infant on plane

[gottalovethem]

Hi. Without getting into the right/wrong of putting a baby on your lap on the plane. . . what can I do to keep my DS of 7 months occupied on a 3 hour flight. He will be on my lap. I have two other kids too and I'm sure they will help entertain him at times, but that just seems like a long time for him to be still and not crawl around. Any suggestions?

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

Hi! We did a 2.5 hour flight with my 2nd youngest when he was 6.5 months old. I was a bit nervous, since we did not buy him a seat. I actually think this age is much easier on the plane than when they get a little older (my 18 month old dd was a nightmare to occupy on the plane for our first trip).

I had hoped that I could feed him a bottle and have him fall asleep, but there was none of that happening!! Probably by 7 months or so, you could have introduced Cheerios, and that can be a great way to spend some time. I also brought along some books and NEW toys. But my ds was the most entertained by the lights and people as well as with games of peek-a-boo, etc. Just be sure to have a bottle, pacifier or be prepared to bf, if needed, for relief of the air pressure changes.

We were really surprised at how easy the flight was!!!

 

[las3888]

We had a sort of rough go for DS's first flight at 8.5 months. We are going again and he wil lbe 13.5 months. I am still really wary about how to keep him occupied (probabbly even more so). We are going to bring a dVD player to play Baby Einstein type movies. We figure if we split them up throughout the flight, he will probably be attentive enough to sit through 2. That will kill an hour to an hour and a half. We plan on feeding him his meal so that will make another half hour or so. He has a few toys and books that entertain him for a while too. I figured the rest would be short walks down the aisle. I am really not looking forward to this, but we love WDW and wouldn't miss going! Good luck!!!

 

[jodifla]

If your child watches DVDs, it really does kill the time. My DS started watching Baby Mozart at about 6 weeks. We always took my DH's laptop on flights, and DS sat in my lap while the computer played Baby Einstein dvds. That worked best for us at that age!

 

[Cindy's Mom]

Without getting into a debate - if you are able to swing it money wise, I say buy the seat for your infant. Its 1/2 price and your baby can sit in his/her carseat. I'm not even talking about it from a safety POV, so don't get me wrong on this. You will not be relaxed on the trip, baby will not be relaxed on the trip and the surrounding passengers will not be relaxed.

My DD5 and DS4 have been flying since they were each 6 months old; and quite frequently too - I couldn't imagine having to have one of them on my lap. My mantra is that if Mommy isn't happy, no one is happy. Let your baby chill in the car seat - the rocking motion of the plane will put him/her right asleep -this won't happen in your lap. If you are able to - I'd reconsider the lap issue. What ever you decided - have a great trip.

 

[mantysk8coach]

If your child watches DVDs, it really does kill the time. My DS started watching Baby Mozart at about 6 weeks. We always took my DH's laptop on flights, and DS sat in my lap while the computer played Baby Einstein dvds. That worked best for us at that age!

I agree with the DVD player. My daughter flew for the first time at just over a year old, and did great with the movies. (Kept mom and dad entertained too!) The only problem we encountered was her kicking the seat in front of her (if you were on a flight from Milwaukee WI, to Denver, CO last July...I apologize!)

A movie and a few snacks is all she really needed. She fell asleep the last five minutes of the flight.

Good luck!

 

[las3888]

I too recommend buying a seat for DC, but it isn't always 1/2 price. Some airlines are (United, Midwest), but American says they are, but you have to buy a pretty high priced ticket in order to qualify, so it's not really true. I was researching some other airfares on other various airlines and they did not offer the 1/2 price seat for DC. I couldn't imagine having to hold DS for 3 hrs. I can't do it at home, let alone on a plane in a strange place. However, every DC is different. My DS will NOT fall asleep on the plane or car or stroller. Some kids do great with this, but not mine.

Good luck!

 

[grlpwrd]

Will you be traveling with another adult? I always stress safety and we certainly don't live in a perfect world, but it might be a bit much alone with 3 kids so I understand. Yet if your baby is the type to easily fall asleep in a carseat and stay asleep in it than I would reconsider.

Ditto about the DVD player. I've also been known to bring baby's favorite toys as I'm sure you will notice what keeps their attention for a while.

Of course, pace yourself. Movie for 30 to 45 minutes, walking around a bit with baby if you can manage it, eating Cheerios or drinking liquids, playing with toys, etc will certainly fill up 3 hours.

GL!

 

[ducklite]

I hope you are using headphones with those DVD's or are turning the volume off. Most airlines have rules about playing anything so that others can hear it.

Anne

 

[jodifla]

I hope you are using headphones with those DVD's or are turning the volume off. Most airlines have rules about playing anything so that others can hear it.

Anne

Nope. We just played ours on the dozen or so flights we've been on. Someone complained once, other than that, we just turned it down.

 

[gottalovethem]

We don't have a DVD player. I would love one, but don't really want to spend that $ at this time. . .need it for Disney

I thought about the car seat, but he's too big for the baby seat and I'd be lugging the big convertable car seat. It's me and the three kids, so that would be way too much to lug in the airport. I'm kinda hoping that he can sit between his brother or sister and me for part of it. . .

He has started snacking on crackers and such so I will bring those (and a change of clothes for the mess he makes) LOL

I appreciate all the ideas/suggestions! Thank you. If you have any more let me know!

 

[las3888]

I hope you are using headphones with those DVD's or are turning the volume off. Most airlines have rules about playing anything so that others can hear it.

Anne

There's another thread out there on this topic right now...DS was only 8 mos when we first flew with him. There was no way he would wear headphones. We did have a complaint from a fellow passenger. It was really too bad because I do want to be mindful of others, but it's just not an option for a baby that small to wear headphones. We are going again and he is almost 14 months. We are going to try headphones, but if he won't wear them, we will still play the DVD with volume as low as possible. If we don't entertain him in some way for a flight that long, he will get really frustrated and will disrupt the fellow passengers in other ways where they will think no headphones is a piece of cake...

 

[jodifla]

There's another thread out there on this topic right now...DS was only 8 mos when we first flew with him. There was no way he would wear headphones. We did have a complaint from a fellow passenger. It was really too bad because I do want to be mindful of others, but it's just not an option for a baby that small to wear headphones. We are going again and he is almost 14 months. We are going to try headphones, but if he won't wear them, we will still play the DVD with volume as low as possible. If we don't entertain him in some way for a flight that long, he will get really frustrated and will disrupt the fellow passengers in other ways where they will think no headphones is a piece of cake...

Exactly. ITA!

 

[justhat]

We don't have a DVD player but we bring our laptop which serves the same purpose. We have never used headphones (cause our daughter won't wear them) but the volume even at its max is not loud enough to be heard by anyone other than our row so it's never been a problem.

GLT, even if you brought a carseat for your Leif and bought him a seat, it wouldn't really be doable since you're going alone with your kids. The row you'll be sitting in will have 3 seats (I'm guessing) so if you had the carseat then who would sit alone across the aisle or in the row in front? Your other kids are too young to sit alone, IMO, but also too young to all sit together so it just wouldn't work so I agree that holding Leif on your lap will be the easiest plan.

To entertain him, well when the seatbelt sign is off I'd let him play a bit on the seats in your row. Your kids are small enough to give some extra room on the seats for Leif to play for a bit, plus they'll be so excited that they probably won't mind squeezing together for a little bit. If you can, print out some park maps for them to look at on the flight down, that way they'll be amused so you can just focus on the baby. My niece is 4.5yo now and was absolutely fascinated by the park maps when we took her at 2.5yo and when we brought her some back last fall when she just turned 4 so I would think that would be helpful for your kids too.

Also, I've found with Madison (at that age and now) the magazines on the plane, emergency guides, and the snack packs (if you get any on board) were the most amusing things to her, much more so than any toy I brought. On a 5 hour flight to Las Vegas when Madison was 7 months old she was completely enthralled with a pack of peanut butter crackers that Southwest gave us. She could have cared less about the bag of toys I brought along, that pack of crackers (she couldn't open them and didn't really know it was food at that age anyway) was all she needed!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

We did bring along a carseat for DS2 on his first flight, just because it was 6 hours long and we didn't want him in our lap when trying to eat, etc. (This was a few years ago.) I also thought that if I made it more like traveling by car, he'd stay put without trouble and maybe even fall asleep.

NONE of that happened! He wanted to be up and running around, and had no inclination to fall asleep. He started crying when we were on the taxiway because we had to wait 20 mins. or so before we could take off. It seemed like the whole planeload of people groaned at the idea of a long flight with crying little one. Fortunately as soon as we were moving, he stopped crying, and was a doll the rest of the way. Still wanted to be up and about, so we walked him in the aisles a bit, but was definitely well behaved, thank goodness.

I will definitely be bringing snacks and a drink for the younger son this trip, his first flight (at nearly 2) and hope for the best.

 

[mrsltg]

I would give him some benadryl (if you know it makes the baby sleepy) about 10 minutes or so before getting on the plane. I've done it with both girls and it knocks them out. It serves two purposes, 1. no screaming baby, 2. no ear pain.

Good luck on your flight! It sounds like you've got your hands full .

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

I would give him some benadryl (if you know it makes the baby sleepy) about 10 minutes or so before getting on the plane. I've done it with both girls and it knocks them out. It serves two purposes, 1. no screaming baby, 2. no ear pain.

Good luck on your flight! It sounds like you've got your hands full .

Make sure you try Benadryl first, to see how it affects your baby. I had heard it would make babies sleep, but I had also heard from others who said it make their kids bounce off the walls. I tried it with my dd, and she did fall asleep, but only until take-off. Then, she was wide awake and quite active for the entire flight. The same exact thing happened last time, with my ds. He woke up during take-off. Luckily, it really didn't make him more active then usual.

Just wanted to warn you that this isn't a guarantee of a peaceful flight!