flying with a 1 1/2 year old

[inloveindisney]

We'll be flying for the first time with a little on in October. Anyone have any advice? We didn't buy her an extra seat so she'll be sitting on our lap. I did convince my hubby to do a nonstop flight at least on the way there. We'll be in the air about an hour. My little one is pretty wiggly. I'd have liked to have gotten a seat for her, but funds did not allow.
So, I'm a little.... Looking for tips on entertaining her.

 

[princessreilly]

I was a little worried when I took DS for his first flight to Disney in December. He was 1 1/2 as well. I didn't have a seat for him either. Luckily, the flight was pretty early and he slept the entire time. I was prepared for him to be awake and had coloring books, toys, snacks and of course gum for the ride. We were in the air at least two hours. An hour will go by before you know it. Good luck!

 

[snoopy5386]

we have flown a number of times with our DD (she just turned 2) without buying her a seat and only twice have we not gotten an extra seat for her to sit in. It will be fine. If you have a portable DVD player, bring that. If not coloring books, a new book, some playdoh or duplo blocks are all good. So are stickers and post it notes.

 

[GrammyJudy]

Some airlines have individual TV screens on the back of the seats so she could watch cartoons or just flip channels. Bring snacks and some toy or book to look at

 

[Not so Dumbo]

My DD2 loves to play with her travel size magnadoodle ($6 at target)
Also bring a lot of snacks

 

[Dopey19]

We flew with our daughter when she was 9 months and again at 2 years she was fine on all flights. Second trip I brought my iPod and put some of her fave movies on it; I also had a speaker for it so I didn't have to put headphones on her. I think having something familiar to watch made her feel comfortable. She also slept about 1/2 of the flight.

Make sure you start talking about it in advance to - we let her know she was going on a plane with Mommy & Daddy and we would be flying in the clouds. I think it helped remove some fear because she was a little prepared. An hour flight isn't that bad and I believe most passengers on a flight to Orlando are expecting alot of kids to be onboard and are very tolerate of the noise. Good luck!

 

[QueueCT]

We traveled with our twin girls at 12-13 months of age. One flight was 2 hours, the second was 3 hours and the third flight was 13 hours. This was over the course of a week. We did have to purchase one extra seat since we couldn't have two lap children in the same seat block (not enough oxygen masks). The big difference you will gave compared to us is that our girls weren't walking without help yet.

Key learnings:
1. Bulkhead seats are golden. Get one if you can. This way you can easily stand your child on the floor when she gets wiggly. Yes, there are safety issues, I assume you won't do this when the seat belt signs are on.
2. One hour will absolutely fly by (unless she's screaming the whole time, of course). Have two or three things that will hold her interest. Food worked well for us.
3. Sippy cup or gum for takeoff and landing. Helps equalize the pressure and reduces the odds of blocked ears that will cause screaming.
4. The people around you may help entertain. Smiles, waving, peek-a-boo, etc with receptive plane-mates will keep her busy.
5. Window seat. Take off and landing (particularly taxiing) can be the hardest times since she can't move around at all. Make sure she has a good view to the outside world and provide a narrative for her.

I strongly recommend reserving an aisle seat and a window seat for you and your husband. Unless the flight is packed the odds are low that someone will take the seat in between you and you will end up with a spare seat. If by chance someone does take that seat I'm sure that he/she won't object to giving up a middle seat for an aisle or window.

Don't worry, don't stress, it's really not so bad.

 

[adell557]

We flew with our DD about the same age.

1. No matter what any one says, don't give any Benadryl before the flight, I had several moms tell me this, at 30,000 feet it has the opposite effect of making them sleepy, makes them WIRED. Pediatrician told me this.

2. Go to the dollar store and get things she has never seen before that she would like to play with about 10 items. As she gets restless, take out one item let her play with it, she will get bored in 5 or 10 minutes, and then move onto another one if still wiggly.

3. Bring a sippy cup for her to drink on the way up and the way down to pop the ears.

4. Bring fun snacks that she can munch on if your airport lets you bring food through security, ours doesn't.

 

[Perditamarie]

Just wanted to add, don't forget to bring a copy of the birth cert so you have proof of age. Also, bring your infant Tylenol w/you in case she does have ear pain. Happy travels!

 

[kjetjl]

I know some don't recommend Benedryl but I would bring some along just in case. And I would bring Tylenol or Ibuprofen.

Our son was 1 1/2 last year when we flew for the first time and I didn't give him anything before the flight on our way to Disney. We gave him a bottle at take-off but that didn't help for long. He screamed almost the entire time after we got in the air. I am pretty sure it was his ears. We gave him Tylenol on the plane but he was so worked up by then, it really didn't seem to help.

On our flight home, I gave him Benedryl and Tylenol just before getting on the plane. He took a bottle while we were taking off and was asleep 10 minutes later. He slept the whole flight. About 2 -2 1/2 hours.

Good luck!

 

[Booknut]

Oh how I envy you, DD will be 14 months when we go in January and the flight out is 9 1/2 hours!!!

I read somewhere on a trip report of a couple that had wrapped up a few Disney toys/treats and gave them out periodically during the flight for their kids to open up, it kept them entertained, excited and so focused on the gifts they had and were going to get that the flight just flew by!

As you can imagine, i'll have to bring a sack like Santa's to entertain Tilly for 9 1/2 hours

Good luck and have a great time!

 

[lpberg]

When our kids were younger (heck, even with my DS4 now we do this!) *definitely* give them Tylenol or Advil/Motrin - we usually time it so that it's in their system a 1/2 hour before takeoff... these days, that means as soon as we sit our butts down in our seats on the plane! It helps with any ear pain that they may encounter.... I have always been leary of trying Bendryl only because I, too, have been told that it has the reverse affect at 30K feet. We also bring DH's laptop and DVD's and *two* sets of earphones (old laptops need a splitter so they can both listen at the same time).

We also bring lots of snacks. When my DD was little, she was great with coloring (Color Wonder), or the smaller sized MagnaDoodles. DS - not so much! He eats his way through all flights we take!!

Good luck and enjoy your trip!
Lynne

 

[adell557]

I know some don't recommend Benedryl but I would bring some along just in case. And I would bring Tylenol or Ibuprofen.

Our son was 1 1/2 last year when we flew for the first time and I didn't give him anything before the flight on our way to Disney. We gave him a bottle at take-off but that didn't help for long. He screamed almost the entire time after we got in the air. I am pretty sure it was his ears. We gave him Tylenol on the plane but he was so worked up by then, it really didn't seem to help.

On our flight home, I gave him Benedryl and Tylenol just before getting on the plane. He took a bottle while we were taking off and was asleep 10 minutes later. He slept the whole flight. About 2 -2 1/2 hours.

Good luck!

I agree with the advil and motrin, but Benadryl has different effects on different children, I wouldn't chance it if you have never used it before. My girlfriend had a horrible experience turned her DD into one HYPER little girl on the plane.
Some will conk out others will want to run in circles, you don't know.

 

[jpeka65844]

We flew with DS who was 1 1/2 in March '07 and on the way there it was great. Our flight was at 7 AM so he was still really beat and slept most of the way there.

Flight home was a different story. It was a 4 PM flight. We tried to keep him awake in the van on the way to the airport but it was no use; he nodded off for about 30 minutes. We tried giving him Motrin before we took off. No use. He was a hellacious crankpot all the way home. We totally annoyed the people around us and I think they were all ready to throw him out the window. I think I might've cried. It was awful.

Would we do it again? You bet. We ARE doing it again in 3 weeks, although he's too big to be a lap infant and is now in his own seat. Whew.

My advice: Stickers, books, a few small toys, lots of snacks, and book that early flight!

 

[vafarmmom]

I know this will not be a popular opinion, but I would suggust you get a seat for your child. Ds is a frequent flyer and I would not recommend lap baby. First and foremost for safety reasons (turbulence can be pretty strong and in case of emergency procedures require lap babies to be placed UNDER the SEAT -(google sioux city crash) there is legislation to no longer allow lap babies due to safety. Second - ds is so much happier in his seat. We just flew 1.5 hours each way and ds was the only child in a car seat (ds is 5) and I was amazed at how many frazzled parents were struggling with screaming babies. I almost offered his seat to a mom struggling with a baby who was obviously overtired and couldn't settle. Ds is comfortable in his seat, he can see better, his legs fit better then in the airplane seat, he is secure, and it is part of his travel routine. Oh yeah - his legs don't end up kicking the person in front of him either (like they would he if just had a belt).

By the way I am a single, disabled mom and I still manage to lug the carseat, stroller, and carry on; although watching me check the luggage for our two week trip wasn't pretty, lol.

I do second a dvd player, snacks, small new toys, magna doodle, although ds has only needed his headphones (to drown out the screaming babies) and the mags on the airplane for the last few years.

 

[jodifla]

I know this will not be a popular opinion, but I would suggust you get a seat for your child. Ds is a frequent flyer and I would not recommend lap baby. First and foremost for safety reasons (turbulence can be pretty strong and in case of emergency procedures require lap babies to be placed UNDER the SEAT -(google sioux city crash) there is legislation to no longer allow lap babies due to safety. Second - ds is so much happier in his seat. We just flew 1.5 hours each way and ds was the only child in a car seat (ds is 5) and I was amazed at how many frazzled parents were struggling with screaming babies. I almost offered his seat to a mom struggling with a baby who was obviously overtired and couldn't settle. Ds is comfortable in his seat, he can see better, his legs fit better then in the airplane seat, he is secure, and it is part of his travel routine. Oh yeah - his legs don't end up kicking the person in front of him either (like they would he if just had a belt).

By the way I am a single, disabled mom and I still manage to lug the carseat, stroller, and carry on; although watching me check the luggage for our two week trip wasn't pretty, lol.

I do second a dvd player, snacks, small new toys, magna doodle, although ds has only needed his headphones (to drown out the screaming babies) and the mags on the airplane for the last few years.

This is OLD information and is no longer true.

OP, we flew many times with DS as a lap baby. One thing we always did was book the aisle and window seat toward the back of the plane. Often the middle seat was empty, so we could bring our car seat (otherwise gate checked on the plane.)

Portable DVD players are GREAT for the plane...we used them all the time at that age. Also, new toys that your child hasn't seen before can soak up the time. An hour will go pretty quickly on a plane...there's lots to look at for little ones!

 

[adell557]

This is OLD information and is no longer true.

OP, we flew many times with DS as a lap baby. One thing we always did was book the aisle and window seat toward the back of the plane. Often the middle seat was empty, so we could bring our car seat (otherwise gate checked on the plane.)

Portable DVD players are GREAT for the plane...we used them all the time at that age. Also, new toys that your child hasn't seen before can soak up the time. An hour will go pretty quickly on a plane...there's lots to look at for little ones!

I agree, don't waste your money on an extra seat for an 18 month old baby, she won't want to sit in it anyway, and you will have wasted a couple hundred bucks. You do not have to store your child under the seat although if she is a handful you might want to, just kidding. She will be fine, I agree about the bulkhead seats, they are the ticket!!!! Extra room to get down without bothering anyone.

 

[frtchr]

My DD (16 months) did much better being in her own seat in a CARES harness than when we took her in her car seat at 11 months. (She HATES the car seat.) If you don't want to get a seat, though, lots of new little toys and snacks are always fun. DD loved looking at the laminated safety card on the plane. That took up a good 20 minutes of the 2 hour flight! Have a good trip!!! Time will fly by!

 

[Zeebs]

We did 4 x 12 hour flights from the UK to NZ with a cruising 11 month old as a lap child and my first thought was

"you are kidding me 1 HOUR......... I wish"

that said you will be fine, plane goes up, that is reasonably exciting to a child, bring out a few little presents, some snacks, read a story or two, get up go to toilet take bubs with look out window chat to flight attendants (they usually love cute kids) and next thing you know you are landing.

Have a great trip.

I will let you know how our 9 hour trip from UK to WDW goes with a 10 month lapchild and a 2.5 in his own seat, playing with the very easy to open seatbelts.

Kirsten

 

[inloveindisney]

Well, you all make me feel better! We had already booked so we didnt' have the option of just adding a seat. I wish I had thought of the buy a window/buy an aisle seat tip. I"ll remember that for next time. Great idea. I'm hoping that maybe the flight won't be too crowded and there will be an extra seat! Here's hoping!!