In October my 10 month old daughter and I will be taking a trip, sans daddy, to CA and I'm hoping someone has some good tips for me. She'll probably be riding on my lap and it's a six hour flight with one or more stops. We'll be there for five - seven days. I've got a stuffed animal that we can record daddy's voice on for her withdrawals ;) I'm sure there are things I haven't yet thought of that could make this trip a lot easier. Any ideas I'm very open to suggestions! You've all been so helpful in other areas I'm sure someone has something to share! Thank you all so much in advance!!
Our trip went so much better than expected! She loved being on the plane and actually behaved better out of the car seat than in it. Amazing. I brought our portable DVD player and had Elmo on low volume. She had more fun pushing play/pause than watching Elmo. Hard on the DVD player but easier on mommy! Luckily I had the nicest people next to me each time and that made everything so much better. Thank you all for your advice and help. Elmo and cheerios are now my number one travel tools! We'll be doing it again in three weeks! :)
As someone who travels to CA often, I would say to do your best to get a non-stop flight. It really adds to the length of the trip to have to stop. And often the hardest part for babies is the takeoff and landing because of the pressure change, so if you can reduce the number of times that happens, that could help.
Aside from that, bring food, favorite book, favorite toy so you can entertain her. Good luck and have fun.
HI,
The best thing I did was go buy new little toys and give them to him on the plane. I bought like 10 small things and each one entertained him for about 15 minutes. I also brought many snacks. My little guy does not sleep on the plane so the 3 times we flew I had to do a lot of entertaining. He never cried and did great as long as he was entertained. Also, ask the flight attendants if there is an empty seat and then you can bring the carseat on the plane and put the baby in the seat. We did that the last time and he sat in his seat securely strapped the entire 3 hour flight. Best of luck!
Just keep your baby busy. You will be in a different surrounding, so she won't be reminded of Daddy...it won't be as bad as you think. Have Fun!!!
On the air plane you can suggest to the flight attendant if there are any open seats to please sit you there. I took my lap top computer and played Baby Einstein for mine during flights.
hi K.
I've been traveling back and forth to france with both my children for the past 4 years so, yes, I have some advice :-)
First, a night flight is the best because they sleep.
If it's not at night, bring soft toys (so no noise), puzzles, stickers, flashcards, play dough, book, crayons, a CD player with his/her favorite music. Make sure to have plenty of snacks (they will allow you baby's drink) and change of diapers with change of clothes for you and your baby (as well as a plastic bag).
Now for the stay, I have made "picture books" with photos with each child and daddy so they can "see" him and we get on the webcan.
I hope this helps.
Good luck and have a great vacation. :-)
S.
I travelled from Miami to London with a 10 month old...it was actually pretty easy. Make sure you have good snacks, plenty of formula and water if you are using formula (you can tell the airlines that you know that you are allowed to have the premix or powder and Nursery Water - they won't let you take regular bottled water and it isn't readily available on the airplanes anymore). I would highly recommend a non-stop flight if possible as the up and down on the ears is the worst. Make sure baby drinks or nurses during take off and landing unless she is asleep. I would also suggest dressing baby in a footed PJ, it is warmer on cold planes and eliminates having to take baby shoes/socks/booties on and off as well as promotes sleep! If she is still using an infant car seat, a trick we learned was bringing it onboard, with hopes of an open seat, but if not they fit in the overhead compartment when you put them in upside down!!! This also keeps it from getting dirty in the luggage hold of the airplane. Good luck!
C.
