Next week I'll be flying to California with Asher. I am super excited to go "home" but also kinda nervous to take my SUPER squirmy 7 month old on a plane BY MYSELF (Sheldon will be joining us later).
So, does anyone have any helpful tips on how I can maintain my sanity and also not drive everyone else on the plane crazy?
Also, I've been reading about the regulations for babies on the TSA website, but does anybody know of any random rules I should be aware of? I know I can carry on a bottle, what about baby food?
The kid does not like to be held for long periods of time (by this I mean more than 15 minutes or so). Pray for me.
8 comments:
good luck! sometimes when i was traveling with babies i'd give them 1/4 tsp. benadryl so they would sleep. but beware, benadryl can often have the opposite effect and makes them hyper, so if you don't know how it effects him, i wouldn't do it. also, it sometimes hurts their ears at takeoff and landing so i'd make sure he's sucking on a bink or bottle during those times.
take things you don't normally let him play with--cell phone, etc.--and let him chew to his heart's content.
I took Clark on a flight to Mexico alone when he was about 13 months, but I think the advice my friend gave me would still apply. Her husband is a pilot, so they know all the tricks. Sucking during takeoff and landing, of course, is important to avoid ear trouble. But she also had a GREAT idea for little toys. She told me to take all the little things that I knew he would want to play with (for Clark, it was little bottles with screw on lids, chapsticks, tictacs, earphones, books, etc.) and wrap them up in gift wrap. That way, it was a present or a "surprise" and it took longer to get to the next thing because we had to unwrap everything. It worked like a charm! I also wrote down an action plan on a 3x5 card for easy reference, which detailed the order that I would do things with him so that I wasn't ever trying to figure out what to do next. The list included things like: Sing ______ song, Take shoes off and play with feet, Play patty cake, Read ________ book, Look out the window, Play with the air vent, Fiddle with the tray, etc. I also borrowed a portable DVD player and brought a couple kid shows for him, but I didn't even need to use it! My list of things to do more than took up the time and we did great! I think the more you plan, the better you'll do at entertaining him on the flight. I also ended up reusing my "flight plan" at church and it really helped for the squirmy months. May the force be with you!
Benadryl makes my kids hyper. I found that out the hard way. It was hit and miss with us flying with kids and the food. We flew back and forth from Hawaii with the two kids a lot, and half the time they made us dump out the bottles and the baby food, the other half the time they were totally okay with it.
I flew from CA to TX with the twins by myself once... it was brutal. :) Not really.. but still flying with kids is NOT fun.
Everyone had my tips...
breast feed, bottle feed, suck on a paci during take off and landing.
I took an empty bottle, and just asked for them to fill it with warm water when I got on the plane. You can't have over 3 oz go through security.
We also try and take red eyes, or during nap time flights cause it is just easier if you know they will sleep...
And remember anything and everything can be a toy on the plane. :) The twins loved the overhead lights and the shade for the window. :)
Good luck.
Kim, I love how organized you are. I am very impressed. I like everyone else have just tried to entertain with anything possible. Videos are good for my kids. I also either get new toys or that they have never seen before or take some of their favorites away from them for a while so when they see them on the plane they are super intrigued. Like Kim said it is good to do one thing at a time. When the seat belt sign is off you could probably walk him around the cabin. Above nothing else pray you either have a pretty empty flight where you could even sit him right next to you on the seat. Or pray that the people around you like kids.
Lisa might have some good hints. She flew with Collin and Dylan when they were four and almost two while pregnant all the way to Europe.
I flew Southwest with Eva a couple times (8 mths and 11 mths) and apparently you are supposed to bring the baby's birth certificate or ss card as some sort of proof that you're not stealing someone's baby. As far as keeping babies distracted, I have no idea how I did it, and I definitely did not plan, like Kim. On one flight, it was supposed to be bed time so I thought we would be fine, but it took about an hour of craziness to get Eva to sleep because it was so weird for her to sleep on the plane with me.
Good luck! I'll pray for you. I don't have any advice to give, however. We never had to take the V man on a plane. A 12 hour car ride from SLC to GF was a pretty crappy experience. But, not the same as a plane trip. It should be okay. :)
Woot for CA!
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