Need Ideas for Flying with 16 Month Old

THERE ARE ALWAYS.......BOOKS! Even a set of board books will keep them occupied. In addition, they need to learn to sit and focus. This is a start!

If you have a portable DVD player, the Baby Einstein Series of DVDs are wonderful. You can buy toddler friendly headphones as well. Also, keep some water, juice, or milk handy.

I feel for you. However, I have found that the anticipation is usually worse than the flight, itself!
New toys are a great idea. Add books in that little pack for him and remember to make sure you have at least one extra change of clothes in the carry-on. (we learned that one the hard way and it wasn't a #1 accident....ick) Anyhoo, I also found that those plastic chain toys that you can hook together,(they are colorful and in the toys section) are great. You can fasten the toys to them, so that if one falls or gets thrown, you are not becoming a contortionist to pick it up again ~ not to mention the amount of germs it will pick up. Dramamine and Benadryl have the same drug in them diphenhydramine, so make sure you're not overdosing!! If you are ok with the Bendadryl option, you may want to try it out on him before the trip. Some kids have an opposite affect with the medication...hyper and stimulated are not the desired affects! :) I'm sure you already know about the drinking while taking off and landing...ear-popping can cause crankiness. One more thing, if you are at the airport in enough advanced time, take him for a long walk or even run down the hallways, to help get some energy out. Much luck to you and have fun on your trip!!!

GOOD LUCK!!! give him dramamine... he'll sleep. Seriously, ask the doc if he can prescribe a low dose of dramamine so he will sleep. Works for me, I slept from Ohio to Nevada, missed the movie and everything. More power to you for wanting to take him on a plane at this age. GOOD LUCK!!

Hi K., I would get one of those small kids backpacks, go to the dollar store and fill it up with new toys for him. Only let him play with them during the flight. 16 month is a tough age to keep occupied. I don't know how long your flight will be, but you can also walk around with him (let him walk on your hand for a bit). Also, put his favorite snacks in the little backpack. Bring a little blanket so that you can play peek-a-boo (my son loves that - he is 18 months old). I would also bring a puppet to interact with him. If you don't want to go to the dollare store, I saw some cute toys at Kohl's this weekend. They had a "buy one get the second one 1/2 off" toys sale. I think it's still on for this week. I would also get a book that makes noises (not too loud though). If everything fails, you can ask your dr if you can give him a little dose of benadryl. It won't make him go to sleep but it might just make him drowsy enough to sit still. I know that sounds kinda mean but sometimes you gotta do whatever works. :-) Happy Travels to you.

Hey K.,
I think all of the ideas are great. New toys are always fun, and a dvd player (or movie on a laptop) will usually hold the child's attention longer. The biggest thing to remember is he is 16 months old and will be busy and might have a melt down. Take it from a flight attendant...it happens everyday. Don't get too anxious or stressed out about it. Most people will understand...the others you will never see again, so don't let it ruin your vacation. Have a great time!!

We took our son to Florida when he was 15 months. We took toys, books, thought about the portable DVD player (even though we don't watch TV at home) but my husband had left it at work. You know what he played with the WHOLE ride home? 2 cups and a spoon from the drink cart. Not that you should try to be prepared, but if he gets cranky, sometimes the simplest things are enough.
A friend recommended a roll of masking tape, her daughter like to pull strips off. Someone else said a box of tissues, we did this for Christmas last year and Eli LOVED them, but it seemed messy for a plane. Eli is very friendly and kept walking up and down the aisle patting peoples knees and saying "Hi!" When I thought people had had enough, we tried to get him to sit with us and he didn't like it, the [male!] flight attendant took him from us and walked him up to meet first class and the other attendants. That bought us an extra 15 minutes.
If the flight isn't full, try to get a row with an extra seat for him. You have to hold him on take-off and landing, but other than that, he can sit in the seat and play as much as he wants.

Hi there,
I know there will be people who say you shouldnt go about doing it this way but it has worked for my kids. I have always packed a couple of toys. Then I pack tons and I mean tons of food. I pack all of my sons favorite food that I never give him. Example: Chips, Gerber has arrowroot cookies that he loves, pop, fruit (which I do let him eat all the time at home :) ) anything that I know he loves to eat. Then when we get on the plane I would start giving him one thing at a time. When he got bored I would bring something else out. I would try to do a unhealthy snack with a healthy one. It would keep his attention for the whole flight. If not I had some toys he could play with or now we bring a dvd player. Hopefully that gives you some ideas. The way I look at it he doesnt fly everyday and one day of being spoiled isnt going to ruin his life forever.

Hi K.!

The new toy for each flight will work -- I have traveled with our son since he was 4 months a couple times a year and I would buy 6-8 toys and wrap them. Unless he seemed discontent they stayed in my carry on - I didn't automatically get them out because he was usually busy watching the plane and the clouds and usually would dose off for the whole flight(even though he normally wasn't a big daytime sleeper by then-no naps). If the things around him kept him entertained I saved the gifts for a day on the trip when he seemed tired (usually about mid week he would have a royal hissy fit)...but if he seemed overly bored on the plane out would come the gifts very slowly and always one at a time - he never knew the others existed or it looks like Christmas. I bought MANY of the little things at the dollar store or discount shops. I did this until he was about school age. Have a fun trip! - A.

We fly very frequently with our three children and here are some tips that work for us. First, have a readily accessible bags of "goodies" for take-off and landing. The pressure changes can make their ears hurt, so we try to eat something during that time (lollipops have gotten us through many a flight). In your carry-on have 5 to 7 of his favoite soft back books, crayons or markers, a coloring book or plain paper, small cars, and lots of snacks. Sometimes we eat the entire flight. The best thing for really long flights is a DVD player or Ipod for movies. The biggest thing is, relax, it is a short period of time and if he has a meltdown, give him what he wants. An airplane ride is a time when you have to have to pick your battles and two lollipops is better than an hour of screaming. Plus, your fellow passengers will thank you for it at the end of the flight. As for the benadryl trick, try it before you get on the plane because in a number of children the opposite will happen--a hyper child in a confined space. My kids get wired on it and so do a number of kids I know. Also, as mentioned in previous responses, buy him a seat and have him sit in his car seat. My kids know that once they are in their seat, they can't get out, just like in the car.

Some new toys would be good to keep him entertained. You can also buy a coloring book and crayons and help him hold the crayons and color with him. Also, if he has a favorite stuffed toy(s) or old toy(s) bring those along as well.
D.

I am 31 and have been married for almost 12 yrs. My husband and I have 3 boys ages 10,7, and 4.

We flew with our daughter just a couple of months ago, she was 16 mos. at the time. We kept her awake until we got to the airport, then I tried to get her to snap on the flight. She actually did sleep for part of it. We did coloring books and small toys. She got bored at the end of the 3 hours, but was good most of the time. Something surprising that helped was that my husband sat across the aisle from me, so she was able to stand in the aisle for short times between us. She didn't feel so confined that way. With the new regulations you are allowed to bring milk or juice in a sippy cup through security, or you can bring an empty cup and buy something once you're in. Bring lots of snacks, becuase airlines are charging for them now. Fortunately for you, the flight to FL is not a long one. Also remember that if you don't buy him a seat, he doesn't get any carry on bags. You will get a diaper bag and a personal carry on, so pack wisely.

Hi K.,

First of all congrats on your new addition in November. We lived in VA for a while and I flew A LOT with my son and learned a lot in the process. As far as ideas to help with the flight, try to get him to run around at the airport as much as possible before getting on the flight. If you can plan "tag" or roll a ball around or something to get out as much energy as possible before hand he will be more willing to sit. Also, if you plan your flight around naps that really helps. I would tell you to pack him a little back pack with his favorite snacks and maybe even special ones to keep his interest and to reward him for good behavior. If you can talk with a flight attendant before hand to "talk" with your son before take off that might help in discouraging bad behavior. I would also go to the dollar store and get several different toys/coloring books/books/stickers/and if possible take a dvd player or laptop so he can watch something. Also making a game out of counting the people, or picking out colors or singing songs might help as well.

The more distractions that encourage him to stay in his seat the better he will do. Not sure if you are aware but if you check with the counter upon arrival if the flight isn't full, you can ask about getting a free seat for your child so he can ride in his car seat. They actually make a lot of accommodations for traveling with children, just a matter of asking the counter upon check in. Good luck, I bet you guys will be fine.

All the previous ideas are great. In addition, I would just add to definitely buy him a seat and take his carseat with you. We fly every few months to visit relatives or go with my husband on work trips. Since we hit the crawling, standing, and now walking stages, flying has been really tough. The only way I can really handle it is to buy my daughter her own seat with her car seat in it. She knows she will be staying put when she's in her car seat versus when she is on our laps, she thinks it is just like at home and she can get down whenever she wants to. Plus, if she thinks she can go talk to someone she won't sleep no matter how tired she is, so we have to do the car seat. Even though you don't know when the flight times are, I've found you can pay the same price for an extra seat if you priceline it as you would for just the cost of your own seat if you went through the airline. Even if it's slightly more expensive, its worth my piece of mind to be able to arrive without being completed worn down and frustrated. BTW, I also do the things the other ladies mentioned on top of the car seat and when they all go together, it works great!

My son was exactly 16 months old when we went on a 4 hour flight to Colorado. It was actually a lot easier to keep him entertained than his sister, who was 31 months old at the time. I took his carseat, so he'd be comfortable, and just read books and played with him. I left him in his carseat until he started wanting out, and then I unbuckled it and let him sit on the seat, which he thought was really cool. I had toys, snacks, crayons, and a portable DVD player. The trip went totally fine. Just make sure when you're packing things up for the flight that you keep in mind that everything you take on the plane, you have to carry from the plane to baggage claim, and then after that, you will have to carry everything to a vehicle. That's the part where we messed up, we weren't thinking about how we were going to carry everything, and had a heck of a time getting everything out to our rental car.

Sorry I'm a little late with this response. I got our 2 kids "travel" backpacks. OUr oldest has his leapster and a couple other handheld video games along with crayons and mini-coloring books and notepads with pencils. OUr daughter's has crayons and coloring items and a couple of the little disney babies inside. I had got them both new coloring books and crayons for our trip to disney last year. They only get the "travel" backpacks when we go on a trip or they have to go somewhere with me and I need to keep them occupied.

Also, benedryl was a our best friend when we flew! It knocked them out and they slept most of the flight!

Good luck! D.

Hi K. - I would suggest going to the Dollar Store like many suggested and getting some toys. I would also look at stickers. These tend to hold children's fascination for a period of time (even bandaids do the job). You can put several of them on him and then let him find them and try to peel them off. Don't forget though you have the trip home so you'll want to save some toys for on the way back that are new and exciting.

Good luck!!

I have no experience in this whatsoever, however, I remember reading your question and just came across this article:
http://www.babyeinstein.com/en/hot_topics/julies_corner/d...
I like your new toy idea a lot and I will be sure to use that! I think that the fact that this is a concern for you shows that you will do just fine on the flight. Some people will understand, some people won't. The ones that do, remember what they're missing, and the ones that don't have noooo clue. :)
Hope this helps some :) God bless!