Kids Are Like Wine, They Get Even Better With Age

what to do on an airplane (besides a dvd) and general flying tips...

we've just booked our first flight with ben (who will be almost 19 months) at the time...and the only real suggestion we have gotten to keep him entertained on the flights is a portable dvd...which we don't object to--but for some reason our little guy has no interest in watching tv (sadly even on a long rainy day when mama would really love a little sesame street to break up the day)...

so we are looking for ways to entertain our little man on the plane...and any other tips you mamas might have for flying with little ones...

while i'm at it--any suggestions on straw sippy cups that don't leak and are 'safe'?

and one more...also looking for lift the flap books like dear zoo? any other suggestions?

thanks mamas!

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer on May 30, 2009 at 8:52pm: Good luck with your trip. We've flown a few times with Kyle and each time has gotten a bit trickier as he's gotten more mobile. :)

Some of his favorite over a wide age range has been the plastic cups they serve drinks in, ice chips (yes I know it's terrible but I've let him take them in and out of a couple of cups, usually ending up on the ground).

I second the suggestion of several rounds of activities that you can interchange. We brought a small ball one time that we used in the airport while waiting to get on. He had a few books that kept him entertained. Ben may enjoy some toys that require him to put things together or apart. Remember that lots of parts will mean you could be picking them up off the floor often. For awhile we alos just walked up and down the aisles which can be painful especially if they try to serve drinks or tell you numerous times not to congregate by the front of the plane.

Are you getting a seat for Ben? If not and I don't know how long the flight will be but I'd also recommend a small pillow. If he falls asleep in your arms your elbows and his head will thank you for the cushion as the arm rests are not that comfortable for long periods of time. Please make sure to have something for him to eat, drink, or suck on during take-off and landing as you will not know until its too late if he has issues with his ears. Also be prepared for him to not be happy at some point. most of the people around you seem to understand your struggles and are happy just to see you are trying to rememdy the situation (but there are those cranky people out there that are never happy). If you do have a seat and he enjoys his carseat then that could be an option. However if he's not particularly fond of it, it will just take up a lot of space on the plane and it can only go in the window seat. You can gate check the carseat and stroller (they don't count as baggage) or check them in at the counter outside security.

we have several straw sippy cups. All of ares will leak if Kyle tries really hard. the munchkin ones seem to be the most leakproof. However if they are left open and the temperature changes, they spontaneously erupt (or erupt on opening). The same could could occur with pressure changes on a plane, so I would be aware that you may need to crack open the lid on the cup before you pop it open on the plane after takeoff.

We found on all all our flights that none of the planes had a changing table. I think the only thing we haven't flow are the 737/747 big planes. Stephanie is correct that it is very hard to do without one but is easier once the little guy was standing. We just went in for a pit stop before the flight took off and hoped for no poop during the flight. :)

have a good trip
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Permalink Reply by Heather McPhee on May 31, 2009 at 10:11pm: Hi Susannah!

I've been thinking about you lately and your bath problem. Has it changed at all? The reason I ask is because all of a sudden Hadley is not too in to bath time. She warms up after a minute or two but spends the first minute screaming when I put her in there, she used to love the bath! Has anything worked for you?

As far as sippy cups go....the only ones that I found that work with minimal leakage (as far as I'm concerned they ALL leak when thrown on the floor by a toddler) are the Playtex cups. They are BPA and Pthalate free and they don't leak too much, even when thrown. I have the regular ones as well as the insulated ones.

Flights.....I haven't used it yet, but I'm traveling in September when Hadley is 18 months, but I heard a small magnadoodle can provide a ton of entertainment--draw something, erase it, start again! I

I recently came across an article which I bookmarked for our trip this fall for toddler traveling tips. I just skimmed it since it will be a couple of months until we're traveling but you might find it helpful.
http://tinyurl.com/ousx2x

Good luck and let us know what works!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kara on June 2, 2009 at 9:21am: You guys are all AWESOME. This will help me tremendously next time I fly. Heather, Susannah is coming out here the end of June...you guys should come down for a visit!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by susannah on June 2, 2009 at 9:30am: awesome!
thank you heather, jennifer and stephanie!
all of your advice is great--i'm looking into all of your tips and will let you guys know what worked. i would have never thought about the changing table in bathroom or the sucking during takeoff...
it should be interesting to say the least!
again, thanks for your ideas :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jennifer on August 23, 2009 at 6:59am: So sussanah how did your flight go. We are planning on traveling next month when Kyle is a bit over 18 months old. I'd be happy to hear if you came up with any other great ideas now that you've experienced the trip. Luckily now he does sit a bit more than he did on his last trip at 12 mos.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by susannah on August 27, 2009 at 11:31am: i feel like if we survived 6 flights total (3 each way) with an 18 month old, we can do anything now :)....
things we did:
~our pediatrician wrote us a prescription for eardrops--they basically help numb clogged ears. we actually didn't have to use them. he did just fine with take offs and landings. he did have a pacifier though--which is normally a crib only thing, and i think that sucking helped. i hear you can use a sippy cup too...or straw cup...something to get them to suck...
~i got a bunch of new books (well, used books but they were new to him) that he hadn't seen before and unveiled them along the way. byron barton has a few really good books about airplanes and one is called airport that i wished i had before we went...
~we did bring a dvd player...ahem, he played with the buttons...no interest in watching. if i had to do it over again, would not bring it b/c he doesn't watch dvds at all..
~lots of snacks. i mean, more snacks than you think your child would normally eat. i also had packed a pb&j sandwich all cut up too...and we brought his water and milk cups full too...
~in our diaper bag we had extra diapers and those disposable liner things that you can lay down--amazingly, the majority of our flights did not have changing tables. i usually do not use those, but they came in very handy in the icky airports...
~a few gallon size plastic bags to put soiled clothes in--just in case. and i packed all of us an extra change of clothes (i couldn't imagine being stuck in vomit-ridden clothes on the plane, especially being prego).
~one of the best things that kept him occupied was the airplane phone, the seatbelt buckles, the headphones, and looking out the window.
in hindsight, he would have done much better with his own seat (w/ or w/o the carseat)--he is a child who likes his space. on our last flight, we took turns standing up so he could sit and play.
he didn't nap at all--the whole day--until we were taxiing to our gate on the last flight. so we had an active, overtired, busy toddler on our hands the whole time.
~another favorite idea someone mentioned was a box of bandaids. they rocked. i got a little container from the 99 cent aisle at target and put a the bandaids in it. he had so much fun opening and closing, rearranging, sorting, etc. i actually carry that with me in my diaper bag now...

best of luck to you guys--i think it seems more overwhelming than it ended up being...
oh--we had a stroller that we checked at each gate--that helped too...

let us know how kyle does and tips you found!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jennifer on September 24, 2009 at 10:49pm: Well we survived our 4 flights to the east coast and back. We got really lucky all our flights had an open seat for kyle (even though he was a lap child). The extra space is really nice. He took a nap on 3 of the flight and it was good to have a place to stretch him out.

We got several new books which he seemed to like (lucky for us) and snacks. We'd take him for walks for a short while but we were lucky because most of the time he wasn't demanding to get up and wander. We brought a couple of DVD's for the computer but never used them (I am not sure if they'd work as he doesn't sit that long for even sesame street). what did work were the 2-4 minute sesame street videos of songs that i downloaded to an MP3 player. He was familiar with most songs and they were only short videos for him to watch/listen to. I think for his age/attention span he was able to watch 2-5 of them in a row before he was ready for something else.; ▶ Reply to This