apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We're flying to Vancouver on Saturday... wish I'd know about this sooner!! (I'm hitting Target this afternoon to buy a few cheap new toys for my 21 month old).

I'm flying 9 hours (stopovers) to Newfoundland from Vancouver in July. This is a good idea! But my son is 19 months...anybody have any other ideas? I've been hearing that the portable DVD player is a must. I tried to book the flights that would coincide with a nap time and his happiest times AND give him some time to run around an airport. But I think this will be a pain nonetheless.

What I'm most wondering about is this: ( I flew with him as a infant and it was easy) now that we have the forward facing seat (sunshine Radian) which I am bringing to the door of the plane in hopes of getting a free seat next to me...how should I travel? Umbrella stroller, diaper bag and the car seat? How will I carry this? I would just take him in th ERGO, but then how could I carry that heavy car seat? Aghhhhh!

complainypants-- take a look at amazon.com. There are a few products out there made to strap your carseat to a rolling carry-on suitcase; either to use as a makeshift stroller or just to help transport it. I used the tote-a-tot with my 26 lb. 10 MO, and it worked great. Most of the time I carried him in the ergo, but we did leave him in the carseat once and it was just fine.

Her kids must not be anything like mine. I flew just recently from LAX to Atlanta, GA and it was torture! I had a 7 month old and a 20 month old. Nothing worked for them - except finally getting them to sleep - and the flight was about 4 hrs or so.

Complainypants - I doubt they're going to give you a free seat. But you never know. I'd take the umbrella stroller to the plane - they'll stoe it for free and just ship the car seat w/ your luggage - they do that for free too. I'd def. do the portable dvd player - that worked for a bit for my son.

Complainypants...are you travelling solo? This is how I did it: baby in the sling and car seat in the stroller. Gate check both the seat and stroller if there's not an empty seat on the plane. Really, the only problem is security, as NO ONE will help you and you can't wear the baby through the metal detector.

For toys, I usually sock away all the cheapo Mickey D's and Bday party favor toys my kids pick up. I throw them in the carry on bag and pull them out one-by-one as needed. I also bring those old-fashioned paint-with-water books and a tiny paint brush. Don't know why those are so fascinating, but they do keep them busy!

When I traveled with children that age, I tried to plan meals that took a very long time to eat; one raisin, goldfish, or pretzel at a time. We used stickers, touch-n-feel books, a small baby doll that came with it's own bottle and clothes, new small cars, block-shaped crayons, those tiny cans of play-dough, and our lovey for naptime. It helps to buy new things before you go; novelty adds at least ten minutes to each activity.

I found it totally worth it to have the carseat; settled into that comfortable space, the child would be more likely to sleep. But if you haven't bought a seat, they may not let you board with it. Its safer for the child to be restrained separately, in cases of a survivable crash or serious in-air turbulence, children on laps are just as safe as children held on laps in cars, which is to say not at all.

Complainypants--if you're traveling with someone else, pre-reserve a window and aisle seat towards the back of the plane. I've had several flight attendants and gate agents tell me this increases the likelihood of getting an open seat because (1) people don't generally choose middle seats for themselves and (2) the agent will start from the front and fill towards the back when filling in the middle seats. Plus, some agents will help you out and block out the middle seat for you if the plane's not too full. I even had a gate agent move another passenger to create an empty seat between my husband and I.

Also, I highly recommend the CARES in flight restraint system because you don't have to worry about getting the car seat through security and the airport. It has been a lifesaver for me and my daughter has been using it since she was 16 months. It makes it so much easier. Plus, it tucks nicely in any carry-on and if you don't end up getting a seat you haven't wasted all of your energy on carrying a big car seat through the airport. That also gives you the freedom to use the umbrella stroller or carrier of your choice because you're not worrying about balancing a big car seat.

One final note. You might consider purchasing a seat for your child. We travel on planes quite a bit because family does not live in the same town as us. I noticed that around one year my daughter became unmanageable as a lap child. Because let's face it she is never sitting on my lap for four hours, so why would she in the confined space of a plane. I have found we are much more sane when we land when she has her own seat.

Fun idea! My mom would always wrap up little presents / activities for us on car / plane trips, and we could open one every 50 or 100 miles (or intervals of time on planes). Some were new things, some were just toys from home, but it always gave us something to look forward to.

Re: carseats on planes: so far in all of my flights where I have brought the carseat in hopes they would let me have an empty seat to put it, I have always managed to get a seat. Probably 8 or 9 different times. Maybe we just travel odd routes or at odd times - I know we're lucky it's worked out this way - but it DOES happen that they'll give it to you.

HOWEVER, I just had my second child, and I'm 90% sure I'll be purchasing a seat for her on our next trip. It IS safer to have a seat, and so it would be good to guarantee it - but also, I just don't think I can stomach the thought of holding her on a flight the whole time WHILE entertaining my son. They are both good kids, but....!

I am preparing for another 13 hour trip with my two and 1/2 old and a new one-month-old. Flying with him has always been hell! Let's just say that the last time (he was 1 1/2) he ended up on a kiddie leash and I boarded the plane with a swollen bloody eye. Because the flight over is a day flight he slept a maximum of 45 minutes. I swore never to fly again.

I flew with a car seat because I was alone and needed to be able to strap him in at times, but this was problematic because the seat, though regulated for airplanes, did not attach well and made his feet touch the seat in front of him - to the great delight of this passenger. For travel in the airport I used a carabiner to attach the car seat to a suitcase with wheels, a kiddie harness for the little one, (a necessary evil), just to get through the security check. Our stroller was checked and lost. But since we were flying Air France and had paid with Visa, we were fully reimbursed.

Things that can save you during the flight: the mystery bag. Prepare a bag of new objects, some wrapped, some not, that you can give out at intervals. This should include stickers, crayons, toy cars and figurines, snacks that they can be fed slowly like cheerios, small containers with lids that they can open and close and put things into, books, playdough, paper and a hole puncher that catches the holes, a key chain with various objects and a pen light, finger puppets, and one of those goeey creatures that sticks on windows and then creeps down, and that favorite familiar security object. NO noise makers or beware the death glare from other passengers. IPhones are also great.

Also don't forget the hand sanitizer.

And most of all, remember, you will most likely never see any of these people ever again.

Goodluck.

May I recommend activity packs of some sort for all outings with children? When my daughter was small, she had a little backpack filled with activities to take everywhere we went. I could take her anywhere because she always had something to keep her entertained. Now that she's older, she continues to tote a bag filled with books, pens, notebooks & games. She's almost never bored or impatient when running errands with me. As a shopkeeper, I appreciate customers who bring entertainment for their small children--it helps everyone!