Suggestions on Flying for the First Time with a 20Mo Old

Make sure she sucks on something for take off and landing...sippy cup, pacifier, etc. If not it will be a rough start. My kids loved looking at books, coloring and playing with thier favorite dolls/toys. (The ones that would fit into thier carry on) My daughter loved the fact that she had her own carry on/back pack with her stuff in it. Maybe let her pick out some favorites to bring and throw a few news ones in there... do you have a portible dvd player with headphones...(those are needed for aflght for sure) and a life saver...

A pacifier is quite sufficient to deal with the "ear thing."

Will you have a seat fro her or will she be on someone's lap? If she has her own seat, once they turn the seat belt sign off, she can be on the floor in front of the seat using the seat as a play area. Do let her walk around every so often but teach her to be respectful of people's feet in the aisle, etc.

I traveled with a 6 month old and and we survived just fine and it was from east coast to west coast.

Have fun and God bless -

B.

My daughter is a problem solver too. Even though we brought books, toys, dvd, ipod, etc. we thought would keep her occupied, she was perfectly content just figuring out the seat belts, window shades, tray table, phone, and the emergency response pamphlet on the plane.

We flew to Portland when my son was 26 months. He was very excited the whole time - thought he was on the Little Einstein's Rocket - kept patting his lap and saying "Blast-off!!" The flight was less than 2 hours so we were really worried about his ears - I gave him decongestant before we got on the plane and he was fine.
I regret getting to the airport early - the flight was delayed and we had to entertain him for 90 minutes in the terminal in San Jose. That was hard.
Try a Doodlepro - she can scribble away on it and they are light and easy to jam in your purse or diaper bag.