"Next week will we be flying for the first time with our 11 month old - a five hour direct flight. Needless to say, I'm nervous. She's teething, experimenting with a unique brand of performance art commonly referred to as "tantrums" - and I've heard the take-off and landing can be very uncomfortable for their little ears. Thoughts?"
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We're flying for the 1st time in a couple of weeks (he'll be 11 months also). Here's what I've found out, if it helps: You can have 1 person obtain a gate pass to help you to the gate (if you are traveling alone with your child, as I am), nursing, pacifiers, sucking, helps during take off and landing, and that's it, that's all I've got. You probably already knew that.
Posted by: PDX_Mom | January 29, 2005 at 02:49 PM
Flying with little ones - such a tricky thing! Here some of our favorite tips, and we often have to remind ourselves of them:
1) fly DIRECT! (which you are) and try to go at a time that will jive w/sleep times. sometimes, trying to fly right at naptime can work because I'd nurse the beginning of the flight anyway. other times, if our baby couldn't manage to nap but it was her naptime, we were in for it. definitely flying at night wasn't a good idea because it would take a lot of effort to get a baby to bed. we have made the mistake a few times of trying to take red-eyes.
2) nurse/feed/paci on the way up and down (which meant constant nursing for our hour flight to SF recently).
3) when they say, "feel free to roam around the cabin", do so. little ones can feel so restricted in their seats/laps, and i often find myself standing in the back so the baby can make friends with flight attendants and get extra snacks.
4) bring a new toy and use when the going is starting to get tough. for a longer trip (like a 5 hr flight), maybe one or two or even three new novelty items will go a long way. on a recent trip, i brought 2 pads of colored post-its and our daughter loved 'em.
5) bring a sling or other kind of carrier if you have one.
6) stock up with extras but try not to overstock (if that makes sense) - diapers, 2 changes of clothes/socks, sweater. without fail, our daughter would have accidents requiring full change of clothes at the airport or on the plane.
7) snacks drinks. if you have special items, they can also be used in times of need (like special treat snacks - one of our daughter's treat items is a fruit leather)
8) Other ideas (but not sure if they're 11 mo-old appropriate): listening to the headphones? (sometimes they have a children's channel or jazz or classical is always ok), markers, pens, our daughter loves to flip through in-flight magazines then proceed to shred them into pieces (keeps her entertained and i try to clean up as much as possible), snacks, games, talking to other kid-friendly passengers.
9) if you think any meds would help the teething discomfort... not that i'm a big fan of meds.
Posted by: olivia | January 29, 2005 at 02:52 PM
We flew to Madrid with Everett at 9 1/2 months. It went very well, even though he *was* teething that month, too. The easiest was the trip out there, an overnight one, in which he slept most of the way. We used the old standby of offering a bottle during takeoff and landing (or the breast, whichever he seemed to desire at the moment). During a couple of them, he didn't want the bottle, and it never seemed to bother his ears.
If they are teething anyway I would suggest using pediatrician-approved doses of Tylenol to help with the sleeping. My pediatrician even recommended cough syrup, which helps them sleep, if you are having trouble. I've heard of some pediatricians recommending baby Benadryl but that makes me nervous.
A constantly revolving assortment of toys, snacks, beverages and games seems to be the best strategy for those times when it's impossible to sleep. Break out the heavy guns - bring your CD player, your cell phone, your PDA, a calculator, the remote control from home, all those things the baby usually can't play with. I've kept my son occupied for 15-minute stretches with my detachable 10-key pad. Make sure you have a couple of changes of clothes and get ready for the comments from flight attendants. My son lost his cute little shoes in Spain (ok, I guess it was MY fault) and, on the return flight, we let him crawl around barefoot (he was in that phase where he loved to take his socks off). For some reason the flight attendant felt it necessary to inform me that the floors were very dirty and I should cover his feet. Why she didn't think his HANDS would get dirty, I just don't know. Should I have brought a rubber suit? ;) Anyway if you're squeamish about stuff like that, bring a little fleece blanket to put on the floor, or something, because they WILL get out of their seat. Another idea is a disposable camera, one with a flash built in - that provided endless joy for my son on the airplane, he could push the little flash button and get a red light, he could pretend to take pictures, and I didn't worry that he was destroying valuable electronics. And the other thing: ignore comments from passengers, who can be very rude. Some will be generous, will give up their seats, and some will even play peek-a-boo. Others will act like you just brought SARS onto the plane. Let it roll right off your back!
Posted by: sarah | January 29, 2005 at 02:54 PM
My suggestion, and I don't think they're too young but I'll leave that up to you, is Magnadoodles. My son is 2 1/2 but we've been traveling to see relatives since he was 4 months old. You buy it for them but don't show it to them until the flight so it will still be a new toy. Writing is something they probably aren't allowed to do yet so it will definitely intrigue them and it's an all inclusive toy!
Binkies are excellent if your child takes one (pacifier, sorry) for pressure changes. But usually the steady "hum" of the airplane lulls kids to sleep anyway. And don't be emabarrased if they throw a fit on the plane. It's amazing how much noise is drowned out and I'm sure there's not a person on the flight that hasn't had to deal with it themselves. People are pretty understanding. One more thing, if you hear anything about giving them Benadryl to sleep...you may want to give it a test before the flight, like days before. Benadryl does not make my son sleepy, it makes him extra hyper!
Posted by: PDX_Mom | January 29, 2005 at 02:55 PM
We have some great posts on travelling with toddlers at minti. Here are the links for those interested:
http://www.minti.com/article/127/Traveling-with-toddlers/
http://www.minti.com/article/130/How-to-Fly-with-Children-Without-Losing-Your-Breath/
Great thread! Matt
Posted by: Matt | April 11, 2006 at 06:34 PM
Did anyone else see the front page of the Oregonian today? Southwest is changing some of its boarding procedures. One change: people with small children won't be able to board first.
Posted by: catmom | September 21, 2007 at 06:29 PM