . I hope you manage to sort something out. Its extremely kind and generous of you and I could imagine a young couple with a baby could really benefit from the holiday. They do tend to give however many skycots are available to the youngest babies on the plane so if he is one of the youngest on the plane that day that could help. I have noticed most parents seem to just use it for putting things in though like nappies, bottles and toys. I think there are quite a lot of US based websites with advice about travelling this way too so they might help. I think allears might even have tips about it. With the accommodation side of things, I hope you manage to get the something with DVC for the full length of stay but we often have the same problem with RCI. We usually stay somewhere like Homewood Suites, Bahama Bay or (this year) Lake Eve for two nights or so. We have noticed that if we were willing to stay in a hotel for a couple of nights instead we could do so really cheaply even for a reasonable standard of accomodation.

 

[Nubbedy]

When we originally booked our Aug hol we intended having DS on our laps as he would be 19 months. However as it got closer we realised he was far too busy and wriggly to sit on our laps so we ended up paying a ridiculous amount of money for a seat for him last minute. I have to say it was a lot of money but I am so glad we did it, especially as I don't fly well. He would have been ok on the flight home, but was way too busy on the way out, even when strapped in his own seat!

It really does depend on the child I think (and your grandson is gorgeous by the way!). Do Virgin give the option of getting a seat for him on the way out and having him as a lap passenger for flight home (when he will most likely sleep) - I don't know if that's possible, but with hindsight that would have been ideal for us as Jack slept nearly all the way home.

 

[Booknut]

We took Matilda to Portugal when she was 8 months old and didn't book a seat for her. Luckily the flight wasn't booked so she did get her own 'seat' and only had to be on our laps for take-off and landing. She was good as gold.

My only concern would be as October is still technically hurricane season and having flown twice now around that time when the flights back home were horrendous due to turbulence that it might be more comfortable and safer to have the child in a car seat/in its own seat.

If they fly mid-week they will have a much better chance at getting that middle seat to themselves anyway so i'd say go for it!

BTW, Lou is absolutely gorgeous How lucky that he sleeps so much...i'm jealous as my little girl is a bit more 'Stitch' than she is 'princess'

 

[Clare D]

We faced this dilema on our trip just when Owen was nearly 16 months old. In the end we sat him on our knee and it worked fine. The flight out was a bit of a pain as we were given 2 bulk head seats with another just behind on the next row. This meant that my DH had both boys with him as he needed the leg room more than me. Once the seatbelt signs were off though we took it in turns walking Owen around the plane.
There was another couple on board with 20 month old twins and they only had the 2 seats so we would meet up with them around the staff areas and have a chat so this broke the time up.
I took Owen a bottle (even though he doesn't have one during the day) with powdered formula and this helped get him to sleep. The crew were really helpful getting me the hot water.
On the trip back he was as good as gold and again we were given bulk head seats all together. He slept nearly all the way home on DH and this was fine even with turbulence and thundering and lightening like you've never seen.
We didn't need loads of toys or snacks as we were looked after by the cabin crew and Owen was more than happy looking out of the windows and being fussed by the other passengers.
My DS is just like your grandson, a really good sleeper, but it is only now nearly 2 weeks after our return he has been able to get back in his routine. When we got back we would wake up at 10pm and be wide awake until 2 in the morning but then he and his brother would sleep until 2 in the afternoon.

 

[Ji||s]

DH and I are taking our 13mo Jake in 9 days so I could tell you better when we are back.

Jake wriggles like mad but is also a big flirt so I am hoping that the flight attendants and other passengers will humour him. I am also bringing lots of snacks and have hidden some of his smaller toys now so they seem new to him on the plane. We have also upgraded to premium so hopefully it should be a bit easier, but I can see there being much walking around.

I think there are 2 other families from this forum on our flight, we'll try and keep him as calm and quiet as a 13 month old can be.