flying with a 17 month old... need suggestions

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Ok so at the end of February we are flying to Florida for Brian's dads 60th birthday.

I am DREADING the flight. it's only 2 1/2 hours but HOW... HOW am I going to keep Hannah occupied for two hours without letting her walk around?

she is NOT going to want to sit on my lap that long.

so I need to come up with some really GOOD ways to distract her for 2 1/2 hours.

I am HOPING we get three seats (we did last time on the way home but not on the way there) so maybe once we are up in the air she can stand on the floor in front of her seat every once in a while (as long as the flight isn't rough of course). that would keep her happy but I'm not holding my breathe on that one.

So help... please?

We flew with our girls Christmas of 2007. They were 2 and 4 months at the time. The difference from your situation is that because Mary Joyce was already 2, we had to buy her a ticket. However, she is very active, and we were somewhat worried about that. We took a bag for her that had things like a coloring book and crayons, small toys, books, snacks, etc. Honestly, she was so fascinated with being on the plane that things went much more smoothly than we ever expected. Big advice--take a stroller for the airports and check it when you board the plane. They will have it waiting for you when you deplane. We got a little umbrella stroller to use since it was less bulky than our regular one, and it was a lifesaver. We had the baby in a snugli, but the 2 year old rode in the stroller. That was so much better than having her try to walk or having us carry her through the airport.

Even if she does not have a paid seat you can always bring along your carseat. It does not incur baggage fees, and if there is room you may use it on an empty seat. If there are no empty seats, they can plane-side check it for free. Chances are she may feel more secure if she is strapped in AND you won't have to worry about a car seat when you arrive.
Also a new little toy or two can be a great distraction. Something that she hasn't seen in a while might work too. If you have a portable dvd player that could be a lifesaver. She is a bit young to be into TV but she might enjoy the sounds and colors of the Baby Einstein DVDs.
Snacks are also a good time waster, especially if you can make it into a game. I saw a snackbowl at the store yesterday with a plastic lid that requires you to push your hand through a hole to get to the cheerios or whatever. I can imagine that Austin would think that was a hoot and he isn't much older.
I'm sure you have thought of this, but possibly THE most important thing that you need to do for her is to have something for her to suck on during take off and especially landing. A pacifier, teething ring, or even a sippy cup will do, but you need something that will help her pop her ears.

I'll keep thinking. We have flown with one or both boys several times.

ooooooooh we can bring a stroller on the plane and they will check it? I was worried about that. I thought we were going to have to carry her lol. that's great news.

I was thinking about a portable DVD player but don't know how expensive they are as we don't have one at the moment. but if we had one of those... I would just put her signing times on and she would stay perfectly still the whole time lol. she LOVES that show.

she will definitely have her pacifier and her sippy cup.

She has a whole bunch of toys downstairs that she hasn't seen in a long time so I will have to go through those and make up a bag.

I'm on the fence about the carseat. it's REALLY big and bulky and will be hard to carry around the airport.

:) Please make sure that you bring the baby something to put in her mouth to chew on == upon plane takeoff into the air.. So many parents dont think about this.. Adults put gum in their mouths to chew on.. Babies need like a bottle or pasifier or your thumb to suck on.. Her wittle ears drums will start popping when the plane is reaching altitude.. After that & when the plan is in flight I will just bet she will go to sleep.. See I used to fly a whole lot & noted all of this in diff flights.. Have A Fun && Safe Trip..

Benadryl.

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Originally Posted by lvpets2002

:) Please make sure that you bring the baby something to put in her mouth to chew on == upon plane takeoff into the air.. So many parents dont think about this.. Adults put gum in their mouths to chew on.. Babies need like a bottle or pasifier or your thumb to suck on.. Her wittle ears drums will start popping when the plane is reaching altitude.. After that & when the plan is in flight I will just bet she will go to sleep.. See I used to fly a whole lot & noted all of this in diff flights.. Have A Fun && Safe Trip..

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what she said ^.... she´ll probably go to sleep.. but if se doesn´t have something for her: a toy, food, etc...

cheap DVD players can be found at 80-100... maybe less...but that´s the cheapest I´ve seen... but I think you´d do better with some of her fave toys and play or some new toy so she´s busy with it getting to know it...

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Originally Posted by Grace

Benadryl.

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LOL...LOL...LOL... that should help too... LOL

if I can keep her awake all morning then she just might sleep on the plane. but she doesn't normally sleep in vehicles anymore unless she is exhausted.

Benedryl... thats a good idea actually.

What we did with our car seats is we counted them as checked baggage, and just picked them up at baggage claim when we arrived. We could have rented them with our rental car, but it was going to drive the price up, so we just took our own.

I flew with J when he was 22 months old. We took the carseat, and purchased a seat. I can't imagine flying without my child in a carseat. The 'what ifs' fly through my mind, not to mention there is some security for the child in his/her own car seat. Plus, when we rented a car, I knew what carseat was protecting my child. :)

I used a umbrella stroller for transportation, and brought a wheeled cart, the kind that fold up really small (KWIM?) to transport the carseat. I managed to attach the carryon luggage to the carseat and it was pretty cool. Everything was on wheels except me. :D

We took new toys to hold his interest, and a portable DVD player. That was a relatively 'new' thing for him, and it held his interest a little bit. I also planned the flight for his nap time- hoping it would work. I can't remember if it were the trip out that wasn't so great, or the way back. One was okay, and one he had his feet on the back of the seat ahead of him. But, overall, his behaviour still beat the behaviour of the adults in front of him.

It is one trip, do your best, and smile. Most people have been through it, and will have sympathy. You can only do what you can do, and Hannah can only be her very best self.

Gavin was around 2 the first time he flew on a plane. He was pretty excited to be on a plane, so that kept him occupied for a while. Just bring some toys, and if she loves the signing dvd, I recommend getting the portable DVD player. Gavin had one for both the trip to Florida and the trip to Jamaica, and he loves it. Gives him something to do. =]

PS: I just did a search on Walmart.com and they have a portable DVD player for $70, and one with a case for $80. Might be something to look into. =]

Yes I think I have convinced Brian to get a portable DVD player.

I know it will all go fine. I worried about the last plane ride we took when she was three months old too lol and it went great.

Darn if we were closer I would loan you my portable dvd player, I have two. Anyway you will end up loving having one anyway.

The vet has me give bubba benadryl for car trips:D

I was going to recommend signing time dvds but you already thought of that! Sam loves the signing time videos too, I think she has a thing for Alex. It was probably around 17 months when I realized she was yelling out his name when they sing the intro song.

At least 2 1/2 hours isn't toooo bad. Hopefully you will be seated near other kids/kid lovers because that in itself would work to entertain Sam and it seems most babies/kids love to watch other babies/kids. Adults who love kids are good substitutes for other kids.

Sam won't sleep in the car anymore either unless she's really tired and it's dark. I thing after a point they are too aware of what is going on and don't want to miss out. It's a tough call - do you try to make Hannah tired so she does sleep or would that backfire and make an overtired cranky baby?

Since Sam is now 19mo old it's easy to remember what entertained her at 17mo and unfortunately for us crayons were way too early, still are, but she is very into picture books that are just pictures of objects that she can identify (I think she is happy to show off knowledge of things) and she likes to play with containers or buckles. I'd say pay close attention to what entertains Hannah at the time and pack that as carry on. Make a list to help remind yourself of all the tricks to try - healthy snacks, pat-a-cake or similar games/songs - if you're nervous about the flight you might panic and forget your ideas!! (I know I would, my husband is the calm one.)

Good luck and have fun!!!

that's sweet of you caseysmom. You are right...we probably will get a lot of use out of a portable DVD player since we often take looooong car trips and what not so it will be well worth the money I suppose. it's something we were going to get someday anyway so why not now :)

yeah Hannah LOVES signing times. I only have one on dvd right now (the rest are on dvr) so maybe I will buy another one for the trip.

I know I'm going to bring her stacker rings, a couple of her wooden blocks (the rings and blocks are her favorite toys) and she loves books. Rarely do I get to read a WHOLE book to her because she has figured out how to turn pages so she just likes to do that, look at a picture and then turn the page again lol. So I'm hoping that having these things will keep her distracted from the fact that she can't run around everywhere.

usually hannah gets up around 7 for soemthing to eat and then she usually goes right back to bed for about 3 or 4 hours so I'm hoping if we keep her awake until it's time to take off then maybe she will be tired enough to nod off. she's pretty good about not being too cranky if she misses a nap.

I was never afraid of flying before. I loved flying. But since having Hannah... I get really nervous on flights. When we flew to florida last year at Christmas I was so tense the whole flight. that is until the drink cart came around and I got myself a whiskey lol... that took the edge off. and of course all the plane crashes in the news these days don't help. lol