Flying with a toddler

Yeah, I actually looked into that too. But since we'll probably bring a car seat now, that idea went out the window.
 
Dumb question....

So it is wise to sit towards the back of the plane with a toddler in case he's an awful flyer? Will the engine noise help at all? Or does it not really matter if I'm in the back/middle/front?
 
Dumb question....

So it is wise to sit towards the back of the plane with a toddler in case he's an awful flyer? Will the engine noise help at all? Or does it not really matter if I'm in the back/middle/front?

I have never noticed a difference in sound in different parts of the plane. On our last trip we sat in the front/middle area to DL, and in the back on the way home. They both seemed the same to me.
 
I wanted to bump this and ask another flying with a toddler question....

If there's no changing table on the airplane, where the heck do I change my kid's diaper?
 


There should be a changing table in the bathroom. Each airline I've flown on with my infant/now toddler had a "table" that folded from above the toilet. And this year will be my first year with my daughter in her own seat. I plan to purchase or rent the CARES Airplane Harness. You can find it on Amazon.

Since I am staying on Disney property and taking their bus, we won't need a carseat. You can rent these from ebay as well for $12.
 
One of the planes we will be on does NOT have a changing table. So I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do if my son needs to be changed.

I can't recall if I updated or not but we have purchased a Cosco Senera car seat for just $40. We will be using it on the airplane and in our rental car.
 
One of the planes we will be on does NOT have a changing table. So I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do if my son needs to be changed.

I can't recall if I updated or not but we have purchased a Cosco Senera car seat for just $40. We will be using it on the airplane and in our rental car.

Glad to hear you got the seat! :)

As far as changing him on the plane, there's a few different things you can do:

(1) Change him *right* before boarding, and pray he doesn't soak himself before the next leg of the journey. (Hey, some people are more wet-diaper accepting than others, so this is an option for some people!)

(2) Change him right before boarding. Assuming you are in a row of 3 seats.... Put his carseat in the window seat (which is the expected/appropriate place for it, so it won't obstruct the window seat person from exiting in an emergency). When he needs changed, make hubby get up for a moment, put the arm rest between aisle and middle seat up, throw down a receiving blanket, and change him right there. Ideal? No. But there's a lot about having a baby/toddler that is pretty inconvenient ;)
 


I have also seen people go back to the galley area at the back of the plane (which they don't really use to prepare food anymore), put a blanket on the ground, and change a diaper there. Larger area to work with, flat, back by the bathrooms so you can wash your hands easily, out of the way of other passengers.

For many reasons, I wouldn't recommend changing a diaper in the seats.

Honestly, I'd ask the flight attendants what they would prefer you do when you get on the plane. They'll most likely come over to make sure you're getting the car seat installed correctly, so you can just ask then.

And totally unrelated, but if your son drinks milk, they won't have it on the plane. You should be able to carry a couple of those horizon organic-type shelf-stable boxes through security. If not, the Starbucks in the airport will have them. (Oh, the lessons you learn when flying with a toddler!)
 
I wasn't planning on bringing milk on the flight. But I am going to bring those pouches of food or take off and landing to keep him swallowing.

I am mostly worried about a poop diaper on the plane. I think I could probably manage changing a pee one with him standing up in the bathroom (maybe.) But I don't know about poo. Ugh.

The plane with no changing table has two seats on 1 side and one seat on the other side.

I'm basically dreading that leg of the flight.
 
I wasn't planning on bringing milk on the flight. But I am going to bring those pouches of food or take off and landing to keep him swallowing.

I am mostly worried about a poop diaper on the plane. I think I could probably manage changing a pee one with him standing up in the bathroom (maybe.) But I don't know about poo. Ugh.

The plane with no changing table has two seats on 1 side and one seat on the other side.

I'm basically dreading that leg of the flight.

I hate small planes, so the idea of only having 2 seats on one side and 1 seat on the other side is enough to drive me bonkers! In the case of such a small plane, I would ask the flight attendants.

Hopefully by the time the trip comes along, he'll be "regular" enough that you can gauge when the poop diapers are going to happen, which will make things a little nicer...
 
I hate small planes, so the idea of only having 2 seats on one side and 1 seat on the other side is enough to drive me bonkers! In the case of such a small plane, I would ask the flight attendants.

Hopefully by the time the trip comes along, he'll be "regular" enough that you can gauge when the poop diapers are going to happen, which will make things a little nicer...

Well, if his 'normal' time happens to fall during our flight, there's nothing I can really do about it at this point. Ugh. On a 'mom' forum, everyone told me to change him standing up. So I'm thinking when he can finally stand on his own, I'll have to practice with that.
 
Well, if his 'normal' time happens to fall during our flight, there's nothing I can really do about it at this point. Ugh. On a 'mom' forum, everyone told me to change him standing up. So I'm thinking when he can finally stand on his own, I'll have to practice with that.

I'll admit, after being a nanny for years (including babies and toddlers), and a foster parent for 12 years, and a mom, and now a grandma, I have never mastered the standing change. I just suck at it. I can manage it for a quick wet change, especially when I've had girls with those onsie-type dresses, so I only have to unsnap between the legs... but when you add pants into the mix, I'm hopeless! :)

If his normal time happens on the flight, it is what it is, and you're right, you can't do much about it. But, at least you would (likely) know about it ahead of time. :worried: Not really sure if that's a good thing (knowledge is power, right?) or a bad thing (dreading the foul toddler poop for that whole leg of the trip!).

I'm not sure if Huggies still makes "pull on" diapers. They could be stepped into, like a pull-up training pant, but removed like a diaper... which really made little sense, since a pull-up training pant has velco sides. At any rate, if they still make the "pull on diapers" it may be worth trying those to assist in changing standing up.
 
I'm not sure if Huggies still makes "pull on" diapers. They could be stepped into, like a pull-up training pant, but removed like a diaper... which really made little sense, since a pull-up training pant has velco sides. At any rate, if they still make the "pull on diapers" it may be worth trying those to assist in changing standing up.

They make them in smaller sizes than regular pull-ups. AFAIK they still make them. They are very useful for standing changes, but honestly don't help much with the poo, it can still be hard to clean it all up standing.

One other bit of advice, make sure you know how to install the seat using a lap belt. I use LATCH in my cars and honestly wouldn't have a clue how to install with a lap belt.
 
I looked and they do make them...so we'll definitely try them out when our trip gets closer.

As far as the seat, my husband installed it into my car which is older and doesn't have LATCH. He said it was pretty easy and so I think he shouldn't have too much trouble on the plane (fingers crossed!)
 
I was a flight attendant for 13 years before having babies, and I can not state strongly enough, PLEASE do not change your child's diaper on the galley floor or tray table. Galleys are still used to prepare beverage services, it's not clean for the passengers or the baby. People eat right off the tray tables, and I would constantly see passengers changing their babies on them, disgusting. We flew Delta once, a large jet from Minneapolis to Seattle. With no changing table. I refused to put my daughter on top of the toilet. Your best option is to bring a disposable changing pad and change the baby as discreetly as possible in the window seat. Bring a plastic grocers bag to dispose of the diaper and DO NOT hand it to the flight attendant. Take it to the lav and dispose of it yourself. The flight crew will be much appreciative.
I love the CARES system, it's the only FAA approved child restraint system for use on aircraft. FYI, backless booster seats are not allowed or approved for aircraft use, and most airlines let you check your car seat for no charge. Be sure to bring a pack of antibacterial wipes, have one person board without child and wipe down the entire seating area. The second person should be among the last to board, this helps to avoid a meltdown on the aircraft.
 
My husband and I flew with both of our kids for the first time (we flew with our oldest a couple of times as an infant but this was the youngest's first flight) from Kansas City to Portland, Oregon back in September. The logistics of the airports and flights with the kids certainly wasn't what I would call fun - plus the youngest, who was about 1.5 years old at the time had crazy diarrhea the whole weekend and also got carsick AND had a diaper blowout in the rental car - but we're still planning to take both kids to DLR this December, so I guess we weren't completely scarred by the experience! Here are my tips for surviving:

1. Yes to either carseat or CARES harness on the plane, for two reasons. First, holding a kid that age on a flight more than 30 minutes is going to be uncomfortable and maybe impossible, since kids that age don't want to sit still and will likely want to explore everything on the plane. Second, the safety risk is just too much for us to ever justify trying to save the money or hassle of getting a separate ticket for each kid and bringing a car seat on the plane, and when I was researching travel trips for the first time we flew with our oldest, I found lots of stories from flight attendants and safety experts about how babies and small children can easily be injured with even minor to moderate turbulence. My cousin's 5 year old son was killed in a head-on collision a few years ago and her 2 year old daughter broke her neck but recovered, so I am vigilante about travel safety now...

2. I agree with other posters that I would never trust a seat provided or installed by a rental car company, for lots of reasons. So if you're taking a hired car service or rental car from the airport, it's a good idea to bring your own seat. The CARES harness makes more sense to me if you're taking one of the huge shuttle buses, since you can't use the carseat on the bus anyway.

3. If you do take a carseat on the plane, I agree again with other posters that either a lightweight carseat (that obviously still works for your kiddo's height and weight range) purchased specifically for traveling, or one of those rolling cart/frame things will be really helpful. We have Diono Radian RXTs for both kids, and while they are fairly narrow and fold up relatively flat, they are HEAVY and it was not fun juggling both kids, a diaper bag, another carry-on bag, purse/wallet/tickets and the two car seats. I did buy the straps to carry the seats like backpacks, which helped some but it still sort of sucked. We flew on Southwest, so I also decided to pay an extra $40 at the gate each way to get a boarding pass in the A1-15 range (I think I was like A6-7 each time), then I got on early with both carseats and the diaper bag and my husband hung back and boarded with the kids later. I got the seats buckled in so they were ready for the kids when they boarded, which worked out really well and we weren't blocking the aisles and slowing down boarding. I think we will still take the Radians on the DLR trip, but I plan on buying one of the carts so I can just wheel them right down the aisle of the plane instead of lugging them around on my back.

4. We did choose to sit at the back of the plane, for many reasons. We were closer to the bathrooms and could pop in faster if we needed to deal with a potty break or diaper change, it was a tiny bit louder and thus the inevitable tantrums and whining were drowned out a little, we weren't clogging up the boarding process as we tried to get the kids and all our stuff settled in/under/above our seats. Plus, with all that stuff and both kids there was no way we were going to be able to pop up and run right off the plane as soon as it pulled up to the gate, so we didn't need to be at the front to deplane faster. By the time we got everything packed up and ready, it was our turn to go - and we were in the last two rows on our side of the plane.

5. I know you were asking mostly about carseats, but don't forget to buy a few new toys and books before the trip and keep them packed away in the diaper bag until you're on the plane. That should keep him entertained for about 10 minutes : ) We also loaded a few movies on the iPad and bought kid-sized headphones, which did help keep them entertained. And yes, having some snacks and drinks on hand is important. I just brought two empty sippy cups in my purse and then bought water or juice after we went through security and filled them up, or the flight attendant may sneak you a juice or water before takeoff if you ask nicely. We use Contigo water bottles that I found at Target for $10 each. We have had a lot of problems with sippy cups of various brands having some strange suction/pressure issue that causes liquids to get sucked up into the straw on their own and spill out through the top, which would obviously be a mess when traveling. We take the Contigo ones with us everywhere and have never had a problem. Oh, and you might want to take a set of toddler/kids silverware in a ziploc bag, just in case, as well as wet wipes and/or napkins/paper towels for cleanups if necessary.

6. When we go anywhere with the kids, I take my Overland Equipment purse that has lots of room inside as well as pockets on the outsides by the straps that will hold a water bottle or umbrella. I have a smaller one that I used on a WDW anniversary trip without kids last January (I think it's the Donner style) that I have had since college, but my newer one is bigger and can just be thrown in the washer if it gets really dirty (style is called Belvedere - you can find most Overland styles on Amazon or at outdoor/camping/bike shops). Even with the diaper bag and my oldest having his own backpack to carry his toys and snacks on the plan, it is nice having the extra room, and I carry it cross-body and fairly close so it's not sliding down my arm all the time like a shoulder bag would.

7. I think we have lucked out and have only had to change a diaper once on a plane, and it was just a wet diaper and the plane had the changing table, so I can't help you with the poopy diaper on a plane question. When our oldest was about 6 months old he had a huge blowout right as we were landing, the flight was super late already and we were about to miss our connecting flight, so my MIL and I ran off the plane as soon as it stopped and changed him in a bathroom at O'Hare, then we all ran to the departing gate. If it's just a wet diaper and we're fairly close to landing, I just wait and change it at the airport. Luckily the youngest's poop issues from our most recent trip had cleared up by the time we flew home, but I honestly don't know what we would have done if he had another blowout on the plane, even if there was a changing table. Since our oldest is now out of diapers and the youngest just started potty training, I'm now more worried about them needing to go on the plane when both bathrooms are occupied and having an accident, since there won't be a diaper to absorb the mess...

Don't worry, both of our kids are awful travelers too - the youngest gets carsick all the time - so you're not alone! Plus even if something ridiculous happens, it will make for a funny story later. I know it can be stressful traveling with kids, but if I have to endure a few hours of it in order to get to Disney, hey, I'll take it!
 
A tip about the poop situation. I always put a cloth diaper cover on my kids for long trips - plane or car. I put this over the disposable diaper (we cloth diaper at home so I have the covers on hand - but they are cheap to pick up if you don't have them). This way if the kid has a super huge blow out you are not dealing with a poopy outfit and poopy car seat. It has saved us more than once. It never fails that someone has an unexpected poo-splosion on a trip and cleaning that up on a plane or the side of the road is not a piece of cake.

A good brand of cover is Thirsties - not expensive and they have great resale value, you would get your money back. :) You just want the "wrap" cover, not the pocket diaper type.
 
D'oh! We cloth diapered our kids too (with disposables for traveling) but I recently gave all that stuff away...that is a good tip though about the covers, I may buy a couple for our next trip. We have these waterproof Diono seat protector insert things that sort of work for accidents, but I haven't found a way to effectively contain the carsick mess until the youngest can hold his own barf bag : )
 
I travel a lot with my boys (16 months and turning 4), and buy them a seat. I used to travel extensively for work and have seen nasty turbulence a few times - once everything hit the ceiling! My personal peeve is that you aren't allowed a purse on your lap, but you can have an unrestrained person... argh! Anyway...

I used the Diono for my son in the car and on the plane. It fits on the seat between the armrests, and not all seats do. If your seat is still rear-facing, you will need to either put it forward facing for the flight (I often do this rather than get into the argument with the flight attendants), or get a bulkhead seat. When you get onto the plane, you will probably have to ask for a seatbelt extender. If you think of an airplane seatbelt, the male end of the buckle is the shorter one, but that's what you need to thread through the base of the seat.

The flight attendants will be able to tell you about diaper changes on the plane and what they prefer. On several airlines I've had them give me a plastic bag when I sat down and said it was for diapers and to not dispose of them in the lavatory - the implication being that it would then make the lavatory unpleasant for the people who use it after. I've always just asked about the poopy diaper disposal, it varies depending on the plane and airline.
 
I am the OP so I just thought I'd update....

Our trip is less than 2 weeks away! Eek!

We are bringing the Cosco Scenera seat on the plane. It will be forward facing. We will be using it rear facing in our rental car.

We switched our flights a bit and every leg is on Southwest Airlines now. I was informed that each plane has at least 1 bathroom with a changing table.

As far as throwing away a poo diaper...we have these small Arm and Hammer trash bags that really help with the stink. So I will have those to throw away in the airplane bathroom, if needed.

After the trip, I'll come back and let you all know how it goes for us. :)
 

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