Flying with a toddler?

[jennapens]

We are flying to WDW in November either on Southwest or AirTran (only 2 airlines that offer direct flights from Pittsburgh). We are traveling with our 2 year old (will actually be 2 weeks away from her 3rd birthday), so we have to buy a seat for her. My question is... Does she actually have to sit in her own seat during take off and landing? I'm just a little worried that she'll throw a holy hissy fit if she doesn't want to sit in that seat by herself. Do we still have the option to hold her? I'm just not sure what to do. We flew just before her first birthday before, and she handled it very well, but I know 2 years can make a big difference.

Oh that and the fact that refuses to sit still for more than 5 minutes!

TIA!!

 

[tjmw2727]

Yes she will, every ticketed passenger has to be in their own seat with the seat belt fastened. I would start now practicing with her, this is what we do when we get to ride on the airplane. Have some fun games ready (non electronic) to distract her, stickers, books, @ songs and finger games worked well with my kids.

A favorite juice out of a sippy cup for the ears and maybe a chewy treat will double as help with ear pressure and a reward for staying seated.

At that age it may be a good idea to use a carseat - if she is used to being buckled in the car she may realize the same rules apply in the aircraft.

 

[Paging Tom Morrow]

She absolutely will have to be buckled into her own seat for takeoff and landing.

DON'T make the same mistake we made. We used the carseat for travel down and when our daughter did so well on that flight, we elected to let her sit directly in the seat rather than the carseat for the ride home. THIS DID NOT GO WELL.

If you have a carseat that is FAA approved, definitely use it for both legs of your travel. Your child is used to it already and won't feel unnecessarily restricted by the use of a seatbelt directly on her.

PS - If anyone on these boards happened to be on the SW flight from MCO to ISP on 8/24/09 where Satan possessed an otherwise adorable 2YO girl, we apologize.....

 

[Lamping3]

Yes they have to be buckled in.... We took our daughter 1 week after her 2nd birthday and she did great on the ride down. We had a couple new books, crayons with a few coloring books, small princess dolls in a purse to play with, some new snacks she doesn't always get at home,and Finding Nemo on my DH's phone to entertain her. I was VERY worried about how she would do. She ended up doing perfect on the way down.....even fell asleep towards the end of the flight. The way back was a whole other story. We had a layover and by the 2nd flight she was tired and just couldn't get comfortable and she was crying and there was nothing we could do to calm her down. (yeah we were THAT family) I finally got her settled on my lap and asleep and then we start to get ready to land. The flight attendent came by and asked how old she was when I said 2 she said she had to be buckled in her own seat. I was so frazzled and mad because I had just gotten her to sleep (and not screaming) that I almost started crying myself. I now know that legally anyone over 2 must have their own seat and be buckled in on takeoff and landing but at the time it was a little too much.

We are taking her back this May (at 3.5) and I believe this will be a much better flight. I think she will be much better at understanding why she has to be in the seat and she it will be a little easier to keep her entertained.

Bring lots of "new" items (think dollar store or target dollar spot). Stickers, little notebooks, crayons, paperdolls, candy (especially if she does not get it at home). Basically pull one item out at a time and if she gets bored you have something else to give her. One trick I read about after our bad flight was a parent that made puppets out of the barf bags for her child and put on a puppet show....maybe bring supplies for that (including paperbags incase the barf bags are needed for something else).

Sorry this was kinda long but I thought you needed honest experiences. Since your DD is going to be closer to 3 they tend to get a little better at communicating and better at understanding why (and better at changing their behavior for a bribe ). Good Luck!

 

[brymolmom]

I was always worried about this with dd who was (and still is, at age 7 now) a handful....

Think creatively...whatever works best to make the trip easiest for you and considerate as possible to those around you.

For me, this was easy to come up with. The way to my dd's heart has always been thru chocolate. So, M&M's doled out slowly...one at a time...did wonders for having her sit still for takeoffs and landings.

When on a flight...not the time to do the things you would handle differently when at home - time to do whatever it takes to make everyone calm.

Also, if she hasn't flown before - sometimes kids will get 'you HAVE to stay seated in your carseat' - since they're so used to it in cars. You could just tell her to expect that it is just like a car and Mommy and Daddy need their seatbelts and she needs her carseat.

 

[prncess674]

I was always worried about this with dd who was (and still is, at age 7 now) a handful....

Think creatively...whatever works best to make the trip easiest for you and considerate as possible to those around you.

For me, this was easy to come up with. The way to my dd's heart has always been thru chocolate. So, M&M's doled out slowly...one at a time...did wonders for having her sit still for takeoffs and landings.

When on a flight...not the time to do the things you would handle differently when at home - time to do whatever it takes to make everyone calm.

Thanks for being such a great Mom! I travel a lot for work and I am always amazed by the amount of times parents use the time on the plane as a teaching experience and allow kids to howl and cry. Your job as the parent is to make the flight as painless for your child AND for those around you. If handing out M&Ms makes your child quiet then by all means do so! Don't use this time as the first time you are teaching your child that they should learn to self soothe while Mommy has a cocktail and Mom watches American Idol on her Ipod. Do whatever it takes to keep your child entertained and quiet!

Make sure your little special snowflake has been changed, has a drink and a snack. Have quiet books or games at the ready. Playing peek-a-boo with the passenger behind you is not acceptable unless you are close personal friends with that person. If your child wants a paci or a bottle then by all means give it to them! Dress your child comfortably, rather than for cutsie pictures. If your child wails when you put her hair in a tight pony, then don't put one in her hair just because you think it cute. The body and feet expand in the air so dress them in soft stretchy clothes and pack a familiar blankie in case it is cold. Also pack a complete change of clothes in case of accidents. Remember there can be turbulence and drinks and snacks get shaken about.

 

[Ctsplaysinrain]

IMO, the best way and the safest way is to bring your carseat. My boys are 13 and 15 now but there were many flights I did alone with 2 toddlers... No one would have been happy without the car seats and YES- it was very hard at times for me to handle 2 toddlers, 2 car seats and carryons but I would ask for help and no one refused.... My boys do have some issues- one has Autism and one has severe ADHD but they knew as infants that a car seat in the car was NOT NEGOTIABLE and by having car seats on planes it was NOT NEGOTIABLE either.. Besides, it the safest way anyway.

 

[DCbride]

DD3 had flown a lot- she even used her SW free flight this past trip. I went to Target and bought a lightweight, pink FAA approved car seat for $45. It is her airplane seat. We talked highly of it, let her sit in it, but it is only for the airplane. She loves it. We have a Britex in the car and after lugging it through the airport when she was little we "invested" in a smaller one for planes. The other positive, the Britex is more at an angle which allowed her feet to touch (or kick) the seat in front of her. the new smaller seat does not.

Lollipops or a new toy to unwrap also distract from the actual take off. One time when she was not cooperating at all I had small stickers the size of her pinky and let her stick them all over my arm hey whatever works!

 

[nytimez]

I always preferred the Cares Safety Harness. It's FAA-approved and keeps your kid safely strapped in.

In the beginning, flight crews didn't know much about them and sometimes were a little skeptical -- until someone else on the crew reassured them it's OK. Now, they all seem very familiar with it.

It does strap around the entire seat, so I usually offer an apology to whoever is sitting behind me for the visual intrusion.

 

[juliebean]

I am so sorry! We fly cross country every year and the worst were always with toddlers. I would encourage you to consider looking at this as a couple of hour car trip and insist she sit in a car seat. We did this with our third child (we tried other plans with the older two - not as effective) and she'd usually be happier because of the familiarity and she could lean her head on the sides and sleep. If you approach it as "not a choice" it's a lot easier on everyone.

 

[Disflyer]

Being a parent of a 2 year old daughter I understand what works well for one won't for another but with that said I want to echo what others have stated. I work for an airline and family is nowhere close to where we live so our dd has flown quite a bit. When she first sits in her seat I explain to her that this is just like sitting in the car. She amazes me and seems to understand that once the belt is on she can't fuss about and try to get out of her seat. I find that flying with her is much more enjoyable than flying alone since I have her to entertain and in turn she entertains me.

I completely agree with the hole "don't use this as a teaching exercise" comment. I find that my purpose on the flight is two-fold. 1) keep her calm and relaxed for her well being and 2) keep her calm and relaxed for those around me.

Knock on wood we have yet to have an experience that is embarrassing on a flight. While on the ground waiting for pushback we usually play a game to try and spot the workers on the tar mac. She loves seeing them and waving to them, most of the time she gets a "hi" back so it keeps her attention to find the next person to say "hi" to.

 

[1tufgt]

We traveled with our 1 year old daughter this past Sept to Orlando and opted to buy a extra ticket for her to have her own seat instead of the chance of trying to hold her in our laps where she would try to wiggle out and get down. With the car seat she's strapped in and will stay with no issues as like some have described it's no different than being in a car is how it has to be explained.

We got lucky this time and she literally slept all the way there and back but I believe it also helps that the total flight time was 2hrs and that is gate to gate. I'm scared what she would do on a longer flight but that's something that we will just have to deal with and keep her occupied. Drinks, Snacks, Window Stickers, or anything that will keep them occupied.

 

[DopeyDame]

PS - If anyone on these boards happened to be on the SW flight from MCO to ISP on 8/24/09 where Satan possessed an otherwise adorable 2YO girl, we apologize.....

I've been there! It's amazing what Satan can do on an airplane.

I agree with all the others who say bring the carseat. However... I'll add a warning to that to perhaps try your best not to get out of your seat either. My DS was doing just fine on the plane until I got up to go to the bathroom. Evidently realizing that mommy was allowed to get up made him think he could get out. Trying to appease him to avoid a complete meltdown on the plane, we let him out of the carseat. It then became impossible to get him back in without a fight. Horrid. Now, mommy, daddy, and DS all buckle up and stay seated the whole flight. So far, that's worked better. Fingers crossed!

 

[*Seanaci*]

As others have said, she does have to be in her own seat, buckled.

You have 2 options to keep her in her seat:

1) Bring your own carseat (which if you're using Disney transport ends up sitting in your room the whole time; thus being just another thing to lug around with you).

2) CARES Harness. We are looking into this for when we fly with our DS in 2012 (granted, he'll be 5, but his current carseat he can be in the 5-point until he's like 50 pounds I think and he'll stay in the 5-point as long as possible; I would prefer he be in a harness on the airplane as well...being smaller, it would be way safer should something happen; a lap belt only holds a child down so far). As someone else posted it is FAA approved, however straps completely around the seat (not ideal if your the person who has to sit behind the seat).

No matter which method you choose to keep her strapped in and safe during take off and landing, just make sure you have something fun for her to do during that time (coloring book, reading book, a toy of some sort).

 

[wed100105]

I took DD last summer when she was just turning 2 and a half. She did awesome on the trip down. I had lots of special presents for her and treats. We also used the dvd player. On the way home, she cried at take-off. She cried, "I don't want to leave Mickey's house!!!" Again, it's time to bribe!

 

[kaytieeldr]

2) CARES Harness. We are looking into this for when we fly with our DS in 2012 (granted, he'll be 5, but his current carseat he can be in the 5-point until he's like 50 pounds I think and he'll stay in the 5-point as long as possible; I would prefer he be in a harness on the airplane as well...being smaller, it would be way safer should something happen; a lap belt only holds a child down so far). As someone else posted it is FAA approved, however straps completely around the seat (not ideal if your the person who has to sit behind the seat).

On the other hand, if you put a member of your party in that seat, it's reasonable