Flying with toddler on lap

[monorailsilver]

If he is on a lap he won't have a table in front of him for play doh so be prepared to pick it up or have him reach to your spouses table.

Shoes, take off his shoes. When my kids were younger (under 3) and strapped in their car seat I took off their shoes because they could still easily touch the seat in front of them, thankfully they were never kickers!

Also, be considerate of the person in front of you and make sure he isn't constantly grabbing at the seat to tug/pull back. That can get old for that passenger in front of you.

Lollipops...I would go to the grocery store early am/after breakfast and before an am nap for at least one kid and there would be my kids sucking on them. They were my go to store treat and it worked. Heck I think my oldest had one on her first fight at 16 mo old.

Does Benadryl make him sleep? If you are waking him at 4:30, will he fall asleep on the ride to the airport? If he does then he won't sleep on the flight. So give him some Benadryl at the airport and make him walk the entire time you are waiting to board so he gets tired. Ok that never worked for me, my kids decided to nap after we got off the plane and were on DME.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Are you flying from the UK with him on your laps?

 

[scrapquitler]

Just be aware that if there is turbulence, the pilot may keep the fasten seatbelt sign on and then you won't be able to get up or let him get up as long as it's on. And that could be the entire flight.

And when you have him in your lap, you won't be able to use the tray table, so no fun activities for him, no beverage service for you unless you are going to hold the cup and him at the same time.

I can say that I wouldn't want to be seated next to someone with a lap child, even if he or she was perfectly behaved because it does simply come down to a space issue.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'ma bit confused. If you are worried he won't sit still enough for take off and landing, what happens the rest of the time? Is he going to spend it wiggling around on your lap? You can't walk the aisles with him for the whole flight.

 

[Roobear77]

We have flown with both our kids as lap babies, and here is my advice.
Definitely go with the last to board, but send your husband to get your bags settled etc then slip on and into your seats at final boarding call.

If at all possible, DON'T let him walk around. If he doesn't know that is an option, he won't try to do it. We made the decision that wandering up and down the aisle was an absolate last resort, and never needed to do it. Even now, at 8 and 4 my girls have no idea that you can just get up and walk around. You only get up to go to the bathroom. If you let him up to walk he is more likely to want to do that.

I agree with snacks, screen time, whatever would normally be a treat for him, have at it on the plane. It is about survival! =) Try not to stress, if you get upset he will feed off that. Try to stay calm, repeat the same thing over and over if you have to. Give two acceptable choices "You can sit with Mummy or you can sit with Daddy. Who do you want to sit with?" "You can watch a show or play with play doh" .

Honestly, the worse thing that could happen is that he cries the entire flight. Yeah, people may be annoyed, but guess what, you don't have to see them again and if they can't understand that a flight can be tough on a little one then too bad for them.

Have fun!

 

[Deb & Bill]

I think they flew last Saturday.

 

[Ross J 82]

Thanks for all your advice. The plane journeys from the UK to Orlando via Chicago went smoothly. He cried for 1 minute total and only walked up and down the aisle twice for around 5 minutes. He was very happy with the new toys and doing something different. We could tell in Disney it was going to be worse on the way back, he was getting bored of the busses/boats trips to the different parks etc after the first few days.

We made it through but he cried a lot more on the way back as he wanted to sleep lying down and he moves around all night in his cot so would wake up every hour or so and take longer to get back to sleep. Having his own seat wouldn't have helped but I think having the cot section of the plane that attaches to the wall would have. I would definitely recommend that if you are doing night flights.