Tips for flying with a baby/toddler

[red sky]

My wife and I will be leaving for Mexico this Friday and we will be bringing our one year old daughter with us. She has just learned to walk recently so she is completely mobile. Any experience CPers out there with some handy tips for flying with a young one?

P.S. First person that says leave the baby at home gets virtually pistol whipped

[Bigtime]

Did you pre-select your seats? If the aircraft has three seats in a row I always selected the ones on either side of the middle seat for my wife and I, thus increasing the chances that nobody would book the middle seat. If it works out you get even more room for the kidlet.

We took Littletime to Maui when she was 10 months, the plan above worked and she fell asleep and we could put her down in the middle seat between us. She slept 4 straight hours on the ~7 hour flight to Maui, it was great. When she was up she really only wanted to feed, so it was an easy trip.

[Tyler]

How much Ambien can you safely give a one year old?

[ah123]

Some tips here...

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=119219

[Kiran403]

Not sure if you use a soother or not, but giving your kid a soother or bottle to suck on during take-off/landing is great because it helps reduce the pressure in their ears and keeps them calm.

[red sky]

Thanks, I didn't see/remember that thread. My searching ability also did not track it down.

[Foxy]

My daughter was a bit younger when we flew from London UK to Calgary and back, but these were the most helpful things for us;

I found it easier to have changing essentials in a large ziplock type bag rather than trying to have the full diaper bag in the tiny airplane toilet along with the kidlet. Put in 3 or four diapers, wipes, cream (travel size pot) and then you can just grab it and go and it doesn't take up too much room in the toilet.

Keep toys hidden that you know she likes until you leave, or buy new ones, and pack them into your carry on. Take them out one by one during the flight if she is bored and needs distraction. Of course, if she has a favourite or a stuffy that she can't sleep without, make sure you bring that.

If your wife is still breastfeeding or she is taking a bottle, try to get her to have it during take off and landings. This will encourage her to swallow and hopefully get her ears to pop and prevent them from getting too sore from the change in elevation. Might also help to comfort her, as the noise of the engines during take off may be scary for her.

They won't let you have an emergency exit row, but if you can get one behind the bulk head or any other place that might have extra leg room, take it, even if it costs a bit extra to book them. If your daughter wants to get down, it might give you some much needed extra space for her to explore without getting into other people's way.

If you can manage to get the middle seat between your wife and yourself as someone else has already suggested, for sure do that. We managed to do that on a flight with our daughter and she was able to sleep pretty well there.

The last thing that I felt helped was we took a portable dvd with us so we weren't at the mercy of the flight's entertainment system and we took dvd's that we knew she loved and could watch as much as she wanted.

That's about it. Enjoy it, and have a great time.

[northcrunk]

We've taken our 3 year old on a plane for 2 trips to the dominican and a trip to Vegas. The first time we went to Dominican with her she was 8 months and we flew Air Transat. Air Transat has a special row which has a basonette available for people with small kids, I think it was an extra $20 but it was worth it. Make sure you take things your kid can chew on a bit to pop their ears and take some tylenol in case they get irritated by the flight. With a 1 year old you probably want to take lots of stuff to keep them occupied and in the seat (crayons, toys, portable dvd, ext). Also bring lots of little snacks for them to eat.

Try to wear them out before the plane as well, skip a nap or wake them up early so that when you get on the plane they are just tired and want to sleep. Get yourself a neck pillow for sure since you will be carrying the baby on your lap for the flight.

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by red sky

P.S. First person that says leave the baby at home gets virtually pistol whipped

I won't go quite that far, but please take a daytime flight. People who bring babies on red eye flights should go right above terrorists on the no-fly list.

[Ashartus]

I've taken both my kids on numerous flights. If you can schedule a flight around nap time that is ideal (they'll often sleep through the whole flight when they're young), but if you're leaving on Friday I presume the flight is already booked.

- Always do a diaper change right before boarding time.
- Babies always seem to have massive explosive poop on airplanes so make sure you have a few extra diapers, lots of wipes and a couple of changes of clothes.
- Babies and toddlers (under 2) are allowed to bring drinks through security. Having a bottle during takeoff and landing seems to help.
- Even if you booked two seats together, when you check in ask if there's an extra seat the baby can have. Westjet is pretty good about giving you an extra seat for free if the flight isn't full; with Air Canada I find it depends on the person at the check-in counter (I haven't tried on any other airlines).
- Bring a few toys etc., but nothing that would be easily lost.

[Derek Sutton]

Do not bother to pre board, just makes you sit there all jammed in for an additional 45 mins, board last.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

Do not bother to pre board, just makes you sit there all jammed in for an additional 45 mins, board last.

We learned that the hard way the first time we flew with Littletime, never done it since. Much easier to board last, get settled, and the plane gets moving faster which seems to soothe both our kids.

[Locke]

Is chloroform an option?

[Bill Bumface]

I'd say "don't sit by me" but I know you will. The world is still paying me back for when I was 1 and had an ear infection and cried my way to England.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

I'd say "don't sit by me" but I know you will. The world is still paying me back for when I was 1 and had an ear infection and cried my way to England.

Had a pregnant mother of two flying solo on a flight a few weeks ago. Now that was grim.

Two kids having a screaming competition. Why cant they be sedated and stored underneath with the animals?

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Locke

Why cant they be sedated and stored underneath with the animals?

Well, there goes my suggestion.

Originally Posted by red sky

P.S. First person that says leave the baby at home gets virtually pistol whipped

Fine, leave them with a babysitter.

[yads]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Did you pre-select your seats? If the aircraft has three seats in a row I always selected the ones on either side of the middle seat for my wife and I, thus increasing the chances that nobody would book the middle seat. If it works out you get even more room for the kidlet.

We took Littletime to Maui when she was 10 months, the plan above worked and she fell asleep and we could put her down in the middle seat between us. She slept 4 straight hours on the ~7 hour flight to Maui, it was great. When she was up she really only wanted to feed, so it was an easy trip.

In addition to this, ask the person at the check-in counter if the flight is fully booked and whether or not you can get a whole row.

Originally Posted by Bigtime

We learned that the hard way the first time we flew with Littletime, never done it since. Much easier to board last, get settled, and the plane gets moving faster which seems to soothe both our kids.

I disagree, we like being able to get settled in and put up all of our carry on and get the toys/books ready.

[afc wimbledon]

gravol

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by yads

I disagree, we like being able to get settled in and put up all of our carry on and get the toys/books ready.

I guess you're just not as efficient as us, all of our carry-ons can fit under the seats so we don't need to worry about snagging overhead bin space. On our last trip to Maui (January) we brought the car seat on board, took all of 30 seconds to have it strapped in and secure.

[JonDuke]

Originally Posted by Ashartus

I've taken both my kids on numerous flights. If you can schedule a flight around nap time that is ideal (they'll often sleep through the whole flight when they're young), but if you're leaving on Friday I presume the flight is already booked.

- Always do a diaper change right before boarding time.
- Babies always seem to have massive explosive poop on airplanes so make sure you have a few extra diapers, lots of wipes and a couple of changes of clothes.
- Babies and toddlers (under 2) are allowed to bring drinks through security. Having a bottle during takeoff and landing seems to help.
- Even if you booked two seats together, when you check in ask if there's an extra seat the baby can have. Westjet is pretty good about giving you an extra seat for free if the flight isn't full; with Air Canada I find it depends on the person at the check-in counter (I haven't tried on any other airlines).
- Bring a few toys etc., but nothing that would be easily lost.

As a former Flight Attendant, and as a father who's kid had flown on 50 flights prior to his second birthday, I completely agree with this post. Especially the part about asking if there's enough room for you to have a free seat to bring your car seat on. Don't ask for a free seat. Just ask if there's enough room on board to bring on the car seat for your kid. As mentioned above, WJ is pretty amazing for allowing this.

Also, whoever suggested pre selecting the aisle and window seat...+1 for that. Worse case scenario, someone gets placed between you (the rows with a baby will be the last to fill up as far as seat assignments) and they will gladly trade for the aisle or window in lieu of seating between the parents.

If you need a bottle warmed up, although most people don't realize it, it can be done on the plane. Just ask the flight attendant.

Kids ears only start responding to pressure changes after 10 months. Some never do. Bottle or nipple on take off and landing if you can time it that way will help tons. The TVs have Treehouse (on WJ at least) and will help a lot but the satellite cuts out less than half way to mexico so bring an alternative if they need electronics.

Lastly, if the kid is having a meltdown, most crews don't mind if you bring your baby in the back to stand up and rock them. Just make sure they are done their drink/food service, and that the seat belt sign is off, and it's usually not a big deal, plus the people around you will appreciate it too.

Good luck!