Question from a Nov. 11 mom

Sarahcakes29

I am going to be flying next December to Hawaii around Christmas time, when my baby will be 13 months old.  Money is tight and my husband & I were thinking of just buying two tickets and having our son on our laps.  Since your LOs are about this age - what would you think of this?  It will be a 5-hour flight.  Thanks for any insight you might provide.

jcole32444

I could be wrong but I think you can put a carseat in a plain seat.? If you do buy him a ticket I would suggest that becaues my son will not sit in a seat by himself.

I would not buy him his own tickets. He will probably be happier sitting on your lap. And it is what I would do!

I would also bring a portable dvd player. Jay loves elmo and if all else failed I would let him watch the dvd. He would not fall asleep sitting on my lap. It has been a while since he has taken a nap on me.

RedZee

We have not flown with DD yet, but there are some things I'd consider.

I think a lot of it depends on your kid's activity level, which you won't know for a few months yet. DD does not sit still so I think on a flight I might have to get a carseat 'cause if she's strapped in she'll play with something else and/or sleep, or even watch cartoons. If she's not strapped in, we'd be able to get her to be still for a little while with food and toys, but we'd probably be pacing the aisles for at least 3 hours.

My friend's kid (also 13 months) is DD's total opposite and they've flown more this past year than most people fly their whole lives. She said that it's nice to have the car seat but that he's fine being held the whole time. (They get him a seat for overseas travel 'cause it's not much more expensive anyway but not when they go from NY to FL.)

HTH.

ffejsGirl

I think it would depend on the kid. I would suggest getting a seat to strap them into. However with my kids if someone is sitting in the back with them they hate being strapped in, and are harder to keep happy for a long ride. Mine would probably just to better being held.

I second bringing lots of quiet activities and a dvd player. Anything to keep them occupied. You might want to talk to your pedi about what to do to prepare as well. My nephew was a mess on the flight from Omaha to Florida last summer. They thought his ears popping hurt him.

SweetHurricane

This is a tough question. DD would probably sit better for DH than myself, but I still don't think she'd be ok being held for 5 hours. That's a looong time and she's never been a cuddly baby. I second the DVD player idea.

broccolitree

I flew 5+ hrs with LO & H in Sept, so she was 9 mos then. My kid has a super lackadaisical temperament and loves to cuddle, and loves strangers, soby the end of the flight she was getiing passed around and thanked for being such an awesome flier by the other passengers. At this point though, she's getting to be a little bit stranger danger, which is a normal stage of development but could be problematic on a flight. We gave her proactive ibuprofen because she was teething, and we think that helped a lot with the ears popping, plus she's still using the binky.

In deciding whether to fly with her in an extra seat, think about what you'll do when you land. You have to have a carseat toleave the airport, so you need to be either withinwalking distance of everything you want to do, bring it, or rent a car with a carseat. If you weren't planning on renting a car, it may be morecost effective to buy an extra p,ane ticket, especially since under 10s frequently get a discount depending onthe destination. Also, check and make sure you're not require to reservea'seat'... we had to from YVR to Newark because it's international, even for infsnt in arms, but it was $12.

I'll add more and some links when I get to my computer. But tl;dr, totally do it.

freeatlast2014

My LO would never sit on my lap happily for 5 hours. I would do my best to get him his own seat.

st.augbride

We've flown with ds multiple times for 2 hour flights on our laps, and each time as he gets older it gets harder... We still do it for the shorter flights, but we're also planning a Hawaii trip and there's just no way I will attempt it without him having his own seat. Again, I'm sure this depends on the temperament of your LO, but ds will NOT sleep on us anymore, which means no naps unless he has his own seat. I'm sure he'll still want to move  alot and not stay in his seat, but for us we're going to spend the extra money.

freeatlast2014

st.augbride:

We've flown with ds multiple times for 2 hour flights on our laps, and each time as he gets older it gets harder... We still do it for the shorter flights, but we're also planning a Hawaii trip and there's just no way I will attempt it without him having his own seat. Again, I'm sure this depends on the temperament of your LO, but ds will NOT sleep on us anymore, which means no naps unless he has his own seat. I'm sure he'll still want to move  alot and not stay in his seat, but for us we're going to spend the extra money.

Wow, a trip to Hawaii with LO from MD?!? You are a brave woman!!