Moms that have flown

ambmama

Sorry, I know we've talked about this before but I need a reminder. Mom's that have flown with their LO's, talk to me. We've decided that we are going to take Taylor on our trip to California (across the country) in October. He is an extremely high energy kiddo, though, so please remind me of all of your best advice. We have 1 layover each way, so it will be about 7-8 hours of travel. I'm thinking I'm going to bite the bullet and buy him a seat, but I'm still nervous he's going to freak out and want out of the car seat. I imagine the first flight will be a lot of 'whoa!' But after that I'm worried. Also, do I just bring like the normal car seat? Or do I need a special one?

ungraceful13

We brought our normal car seat. Crucial things were DVD player, coloring book and crayons, magna doodle, new toys and lots of snacks. We also let her walk the aisle some snd sit in our laps some if the seatbelt sign was off.

jobiann

Our flight was not that long, if I was doing a long flight, I would have taken a car seat...but I honestly have no advice for it. We only flew a little over one hour and DS was just on our laps. It was okay the way there, but the way back was a nightmare...I wish we would have gotten him his own seat. My iPad with his favorite cartoons was the lifesaver, snacks, a few new small toys and having three people's laps he could bounce around to....

GL!

BabyHope2013

Also check the airports you will be at. Some of them have play areas for kids. When we flew ds was perfectly happy running around the airport. I tried to keep him out of people's way and let him tire himself out. Magma doodle was great, lots of snacks. Suckers, iPad and hopefully he will take a nap.

We took our regular car seat. We checked it at the gate, as he was a lap child at the time. However I highly recommend getting a car seat bag. Made walking through the airport much easier.

avee10

my son is very high energy as well.  We've flown a total of 4 times this summer and he did great each time.  I made sure to book our flights mid-day so it would fall during his nap time.  He slept the entire time all 4 flights, granted the flights were only 2 1/2 and 3 hrs long. I'm not sure how he wouldve done on a longer flight. I would make sure to take plenty of distractions - toys, music, videos, snacks; whatever will keep him busy.

Good luck!

meggiev123

We fly transatlantic with DD often and my advice would be to bring lots of snacks, an ipad or DVD player (this is the lifesaver for us) and be prepared to walk up and down the aisles if LO refuses to sit still. For "bed time" we often put her in the ergo and walk around until she falls asleep, as she can't seem to get comfortable enough in the seat.

We've also found that the timing of the flight is important.  If we can, we prefer red eyes because she sleeps the entire time.  good luck! 

this decaf life

We just did a ton of flying. 

DD had her own seat but we did not take her carseat. In 9 days we took 5 flights, lots of public transportation/taxis so we didn't want to lug it around. I think it might have been helpful for two of the legs because they were right during nap time but in the end I don't think it would have been worth it for us.

DD loved watching Daniel Tiger's little sister so that helped. Lots of food pouches and a decent amount of crying but she did just fine. Know the kid is going to have a tough time and during the layover let LO run around as much as possible. I challenged DD to lots of jumping/dancing competitions. 

Also - I definitely consider DD high energy.