Flight advice with a 23 month old?

[cruiserkaren]

I love the whole "they won't remember it" bit! That cracks me up. DH encountered it at work too when he told them we were going to WDW. If we base their lives on only things they will remember then why do we do ANYTHING with/for them? Why give hugs, they won't remember them? Why have a birthday party, they won't remember it? Why go to the zoo on a Saturday afternoon, they won't remember it?

We're off to WDW in a week and a half with our 23 month old!! I REALLY need to start packing! BTW, thanks for the tips.

 

[mom22boys]

I will always cherish my memories of my 22 month old at WDW. I feel so lucky to have witnessed his pure delight and innocence. I know I will never forget it! Have a magical trip!

 

[traci]

Why take a 23 month old to WDW? They won't remember anything. Wait until they are 4 or 5 so they can go on the rides, walk (no need to bring your megastroller), and go pee without diapers! Much better for child and parents.
I got my flameproof suit on and I don't care!

yikes! what a grouch (grrrrrrr). makes me realize how lucky babies are whose parents actually like taking them to disney! pee-pee diapers and all

What great advice on the flying. We are doing it next month with our 22 month and 9 month old and any insight I can get is sure helpful!

HAVE FUN EVERYONE!!

 

[luv2go2disney]

I flew 2 years ago from Indy to Orlando ALONE with my two kids, at the time my DD was 2 1/2 and my DS was 1 1/2. Talk about a crazy flight. I never would have made it without the help of some WONDERFUL people. The hardest thing IMO was going through the x-rays. I had to fold down the double stroller, car seat, backpack through the scanner, then I had to take everyones shoes off, made sure they hand checked all of my film. Oh the whole thing was very chaotic. The second hardest thing was boarding the plan, we had to get onto the plane and get the carseat installed and everyone settled.
But my advice is to make sure you buy the child there own seat. Then install the carseat, they are used to riding in it all the time anyway. This of course is much easier to do if you have someone riding with you...then I also had a couple of those Nickelodeon coloring books with the crayons on the back(from Target) Plenty of snacks and books to look at. From there it was not really that bad. Once you gate check your stroller and get settled into your seat your child will probably be fine. There is so much to see, my kids loved looking out the windows and seeing the clouds and other sites. Oh and if they are potty training make sure that they go BEFORE you load onto the plane, the plane restroom is NOT big enough for two people. We went before getting on the plane and yet my DD still thought that she had to go while in flight(refused to go in the pull-up)so all 3 of us squeezed down the aisle and then really squeezed into that little lavatory. My DS had to sit on the sink while I tried to help my DD. I still wonder to this day how I ever made it through that experience!!!

 

[tlbwriter]

yikes! what a grouch (grrrrrrr). makes me realize how lucky babies are whose parents actually like taking them to disney! pee-pee diapers and all

I've never understood why parents hate diapers so much. It's a lot easier than going with a just-barely-potty-trained child who never realizes they have to "go" until it's almost too late!

Anyway, I think some people join the "don't take your baby" crowd because they've done it or seen it and it hasn't worked well. My mom goes to WDW often, and she's always said the most miserable looking people are those with small kids. I think it's the ones who have unrealistic expectations. As long as you're willing to do the parks at your baby's pace, you can have a great time. But if you expect the kind of trip you'd have as a kidless adult, you're going to be very disappointed!

 

[traci]

I agree

 

[toesmom]

Earplanes are used to stop the ear pressure pain, they are widely available in drug stores for less than $10. That should help with the ear popping, and you can store them away for future trips.

 

[traci]

what are earplanes? I'll try anyhing for my little ones.

 

[traci]

what are earplanes? I'll try anything for my little ones.

 

[JL123]

Earplanes are soft ear plugs that help to equalize the pressure in your ears on take off and landing. They have 2 different sizes of Earplanes...one for adults and one for children. I've found them in most "ear care" sections of major drug stores.
I've had great luck with them when using them myself, and plan to take them along for my little ones when we go on our first airplane ride!

Good luck!

 

[caspersmom83]

If you have a small protable dvd player you could bring that with some dvds your child enjoys. That helps so much when we fly with my son.

 

[Colinsmom]

I've never understood why parents hate diapers so much. It's a lot easier than going with a just-barely-potty-trained child who never realizes they have to "go" until it's almost too late!

Had to laugh at this one - my dad (who has probably changed 5 diapers in his lifetime) recently told me that he hoped that DS potty-trained before we go to WDW at the end of September for DS's third birthday so we wouldn't have to deal with diapers. I replied that yeah, it would be great fun to stand in line for Dumbo for 30 minutes and find out right before we board that DS has to "go" NOW!! No, thanks, I'll take diapers this trip and worry about PT'ing when we get back!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Wow- if I had a quarter for every time someone was has told me "Why are you taking your son to WDW when he's only 2?"... we could pay for this trip! (lol)
Anyway, were taking him because we want to go and I wouldn't dream of leaving him behind!!!!
I am geared up with Tigger fruit snacks, portable DVD player, small Magna Doodle, Disney Classics Story book and much more. But I agree with a previous poster about there being so much to see on the plane itself. My son is a people watcher (and a big chatterbox so I apologize in advance to anyone who may be sitting near us on the flight!)
But having the chance to take him for his first walk down Main Street to see "The Great Big Castle" and get to meet "Cinderumbrella"- now that will be priceless and should melt the hearts of any grouches out there...

 

[kimatigger]

We are also taking our 2 DS's in 2 weeks to DW. They are almost 2.5 and the baby just turned 1. My DS that is 2 remembers everything. I wonder what some people have against small children at Disney World. We plan on bringing new toys and lots of snacks for the plane ride. The flight is only 2 hours so it should not be that bad. we have decided not to use a car seat because the baby will be in our laps and DS 2 is almost 40 inches and his car seat is not good for the airplane. We are not renting a car so we really don't need it for anything else. I hope everyone and there babies has a great trip!

 

[kimatigger]

When you use your DVD player do the kids use headphones?

 

[mexican-mouseketeers]

A client of mine said his first big trip with his kids was a cruise when the children were 9 and 11 years old, and that he barely remembers it, so my answer was, why did you spend the money then if YOU can´t remember it?

I know WDW is for making memories, but for me is more about enjoying the trip itself and I don´t mind if DD doesn´t remember about it in a few years.

Julie

 

[mexican-mouseketeers]

When you use your DVD player do the kids use headphones?

My dd is 2, and she doesn´t use headphones, but we have found that the speakers aren´t loud at all, you can barely hear the movie if you are in the aisle seat and dd is in the window seat.

Julie

 

[WDWfor5]

My best advice is plan for the unexpected and just relax. We took our 3 children to Hawaii last February (DD 5, DS 3, DS 21 mos) from NJ and while a lot of planning it was fine. I packed tons more than I needed to of snacks & little toys (just in case we were delayed). My kids enjoyed having a lightweight fleece blanket I'd packed - it was clean and comfy. Their other favorites were little containers of PlayDoh and my 21 month old loved making a foam door hanger with self stick foam shapes. This entertained him for almost 30 minutes The kids were great and never acted up - someone actually asked if we'd drugged them the only one who complained was dh who had to carry the bags

We are looking forward to a normal flight this year - WDW 1/28/05 - 2/6/05

Have fun,

Jennifer

 

[Scotch]

This may be a dumb question, but how do you play with your little one using stickers? DS is 16 months old and I have never bought him stickers. He did use to play with clothing price tag stickers when he was much smaller, but then he got bored, so I haven't bothered with buying stickers for fun. Do you also buy one of those sticker books?

 

[nicolemomof4cuties]

Well y'all are gonna think that I'm really crazy! My husband and I are going to WDW in Nov for a week with our 4 children. Yes, I did say 4. They are gonna be 6, 4, 3, and 1 (the 1 year old will turn 2 while we are at WDW). I'm not too worried, how bad can they be? But then again my brain is slightly fried from running a daycare out of my home..hehe We took the older three when I was 5 months pregnant. We stayed a week with a 1.5, a 2.5, and a 3.5 year olds. It really wasn't too bad. They were pretty good except it was July and SOOO HOT and the heat seemed to make AK even hotter and the 2 year old had two asthma attacks. We will never do Disney in Summer again because of the heat. We will also never drive, I swear my butt was numb for like two days each way. So we are flying this time but I am trying to utilize the power of positive thinking on that one. But the funny thing is that although we don't bring out the picture album alot all of them remember our trip. The only thing that the now 3 yr old remembers is Tink at the fireworks. And she has been a Tink fanatic ever since. The now 4 year old remembers quite alot and so does my now 6 year old. My advice is to take it slow and go at your childs pace. We take our kids everywhere and they are well behaved. But we are the kind of parents that will spend 2 hours in the playroom at the childrens Museum. Actually when we were at Toon Town in MK we let them play at that small playground for well over an hour on more than one accasion. ( I wonder what the dad from the earlier post -Mr.$100- would've thought of that use of money ) Good luck and have a MAGICAL time-I know that your toddler will!