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Austin Babies
Travel Review: Flying with a 20-month-old (long!)
We're back from our trip to Seattle, and it (the flying part) went WAY better than expected. We did fly non-stop on Alaska airlines, which I am so glad about. I really would not have liked having to deal with lugging all our crap around another airport.
When we got to ABIA, we parked in the long-term parking lot on the airport property. We took DS's carseat out of the car, with him still in it, and attached it to my carry-on suitcase with this cool thing. It really, really worked great, and at $15, I'm so glad we got this instead of forking over the $85 on a GoGoKidz thing. The only thing that others might not like about this, is that it's only useful if you carry-on a suitcase. My suitcase was 24"x17"x10", which was the maximum size allowed by Alaska airlines. However, I think other airlines have smaller carry-on maximums. This would also work with the next smaller-sized suitcase. I had packed all of my my and DS's things in this suitcase, so I would not have to check any baggage. I will say that it was HEAVY to pull around a 40lb suitcase + 20lb carseat + 25lb baby - I had sore muscles in my forearms that I don't think have ever been sore before! Anyway, we wheeled him in that from our car, to the airport (didn't take the shuttle in).
We rolled him around ABIA in this, then when we boarded, we gate-checked the carseat (we had bought this gate-check bag for it). On the flight, DS fell asleep in my arms (btw, we did not buy a seat for him, so he traveled as a "lap child"), and slept for the first 1.5 hours of the 4hr flight. The rest of the time, he watched videos on the portable DVD player, colored, played with his sticker book, played with my iPhone, ate snacks and drank milk. A couple times I walked him up and down the aisle, and took him to the bathroom for changing. He was really very good through all of this, but by the last half hour of the flight he was getting very restless and a little fussy. Luckily, we were sitting next to a VERY nice and patient grandma, who just loved him and she was so sweet and let him sit on her lap and look out the window. When we landed, we picked up the carseat on the jetway, took it out to the gate waiting area and attached it to the suitcase, then rolled him on outta there.
Yesterday, DS and I flew home together, while DH flew to Denver for a business trip. Even though the flight up there went better than expected, it was still difficult, and that was with two sets of hands. I was completely dreading doing it by myself. And, this time I wasn't able to choose my seat, so I was sandwiched in the middle seat, between 2 women (both of whom were very nice and patient, also!). For this flight, I ended up paying the $15 to check my suitcase, and also checked the carseat at the check-in counter, because I knew I would not be able to wrangle it all onto the plane (plus my purse, diaper bag and DS). So I carried DS through the airport, which was not that bad (we did not bring a stroller on this trip, since we knew we would only be visitng family and not doing any sight-seeing or anything). On the plane, DS was absolutely perfect!! He fell asleep just after take-off, and slept for 2 hours! Then he watched videos, ate snacks, drank milk, and we went to the restroom for a change once. When we had to turn the DVD player off (on approach), we read books, and the lady next to us also let him sit with her and look out the window.
Back at ABIA, I carried him to baggage claim. I saw someone next to me with a SmartCart, which I noticed happily has a seat with a belt for a child to sit in. I didn't see where you could get them, so I asked the guy where he got it, and he gave it to me! Told me someone gave it to him, but he only has 1 bag and he could see that I needed it much more than he did! So I strapped DS in, grabbed my suitcase, put my purse and diaper bag on it, and waited for the carseat. And waited, and waited, and waited. I started to worry a little bit becaue I knew we couldn't go anywhere with the carseat! Finally it dawned on me that that it was "oversized baggage", so I headed over there, and found it, and we headed out to the car. It was SUPER easy!
Things we brought to entertain him: books (3), coloring book, crayons, sticker book, DVD player, toddler apps on the iphone, snacks (several!) juice and milk (pediasure). Be advised, if you are traveling with a toddler (or baby), you can pretty much bet on having your carry-on bags searched at the security screening area. We had so many "allowable liquids" (medications, juice boxes, pediasure bottles, etc) that they had to specifically screen, so just count on it taking a little longer to get through. All in all, it was not nearly the nightmare I was envisioning. People are very understanding and helpful and with a lot of planning and organizing, it can be done fairly seamlessly.
Thanks to everyone for your input and ideas when I've asked for advice about this!
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Re: Travel Review: Flying with a 20-month-old (long!)
this I am flying at the end of the month by myself
glad it went well! having nice people sitting next to you helps so much. on the way back from puerto rico a couple weeks ago a guy in his early 20's was sitting next to us and he played with dd for a good hour of the 5 hour flight. so nice especially since she refuses to sleep on planes!
at what age did your ds start watching the dvd thing? dd just doesn't seem to be into tv. but i'm flying alone with dd in a couple of weeks and it might be another helpful distraction if she'll watch it.