After getting lots of great tips from you guys about flying with a toddler, we thought we’d give you guys a recap about what worked well (lollipops!) and what didn’t (two words: red eye).
We spent a lot of time in the air: six flights in total. Two on the way to Portland (layover in Chicago), one direct from Portland to Maui and then a whopping three on the way back to Richmond (with layovers in Seattle and Chicago). The flights between the West Coast and Hawaii were the longest at six hours each, and since Clara’s still under two, we didn’t buy a seat for her (we knew she’d be most comfortable in our laps anyway and potentially could make a LOUD scene until we let her sit in our laps even if we did). So we knew going into it that we’d have our work cut out for us. Our game plan: keep Clara happy (and relatively quiet) at all costs, while encouraging sleep at every turn. Oh yeah, and try to enjoy the ride best we could.
Some flights were pretty darn good (we had an empty seat next to us on the way to Maui!) while others verged on nightmarish (this means you red eye). One of our carry-ons was her monkey backpack, which was stocked with items to keep her engaged. Here’s what we found worked well:
- Crayons and coloring books. Between coloring, identifying colors together and simply pulling the crayons in and out of boxes – these were probably the biggest hit.
- Food. Mainly, Goldfish crackers and Teddy Grahams. Someone made the point that in the fuss to keep kids active on a plane, you can forget that they may just be hungry. So we were well stocked with a few snacks (and a water cup). She also really liked eating the crushed ice that the flight attendants served during drink service and playing with snacks by putting them into different cups like a mad scientist.
- Lollipops. Someone suggested these as a way to trick kids into swallowing during take-off and landing to keep their ears from hurting. Well, Clara made a big dent in our stock of dum-dums before, during, and after the flights. But since our MO was to keep her happy and not disturb other riders at all costs, we were happy they worked so well. We may have a lollipop addict on our hands now, but at least they did the trick in the air: no complaints during take off or landing! Not even one ear tug or whine! We also learned that the sucking motion made her a bit sleepy too.
- Talking about the plane. Clara actually loved just looking around the plane. She liked to stand up and say “Hi people!” or “Hi lady” to the folks around us. We joked that she was the mayor of the plane by the time we got off since she schmoozed so many people. On one leg she got so comfortable that she nearly crawled in the lap of our seatmate (thank goodness he was a good sport). Oh, and of course looking out the window was a hit.
- Moving walkways at the airports. In addition to the flights themselves, we had a couple of three hour layovers mixed in – so we had to keep her busy/happy for those too. We spent most of those walking around the airport trying to let her stretch her legs and get some energy out in the hopes that she’d sleep (no dice on that front). Of course what she gravitated towards most were the moving walkways (she called them “escalators”). Airports are a lot more interesting than I remembered – O’Hare had a big dinosaur skeleton, Sea-Tac had some cool sculptures and PDX had a toy store that kept us busy for quite a while. We’re thankful.
- Committing to local time. We made the decision to immediately commit to local time wherever we were – and it worked out great for us. We figured Clara was already discombobulated from the flights so we might as well take advantage of the opportunity to reprogram her clock every time we changed time zones. When we arrived in Portland it was actually her bedtime EST, and having woken up two hours early that day and not napped at all on the flights, she was beyond tired when we checked in at our hotel. So we put her down to rest, but only for a nap. After an hour and a half we woke her up, went out to dinner (and dessert!) and then put her down around 8:30pm PST for the night. Thankfully, she was perfectly on schedule the next two days we were there (no wake-ups at 5:30am – yay!). We did the same thing in Hawaii – we just kept her up until 8pm HST the first night and then put her down for her regular 1pm nap at 1pm their time every day afterwards. It really helped us get a normal wake up and nap every day after that.
Now for what didn’t work so well. Sigh…
- Videos. She loves ’em at home, but didn’t seem interested in them on the plane. They helped a little bit, but she was mainly just frustrated that we couldn’t watch her favorite KidsTV123 videos on YouTube during the Wi-Fi-free airplane.
- Sleep. Our dreams of long flights with a slumbering toddler curled up in our laps were quickly dashed. Clara’s always been a great sleeper… in her crib… at night. Knowing that she never sleeps much in her car seat or stroller should’ve been a clue, but we were still hopeful that she’d eventually crash. On the way to Portland she literally fell asleep for exactly thirty seconds the moment our wheels touched down at PDX. Oh the irony. That moment of sleep was all we got that entire nine hours of traveling there (but at least she was a pretty happy girl that whole time). The spare seat on the way to Maui was helpful and we did get about an hour long nap during that six hour flight. Not much, but at this point we were happy for anything.
- The red eye flight.We knew booking an overnight flight was probably a bad call, but we couldn’t seem to avoid it without spending the night somewhere on the West Coast on our way home. So knowing that Clara’s always been a great night sleeper, we thought we had a chance she’d just be knocked out the whole time (allowing us to follow suit). Our flight left Kahului at 10pm HST (3am EST, but she had adjusted to Maui time pretty easily, so it felt like 10pm to her). She hadn’t napped much that day and we ran her buns around the airport right up until we boarded, at which point she started to look sleepy. Good right? Nope. She couldn’t get comfortable on the plane. It was a full flight – hooray! – (that’s sarcasm) so we desperately tried to get her comfortable in our arms but it just wasn’t happening. She managed about forty five minutes of sleep before waking up in a screaming night terror of sorts. So yeah, people loved us. Thank goodness the flight attendants were super cool (hi Rebekah! you saved our life!) and let us hang out with them at the back of the plane where Clara snacked, enjoyed being rocked, and generally stayed calm so the rest of the plane could sleep the whole flight long… while we stayed awake… all… night… long. Thank goodness she graced us with an hour-long nap on the next flight between Seattle and Chicago. Hey, we’ll take what we can get. This is Sherry’s I’m tired face. At this point it was Friday morning and we hadn’t slept since Wednesday night (since there was no sleep on the Thursday night red eye).
The disaster that was the red eye just threw off the rest of the day. The three of us were all tired and all a little bit grumpy. So many of the things that had engaged her on the flights out just didn’t work anymore (no lollipop could keep her interest more than a few seconds). That, combined with a delay going into and coming out of Chicago, made for a day that we were all just ready to be done with. You can’t tell by this photo, but it’s snowing out there. We definitely weren’t in Hawaii anymore…
We finally landed in Richmond at about 9:30pm EST – about 19 hours after we left Hawaii and two hours later than scheduled. We think Clara slept about three hours in total (in the entire 19 hour trip, much of which was overnight), so Sherry and I probably had about half of that each when it came to catching zzzs. But at that point all that mattered was IT WAS OVER. And, even better, we could finally go to bed. And boy did we. After not sleeping at all on Thursday night (remember, the last time we all actually slept for the night was Wednesday night) we all slept until 1pm on Saturday. Yes, that’s fifteen solid hours. And yes, it felt awesome. Of course we shifted Clara’s naps and night sleep back to her normal times and she seems to be back on schedule except for sleeping in an extra hour or two in the morning (but it doesn’t effect when she goes to bed, or her 1pm nap, so we’re ecstatic). I’m sure it’ll go back to normal over time.
I think it’s safe to say we won’t be taking any more red eye flights with a toddler. Ever again. Bad move on our part. We actually heard from not one but two flight attendants that kids rarely sleep on them (even great night sleepers) so they said they would never take a red eye with their kids. Good to know! Here’s hoping that helps someone! The stress to keep you kid quiet while the lights are out and everyone else sleeps (while being incredibly tired yourself) just isn’t for the faint of heart.
Anyone else have a travel with kids / toddler story they’d love to get off their chest share? Or do you have any additional tips we might consider when Clara’s older and we’re foolish enough to try something like this again? :)
Kelly says
I thought our red eye back from Hawaii was painful as well–and I didn’t even have my toddler to deal with! I cannot even begin to imagine…
Our flight (from Kona) was luckily not packed. So I think it gave all the kiddos on board plenty of room to spread out and get some real sleep–since every single one of them seemed to be sound asleep! It was pretty amazing. And I know there were more than a few toddlers amongst the group. So, I guess there is always hope for those of us who choose to travel with our little ones!
kathleen says
When my son was between birth and 4 we did a lot of travel. I was amazed at his ability to reset for different time zones. It made me wonder if he was subconsciously connecting with the sun. Now that he is older, that skill has magically disappeared. It was great while it lasted!
Lauren@FilingJointly says
Sweet Home Chicago.
Except for flight delays. I feel your pain. My husband and I live in Chicago and got married here in December. It POURED all day long. Then started snowing at 11PM. Which meant our 7am flight out the next morning to sunny Costa Rica was most definitely canceled. The first day of our honeymoon was spent researching new cities to live in which flights were more on schedule.
Our wedding day sounds terrible, but because we had the most amazing photographer of all time, the pictures actually turned out lovely.
As you can see in the header of my own blog or here:
http://www.filing-jointly.com/2011/06/jumping-on-bandwagon-and-importance-of.html
And I just want to say that I recently flew to Hawaii and was seated next to a very unhappy toddler. I guess it’s easy to get frustrated but I was more concerned about how worried and uncomfortable the child’s parents seemed to be. They were obviously doing everything they could.
Young House Life says
Oh yes, I’ve always been so in love with that header shot of yours! So glamorous!
xo,
s
Trish says
When we were PCS’s (Permanent Change of Station) from Eglin AFB, FL to Andersen AFB, Guam, my daughter had just turned 3. She was great on the flight from FL to CA where we stayed overnight, but the flight from CA to HI hit headwinds, and took longer, then we were only able to get off the plane and stay in the terminal while they re-fueled, and back on. We had seats with no one in front of us, so my daughter and I laid down on blankets on the floor and slept, but we hit turbulence (bad) half-way through the flight and they made us put her in her car seat. She cried for the rest of the 4 hour trip. We arrived at 2AM Local time. Not a memorable trip, but thankfully, she doesn’t remember any of it!
Christina D says
This past January we traveled (a MUCH shorter trip than you guys – bless you…) with our 1-year-old for the very first time. We were going from Albany, NY to Charleston, SC with one layover in Baltimore (same for the return flights), so we had short flights (no more than an hour and a half each), but they were interesting! We traveled in the evening both ways, which was OK – he was awake for 95% of the flights and was OK for most of it until about 20ish minutes before landing – then he would start whining/crying and then I would try to rock him and he fell asleep about 5 minutes before we landed (big deal…). We had about an hour and a half layover which he was awake for the entire time and had a similar flight experience during the 2nd leg (we brought tons of activities for him, few of which he was interested in, except eating raisins). On the way back home – flights were a bit later than on the way down – he was awake the ENTIRE flight from Charleston to Baltimore, and cranky for the last half hour. Then we were delayed out of Baltimore so we just walked loops around the terminal until we could get ready to board. Then there was the awesome flight – he slept pretty much the whole flight from Balt to Albany! :) YAY!!! He watched take-off and then was out. I have to say that we were S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D for most of the trip – just more worried about keeping him busy/occupied and not crying, but I think it wasn’t that bad and it could have been MUCH worse! I am happy that we have the first one under our belt and know what to expect the next time around. We also didn’t purchase a ticket for him. I give you TONS of credit for making such a long trip – I’m sure we will be doing it one day soon, as my brother just moved out to Arizona… Thanks for sharing your experience!!
rachel says
I love how ya’ll take Clara mostly everywhere with you. We have a 1 yr old and do the same, it’s just fun. However, I want to say that somewhere someone unwisely told everyone that tiring out small children by making them run around crazy and get exhausted will result in long sound sleep. Spoiler Alert: absolutely false information. It seems intuitive because as adults we crash when we’re exhausted. Please parents stop the madness. If a kid is exhausted and crashes most of the time they’ll fall asleep hard and fast and then wake up very shortly afterwards in a bad mood and unable to keep sleeping. They can’t calm themselves down or sleep well through the active and inactive REM cycles if they’re wore slam out. Anyway, there’s no cure for a red-eye flight so ya’ll did awesome to make it through and be so prepared and fun and good on your little girl for being so easy going!
Young House Life says
Oh man, that totally happened to us. Thanks for the tip!
xo,
s
Gabi says
I hear ya with the nightmare flight story! I have flown from Australia to UK and back again with my wonderful son at 4 months, 7 months, 14/15 months, 22 months, and 2 and a quarter. They have got easier as he has got older, and with the investment in an ipad and a whole lotta cartoons.
However all those people who say “fly at night, they’ll sleep” have A LOT to answer for! I had the worst 13 hours of my entire LIFE leaving heathrow at 10pm. Being in labour was more fun. It was 9 HOURS after his normal bedtime and he was STILL not asleep. Screaming, head banging, clawing at my face, couldn’t be put down, didn’t want to be carried. The poor thing was so tired he was just hysterical. It was HORRIBLE! Never again. I think he slept maybe 1 hour in the whole flight and every other child in the whole plane was sleeping peacefully (trust me I saw them from my doing laps up and down the aisles carrying my boy). To be honest though even though I had a horrific time, I don;t think any other passengers were bothered by him. The loud hum and those earphones can block out a lot. Now we do daytime flights and stop in the transit hotel in singapore to sleep and it works fine. Everyone tells me how good he is!! I guess it’s just working out what works for your kid, but reading info like this on the web certainly helps those parents out there who are flying for the first time and are trying to find out what to expect. Looks like you had a fabulous and well deserved holiday!
Jasmyn says
So this is probably a huge no no, but a have friends of mine took a similar trip and relied on drowsiness-causing children’s cold medicine. They definitely drugged their toddler to make it through and it worked.
Anne says
Cloth or disposables during the trip? How did that go?
If you had to do it again would you have purchased a seat for a child under two? You are far, far braver than I not to buy a seat. I have a snuggle bunny too but with all the flights we travel being filled to capacity I always buy an extra seat. The one time I did not (because it was a trip when we would be in the air a total of 57 minutes) my then 14-month-old daughter threw up, vomited, puked, upchucked for 45-minutes all over me and our seatmate.
My daughter is now 4 and thankfully it has never happened again because we are on planes all the time. To this day I do not know what caused the episode. She had never been prone to motion sickness and was not one to ever really throw up. We got off the plane and was fine. She ended up going through the airport in a diaper and tee shirt. The only things left dry.
Young House Life says
Oh no that’s terrible! I think if we could go back and change anything we would not have done the red eye over buying her a seat (she was a happy camper during the day on our laps and just being active and engaged with coloring/etc) – but now that she’s almost two she’ll have her own seat from here on out. Oh and we did disposables since we went to Portland for three days first (where we didn’t have access to a washer/dryer).
xo,
s
Amanda S. says
Wow, you guys deserve a medal or something for traveling home in 19 hours with a toddler!! I’ve been on many red eye flights to the east coast. I always cringe when I see babies and toddlers on the plane cause all those red eye flights have taught me that kids just don’t sleep on them and inevitably start screaming at some point!! I wonder why that is?!
John @ Our Home from Scratch says
Thanks for this. I’ll have an opportunity to go to Hawaii next year for a work trip (both awesome and annoying at the same time). Our daughter will be just turning two then so I’m thinking it’s doable. I’ve been there before by myself while married and it’s major league boring. Honeymooners everywhere!! This post will go a long way into convincing Lisa that it’s totally doable. We’ll probably break the flight up with a day long layover in LA or San Diego.
Crystal says
What did you do about a car seat for tax or van rides? We are traveling with our baby who will be almost 11 months in June and not sure if we should take our own or what car services offer.
Young House Life says
We rented a car both in Portland and Hawaii and rented a rear facing car seat (for her specific weight/length) along with it. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Sophia says
My husband and I took our 4 month old on a backpacking adventure in Europe this December for 5 weeks. We had the bassinet for both cross-Atlantic flights, but I did not like them after all because each time there was any turbulence on the plane and the seat belt sign went on, I had to remove sleeping baby from the bassinet and get him to fall asleep again. After 2 hours of this I gave up on the bassinet and just let him sleep in my lap. I backpacked with a smaller pillow attached to my day pack for his lap naps on the many planes and trains we took during our adventure. Next up, a cross-America flight on my own with a 7 month old. I’m a bit nervous of his acute pincher grasp fingers going for everything!
kelsy says
WOW! that trip home sounds like a nightmare :( ugh! Ditto what everyone has said about bringing a car seat the next time. even if baby/toddler doesn’t end up sleeping in it at the very least it is a place where they can be comfortable and familiar (and of course there is the added safety:) ). I have been glad we had ours every time even if bringing them through the airport is a MAJOR PIA! Traveling with kids is so hard! you guys did awesome!
Kristen H says
Hey guys –
If you are planning more trips, and are traveling without a car seat (or want to just check it for ease of travel!), get this: http://www.kidsflysafe.com/. It is FAA approved, works very easily, and is much more safe and comfortable for the kiddo. I used to work in aviation safety, and recommend it to everyone I know. Schlepping a car seat through the airport is an absolute nightmare. This thing fits in a large purse. :)
Young House Life says
Yeah, we just learned about that from some of the other comments. Great solution!
-John
Corien says
I feel for you! Remember a flight with our 4 boys (oldest one 3 year old and the triplets being babies, one of them sick), from Papua to the Netherlands, long ago. A 36 hours during nightmare. People sleeping everywhere and we working as hard as we could to keep them silent, and so soooo tired…
Elizabeth says
Thanks for the tips. We will be travelling to Hawaii with a four year old in June. She’s got some flying experience under her belt but not a flight of six hours or more. Crossing our fingers. Also crossing them that Clara will keep giving you an extra hour in the mornings!
Cheryl B says
We traveled to Hawaii with my daughter when she was 2. We live in NY. It went fairly well, so we did it again when she was 4. That trip did not go so well. On the way out our flight was delayed an hour, then they made us land in MI where we pretty much had to sit in an empty airport for hours because of thunderstorms and tornadoes in Chicago. By the time we got to Chicago, our flight was long gone. My daighter had not slept the whole time, so I ended up carrying her for 2.5 hours while we waited in line to rebook our flight. She slept the whole time we waitind in line. We were told there were no flights to HI until Sunday, this was Friday night. Eventually we were able to get a flight 3 hours later to Denver, but we got in at 11:30 at night and the first possible flight out to HI(we were on standby) was at 10:30 am. My daughter slept on the floor of the airport for 7 hours. She was such a trooper. I could not sleep and had not slept at all since we left. By the way, we did get on that flight(although our seats were not together, someone graciously switched seats so I could sit with my daughter)and finally made it to HI at 3:30 that afternoon (actually 8:30 at noght NY time). Total time from moment we left until we arrived was 36 hours. Thanks goodness we were going to HI and not home, we just kept telling ourselves it would be worth it once we arrived. MY daughter slept great that night and we all quickly adjusted to the time difference due to lak of sleep
Young House Life says
Wow- what a crazy trip! So glad you finally got there!
xo,
s
Jules says
We made several cross country flights with our daughter when she was one. A couple times she fell asleep just as we were descending, little stinker. She also spent a lot of time colouring, we used these water books and they were a life saver since I didn’t have to worry about crayons melting or messy markers. Also we had a Cherrios book that was great.
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Pony-Water-Doodle-Book/dp/B000E8516G
http://www.amazon.ca/Cheerios-Animal-Play-Book-Wade/dp/0689830149
She was never too interested in watching the tv either. We took lots of snacks, although the flight attendants would bring her lot’s of cookies and juice boxes. Over all we found people on the flights to be all friendly and kind. The flight attendants were all very helpful and friendly.
Erin says
Love the pic of Clara in the O’Hare pedway. You guys must come back to Chicago for a proper visit to feel all the Second City love we have for YHL.
I have never once departed or arrived at O’Hare (seriously, not kidding), so don’t take it personally! I always feel like I’m entering the twilight zone whenever my ticket reads “ORD.”
Jenny says
We are thinking of going to Hawaii in December with our daughter who will be 17 months then and I’m totally bookmarking this post for all the tips! We’ll be flying direct from Phoenix to Maui so not as long of a trip as you had coming back. Quick question…my dad is letting us use some of his air miles and can get us business class seats for the flights. If you were to do the flight again would you take 2 business class seats with a 17 month old over 3 economy seats? Trying to figure out which would be better! Thanks in advance! :) PS..Unfortunately the only direct flight on the way home leaves Maui at 11:30pm so hopefully our daughter will be a sleeper unlike Clara! One can hope!!
Young House Life says
Oh no, I’d go with an extra seat!
xo,
s
Wendi says
Totally feel the pain of your flight! Our son is adopted and when we flew home from Ethiopia with him, there are only red-eye flights available. He had only been with us for a week and we were still learning to know one another. He was 18 months old a the time. He only wanted to be held by my husband and be held standing up. I could only hold him if he fell asleep, which was about 90 minutes on an 18 hour trip. My husband likes to joke that he walked home from Ethiopia! He wasn’t interested in watching the movies we brought along and at one point, I guess I got distracted while Mark was roaming the plane with our son, I looked down and someone’s little boy was sitting next to me and watching our DVD player — too funny! Sounds like a great adventure and a story that you will love sharing with Clara as she gets older. :)
Jenny says
I would just like to express my appreciation to you, and other parents like you, who make an effort with their children when traveling. Taking the time to plan travel activities, snacks, bribes, etc, makes a much easier and more pleasant trip not only for you and your children, but for other passengers as well.
ashley @ sunnysideshlee.com says
2 layovers in Chicago! eeek! i would have swarmed your little jet lagged family! :) thanks for all the great shares on your trip! makes me want to go to hawaii reaaaally bad!
Margaret says
We’ve done red-eye flights to get back to Germany when we lived there because..well, there’s no other way to get from North America to Europe except for a red-eye. It was easy when my daughter was 4 months old – she nursed and slept the whole way and I didn’t sleep, but then I probably wouldn’t have anyway. We did it again when we were back in Canada when she was about 16 months old. It was hard, but not impossible, especially with two of us to care for her. And yes, we did use a smidge of Benadryl, mainly because she’d had a cold and our pediatrician told us a little wouldn’t hurt. It was probably just enough to help her relax and she slept for a couple of hours.
By far, the hardest flight I’ve take was from Victoria, BC to Phoenix, AZ. With a 3.5 year old and a 19 month old. By myself. We’d done the reverse with pretty much no problems – children were amazing, I was well prepared and the only annoying thing was the annoying amount of crap that you have to carry for two children (in addition to my instrument – I’m a professional musician). On the way back, the baby spiked a fever and COULD NOT be calmed. We’ve travelled all over Europe, Canada and the US with kids and never has anything like this really happened. People weren’t snarky, but there weren’t helpful, either. Until one flight attendant came over, started saying something about chakras and then waved a little metal wand in circles above the baby’s heart and head. He was asleep in 5 minutes and conked out for 40 min. Which was enough to catch my breath and tell my lovely daughter what trooper she was being. He wasn’t happy when he woke up, but he was manageable and we touched down about an hour later. The funny thing is that he sang for an hour in the car at the top of his lungs, happy as a clam, until he conked again, this time for good.
Will never repeat that experience, if I can at all help it though. You’ve survived it and for that you deserve the parent medal!
Brittany says
I recently flew from TX to IN with my 5 month old. The flight there wasn’t too bad, we left TX at 8am and got to IN at 4 pm. On the way home from IN to TX we left IN at 6pm and got to TX at midnight (after a layover in AZ). THAT was an awful flight! The flight from IN to AZ he cried almost the entire time and was very restless when he did sleep. We had a 2 hour layover from 8:45-10:45 in AZ and he was so fussy. Thankfully he slept the entire time on the 50 min ride to TX. We found out a day after we got to TX he had RSV…that probably explains the fussiness, but we’ll never do a night flight again!
Shannon says
A few years ago (when my little one was her age), someone at church gave him a dum dum, the stick broke in half so I took it away from him. He cried for another one for hours. So, later that afternoon she gave him another one, he was in the room with me and a ton of other people and we don’t know if someone bumped him or if he fell with it in his mouth, but he swallowed that sucker STICK AND ALL! We could not get the sucker up, he had not been breathing for awhile and he was getting blue and limp. A friend shoved the sucker the rest of the way down and he started breathing again before the ambulance got there.
A year ago, I gave him a yummy earth pop and I was sitting on the floor and he was standing next to me when I heard a gasp. The sucker had come off the stick and he was once again choking. Luckily he is fine now, but he is on sucker lockdown!
Young House Life says
Oh my gosh, that is so scary! So glad he’s ok!
xo,
s
Sum says
My baby is 18 months old now and I have lost count of the number of flights I have done with him (my family live in England uk, and we live in NYC … Plus we have had a 10day semi/road semi/air trip from east to west coast as a family holiday, not forgetting a weekend away to Chicago with grandpa when he had a conference there!)
Phew just writing that made me realize how much he has travelled in his little life so far! I have experience of traveling with him at many different ages. The easiest by far was a red night to the UK when he was just 3months- slept the whole way and woke up when I got all my luggage. Still I had to do it on my own and that is hard. I recently came to England again with him (he was 15 months) and we were lucky enough to have an empty seat next to us – that was my saving grace! I don’t think I can rely on being so lucky on the way back next month … Might have to book him a seat even though he will still be under 2 … Sorry for rambling but I must say one thing more – I don’t understand why parents are so apologetic about their kids traveling on planes. If you need to travel you Ned’s to travel and children have a right to travel along with everyone else in that plane. If a kid cries – they are just being a child – u can not force a 2 year old to behave like a 7 year old… No one is trying to deliberately disturb the passengers. I just think kids and their parents should be given some slack by fellow passengers and that they need to losen up and take the good with the bad when traveling – just like I used to do in my pre-parenting days!
Omg long post . Ok rant over (and yes I did need to get that off my chest!)
Laura Gofton says
Thanks for all the tips on flying with an almost two year old. We are planning a trip from Brisbane, Australia to New York then down the coast to Miami. The thought of flying with our very active 20 month old son is a little terrifying to be honest but we don’t want that to stop us.
Will definitely be booking a daytime flight.
Thanks!
Karen@treechanged says
I have taken the 24 hour flight to visit my family in Australia every year since my (now 5yo)son was born. Ive taken him and his brother as infants and as toddlers. It is not easy but I have learned some tricks:)
The first is to NEVER let them think that getting out of their seat is an option. I buckle them in immediately (like you do in a car) with a harness http://www.kidsflysafe.com/ It is safer for them, easy to carry and keeps them in their seat. I take them for regular breaks (but let them know it is only at certain times)
Once they are about 2.5 they can watch movies but before that it is so hard to entertain. Food, sticky tape (they love it) toys tied to string, crayons etc are all good. I avoid all sugar because I figure it will make them hyper and harder to deal with in the long run!
I was wondering why no-one mentioned drugs? I used to give the kids motion sickness medicine for kids. Before I had kids I would take them myself. I found it easier to sleep upright and makes long flights so much more comfortable so I figure it would help them too.
Also, I find keeping it in perspective helps (a little). Worst flight ever was when our whole group -4 adults, 1 toddler – had food poisoning which hit just after take off. Violent puking and the runs for 5 hours. On a plane. With a toddler. (Who was also puking). See? It can always be worse.
Ginger says
Do you know if the not interested in videos stemmed from not being able to hear well enough with the little headphones?
Young House Life says
I don’t think so, she just was so stimulated by everything else that she had zero interest (headphones or not). So odd because it’s usually such a special treat and she loves it “on land.”
xo,
s
Samantha says
Counting my lucky stars for my kiddo! We had a red eye to and from Lima, Peru when he was 16 months old and he did GREAT. A little fussy at first but slept almost the whole 7 hour overnight flight. I think we would’ve died if he hadn’t.
Glad you all had a great trip!
Bryanna S says
please please please tell me you didn’t check a car seat like luggage!! I don’t see one in the plane pics… They get tossed around just as much as luggage so that they get beat up just like they would in a car accident where you’d have to replace the whole thing… they are no longer safe if you check them rather than bring them as a carry on! She’s not riding around in a checked car seat is she??
Young House Life says
No, we didn’t bring one – we just rented one in each location.
-John
Jessica says
Hey guys,
I’ve traveled a lot with my kids (now 7 and 18 mos.) and I have always been baffled by one obstacle on airplanes: changing diapers. Just wondering how you dealt with this issue while traveling, especially since you guys use cloth diapers – did you stick with cloth or go disposable for the trip? Thanks!!
Jessica says
** note: BTW, I’ve never seen a plane fancy enough to have diaper changing stations in the bathrooms, maybe you were luckier with that **
Young House Life says
We couldn’t stick with cloth since we were in Portland for three days without access to a washer/dryer, but we did have to change a few wet diapers on the plane, but thankfully the bathroom had this drop-down platform for changing them. Sure it was right over the toilet (gotta be careful in such a tight space) but it worked! Not that it was comfortable (it was really cramped) but we lived to tell the tale!
xo,
s
Jenni says
My family lives across the country from us, so I’ve had many horrifying moments on airplanes with my kids.
But the reason I’m writing is to tell you something else funny.
The other day someone mentioned Hawaii and traveling with kids, and I literally thought to myself,
“Oh, my friends just did that….wait…no..who was it?…OMG! It was the Petersiks! Who don’t know me from Adam!” So I chose not to share the anecdote with the person I was speaking to…
All of this is to say that I thought of you guys as my “friends”. Probably makes me sound like a creeper, but I hope it really just sends the message that you are doing a great thing with your blog here and that you exhude friendliness and fun! Thanks for sharing your lives!
:)
Young House Life says
Aw Jenni, that’s so sweet! You guys are totally our friends. We tell stories about readers all the time!
xo,
s
Anna says
Sorry you had rough travels!!
We have done overnight traveling when we drive. However our daughter sleeps pretty good in her carseat. We load up in our pjs and put on a movie on the laptop and she’s out in an hour!
Deanna @ TheChangingHouse says
WOW… Sherry, you have killer cheekbones!
Young House Life says
Haha, thanks! Got them from my momma. Haha.
xo,
s
Christina Y says
Ahh! So good to know about the red eye. I was going back and forth on it and finally decided against it. I figure I know I can handle a sleepy/manic toddler during the day, but I lose patience with every hour of sleep lost. Thanks for sharing!
Amanda says
Oh man am I glad I read this post! We are flying to Portland in June with our daughter who will have just turned 2. I’m already trying to come up with an arsenal of ways to keep her calm and quiet through the flights. She’s usually pretty chill but who knows! Thanks for the tips!
Jenny says
Thanks so much for answering my question about 3 economy seats vs 2 business class. Very helpful! One other question for you…when you buy a seat for Clara in the future would you take her car seat on board for long flights? I thought I saw a comment somewhere suggesting that their child slept well in their car seat on a flight since they’re used to sleeping in it in the car but I thought I’d find out your thoughts. Thanks! :)
Young House Life says
I think we lean towards that (especially since it means not having to pay to rent one at our destination) but I think we’ll cross that bridge when we have to. Having had a spare seat for her on the way to Hawaii, we learned that it was also kinda of nice to have the extra space to move around without a bulky car seat in the way. And since Clara’s not super accustomed to sleeping in her car seat it’s not a silver bullet for us. Sorry for the not very direct answer!
-John
Molly says
I’ve got an airplane HORROR story for you…
…first, a little background. Being a military family in the early stages of my husbands career, we live away from family, & travel & move A LOT. We’re on our 8th move in less than 6 years (just put an offer on our first house today!!!)! My 3 year old son had been on 9 flights before he was 2.
On our first trip home with a baby, my son was 7 weeks old. My husband was flying out to St. Louis with us, but returning home before us, leaving me solo for the return flight. Our morning went smoothly, other than a lack of poo from a certain 2 month old baby. Having a kid of your own, you know this could spell disaster. Everything was going well, we boarded early, had a grandma next to us, & he nursed during take off with no tears at all. Once we got in the air the flight started getting very turbulent. I’ve flown quite a bit, & have never been on a flight so bumpy.
And then it happens… he poops… A LOT…
It was leaking out the sides of his pants onto my legs. So, I calmly get out a diaper & wipes out of my bag to clean him up.
And then he poops AGAIN…
I’m talking poo EVERYWHERE!! It was puddled in my skirt, running down my legs, & puddled in my shoes as well. I was using my drink cup to scoop it up, while the lady next to me was handing me clean wipes, & helping to take away the dirty ones (she was a life saver!!). All the while, the plane is bouncing through the air, & my son is all smiles & laughter (after a poo like that I can see why). I finally get it together enough to head to the “bathroom.” We were flying Southwest (the only airline I’ll fly with kids on now after bad experiences with many others), & they actually have changing tables in their bathrooms. I had to brace myself between the sink & the wall just to be able to stand, & had to hold my son down to keep him from falling while cleaning him.
As all of this is happening, the captain gets on the intercom, & asks that the flight attendants strap into their seats! I’ve never had that happen on a flight! They were all freaking out, because I was in the bathroom & need to be in my seat. I quickly wrapped things up, & scrambled back to my seat. We landed about 40 minutes later thankfully without anymore problems, & were greeted by my smiling husband at baggage claim.
It went a little like this:
H- How was the flight?
ME- I’m covered in poop.
H- So, just like being at home, huh?
ME- Take him. (hands him a naked baby in a blanket) I’ll get the bags.
Flying with kids can actually be pretty fun, but it can also be your worst nightmare. My best advice would be to ignore the glares from other passengers. Chances are, you’ll never see them again anyway. Just wait till you have another kid. That’s when things get really interesting. My last flight was by myself with 2 kids ages 2 & 9 months… I could write you another ridiculously long post about that. haha You guys did great by taking her with you! It’s so important for kids to experience life like that. :)
Young House Life says
Wow, that sounds intense! So glad you had such a helpful lady next to you.
xo,
s
Rachel G says
I live in bush Alaska where it takes 2 flights just to get to our home from Anchorage. My son was born in Anchorage and flew home at 7 days old. Since my husband is a teacher, we go back to IL every summer to visit family. That’s 4 flights total one way! Needless to say, little guy has been on quite a few flights in his life (over 60 and he is turning 2 in April.) This age is definitely the hardest for traveling with him. He went from “laid back, easy traveler” to “nightmare on-board” – how did that happen??? Well, you have not given me lots of hope for our up and coming travels to Hawaii with our boy – we are taking that cursed red-eye on the way home. Darn! The good news? The whole reason we are going to Hawaii is for a school trip – 9 of the other passengers will be our co-travelers. I hope they are prepared for lots of toddler time :) Thanks for the great tips. One more that I would add – the squeeze food is a great alternative to the lollipops for ear pressure. The applesauce is easy to find almost anywhere and a crowd pleaser with kids.
Young House Life says
Great tip Rachel! And good luck!
xo,
s
Kiki says
So since you guys use cloth diapers, what do you use for swim diapers? Do you just go for the disposable or do you use something different?
Young House Life says
We got some great cloth swim diapers from Target (made by Speedo I think!).
xo,
s
Liz says
yikes… poor clara (and you!). i have flown four times with my one year old – that’s what happens when you live on the opposite coast as your entire family – and we always get her her own seat. the first time we flew my parents had a ton of points they gave us so the seat was free, and now i won’t fly without it, especially since it’s often just me and my daughter with my husband flying separately. we took one red eye and she slept the entire time. i am actually booked on another red eye with her in about a month and i am keeping my fingers crossed it goes just as well! i am not looking forward to lugging her gigantic toddler carseat through the airport though – ugh!
Liz says
oh one more thing – i have never had anything but kind words and tons of help from the other passengers. maybe it helps that i am usually alone with my daughter but seriously people have been awesome. like get my stroller for me and carry my bags awesome.
Krystle P says
Ok…I am now completely scared whit-less. I stupidly scheduled our flight from Washington State to New York on a Red-eye. :( After reading the 1st page of this comments I’m about ready to cry. I’m figuring my 4.5yr old won’t sleep? because she will only sleep 1/2 in our car and was a tough napper anyways. But I was hoping my littlest 19 mth old would sleep (own seat) from 11pm-5am when we landed in for our connecting flight. I guess I didn’t find this blog soon enough. But I do have a Plan of packing as many snacks as possible as well as movies on Ipod/leapster/new & old toys/books as I can. Thankfully I coerced my in-laws to take the same flight and help out as my husband gets air-sick (on occasion/wimp :) Thank you for all the advice and here goes something I hope not to regret.
Young House Life says
Good luck! Every child is different so you never know. And if it ends up going not so smoothly… just do your best to smile through it and remember the plane has to land sooner or later!
-John
Trixxy Minxx says
Oh jeez, I am dreading flying in August……By myself…with a 1yr old (birthday boy) and a 3yr old boy. I thought about giving the 1yr old a birthday present to open on the plane when he starts getting fussy, but i’m not really sure what the gift should be. And the 3yr old…lollipops sound like a great plan to me maybe I will wrap them up for him so he gets his own special gift to open if he starts being fussy. My 1yr old will be in my lap and the 3yr old will have his own seat so I’m hoping maybe the seat will be big enough for both of them to share at some point during the flight possibly. My soon to be 1yr old is not much of a lap kind of guy though so the 6+ hour flight to MI from CA will be a tough one I think. We will have only 1 connecting flight though with hopefully not much of a layover so that will help I hope. At least maybe he will be able to walk around some and possibly sleep at some point. I’m going to be bringing an umbrella stroller and a baby carrier…does anyone know how the whole going through the security check things work? Am I going to have to take the 3yr old out of the stroller and the baby out of the carrier to go through them? Or can they stay in?
Any helpful tips would be great for entertaining a lap baby in flight. The 3 yr old should be fine….i hope lol
Young House Life says
I think it depends on the airport but at ours kids had to be taken out and carried through. Maybe they could stay in a carrier, but definitely not the stroller (that had to be folded and sent through the x-ray thing at ours).
xo,
s
Heather says
I have never been one to sleep on flights unless I’m super sleep-deprived. My partner hasn’t flown much, but even after a long shift on his feet at work, he couldn’t sleep on the red-eye into Christmas morning. By the time he met me at my grandma’s for christmas day, he was a bit, ahhh, punchy. Plus, if I’m sleep-dep at ALL, I become totally non-functional.
If we ever fly with our (currently hypothetical) children, it sounds like a red-eye is just not the way to go. I just hope that it will be easier to keep my kid happy and entertained if they’re not even supposed to be asleep then.
Megan says
I doubt you’ll probably read this – it being several months late and buried in with 277 other comments – but I thought I would say hello. :)
I have been reading for about a year, but this is my first comment. First off let me say that I really enjoy the blog! Our daughter was born in May of 2011, so she’s a year younger than yours, and we also live in Virginia (though up in NOVA).
Anyhow, I remember reading this post and thinking about our family’s upcoming trip to London. We had an overnight flight on the way there, and even after reading your post I was sure that my little one would sleep. (Especially since Dad was already in Europe, so it was a solo 7+ hour flight for me…)
Well – I was wrong, lol. She was up the ENTIRE night, but I got to know the flight crew really well. It was an adventure to say the least (complete with motion sickness for baby, no new shirt for mommy, and our seat neighbor breaking his wine glass all over the diaper bag and baby blanket).
However, the flight home (also a solo flight for mommy) went really well. Perhaps because it was a day flight, or perhaps because comparing it to the flight over, nothing too bad could really happen. She even slept for 4 hours! All in all we had a wonderful vacation in the UK, and it was worth all the airplane struggles, but I just wanted to say thank you for posting your experiences as well.
I look forward to reading more about your adventures. Have a great day!
Young House Life says
Oh man, sorry to hear about your “adventure.” But congrats on surviving!
-John
Victoria says
I’m a couple months late to this post, but just had to comment really quickly – THANK YOU so much for calling them flight attendants! Its so funny, but my Mom is an FA (has been for 35 yrs) and it drives me nuts when I hear them called anything else. So I always have to say a quick thanks on her behalf :) Good to hear you had some good ones and that they helped you out in your hour (or more) of need!