Flying with baby ??

[jennapens]

Hi everyone,

We are leaving for WDW in 11 days! Woo Hoo! This is our first time flying with a child (I've been flying for years). DD will just be turning a year old. The flight is about 2 hours, and we're leaving at 8:00am. Any tips on how to make the trip fun for her?

She really doesn't have any favorite toys except for her yellow kitty. She likes board books, but she's also likes to throw her board books. I'm afraid someone is going to get hit in the back of the head. =) Also, how do we prevent the dreaded ear problems. I know that I have only experienced the problem once, but it was horrible. I can't even imagine how bad it would affect her.

I greatly appreciate the advice. As excited as I am to go, I'm so scared about the flight.

Oh, forgot one thing. Has anyone experienced any trouble with formula or baby food going through the security gates. DD still isn't 100% accustommed to milk, so we are still on the formula a few times a day.

TIA!

 

[jmartinez1895]

You can visit the TSA web sight ( www.tsa.gov )and you will find all of the guide lines for baby items like formula and juice. Sometimes sucking on a bottle or sippy cup will help with the pressure in the ears. When we fly with the kids ( regarless of the age) we always buy a few new toys and do not let them see them untill we are in the air. THat way the new hasn't worn off yet.

 

[NHdisneylover]

As the PP stated, sucking on something for take off and landing is really good for the ears. If there is a bottle or sippy cup that she has to "work" at to get the liquid out that is all the better. You might also have her quietly sing the song about if all the raindrops were lemondrops and gumdrops... Because the ah, ah, ah, etc part encourages her to open her mouth really wide which can also make the ears pop.

Arrive at the airport plenty early. Hang back and watch security for a moment and tell your DD what is going on. "See, everybody walks though the gate alone. You'll go first and then wait by that bench and I'll come right after you." Encourage her to be up and moving about (maybe in an unused gate near your gate) right up until boarding time. I also prefered waiting to board until the end whe my were little (instead of taking the preboard option) so they spent less time sitting still. If you are taking her carseat on the plane (be sure it is FAA approved) you will want to preboard though.

Pack a few snacks and twice as many diapers as you think you will need. Also get a few "new" toys for her and open up something different every half hour or so. Mine used to love getting a pack of post it notes on the plane. It was something they normally did not get to play with much at home. It was fun for them to stick the notes all over the window, seat, etc.

Do not pack toys which make noise (unless you want those around you to hate you).

My experience has been that kids travel very well. Try not to worry and have a great trip

 

[Missytara]

My friend just got back with an 18 month old. She had him take his bottle while they were taking off - he nods off not long after and it helps with the ears.

She said it was so cute, on the way home, he insisted on sitting in DH's lap by the window. He put his head against the window so he could see the clouds and fell asleep like that for the rest of the flight.

It was also exactly two hours.

 

[JasonDVC]

...This is our first time flying with a child (I've been flying for years). DD will just be turning a year old. The flight is about 2 hours, and we're leaving at 8:00am. Any tips on how to make the trip fun for her?...

We'll be doing the exact same thing in April. I'll be checking in for any additional advice as well. Thanks for starting this thread!

 

[malibuconlee]

Honestly it's easiest to just take powder and buy a bottle of water after security (or ask for some on the plane) to make bottles. I've done both and it can be a hassle. Also depending on the size of airport they may or may not have the equipment needed to test the premixed without opening it. (Kansas City does, El Paso does not)

My daughter has napped on every flight she's taken. She gets wrapped up in Daddy's arms and they nod off.

She rarely plays with any toys we take. The SW drink card was her favorite thing on our last trip.

If your child does a binkie that's what we do for take off and landing and she's never had a problem with her ears. The first time she flew she fell asleep during takeoff on all 4 flights we had.

Good luck, it's a hassle, but not terrible to fly with a youngster. Just remember to give yourself extra time to make it thru security. Because it does take longer with all the stuff you take when traveling with a kid.

We generally put one person in charge of the stuff and one in charge of our child when going thru security, but we also usually travel with a laptop and diaper bag and stroller and and and LOL.

 

[puffkin]

Especially if you already have assigned seats, try to board the plane as late as possible. The less time on the plane, the better!

Change diaper right before you get on the plane. Trust me, changing a diaper on a plane is next to impossible!

The little window shade is the most fascinating thing ever to a child. Seriously, my DS is 3 1/2 and flown quite a few times and that still gives him a good 20-30 minutes of entertainment on each flight.

DS also really enjoys going through all the stuff in the seat back pocket. Sometimes I try to sneak in a book or two of his to find....then he thinks it was there before and will look at it. He wouldn't give it a second glance if he knew it was his. The evacuation card is a favorite of his.....we get a lot of mileage out of that one. Now that he is older he also enjoys the sky mail catalog.

I am in the minority here, but we pack very few things for DS on our trips. The less things I have to carry, the better! Between our DVD player and all the other diversions, we usually have him covered for teh whole flight.

 

[Glencora]

Not sure if they'll work for infants, but I know that earplanes do come in a child size. They're ear plugs that are designed to equalize the pressure during take-off and landing, so no pain and no popping.

When my nephew was a little older (around 2 1/2 or 3), we used to spend as much time as possible before boarding making him run. We'd find a quiet corner and "time" him running from here to there. Obviously, this doesn't work on really busy days or in really busy airports, but the theory is sound - keep'em moving as much as possible, and they'll have an easier time sitting on the plane.

 

[Tasmen]

Is your daughter going to be a lap child or does she have her own seat? We've flown with our DD quite a lot (she's 18 months now). We have always bought her a seat on the plane and found that helped immensely to have her buckled into her car seat.

Even if your DD is going to be a lap child and you are already bringing along your car seat to use at your final destination, I'd suggest lugging the car seat with you to the plane. If there are empty seats on the plane, they'll let you use that seat for your DD and the car seat. Mind you, she'll have to be sitting in a window seat to use the car seat as they do not want a child in a car seat blocking the exit of someone not in a car seat.

What we've done to entertain our DD on the plane is to bring lots of board books she's never seen before as well as a magnadoodle. She likes picking up the pen of the magnadoodle and just well..doodling!

Also do not forget the snacks! Snacks are a great way to occupy the little one for a short bit of time. Every minute of entertainment/distraction counts on the plane when you are traveling with a LO I've come to discover.

 

[joeathome167]

We flew from LAX to Boston 4 years ago went my DS6 was 1 1/2. It is a 5 hour flight and he managed fine. The only thing I would suggest is if ou have a seat for her and you buckle her in a car seat. Don't let her out. We let my son out to stretch his legs and had a heck of a time trying to get him back in the seat for landing.

Otherwise, the more you are stressed about it...the more your child will be. She will follow your lead.

Have fun.

 

[happiestgrl]

I agree with pp that the safety briefing card and other seatback materials provide lots of entertainment. We make up games to play with the skymall catalog - how many dogs (or yellow things, or things that start with J) can we find. As my daughter has gotten older (she's now 7), the games have gotten more challenging (making up stories about the pictures), but she reaches for they catalog first thing.