Toddler Thursday: flight risk
Sarah K.K. is back to take on the ga-ga-goo-goo set for Toddler Thursday:
We're flying cross-country in a few weeks with the little one, and frankly, I'm worried.
This won't be Isaac's first time on a plane, or even his first cross-country journey, but it will be his first time flying since he started walking and discovered the joys of mobility.
His previous flights have posed their own challenges.
When he was nearly 4 months old, Isaac and I flew solo to Oregon to visit my mom, who had been ill and unable to travel to us after his birth. Leg 1 was a packed flight, and he got a little antsy, but the father of a 5-month-old was crammed into the seat by me, and he just kind of rolled with it, thankfully. Leg 2, we had more space, and he slept like a log for most of it, but since it was getting late, the pilot started the descent without making an announcement. In Portland, you go kind of over the mountain and then doowwwwn to the river real quick to land, and even on a grownup head, it can be brutal. I didn't have a chance to get Isaac his pacifier or bottle and he woke up in screaming pain. I was desperately trying to get him to calm down when a flight attendant unbuckled herself, came over, and helpfully told me that although crying would eventually clear his ears, if I could get him "to take a bottle or pacifier or something, that would really help." I looked at her with a crazed expression, three kinds of pacifiers hanging off my fingers, a bottle tucked under my arm, a knuckle near Isaac's screaming mouth being ignored, and tried to clear the white-hot fury from my brain to form a sentence when my seatmate saved me. "She's offered him everything she's got, OK?" Rarely have I felt such gratitude toward my fellow man.
At 6 months or so, we flew solo to Texas, but it was pretty uneventful except that the carseat didn't quite fit between the rows, so even though we each had a seat, I had to share mine with part of his carrier for most of the flight. Eh, whatever, he slept most of the way.
Just shy of a year, Isaac accompanied us to California. The flight out was going really smoothly (we had the row to ourselves!) until he choked a bit on a goldfish cracker after drinking a full bottle of milk. Let's just say I wished I had followed my initial instinct to pack an extra outfit for myself into the carryon. (I have to say, though, the flight attendants were so good after the vomit incident and helped us clean up remarkably quickly and efficiently. I was impressed. And relieved.) On the way home from California, the planes were completely full, but strangely, Isaac slept for about three-quarters of our time in the air. Speaking of relieved.
But now ... I don't know. Every second his feet are on the ground, he is on the move. If we have to hold him still, and he doesn't want to, he kind of freaks out. He's at that stage (15 months old) where he easily gets frustrated because he's just figuring out that he can communicate with us, but we often don't understand. The good thing is, he sometimes spends ages playing with his books, and one of his new favorite things is to plop down in one of our laps. So maybe with a snacks, a few new interesting books and his favorite stuffed animal for naptime, we'll be OK.
But if anyone has suggestions for flying with toddler, hit me in the comments!
(Photo of plane wing by me, taken a while back, and not while flying with child)
Comments
Ah, I remember those days. The toddler period is the most challenging for flying. My rules were:
--Take as many adults with you as you can, and take turns walking that kid up and down when the seatbelt sign is off. As long as he's not bothering people or clogging up the aisles too much, he'll be happier that way, and so will everyone else.
--Have enough activities in hand to change up every 5-10 minutes or so. That might mean just having a new story to tell or a song to sing, but you'll always want to bring more books with flaps, playthings, etc., than you'd ever think you'd need. It might help to make a list of what you have and what stories/songs/rituals/games your toddler likes and keep it in your purse with you, because in the heat of the moment, you might forget what works!
--Get a Magna Doodle. Best travel toy ever, especially for a toddler. You can draw things and ask him what they are, and he can scribble to his heart's content without running out of paper.
--Don't bring teeny playthings, game pieces, cars or crayons that can easily get lost in the plane seats, because they will.
--Snacks. Snacks. Snacks.
Posted by: Kate | September 24, 2009 6:55 PM
Ditto on the magna doodle, plus the shape-sorter toys work well at this age. Lift-the-flap books (which often become tear-off-the-flap books) are also good. Nothing that makes sounds. Also any snacks that will take a while to eat, like the sticky, chewy 100% fruit leathers, peanut butter or soy butter on crackers, raisins. Depending on where he is developmentally, one of those dolls with clothes that teach how to button and unbutton, zip, tie, etc. might capture his interest for a while if you help him with it. Good luck!
SarahKK: Thanks, Baltomommie!
Posted by: Baltomommie | September 28, 2009 1:10 PM
Last month we flew to Oregon with our 2 year old son - and, yes, it was rather challenging to say the least. A couple things that helped us:
1) I went to the dollar store and bought a few little 'new' toys and books, whenever he'd get fussy or fidgety I'd pull out a new one he could play with.
2)A portable DVD player (if you can find/borrow one) - that think saved us on more then one occasion.
and, 3) a picture book of family members, he loved seeing the people he was going to visit/just visited, as well as the ones he was going home too :)
Hope you have a safe and stress-free trip!
Posted by: Alli | September 28, 2009 8:10 PM
SKK--good suggestions here, except that I would avoid anything with peanut butter on a flight out of respect for anyone on board who might have a peanut allergy.
And don't let Isaac kick the seat in front of you!
SarahKK: We still aren't giving him peanut butter anyway, so I'd probably go the soy route. And you better believe I'll do whatever it takes to avoid the kicking.
Posted by: Dahlink | September 30, 2009 7:08 AM
We just got back on Monday from New Orleans with our 16 mo. old and it sounded like you were describing our daughter - always wants to be on the move. A couple of other things that helped us:
-SPECIAL snacks. We use the yogurt melt-away things. They are like crack. She loves them, and we don't give them to her any other time, so they immediately calm her down if she gets mad.
-"playing" with those sitting behind you. She is fascinated with strangers, so if they don't mind (aren't sleeping, etc.), I'd often hold her over my shoulder and let her wave to the people behind us and peek between the seats to look at those behind us.
SarahKK: I'm hoping we have people who don't mind kids sitting around us because I think Isaac will happily while away at least a few minutes interacting with folks. Good call on the yogurt snacks. He gets a handful of those for "dessert" after dinner and also LOVES them.
Posted by: Michelle | September 30, 2009 10:58 AM
A few things that have worked for me:
Benadryl for long flights-but do a test run before the flight. It should make them drowsy, but has been known to have the opposite effect.
Download a movie on your ipod and let them watch
New books and books on cd. This is hard. So many parents buy new things and give them to their children before the flight. Save for during the flight. Curious George and the Berenstein Bears work wonders
Also, make sure you have everything you need-gum, drinks etc. Cuz if momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy-This has more than a ring of truth to it. Children pick up on our moods and if you are happy and stress-free it will help relax your child. Happy Flying!
Posted by: Heather | October 5, 2009 5:57 PM