Flying w/toddler

[ides]

So, is it at all wise to try & fly with a toddler? I'm thinking no but dh has a three day course he wants to attend in FL in April and I was thinking of me & Oscar going with. I have a friend who I haven't seen in many years who lives near by so it would be a double plus good trip.

As well, do you need a car seat for the toddler to travel in on the plane? He will be 18 months & very active so he can't be sitting in my lap and will need his own seat. We currently don't own a car so don't have a seat making it be an added expense or trip killer expense if necessary.

thx!

[DCJenn]

Sure! It may be miserable or it might be fine. Nikolai was always fine during flights as a toddler- we'd have a snack, some apple juice and soon enough he'd fall asleep. I always tried to time the flights for naptime or bedtime, too.

I don't know if you HAVE to have a car seat for the toddlers in their own seat- the issue is that they can slide out from the lap belts. (of course, as one flight attendent put it, 'it's not like it's really going to matter if the plane crashes)

If he's never been in a car seat or isn't strapped in very regularly, I'd start practicing WAY before the trip. On our flight from Moscow to Frankfurt there was a little girl who had been adopted by French parents and FREAKED out when they put the seat belt on her (she'd never seen one before) and she was screaming in Russian, 'why are you killing me, why are you killing me' which then prompted the Italian man next to me who also spoke Russian to talk the girl and her parents through the situation. [it was at that point that the flight attendent figured it was better to have the girl held by the parents than continue to listen to her scream bloody murder for four hours- see comment above!]

Jenn

[SuzySunshine]

You don't have to have a car seat but I find it better if you can contain them and like Jenn said they can slip out of just the lap belt, or just unhook it. I have one of these and LOVE it: http://www.kidsflysafe.com/ You can restrain them and not have to lug their car seat through the airport. I'll be flying by myself with both of my kids in March. Robert who will be just over 4 months at the time will sit on my lap and Adele will use the harness.

Either buy some new small toys to pull out on the plane or take some of his favorites away a week or so ahead then they'll seem like new. One of Adele's favorites to fly with is a magna doodle.

[Michele]

Re: Flying w/toddler

If you are going to be driving around in FL at all you'll probably need a carseat for that. I think you can rent them. For mine, there is NO WAY I'd try a flight without a carseat again. My 3yo can ride in the car for 8h without much complaining (actually hardly any). But a 1h flight without the seat was torture!! He was all over the place and standing on the seat hitting the call button and trying to climb under the seat and kicking the seat in front and playing with the tray....not easy to contain with a baby as well. That said, I'd keep in mind Jenn's point about if he's not used to being strapped he may react badly.


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They can sit in your lap and you won't have to pay for a ticket if they are under 2 years old. We flew with our daughter and she is a mover at 16 months to Florida and she stayed in our lap. It wasn't so bad. We brought toys, food, and a portable dvd player( a life saver for travel). We are going to be flying again to Florida in April and she will be 23 months sitting in our lap again. We planned it to be before she turns 2 so we don't have to buy her a ticket.

[ides]

thanks for the advice. I can see Oscar being all over the plane like Michelle's guy. He has been in a car seat a few times (when we rented a car and drove to Baltimore). He was okay for about half the drive then was a screaming wreck the rest of the trip. ugh. I can't see him staying in the seat unless he's strapped, but then he'll want out of it soon enough too. ugh. some more thought must go into this before decision time.

[Pollyanna]

You don't have to have a car seat but I find it better if you can contain them and like Jenn said they can slip out of just the lap belt, or just unhook it. I have one of these and LOVE it: http://www.kidsflysafe.com/

That is so cool Cheri, great link!!