Flying w/ a 1-year old....suggestions...

[lock3130]

We will have our daughter on this trip to WDW. She will have just turned one. We have no idea what to expect when flying with her. Should we get her a separate seat? Do we bring her car seat with? What kind of activities will keep her at bay?

Also-my sister will have her 3 month old son. Any thoughts/suggestions for her would be great too.

THANKS!

 

[DebbieB]

We will have our daughter on this trip to WDW. She will have just turned one. We have no idea what to expect when flying with her. Should we get her a separate seat? Do we bring her car seat with? What kind of activities will keep her at bay?

Also-my sister will have her 3 month old son. Any thoughts/suggestions for her would be great too.

THANKS!

The safest way is to get them their own seats and use the car seats on the plane.

 

[1tufgt]

The safest way is to get them their own seats and use the car seats on the plane.

I agree. We went in Sept 2010 ur daughter was only 2 months over a year and we got her, her own seat and used her car seat on the plane.

 

[Missytara]

Also have them use a sippy cup on take-off.

My friend actually read that last year, before she took her 14 month old son on the plane for the first time. It helped keep his ears from popping......

 

[gmeh1]

We will have our daughter on this trip to WDW. She will have just turned one. We have no idea what to expect when flying with her. Should we get her a separate seat? Do we bring her car seat with? What kind of activities will keep her at bay?

Also-my sister will have her 3 month old son. Any thoughts/suggestions for her would be great too.

THANKS!

Simple thought: If they need a car seat in a car going 55mph (more or less) then they should have one in a plane going 500mph.

 

[scootch]

Board as LATE as possible. On the way down with my 2 and 5 year old(by myself) I boarded as soon as they called. I had taken a bunch of dollar store items, they were bored within 10 min and my 2 year old about killed me , she went from seat to seat to seat. By the time I arrived in Florida, i was exhausted. So the trip home, I told them at the gate I wanted to board late... and they gave me about a 5 min before door close warning. We found a small area right by there, out of peoples way to just play until boarding time.

 

[gmeh1]

Board as LATE as possible. On the way down with my 2 and 5 year old(by myself) I boarded as soon as they called. I had taken a bunch of dollar store items, they were bored within 10 min and my 2 year old about killed me , she went from seat to seat to seat. By the time I arrived in Florida, i was exhausted. So the trip home, I told them at the gate I wanted to board late... and they gave me about a 5 min before door close warning. We found a small area right by there, out of peoples way to just play until boarding time.

Another reason for car seats on the plane. You must have been exhausted and I am hoping the other pax were amused with her seat hopping.

 

[maxiesmom]

OP--If you do try and board late, be aware that you could have some issues stowing your carry-on. With most airlines charging for checked bags, carry-on space is at a premium. First on, first shot at an overhead compartment. Most flights I have been on lately some poor soul has had to have their carry-on gate checked.

Also, if you do decide to use a car seat, those must go in the window seat. that is so in case of an emergency an adult is not trying to climb over a car seat to exit the plane.

 

[malibuconlee]

At a year my daughter would fall asleep during takeoff and depending on length of flight sleep the whole time. If she still takes a binke,pacifier give them to the kids for take off and landing. Never had issues and we always did that. Then did suckers when she was older.

Stickers are great and don't take up much room for flights. for me it was easier to fly with her at a year than at 2 1/2!

For the baby if on formula, just bring powdered and ask for bottled water from the flight attendants. They were always great about that for us.

 

[lock3130]

gmeh1-if you're going to put rude things, then please don't post on my threads.

Thank you to everyone else who posted suggestions. I was just wondering what other people's experiences were. Our daughter doesn't use a pacifier but she does like her sippy cup, so we will probably use that.

Thanks!

 

[Betty Rohrer]

remember that sippy cup will need to be empty at security or it will have to be dumped out or left behind, no liquid allowed. also child is not allowed to carry lovie or stuffed animal thru security. getting a scared child to part with favorite toy might be hard but will have to be done that way. i had to take leash off our runner and child had to go thru before me and thank goodness he stayed because no one could touch him. his mother, other adult on trip, had to go thru a special screening because of med equipment that could not be taken off. i could not of caught him if he had run. it was scary for me

 

[Waybuloo]

We've traveled a lot with our now 4yo (including 60+ hours of flights around the world before she was walking) and can quite happily say.... as long as youe attitude is adjustable you and they can do anything

When it's me and my DP, I'll board with the car seat and luggage, strap the seat in and stow the carry on (only ever found it a problem in the US to run out of space) - DP waits until final boarding... we pop DD in the car seat and that's it. Never had a problem with ears popping or not popping so never used the sippycup or bottle.

The best amusement type toy we found sounds totally wrong but I swear it kept DD entertained for hours were pill box type containers, the ones for 7 days of medication but a bit bigger... filled with rice bubbles (rice krispies?)... who would have thought! (And no, we've had no incidences with DD opening pill boxes to find rice bubbles as we don't use them )

I hope you have a great trip! Oh... and one more piece of advise that I found invaluable - take a spare shirt for you/DP and a full change for bubs.

 

[deegack]

remember that sippy cup will need to be empty at security or it will have to be dumped out or left behind, no liquid allowed. also child is not allowed to carry lovie or stuffed animal thru security. getting a scared child to part with favorite toy might be hard but will have to be done that way. i had to take leash off our runner and child had to go thru before me and thank goodness he stayed because no one could touch him. his mother, other adult on trip, had to go thru a special screening because of med equipment that could not be taken off. i could not of caught him if he had run. it was scary for me

You are permitted to bring a reasonable amount of liquid ie juice milk water for an infant or toddler through security. Dd was one when we had our last dw trip. We brought two full bottles (8oz each) through security for the flight. One for up and one for down. She is prone to ear problems so I wanted to make sure she was able to suck hard on something during take off and landing an the straw cups she usually used t that point were too easy. Also send one adult through security then your kid then the secon adult if applicable. That way there is alway someone to take care of the child.

 

[gmeh1]

gmeh1-if you're going to put rude things, then please don't post on my threads.

Thank you to everyone else who posted suggestions. I was just wondering what other people's experiences were. Our daughter doesn't use a pacifier but she does like her sippy cup, so we will probably use that.

Thanks!

What is rude about stating an observation about car seats and presenting a reason to use them? Oh well.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

deegack, i was not able to have child's mother help as she had to go thru different security due to med equipment. was just me with 4 boys and security was no help to me. will be the same in Dec as mother is not allowed thru the dectors and has to go thru other way and we are not allowed to go with her. took mother about 10 minutes to clear security and we just had to sit and wait. younger boy is a runner and i can not catch him, ie special needs child. i had to go thru scanner after child went thru, not allowed to hold on to him. it was at a large airport. wish i was able to have someone there but it was not to be.

 

[Carriemel]

This post assumes that there are at least 3 adults. If this indeed is the case, my dh and I discovered that if one of us boards when we're supposed to and installs the car seat. The other one stays out with our little one until the very last minute, stuff her in the car seat and away we go. Again, this would only work if there's an "extra" adult to help with the car seat install.