Flight with 16 Month Old

Her ears should actually be fine without doing anything. If you want to, bring a sippy of her favorite drink. I would give her some Bendryl and let her sleep.

Hi M.,
I also used benadryl, but mine still had issues on the way there. On the flight back, I gave her a small snack as we took off and then I did not feed her again until we started to descend....we shared a turkey bagel which was perfect for her ears and she never cried that time. Also, I flew with her in her carseat to keep it consistent so she was not climbing all over...she napped most of the time. (FYI need a window seat if taking carseat)

We did stickers, looked at random old pictures of family and friends that I taped to the back of the chair in front of us, lift a flap books.

Will your dd be traveling in her own seat or on your lap? How long is the flight?

We started paying for my ds' seats at about your dd's age. What works for us is to travel with many different snacks (eating takes their minds off of things and keeps them busy and focused). I also throw aside my no sugar/candy rule for flights. My child thinks the airport is home to planes and candy. Our ds was never interested in videos so we never got a dvd player and frankly, at her age, I too doubt it will hold her interst for long.

I packed a lot of books and would pick new ones just for the trip. Half Priced Books and Walmart were a good source for these I found. A new book would keep him interested but I would also bring a few old stand bys just in case. We would read a lot of books on the flight. Another life saver were stickers. I bought a big sticker book with photos/pictures of animals, letters, toys, etc and would ask him to point out various things. He liked to do that. I also would buy some little toys (travel aquadoodle pads, little magnadoodle, slinky, stuffed animals) to pass the time away.

Regarding the ear popping, that's never been an issue for us so I don't know how much help this is. When he was teeny, I'd just nurse him. Later, I'd give him a sippy of milk or water (go easy on the juice imo unless you want to change pooey diapers). Sometimes he'd sip, sometimes he wouldn't and the results were the same (no ear aches). Lately, I've been giving him a lollypop at takeoff as a treat and also to suck on. It seems to work just fine too. As a matter of fact, I'll also hide a bit of candy (usually mini M&Ms) as a diversion in case he gets really bad or the plane is delayed and we need something to do. It works for him!

Finally, what really saved our skins was to book the flights (if possible) close to nap time. I'd run him at the airport, board, watch the planes/baggage/etc and then soon after take off chances were great that he'd pass out after a little while.

Good luck on your trip.

good luck- i know how stressful that is- our son was 16 mos for his first flight. he literally ate snacks almost the entire time - probably gained 2 lbs on the plane! we also had lollipops readily available b/c they take a while to suck (that might help wth the ears and if she's never had one it would be a fun distraction). also, i wrapped 4-6 "new" toys & books that were small that he opened thruout the flight; the unwrapping was really fun for him (almost as fun as the gift!). we also did stickers in a small notepad and also colored a little with crayons- the peeling off was really fun for him to do. keep a large bag of only what you absolutely need with you under the seat ahead of you. keep "your" stuff in the compartment above you b/c you won't have time to use it :) also, with the portable dvd, try to make some quick "movies" at home before you leave - movies of her!- just transfer them onto a dvd from your computer, or even pictures onto the dvd- watchign herself may keep her interest longer than a movie. also, i would recommend NOT taking her out of her car seat- once she knows she can walk around, that's all she'll want to do. we kept sam in his seat the entire time during that flight (it was to seattle and was long!) but he didn't even know that getting out was an option. good luck! :)

We just flew with my daughter and I bought her a small Magna Doodle, it seemed to keep her busy for the entire flight. We did not have trouble with her ears popping because she has tubes, so I am sorry but I have no advise to offer there. I also brought small snacks that she normally does not get fig nughtens (I completely drew a blank on how to spell that), cereal bars, etc.

The main toys for us were the Magna Doodle, and a few finger puppets that we bought. I would recommend not letting her play with them until you are on the plane, that way they are new toys and more exciting.

M.,

Just flew with my 16 month old last month, so I know how you are feeling! I posted almost this exact question on here and got some great advice, so I hope this helps.

Before the flight, we got there early enough that we had time to walk all around the terminal and tire him out a little bit. He was interested in looking at the planes and all the people.

For the flight, we just had a bag with tons of little toys and we just went from one thing to the next. My son loves trucks, so we bought a chunky block truck puzzle with just a few pieces that we could keep up with on the plane. He also loves books, so we got him a set of Sesame Street board books that he loved looking through. It wasn't so much that I found any one especially engaging toy, I just bought a few things that were new enough to hold his interest and we just rotated them throughout the flight. We also brought a DVD player, but just like you said, it only held his attention for 10-15 minutes, but we did that twice during the flight and it was a definite help. We packed lots and lots of different kinds of snacks.

As far as the ear popping, I just gave my son a sippy cup on takeoff and landing and he didn't seem to have any problems. He likes the sippy cups with straws, so I am sure sucking on that helped some.

I hope you have a great flight! We were exhausted at the end of ours, but we made it through successfully without a complete meltdown- his or ours! :-)

When mine were little I did Benadryl 30 minutes before the flight. It made them a little sleepy and took care of the ear issue. Ask your pediatrician if it would be okay for you to give your child.

M.,
I took my daughter on a trip to Hawaii when she was 18 months old. I never thought this would work but my mother in law bought her 6 of those hard plastic type animals that they sell at Target and Michaels. She LOVED them. In fact, she played with them the entire flight (in between sleeping and eating) ~ she didn't even watch the DVD player we brought for her. She also ended up playing with them the entire time we were in Hawaii.
I know that sounds too simple but she is 3 now and still in love with all of her plastic animals.
Oh, she also liked to look at the "book" I made her. I took pictures of all of our family, pets, and friends. I used scrapbooking stickers to label each picture with the person/pet's name and I then laminated them with the harder, sturdier lamination that they have a Kinkos and then punched a hole in the top left of each laminated picture and put them on a key ring. She loved looking at each person and saying their names.
Good luck!
D.

Sucking on her sippy cup should help with her ears popping similar to the bottle. As far as toys, I agree with the magna doodle as well as maybe some color wonders markers and papers. One great idea that I have heard is to wrap everything like a present and then every so often she gets to open a new present. Another idea is to buy a book that has flaps in it that hides different pictures. We have a few little people books like that and even my 13 month old son likes them. But I agree that it should remain unused until the flight to keep the element of surprise. Have fun on your trip!! ~A.~

Try to get her to swallow water or drink to help with ears. Your doctor may have ideas on that. I had a gal sit next to me on a flight that had an autision child with her. She took Cd's and ear phones. When he was listening to it he would settle down then over time got to be a handful. Take ear plugs so you can use them for the radio. Maybe they will have a move? G. W

I have a little boy who is 17 months old and I travel back and forth from DFW to Denver every couple of months. I would just make sure you have something new for her as well as plenty of different snacks.
I was one of those mom's who was always worried about "What if.... my baby cries, I can get him calm, ect.." Most people do understand and you will probably even have some friendly person who will play peek a boo or something. It's like they know your stress or what not..

I look at it like this... my flight is only 1 1/2 hour vs. a 13 hour drive.. I'll take that any day with my little busy boy..