Any tips for flying with kids?

[JaimeK]

I think 8mo (whenever they start crawling a ton) to 2.5 is the hardest stretch for flights with kids. After that they have such a longer attention span and get why they can't leave their seats.

For entertainment - books - reading and activity/puzzle books, color wonder books, my kids like those sticker mosaics, and of course any ipads or phones. We usually are flying cross country and it's really not until the 4-5th hour that it starts to drag. So the shorter hop down to FL will feel like a breeze for us!

Headphones - you will occasionally get a flight attendant who will tell you that you must use headphones or to turn it off. We ran into one of those and after she went by the person in front of us said she couldn't even hear our movie.

 

[Crl1817]

The most annoying flight I've ever been on was our last one to Disney, that was apparently full of people who didn't think anyone beyond their row could hear their kids' iPads/Kindles/DVD players. .

Dh was sitting across the aisle and could not hear and I inquired of the other passengers who also could not hear dd's iPad. Perhaps you have superpowers in the hearing department.

 

[LilyWDW]

All I ask of parents is, for the love of all that is holy, PLEASE bring headphones if you are using a DVD player/Laptop/game system/whatever. The whole plane does not want to listen to your child's favorite TV show along with the child. Honestly, it is as annoying or more so then a crying kid.

And yes. You may not think that others can hear it, but they can. If your child can hear is so can the row in front at LEAST.

 

[Flight]

A little bag or backpack for each of your kids.
Book or books.
Crayons and pictures to color.
Chewing gum to help with the ears.
Treats
Bottle of water
A few small toys.
Window seat with the shades up so they can enjoy the wonders outside.
Ask to visit the flightdeck when boarding.

I had my kids start chewing gum when the plane began the descent to help clear their ears.

 

[Crl1817]

All I ask of parents is, for the love of all that is holy, PLEASE bring headphones if you are using a DVD player/Laptop/game system/whatever. The whole plane does not want to listen to your child's favorite TV show along with the child. Honestly, it is as annoying or more so then a crying kid.

And yes. You may not think that others can hear it, but they can. If your child can hear is so can the row in front at LEAST.

Again, I inquired and the passengers around me said they could not hear it. Maybe they lied to me as part of some long range conspiracy to annoy future passengers on another flight.

I have also definitely been on planes with other people with devices on that I could not hear.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I take my daughter to the dollar store the day before the trip. I let her pick out little things for her to be entertained by on our flights. For our trip last week, she picked out a coloring book and some crayons, a dual card set for go fish and old maid (they had the princesses on them - so cute) and 3 different puzzles (the small kind that has about 10-15 pieces and can be assembled on a tray table. Along with that, we packed 2 small books that she likes. Between that and a meal we purchased after going through security, she was perfect on the plane. We didn't have to use any electronics so no worrying about headphones or charged batteries, which worked out well for us. We got many compliments on how well she traveled from other passengers and the flight crew. Oh, and I promised her that if she was good, we'd have a drink party. We get a ginger ale and a cran-apple juice, combine them, and she loves that. It made her feel so grown up. Since it worked so well on the way there, I talked to her about it in the airport waiting for our return flight. I reminded her of our drink party and how she needed to be good or we wouldn't have the party. It worked. A very pleasant trip, indeed.

Now here's hoping it will work again nest week...

 

[maxiesmom]

Again, I inquired and the passengers around me said they could not hear it. Maybe they lied to me as part of some long range conspiracy to annoy future passengers on another flight.

I have also definitely been on planes with other people with devices on that I could not hear.

Most if not all airlines have the rule that any device that makes noise must be used with headphones. You may get away with not using them but if someone complains you will be told to use headphones or mute the volume.

 

[mousefan73]

If your kids are used to playing with tablets, iphones, nintendos.. you are good to go for a few hours... We fly intl. all the time and my kids 7 and 8 can literally watch movies the whole flight ( 9 hrs)..


So load up a new movie and or games.... Good also are time and jerry or maybe even Disney cartoons... you can buy them at itunes or other providers.. the nice thing with tom and jerry is that you do not need volume.. Also if you only have one tablet buy an ear phone adapter thingy so you can hook up two at the same time.. hard to explain but you plug that thing in and then you plug in two earphones.

 

[LilyWDW]

Again, I inquired and the passengers around me said they could not hear it. Maybe they lied to me as part of some long range conspiracy to annoy future passengers on another flight.

I have also definitely been on planes with other people with devices on that I could not hear.

How about instead of hoping that they can't hear it, you use headphones and then don't have to worry about it? Seems like the polite thing to do for everyone involved.

I wouldn't say that I could hear it if asked because I don't want to risk that the person asking isn't quite right. So I would have lied and then said lots of bad words in my head about just using headphones.

 

[gtpoohbear]

Most if not all airlines have the rule that any device that makes noise must be used with headphones. You may get away with not using them but if someone complains you will be told to use headphones or mute the volume.

We had a very strict flight attendant about this rule last month! In addition to making announcements repeatedly, she walked the aisles multiple times looking for "offenders" and telling people they had to put on headphones or turn it off, including several kids. I had never before seen a flight attendant say anything unless someone complained, but you may get unlucky.

Keep in mind that the background noise on a plane is LOUD! The volume will need to be turned up higher than normal. I know it's not ideal for their ears, but if they can't hear, it's not going to do much good to have a movie on. Some kids-headphones have a volume restrictor that won't let it go loud enough to be heard on a plane. We made the mistake of bringing a set of those for DD once without realizing it, and they were useless. Something to double check before you go for sure!

 

[Aurora0427]

You might want to ask your doctor first, but I give mine Kids Dramamine about a half hour before boarding. My kids tend to get nauseated from the taxiing and it helps with that. Ditto the suggestion about a change of clothes (and not a bad idea to bring something for yourself either!)

Does the Dramamine make them sleepy? Not that I would give it to my child to make her sleepy... Haha

 

[Aurora0427]

We bring snacks, my laptop and a couple of her favorite movies, coloring books, stickers and books.

 

[Aurora0427]

Actually we have had dd listen at a volume that she can hear but can't be heard past our row (which we completely occupy). Headphones are probably better though if your child will tolerate them and you can monitor to be sure the volume isn't turned up so loud as to cause hearing damage. And I concur with the change of clothes mentioned by others. I usually take a complete change for little ones and at least a clean shirt for older kids and adults. I have given my spare set of kid clothes away twice on flights to parents whose kid had puked and they had no clean clothes. I pack the spares in a ziplock so I can use the ziplock for stashing dirty clothes if necessary--contains bad smells.

You are supposed to use headphones. We got lucky on last trip to Disney- I kept it super low bc DD would not use the headphones, and the flight attendants were cool about it as long as no one complained. But I'm investing in some cool Sofia the First headphones for our December trip. I may not be as lucky, and I don't want to annoy anyone. And we'll be practicing beforehand.....

 

[StitchBuddy]

I didn't read through all the posts, but, we bought my DD a book for kids about Disney, all the rides. You can find it in the travel section. She took it into the parks for the characters to sign, and then there was a section to record your likes and dislikes. She loved it! Even if they can't read it, the pictures are awesome.

 

[aristocatz]

And I concur with the change of clothes mentioned by others. I usually take a complete change for little ones and at least a clean shirt for older kids and adults. I have given my spare set of kid clothes away twice on flights to parents whose kid had puked and they had no clean clothes. I pack the spares in a ziplock so I can use the ziplock for stashing dirty clothes if necessary--contains bad smells.

That is really nice of you to share your spare clothes when needed. Yup, we always pack ziplocs as well. The people around us really appreciated that we cleaned up as best as possible. Aside from one complete jerk who was sitting like 4-5 rows behind us, people were really understanding and sympathetic.

 

[stky6]

Leave them with grammy, take a picture of yourselves in front of the castle, text it to them and then turn your phones off for the rest of your stay

 

[StitchyPoo81]

Im taking my 17month old who has ants in his pants. We also got extra leg room seats. But I have no freakin clue on how to entertain him. Our flight is about 2 1/2 hours and its at 7am. Im hoping maybe he will go back to sleep but i doubt that will happen.
He won't wear headphones and he won't sit still. Any suggestions ?

We were suppose to drive to disney but thank god my DH came to his senses

 

[aristocatz]

Im taking my 17month old who has ants in his pants. We also got extra leg room seats. But I have no freakin clue on how to entertain him. Our flight is about 2 1/2 hours and its at 7am. Im hoping maybe he will go back to sleep but i doubt that will happen.
He won't wear headphones and he won't sit still. Any suggestions ?

We were suppose to drive to disney but thank god my DH came to his senses

My DD was right around that age a few months ago on our first plane ride. The extra legroom was definitely our saving grace! The other things that really helped were, prior to our trip, I bought her a variety of new books and flashcards (she loves looking at pictures), and did not show them to her until we were on the plane. As soon as she got bored with one, I pulled another one out. It was the novelty that helped keep her occupied. She would not tolerate the headphones we bought her either. We played episodes of her favorite tv shows on our tablet with the sound off. She was ok with that. She did not sleep a wink either way.

 

[Crl1817]

I have not heard of the rule requiring headphones. I just spent about fifteen minutes looking for it on southwest's website and can't find it. Does someone have a link?

Dd would not use headphones at the time of our last flight. So my choices were to keep her entertained with her iPad set low enough that the people around me said they could not hear it, or subject everyone to a few hours of screaming.

 

[Crl1817]

That is really nice of you to share your spare clothes when needed. Yup, we always pack ziplocs as well. The people around us really appreciated that we cleaned up as best as possible. Aside from one complete jerk who was sitting like 4-5 rows behind us, people were really understanding and sympathetic.

It seems like there is always one jerk, doesn't it? I was happy to share. Other people have saved my bacon more than once with wipes or diapers or playing with my kid for a few minutes.