Flying 1st time for a 2 year old

[jimmytammy]

Hey Folks, my DD, DSIL and DGS are considering flying in Dec but really torn about it. It will be his 1st flight, but a car ride 10.5-11 hrs wont be the greatest either. The costs for 2 adults will be around $600 RT, add a child if a seat is needed another $300. I reminded them the resort is paid for, so they could justify the air tickets and still cost for that would be less.
Should they buy him a ticket, and if so, do they have to bring car seat for him to sit in? They will be taking ME to resort, do they need car seat for this?
If anyone has flown 1.5. hrs with a 2 year old , any, I mean, any advice is helpful!

 

[sethschroeder]

You mean 21 month old and not 2 year old. Reason I say that is a 2 year old requires their own ticket.

I think the biggest thing here is likely the size and temperament of the child on if a seat is needed.

Do they ever drive the couple hours a plane ride would take? Does the child get distracted by books or electronics?

Plenty of people fly with small kids and I wouldn't worry about it other than thinking of ways to distract the child for the flight and if you need a separate seat.

 

[PollyannaMom]

The previous poster is correct. If he turned two before the flight, he would need his own ticket. (I believe you can bring an airline approved car seat or use something called a C.A.R.E.S. harness to adapt the seat belt.)

Since he will be under two, he is allowed to fly as a "lap baby" if you want. We traveled that way when my DS was 18 months. - I knew he would want to be on my lap anyway, and the other passengers would be much happier if he was happy! It worked out fine for us (and by the next time we flew, he was 3 and did fine in his own seat with the regular seat belt.)

The most important things to plan for as far as behavior on the flight are distraction, snacks, and ears -

They should have some little things to amuse him, whether that's a mental list of games prepared so they're not caught flustered, a few new little toys stashed in a backpack, or some videos he likes to watch if they allow them yet.

Make sure they have some of his favorite snacks along, as you never know when on-board snacks will get to you, or if he'll like them. (Also be aware that some flights are peanut-free due to another passenger having severe allergies, so make sure some of what they pack is safe.)

Kids can experience ear pain as the pressure changes, so make sure he has something to chew or suck on to avoid that. Obviously, he's not old enough for gum, but some people take safety pops, or even drinking from a sippy cup works.

They will be taking ME to resort, do they need car seat for this?

No, they don't for that, nor for Disney buses between the parks and resorts. If you use a Minnie Van for anything, I believe they already have them.

 

[sponica]

If he's big, I'd pay for the seat. I lap rode with a 21 month old to save money...it was awful. If I could time travel, I'd buy the third seat...

We put some movies on the ipad and she watched those during our flights (we had 4 total flights as we couldn't fly direct)

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

We flew twice with DS on my lap in the two weeks before he turned 2, with Spirit, which has less legroom than most airlines. It was of course cramped, but not really a big deal to us. Each flight was only about two hours though. I don't think I'd want to do a crazy long flight with a toddler on my lap, but a couple hours wasn't bad. We brought lots of snacks and bought drinks once we were past security to take on the plane. We also brought a Magnadoodle, book, and a few other small toys for him. He enjoyed looking out the window at the clouds, found it hilarious when we opened the air vent and pointed it on him, and overall thought it was pretty cool being on a plane up in the sky.

If they want to pay for a seat for him and bring either his car seat or a CARES harness onboard, they absolutely can. A car seat cannot be used on ME (will be stored underneath with luggage) or the Disney Park buses (not allowed and no way to use them). If they will be using Minnie vans, Uber, taxi, etc, a car seat will be needed, but usually you can request one when you call/go online to order that transportation.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I’m only speaking as a protective grandma. After listening to a former flight attendant who survived a plane crash, but saw small children fly out of their parents lap, and was lobbying for a rule change that required all children to have appropriate seats, I would always recommend a parent buy an extra seat for a child and bring an air plane approved seat. If it were my kids and I could afford it, I would just buy them an extra seat.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

I flew with my 21 month old from Calgary, AB to Kauai, HI. It worked for us at the time as he was still (mostly) nursing before sleep and it was late night/overnight flights both ways. He wanted to be on my lap anyway so it worked out and he was a big boy. After a few hours I did (somewhat) regret it just because my arms were tired and he really didn't want dad. We flew about 6 months later when he was over 2 and required a seat and that worked well too as he was used to being strapped into his carseat and we had lots to occupy him. Make sure you have something for them to chew/suck on for takeoff and landing as that will really help them deal with the pressure changes.

 

[LSUmiss]

The previous poster is correct. If he turned two before the flight, he would need his own ticket. (I believe you can bring an airline approved car seat or use something called a C.A.R.E.S. harness to adapt the seat belt.)

Since he will be under two, he is allowed to fly as a "lap baby" if you want. We traveled that way when my DS was 18 months. - I knew he would want to be on my lap anyway, and the other passengers would be much happier if he was happy! It worked out fine for us (and by the next time we flew, he was 3 and did fine in his own seat with the regular seat belt.)

The most important things to plan for as far as behavior on the flight are distraction, snacks, and ears -

They should have some little things to amuse him, whether that's a mental list of games prepared so they're not caught flustered, a few new little toys stashed in a backpack, or some videos he likes to watch if they allow them yet.

Make sure they have some of his favorite snacks along, as you never know when on-board snacks will get to you, or if he'll like them. (Also be aware that some flights are peanut-free due to another passenger having severe allergies, so make sure some of what they pack is safe.)

Kids can experience ear pain as the pressure changes, so make sure he has something to chew or suck on to avoid that. Obviously, he's not old enough for gum, but some people take safety pops, or even drinking from a sippy cup works.



No, they don't for that, nor for Disney buses between the parks and resorts. If you use a Minnie Van for anything, I believe they already have them.

Do you know if you buy a seat, can you still hold him or does he have to be in that seat? We are considering flying southwest with the exact aged kid in Feb. I want to buy the extra seat to have the room but have the option to hold him if he wants that. Only reason I want the seat is b/c I don’t want to be jammed in a row with DH & a stranger & trying to hold DS 21 mos on my lap too.

ETA: Do they need either the harness or the car seat or can he just sit in the seat like we do?

 

[PollyannaMom]

Do you know if you buy a seat, can you still hold him or does he have to be in that seat? We are considering flying southwest with the exact aged kid in Feb. I want to buy the extra seat to have the room but have the option to hold him if he wants that. Only reason I want the seat is b/c I don’t want to be jammed in a row with DH & a stranger & trying to hold DS 21 mos on my lap too.

I'm not sure. (It was a loooong time ago. - I dropped the same kid off at college yesterday. )

There's some info here, but I don't see that directly addressed. There is a contact link a little down on the left, though.

 

[LSUmiss]

I'm not sure. (It was a loooong time ago. - I dropped the same kid off at college yesterday. )

There's some info here, but I don't see that directly addressed. There is a contact link a little down on the left, though.

Aww that’s sad! I don’t want to think about that lol! Thank you!

ETA: I asked southwest & read the attached info before but have never gotten a clear answer. But the harness could be my solution.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Do you know if you buy a seat, can you still hold him or does he have to be in that seat? We are considering flying southwest with the exact aged kid in Feb. I want to buy the extra seat to have the room but have the option to hold him if he wants that. Only reason I want the seat is b/c I don’t want to be jammed in a row with DH & a stranger & trying to hold DS 21 mos on my lap too.

ETA: Do they need either the harness or the car seat or can he just sit in the seat like we do?

You can definitely take them out of the seat and hold them for part of the flight when they are under 2. We did that with my oldest when she was under 2 but had bought a seat for her.

Car seats and harness are not mandatory if a kid has their own seat, though the airlines do recommend them. If they are old enough to actually sit unassisted (so basically not an infant), you could have them sit in a seat without anything but the airline seat belt.

 

[a742246]

I would pay for a seat. We traveled with a 12 month old without a seat, and that age would be my limit.

 

[wendlle]

We flew 20 hours with our 2 year old, she was great. Kids are pretty adaptable at that age.
We're about to go with a 10 month old and 3 year old next week.

 

[gtpoohbear]

For my family, an 11 hour car trip would be an absolute deal-breaker, especially at that age. Buy the plane tickets! And if possible, buy a seat for the kid. Both of my kids had flown multiple times by that age, usually 3-4 hour flights each time. We almost always bought the extra seat, and deeply regretted it the few times we did not. As for whether to bring the car seat, it depends on the temperament of the kid. By that age, my DD did much better just sitting in the regular seat, and having room to move around a bit. But DS still needed to be constrained in his car seat, lol!

 

[Deb & Bill]

I used to drive 150 miles to get to Target and Taco Bell when my son was not quite 2. He'd go with me on these shopping runs (we lived in Montana and were a long way from any stores) and learned to ride for long distances in the car at a very early age. Two and a half to three hours to get there, about two hours there and another two and a half to three hours to get back home.

 

[MrsDuck]

We just had my son's first flight in July. He was 20 months. We bought him a seat because we figured he'd like to walk between us and it would allow him to lay down and take a nap. He hates his car seat. We checked it but given the fact that ME is being used, I wouldn't bother with even bringing the car seat.

And, I'd rather fly than drive given your situation, OP!

 

[westie55]

I've done it with both of my boys at that age. Having a seat for the child is always preferable, I think, but for hundreds of dollars we always managed just fine with my sons as lap children. Try booking a flight around nap time and he may fall asleep. 1.5 hours is a very fast flight. I've flown 6 hours, and we survived even that. We've also done extensive road trips and my toddlers did well with those, too, honestly.

 

[jliucci]

We took our DD 2yo to disney last fall and it was her first flight on a plane. We did not bring a car seat, but she did very well staying in her seat. We booked a very early flight there (6AM) and a late flight home (9PM) so she slept the entire flights, which worked out well.

 

[bigredbeta]

Have flown a lot with older daughter (easily 30+ flights and she just turned 3) and took younger son on planes (unfortunately funerals) several times before he was 3 months old, I can tell you that the ages most people worry about flying with the most (little babies) are actually way easier than the ones they typically don't (toddlers getting close to age 2).

If they can afford it, pay for the extra seat. Even my very calm, easy to redirect daughter who was super used to being on planes was terrible at 21 months old and having to sit on laps. Just too big, too active for anyone to be comfortable with her on a lap. The extra space and not having to worry about bothering a stranger will make it worthwhile. If they are a child who does well with their carseat than its reasonable to think about it lugging that onboard. However, traipsing through an airport with a rugged carseat in tow is a miserable experience.

As for timing, again have to know your child - can they sleep anywhere when it's naptime? I could book a redeye leaving at 11pm and can guarantee you that my daughter will be awake the whole dang time. If they are a sleeper, then scheduling for naptimes can be wise, but if not, best to do it when they are going to be up anyways and won't be tired and cranky.



Per the ME website car seats are not allowed in the motor coach.

 

[Doingitagain]

Do you know if you buy a seat, can you still hold him or does he have to be in that seat? We are considering flying southwest with the exact aged kid in Feb. I want to buy the extra seat to have the room but have the option to hold him if he wants that. Only reason I want the seat is b/c I don’t want to be jammed in a row with DH & a stranger & trying to hold DS 21 mos on my lap too.

ETA: Do they need either the harness or the car seat or can he just sit in the seat like we do?

We just flew this summer with Delta. We bought a seat for our 15 month old granddaughter and strapped the car seat forward facing in the window seat (rear facing would have prevented the person in front of the seat to recline). Dad was in middle seat and mom was on aisle. She didn’t stay in the seat at all, was in a lap the whole time. But it was nice for them to have that whole row and not impact other passengers, the other adults in the party took seats in front,back, and to the side to minimize impact to other passengers if she pulled on tray table, etc.