Flying w/ 17 mos. old ???

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-31-2003
Flying w/ 17 mos. old ???
2
Mon, 05-17-2004 - 10:17am
We are preparing to go on vacation Sat. We're flying from FL to CA. It's a 5 hour non- stop flight. We decided to have our son sit in our laps to save money. He weighs about 30 lbs. and is very outgoing (okay so he's a terror) Does anyone have any ideas on how to make this as enjoyable as possible for all of us? What sould we do about ear pressure? Thanks in advance!

Denise

Aiden 12/22/02

EDD 11/20/04

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2003
Mon, 05-17-2004 - 11:40am
omg, what a little chunker, lol! my 18 mo old is 19lbs, what trip! advise for the plane ride? give him benadryl, lol. or at least have some on hand in case it all goes to pot. other things that work well are: request to have the very front seat or the very back one, they have more room and then you only have to worry about him bugging one set of passengers instead of two. (if you've already ordered your tickets you can ask the flight attendent, a lot of times they'll let you switch, and trust me it's worth it) rent the earphones or bring your own, they have a disney radio station on the armrests that's saved my butt more than once. bring lots of snacks, and let him have a drink on the way up and down, it'll make his ears pop. on really long flights i would bring get blanket and a pillow and lay my kids down on the floor and they'd go out like a light. also, flight attendants are usually really cool to families with kids, and even if you don't buy him a seat they will usually let you have the next one over free if you ask, and if you can get one of those little colapsable carseats (they have them at wallyworld for about 20 bucks) you can strap him in it if he's getting too crazy. mine would never sit in the seat by themselves, but they were used to a car seat so they would sit in that. anyway, hth

clarity

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2000
Mon, 05-17-2004 - 1:15pm
A wise co-worker recommended this to me many years ago when he took his baby grandson on a flight from TX to WA. Buy a cheap package of ear plugs from the hunting section at K-mart. Jokingly hand out a pair of "complimentary ear plugs" to each passenger in a nearby seat. It really breaks the ice and everybody smiles or laughs at your cute child instead of giving you "the look" that says "Please don't let the people with the baby be sitting near ME!"

We flew from VA to VT when DS was one. The ear plugs thing worked like a charm. Everybody was sharing baby on airplane stories and chuckling before we ever took off.

Oh - DS was not a pacifier kid, but I was told to bring a pacifier on the plane to offer for take-off and landing. It worked! He wasn't fussy at all. Good luck - Suzanne