am I nuts...flying with DS as a lap child

akayf · October 2012

We are flying out of Newark NJ to Seattle in a couple weeks and we only booked 3 seats(2 aisle seats and 1 middle in the same row) A will be a lap child. It's an almost 6 hour flight. We leave at dinner time for our flight out there. I'll be packing meals for all of us(sandwiches for DH and I and lunchable type meals for the boys) So that will keep him busy for the first hour of the flight. I'm hoping he falls asleep since we'll be in mid air during his bedtime.

There is a chance that there might be an empty seat for him....there are still 2 empty seats(1 middle and 1 window) in the row. Plus behind us, there are 8 or 9 rows that are completely empty. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

kaitylin · October 2012

Good luck! I've flown numerous cross country flights with just DD and I (her as a lap child). About 70% of the time they've had an extra seat for her but even the flights they didn't weren't so bad. Especially if you can pass him back and forth! It's definitely worth it for the cost savings! I usually just have lots of snacks for DD and my phone for her to play apps on. I will probably download episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba for my next trip since she loves it!

just kita · October 2012

We've flown about 8-10 times with LO and imo it sucks no matter what you do. I'm cheap so I'd try to save the money, especially since I think we would end up holding him for a lot of the flight anyway. If he is in the mood to sit alone we usually try to make some room for him to sit between us. I agree to bring lots of snacks and have some downloaded videos if your LO is into that.

Also, be sure to bring a birth certificate with you! We have brought one before, but stopped because we never once needed it, until we flew on Southwest last weekend. They would not let us on the plane until my dad emailed me a copy to show them on my phone. I think it may have been because he is older now and they thought I might be trying to sneak a 2 year old for free or something.

MrsI · October 2012

We just got back from a trip with DD as a lap child and honestly had we gotten a seat it would have been a huge waste of money. I took advice from another bumpie and brought my boppy. It was so nice to have. She fell asleep during take off and I was able to position it so her head was completely supported by the boppy and not my arm, I'm sure my arm would have killed had we not had it!

JuneBugsMommy · October 2012

I flew alone with DS as a lap child in September and he did great! Granted it was only a 3 hour flight (2 hours on one plane then 1 hour) but he slept the first 2 hours on the way there and I had to wake him up to get off the plane and to our connecting flight. I made sure to bring lots of snack.. waay too many

and new books we checked out from the library. I think you'll be fine especially since your DH will be there to help! Hopefully you'll get lucky and the seats will stay empty!

RClaffee · October 2012

DH and I flew with the twins to Seattle from the east coast. Both girls were in our laps and it was a full flight both times. It was tough, but not as bad as I thought. Just bring lots of snacks, preferably snacks that take a really long time to eat.

akayf · October 2012

Thanks for the advice everyone. We plan on bringing tons of snacks for both kids. Plus we're bring chicken nuggets and tricolored pasta twists for dinner(2 of their favorite things) A isn't into videos too much. Besides, neither one of us has a smart phone and D will be using the iPad to keep him quiet(I plan on loading a bunch of new apps for him.)

I'm hoping the plane stays this empty so we have some room to spread our stuff out, even if A doesn't want to sit in a seat!

march2008 · October 2012

I flew from FL to Seattle last month by myself. I bought DD her own seat and I was really glad that I did. The seats are pretty small and I don't mean this to be rude, but often times, I've had to sit next to someone on a flight that was literally spilling over into my seat. I did not want to deal with that in addition to keeping my very busy one year old contained on my lap for that long of a flight.

However, since you have your husband with you, it probably won't be as bad since you can pass LO back and forth between the two of you.

JuneBug0611 · October 2012

We're flying with LO as a lap child at Christmas. I'm nervous about it. We've flown with her as a lap child a bunch of times before, but the last time -- in May -- it was really challenging, and that was only a 2-hour flight. This one will be 4.5 hours. We're scheduling it for around her bedtime. The first hour will probably be painful as we try to get her to settle down, but I'm hoping she'll sleep for at least the second half of the flight. Apologies in advance to those on the plane with us... but there aren't a lot of other great options for getting from Boston to Texas with a toddler!!

We'll bring snacks, some new toys (and maybe a boppy -- good tip!), and hope for the best! At $500/ticket, we just can't afford to buy her her own seat. And Christmas flights are always full.

3Girls3xsTheFun · October 2012

We're flying with Cate in 3 weeks from NJ to FL. It's a shorter flight (~2.5 hrs) but I am seriously regretting NOT buying her a seat (it's too late to change anyway, the plane has been full for over 2 months)... I hope my anxiety is unwarranted.

Our flight leaves @ 6:50a, so we'll be waking her up around 4a, and I'm just hoping she's exhausted and will sleep on me. I'm bringing our iPad loaded with some Barney episodes, snacks and her favorite book.

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