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Young House Love » Kids & Pets » Tips For Flying With A Toddler

| By John Petersik | March 8, 2012 | 287 Comments

Tips For Flying With A Toddler

After getting lots of great tips from you guys about flying with a toddler, we thought we’d give you guys a recap about what worked well (lollipops!) and what didn’t (two words: red eye).

airplane wing over ocean with clouds

We spent a lot of time in the air: six flights in total. Two on the way to Portland (layover in Chicago), one direct from Portland to Maui and then a whopping three on the way back to Richmond (with layovers in Seattle and Chicago). The flights between the West Coast and Hawaii were the longest at six hours each, and since Clara’s still under two, we didn’t buy a seat for her (we knew she’d be most comfortable in our laps anyway and potentially could make a LOUD scene until we let her sit in our laps even if we did). So we knew going into it that we’d have our work cut out for us. Our game plan: keep Clara happy (and relatively quiet) at all costs, while encouraging sleep at every turn. Oh yeah, and try to enjoy the ride best we could.

family selfie on airplane with 1 year old

Some flights were pretty darn good (we had an empty seat next to us on the way to Maui!) while others verged on nightmarish (this means you red eye). One of our carry-ons was her monkey backpack, which was stocked with items to keep her engaged. Here’s what we found worked well:

  • Crayons and coloring books. Between coloring, identifying colors together and simply pulling the crayons in and out of boxes – these were probably the biggest hit.

flying with toddler coloring on airplane tray

  • Food. Mainly, Goldfish crackers and Teddy Grahams. Someone made the point that in the fuss to keep kids active on a plane, you can forget that they may just be hungry. So we were well stocked with a few snacks (and a water cup). She also really liked eating the crushed ice that the flight attendants served during drink service and playing with snacks by putting them into different cups like a mad scientist.

flying with toddler eating snacks on airplane

  • Lollipops. Someone suggested these as a way to trick kids into swallowing during take-off and landing to keep their ears from hurting. Well, Clara made a big dent in our stock of dum-dums before, during, and after the flights. But since our MO was to keep her happy and not disturb other riders at all costs, we were happy they worked so well. We may have a lollipop addict on our hands now, but at least they did the trick in the air: no complaints during take off or landing! Not even one ear tug or whine! We also learned that the sucking motion made her a bit sleepy too.

flying with toddler lollipop eating to help with ear popping

  • Talking about the plane. Clara actually loved just looking around the plane. She liked to stand up and say “Hi people!” or “Hi lady” to the folks around us. We joked that she was the mayor of the plane by the time we got off since she schmoozed so many people. On one leg she got so comfortable that she nearly crawled in the lap of our seatmate (thank goodness he was a good sport). Oh, and of course looking out the window was a hit.

flying with toddler looking out the window

  • Moving walkways at the airports. In addition to the flights themselves, we had a couple of three hour layovers mixed in – so we had to keep her busy/happy for those too. We spent most of those walking around the airport trying to let her stretch her legs and get some energy out in the hopes that she’d sleep (no dice on that front). Of course what she gravitated towards most were the moving walkways (she called them “escalators”). Airports are a lot more interesting than I remembered – O’Hare had a big dinosaur skeleton, Sea-Tac had some cool sculptures and PDX had a toy store that kept us busy for quite a while. We’re thankful.

flying with toddler playing in the airport with cool lights

  • Committing to local time. We made the decision to immediately commit to local time wherever we were – and it worked out great for us. We figured Clara was already discombobulated from the flights so we might as well take advantage of the opportunity to reprogram her clock every time we changed time zones. When we arrived in Portland it was actually her bedtime EST, and having woken up two hours early that day and not napped at all on the flights, she was beyond tired when we checked in at our hotel. So we put her down to rest, but only for a nap. After an hour and a half we woke her up, went out to dinner (and dessert!) and then put her down around 8:30pm PST for the night. Thankfully, she was perfectly on schedule the next two days we were there (no wake-ups at 5:30am – yay!). We did the same thing in Hawaii – we just kept her up until 8pm HST the first night and then put her down for her regular 1pm nap at 1pm their time every day afterwards. It really helped us get a normal wake up and nap every day after that.

Now for what didn’t work so well. Sigh…

  • Videos. She loves ’em at home, but didn’t seem interested in them on the plane. They helped a little bit, but she was mainly just frustrated that we couldn’t watch her favorite KidsTV123 videos on YouTube during the Wi-Fi-free airplane.
  • Sleep. Our dreams of long flights with a slumbering toddler curled up in our laps were quickly dashed. Clara’s always been a great sleeper… in her crib… at night. Knowing that she never sleeps much in her car seat or stroller should’ve been a clue, but we were still hopeful that she’d eventually crash. On the way to Portland she literally fell asleep for exactly thirty seconds the moment our wheels touched down at PDX. Oh the irony. That moment of sleep was all we got that entire nine hours of traveling there (but at least she was a pretty happy girl that whole time). The spare seat on the way to Maui was helpful and we did get about an hour long nap during that six hour flight. Not much, but at this point we were happy for anything.

Travel Sleeping Hunched

  • The red eye flight.We knew booking an overnight flight was probably a bad call, but we couldn’t seem to avoid it without spending the night somewhere on the West Coast on our way home. So knowing that Clara’s always been a great night sleeper, we thought we had a chance she’d just be knocked out the whole time (allowing us to follow suit). Our flight left Kahului at 10pm HST (3am EST, but she had adjusted to Maui time pretty easily, so it felt like 10pm to her). She hadn’t napped much that day and we ran her buns around the airport right up until we boarded, at which point she started to look sleepy. Good right? Nope. She couldn’t get comfortable on the plane. It was a full flight – hooray! – (that’s sarcasm) so we desperately tried to get her comfortable in our arms but it just wasn’t happening. She managed about forty five minutes of sleep before waking up in a screaming night terror of sorts. So yeah, people loved us. Thank goodness the flight attendants were super cool (hi Rebekah! you saved our life!) and let us hang out with them at the back of the plane where Clara snacked, enjoyed being rocked, and generally stayed calm so the rest of the plane could sleep the whole flight long… while we stayed awake… all… night… long. Thank goodness she graced us with an hour-long nap on the next flight between Seattle and Chicago. Hey, we’ll take what we can get. This is Sherry’s I’m tired face. At this point it was Friday morning and we hadn’t slept since Wednesday night (since there was no sleep on the Thursday night red eye).

Travel Sleepy Mom

The disaster that was the red eye just threw off the rest of the day. The three of us were all tired and all a little bit grumpy. So many of the things that had engaged her on the flights out just didn’t work anymore (no lollipop could keep her interest more than a few seconds). That, combined with a delay going into and coming out of Chicago, made for a day that we were all just ready to be done with. You can’t tell by this photo, but it’s snowing out there. We definitely weren’t in Hawaii anymore…

Travel Chicago Snow

We finally landed in Richmond at about 9:30pm EST – about 19 hours after we left Hawaii and two hours later than scheduled. We think Clara slept about three hours in total (in the entire 19 hour trip, much of which was overnight), so Sherry and I probably had about half of that each when it came to catching zzzs. But at that point all that mattered was IT WAS OVER. And, even better, we could finally go to bed. And boy did we. After not sleeping at all on Thursday night (remember, the last time we all actually slept for the night was Wednesday night) we all slept until 1pm on Saturday. Yes, that’s fifteen solid hours. And yes, it felt awesome. Of course we shifted Clara’s naps and night sleep back to her normal times and she seems to be back on schedule except for sleeping in an extra hour or two in the morning (but it doesn’t effect when she goes to bed, or her 1pm nap, so we’re ecstatic). I’m sure it’ll go back to normal over time.

Travel John Face

I think it’s safe to say we won’t be taking any more red eye flights with a toddler. Ever again. Bad move on our part. We actually heard from not one but two flight attendants that kids rarely sleep on them (even great night sleepers) so they said they would never take a red eye with their kids. Good to know! Here’s hoping that helps someone! The stress to keep you kid quiet while the lights are out and everyone else sleeps (while being incredibly tired yourself) just isn’t for the faint of heart.

Travel Wing With Hawaii

Anyone else have a travel with kids / toddler story they’d love to get off their chest share? Or do you have any additional tips we might consider when Clara’s older and we’re foolish enough to try something like this again? :)

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Filed Under: Kids & Pets, Road Trips & Travel

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Comments

  1. Petra says

    March 8, 2012 at 7:17 pm

    Moving Walkways. I thought you were going to talk about how they don’t allow strollers on them! We just discovered that last holiday season while traveling with our (at the time) 1 1/2 yr old. Major bummer!

    Reply
  2. Kristin H. says

    March 8, 2012 at 7:24 pm

    I don’t have any kids yet so this may be super taboo but is it not good to give them anything to help them sleep/calm down a little? Like something super mild.. Maybe a small dose of a natural melatonin or a children’s antihistamine (like children’s benadryl)? Apologies if that is a big no no… was just curious!

    Reply
    • Young House Life says

      March 9, 2012 at 12:18 am

      I think some folks call their doc to get their blessing so I don’t think it’s taboo, but we did learn from a flight attendant that it can have the opposite effect and for some reason certain kids go nuts and scream and thrash when they’re on it! Scroll back a ways for more on that in a previous comment of mine. Maybe melatonin is a better idea? I’m not sure. I think avoiding red eyes is the answer for us. Haha.

      xo,
      s

    • Ginger says

      March 12, 2012 at 1:12 pm

      My sis is about to fly 4 hours with her 22 mth old, and was thinking benadryl because he had it at home when sick and it made him sleep. Did the Flight Attendents elaborate on whether they knew if it was the first time the kid(s) had taken it, or whether for some reason it had a different effect on the plane than it did at home?

    • Young House Life says

      March 12, 2012 at 8:22 pm

      They didn’t, although it seems like most parents expected their kids to sleep (so I’m assuming they have used it before and it put them to sleep at home). Maybe it’s the cabin pressure or the added stimulation of flying that flips things that way? Not sure!

      xo,
      s

  3. HeatherM says

    March 8, 2012 at 7:31 pm

    Benadryl. One small children’s dose should do the trick.

    Reply
    • Young House Life says

      March 9, 2012 at 12:15 am

      Scroll back to see what I leaned about Bendryl from the flight attendant. So interesting!

      xo,
      s

  4. Cindy says

    March 8, 2012 at 7:39 pm

    Oh oh. we just booked a flight to Australia. Our son will be 5 months when we go. Some of our flights (we have six flights total) are red eyes. I’m so scared. SOOO SCARED!!! Everyone is going to HATE us!!! I wish I had read your blog sooner and avoided night flights.

    Reply
    • Young House Life says

      March 8, 2012 at 9:02 pm

      If it makes you feel any better, when Clara flew with us at 4 months old she just slept the whole time (including one late night flight). So hopefully your little guy will be fine.

      -John

  5. Laura Jane says

    March 8, 2012 at 7:56 pm

    All I can say is that I definitely feel your pain on the red eye!! We did pretty much the same thing recently. I traveled to Hawaii with my cousin and her 20 month old son last October. We live in the Midwest, and you’re right that there’s not a way to avoid the red eye flight without staying the night on the west coast. So we left Hawaii about 6pm Hawaii time(so he’s not even tired yet – goes to bed normally around 10pm Hawaii time)and flew to Atlanta, had a layover, and another flight to our final destination. Oh my, I’ve never in my entire life been so tired!!! He didn’t have his own seat and the flight was completely full. He was a bit squirmy and kept wanting to play with (mash the buttons) on the screens on the seat in front of him. Unfortunately the folks sitting in front of us weren’t so kid-friendly, and glared back at us because he was pushing on their seat and actually turned back and asked us to keep him from touching the seat! How are you supposed to keep an overtired but can’t sleep 2 year old from touching something in front them!? His mother could physically hold his hands back, but then he’d be screaming (and I highly doubt the folks in front us would’ve liked that much better.) We managed to distract him with a movie and he eventually fell asleep (thank goodness!), but I slept for a total of about 30 minutes on that flight. Even for the little bit of time that he was sleeping, he was squirming and I was so nervous that he’d wake up screaming. What’s worse is that I still had to go into work for half a day that afternoon, because I didn’t have a enough vacation time left to take that afternoon off. I drove straight from the airport to work after having traveled for 20 hours and getting 30 minutes of sleep! (I changed my clothes and freshened up a bit in the airport bathroom.) I managed to keep my eyes for four hours straight at work (not sure how). I cannot even tell you how great it felt to finally sink into my own bed that night! You are so right – toddlers and red eye flights don’t mix! (Although I’m not sure how you avoid it.)

    Reply
  6. Christine says

    March 8, 2012 at 7:58 pm

    This likely will sound stalkerish, but oh well. My 13 month old LOVES Clara. Wants to watch her videos all the time. So, while you were in Hawaii, we flew from Michigan to So Cal to visit family. We used a YouTube Downloader to download videos of her cousins and Clara, and then I burned them to a DVD (along with an iPhoto family slide show). That DVD was a life saver! She especially loved all of the family pics, but she did watch Clara run around and be a Jersey Girl, check out her kitchen on Christmas morning and “Sing the Hits”, which are her faves. The short YouTube videos were great for her attention span. Thanks for entertaining her!

    Reply
    • Young House Life says

      March 8, 2012 at 9:01 pm

      No way – that’s so cute! And also jealous that I didn’t think of a YouTube Downloader. That could’ve been a lifesaver to us too (fortunately Clara enjoys video of herself too, so she watched a lot of the original files on our iPad – I think wrestling Santa was her preferred clip this trip).

      -John

  7. Alanna says

    March 8, 2012 at 8:23 pm

    we took our daughter on a trip to visit family in bermuda this past summer (http://www.alanna-wendt-to-tennessee.blogspot.com/2011/07/bermuda.html).

    since she was under 2 she flew as a “lap child”. the flight we took used to do a drink service with snack, as well as a lunch. but, due to budget cuts they now only offer a drink service… no snacks or lunch. so, when the flight attendant came by to offer us a drink, my husband asked “can we get a drink for her (our daughter)?” the flight attendant, looking very confused, responded by saying “she’s a person isn’t she?” i couldn’t help but burst out in laughter. and the look on the flight attendant’s face was priceless! apparently, my husband assumed that since our daughter was a “lap child” and we didn’t pay for a ticket for her that she wouldn’t be eligible for a complimentary apple juice.

    Reply
    • Young House Life says

      March 8, 2012 at 8:59 pm

      LOL! Can’t say we didn’t wonder the same thing when the first drink service came by…

      -John

  8. Toni from says

    March 8, 2012 at 8:27 pm

    I will be taking a red eye in April with an eight and eleven year old, and I am now a little worried. The eleven year old is no problem, but the eight year old might get angst, good thing for jet blue tv, hopefully that will help.

    Reply
  9. Kim S says

    March 8, 2012 at 8:53 pm

    I’ve only taken one red-eye flight in my life, and I can only hope I’ll never have to do it again. I can’t sleep at all on planes (or in cars!) but I thought, I can’t possibly stay awake all night, right? Surely I’ll fall asleep. Wrong! And all the lights were off so I couldn’t even read (my usual in-flight activity). I was tired, miserable, and bored…and by the time we landed in Atlanta for our layover, I started crying because it was cold in the airport! Overtired and emotional much? Haha. Anyway, I can totally relate to a difficult red-eye flight, and I can only imagine it would be 10 times harder with a toddler! Good for you guys for making it through! Oh and p.s. your pictures from Hawaii are really giving me the travel bug…it looks like it was beautiful there!

    Reply
  10. Shan Miller says

    March 8, 2012 at 8:59 pm

    Thank you so much for posting about this! Our fam just accepted jobs in Switzerland for next year (we’re from VT), and have been hemming and hawing over doing a red eye or day flight with our (then) 2 and 3 year old boys. Morning flight it is!!! So grateful for the advice.

    Reply
  11. Jessica says

    March 8, 2012 at 9:06 pm

    I didn’t read through all the comments, so maybe someone mentioned this, but if you ever find yourselves traveling through O’hare, they have an enclosed playground area with security cameras everywhere. Also, around 18 months, I started giving tic tacs on flights. Tiny and good, win win.

    I’m glad you guys survived such a long trip! Looking forward to reading more about it!

    Reply
    • Young House Life says

      March 9, 2012 at 12:14 am

      Great tips!

      xo,
      s

  12. Kristen says

    March 8, 2012 at 9:12 pm

    I’ve done a cross country airplane trip with two toddlers and I have to say carrying the car seat on the plane is the best advice I ever got. It’s super safe (especially in turbulence, which we unfortunately encountered) and both my boys slepts like babies from the white noise of the plane (after we ran out of lollipops ;).

    Reply
  13. Laura says

    March 8, 2012 at 9:43 pm

    I recognize those seats and those winglets! Looks like you flew on my employer PDX-OGG-SEA. :)

    Reply
  14. Renee says

    March 8, 2012 at 9:57 pm

    we’ve got 2 little girls and have flown about 15 times w/both of them (out of state families). one tip that REALLY helps is this: do NOT have both parents board the plane when they call for families to board (usually in the very beginning of the boarding process). Either myself of my husband will board w/our carry-ons and will get them tucked away and our spot on the plane all cozy. The other one will be walking up and down the terminal entertaining the kiddos until the final boarding call. This shaves off at least 30-45 mins (if not more) of just sitting there on the tarmac entertaining the kids. And w/so much traveling in the air, any little bit helps.

    I will say that I do end up feeling bad for our nearby passengers who think are all boarded up, ready to go, and think they missed out on having a little kid close to them. Then just at the last second, one swoops in for the kill! hee hee! although our kiddos are pretty good on flights and usually get compliments at the end for their good behavior. yay!

    hope that helps in the future!

    and p.s.- clara is such a cutie!

    Reply
    • Young House Life says

      March 9, 2012 at 12:13 am

      That’s a great tip!

      xo,
      s

  15. Rebecca says

    March 8, 2012 at 10:48 pm

    We flew from Australia to America (16 hours) with our 3 month old daughter last July. She was an angel, it was a normal day just in the air. We’re heading home at the end of the month…she’s now 11 months old…some how I don’t think we’ll be quite as lucky!!! But fingers crossed!

    PS I hope my tired face looks as glamourous as Sherry’s does in the photo! :)

    Reply
  16. Alice says

    March 8, 2012 at 11:01 pm

    I just wanted to thank you guys for being so considerate of other passengers on the plane! I recently took a 10-hour red-eye with a baby who screamed/wailed/cried non-stop through the “night” portion of the flight. I wouldn’t want to wish that situation on anyone!

    Reply
  17. Meg says

    March 8, 2012 at 11:04 pm

    We leave for Hawaii in 57 days and it will be the first plane ride for our 5,4, and 19 month old.
    Thanks for the tips and the honesty. It will be hard but hopefully worth it!

    Reply
  18. Philippa says

    March 8, 2012 at 11:11 pm

    We are South African expats who have lived in various countries in the Middle East for the last 7 years. We have been travelling with our little guy since he was 10 weeks old. He has done over 30 international flights in his 3.5 years so far. We’ve done every type of flight available, day, night, direct, layovers, you name it…we’ve done it. My only request, when booking flights, is to try to get to our destination with as few plane changes as possible but otherwise we just go with the flow.
    I have found that no 2 flights are the same. Different things have worked at different times for us. With experience it gets easier though.

    Reply
  19. Roya says

    March 8, 2012 at 11:38 pm

    We’ve traveled with our son three times (and he is just 1.5 now and the shortest was east coast to west coast!) and the two points I took away from them was, always get an extra seat and never fly when we would be tired ourselves. We traveled from NYC to Seattle once and it was the worst time of my life. It wasn’t a red eye but an early morning flight. When we were sleepy ourselves everything seemed worse. And oh one other thing less carry-on the better.

    Reply
  20. Leslie says

    March 9, 2012 at 12:04 am

    One word-benadryl. When my kids were little, I’d give them a half dose just before we got on the plane. Doesn’t hurt them one bit, and just takes the edge off and makes them a little drowsy, so its easier for them to fall asleep. (before anyone jumps down my throat about drugging my kids, the pediatrician said it was fine. Don’t make it the first time they’ve ever taken it, though, because benadryl can make some people jittery instead of sleepy)

    Reply
    • Young House Life says

      March 9, 2012 at 12:09 am

      Scroll back for my Benadryl story according to a flight attendant. So interesting!

      xo,
      s

  21. mary says

    March 9, 2012 at 1:07 am

    I flew with a 9 month old to HI, also a bed-only sleeper. It wasn’t bad except for the one take-off where she barfed all over the airline blanket. Poor thing. Poor other passengers. I’ll take it over a night of trying to keep a baby quiet while others sleep, though! What torture.

    Reply
  22. Courtney says

    March 9, 2012 at 1:59 am

    We are Americans living in Bangkok, so we have done a lot of flying with our boys. Our first time on a long flight with kids was when our first baby was 12 weeks old. It was amazingly easy because he just ate and slept and ate. From there it’s gotten a little more difficult, but totally worth it to get to see family and friends. Our latest trip home was with a 10 month old (lap baby) and a 3 year old. We couldn’t get seats together, but I had lots of offers from passengers around me to help with the baby. The flight attendants were always helpful holding a kid while I went to the bathroom and offering them extra snacks.

    Reply
  23. Heather says

    March 9, 2012 at 2:36 am

    It sounds like Clara did great, considering the circumstances! Love that photo of her next to the moving walkway in O’Hare. I’ve ridden that walkway too many times to count with my family in the past several years. We live in Bangkok and visit family in Ohio each summer, so I know how challenging long flights can be with children. Our journey, with stops at O’Hare and Tokyo-Narita, takes more than 24 hours. With delays, etc. I think our record is 36 hours, from door to door.

    Clara sounds similar to our oldest son, who’ll be three in a few months, in that he’s a great sleeper…in his bed at night, like John said. On our last trip, in July, the almost-three-year-old didn’t care too much about videos (again, like Clara), but we’re hoping he’ll be into them on our next summer trip, since he’ll be a little older (though then the baby will be 15 months so more challenges await).

    Yes, I think you’ve figured out the best options for kids on a long flight: lollipops, food, and more lollipops. The only guaranteed thing about long flights is that you know they’ll be over, which I sometimes have to remind myself.

    I think it’s great that you made the trip, many people would consider the flight and just stay home. Good luck with your next journey!

    Reply
  24. HeidiG says

    March 9, 2012 at 7:31 am

    Love, love, love this post. I told my husband we are not flying anywhere between the ages of 1 and 3. I’ve been dreading a potential plane trip, but I think I’ve finally convinced him otherwise.

    Glad you guys survived and made it.

    Reply
  25. Jane says

    March 9, 2012 at 8:06 am

    When we adopted our Son from Ethiopia we brought our then Just turned 2 yr old daughter. So the 48 hrs of travel there were miserable and the 48 hr back with a 14 month old and 2 year old were beyond miserable. Not to mention that the 14 month old was in a state of fear, horror, disbelief to name a few and both kids had Giardia. Wow that was awful. I imagine anything would be better than that.
    So, if your planning an international adoption in the near future, you’ve been warned :) However I would never have done it any other way. No way were we leaving our daughter behind.

    Reply
  26. Jane says

    March 9, 2012 at 8:15 am

    Oh, and Benadryl was the ONLY thing that gave us moments of sleep in those 48 hrs. We tested both kids before the flight and they both got sleepy. We also used Benadryl for our daughter to help with time change during our 2 weeks in Africa.I’m a pediatric registered nurse and know that it is totally safe so no guilt here:)

    Reply
  27. Monika says

    March 9, 2012 at 8:34 am

    Great post, Sherry. This will be so helpful to many :) We’ve flown with our toddler son many times (due to family being everywhere, including Europe), and we find that it’s hit or miss on how the little one will behave. So for all the flights you guys did, Clara did quite ok! We’ve learned to always pick the shortest duration of flights with fewest layovers (almost always worth the extra cost), and yeah – no red eyes ;) Another advice is not not worry too much about others on the plane, as dealing with a cranky toddler is bad enough. The other people don’t have a handful of a whiny little one and can casually eat their peanuts, so the last thing I worry about is that my son is not too loud for their liking ;) You know, just picking your battles. Good luck everyone!

    Reply
  28. Lauren says

    March 9, 2012 at 8:56 am

    I was on a red-eye from California to Boston a few weeks ago in the very back of the plane next to two toddlers and a 9-month old. Not one of them made a peep the entire flight, and in fact, I was the one who couldn’t sleep. Now I feel really lucky- that could have been a pretty terrible flight!

    Reply
  29. denise says

    March 9, 2012 at 9:49 am

    Wow. What a trip! It sounds like you did really well overall and your planning definitely paid off.

    We’ve never travelled with the kids on such long flights. But I personally will never take another red eye. We flew home from Seattle (to Atlanta) on a red eye and I didn’t sleep a wink. I was SO miserable. I would never inflict that on my kids since I don’t think they’d handle it any better.

    Red eye flights are almost always extremely full because everyone else also wishes to avoid losing an entire day flying. From now on, I’ll just give up that extra day and attempt to enjoy it.

    Reply
  30. Cathy says

    March 9, 2012 at 9:52 am

    You guys did great! I share your “flying with kids” philosophy — keep them happy at all costs to avoid disrupting other passengers. But kids are kids, and sometimes you can pull out all the stops and still have a nightmarish flight. I have vowed to never forget the stress of flying with small children – I never want to be one of those bitter 50 year olds on the plane glaring at the young family who is trying their best. It gets easier though! Our youngest is now 4, so flying with my three kids does not seem nearly as daunting. Also, as they get older, DVDs become more effective, and you also have the Leapster/Nintendo DS options to occupy them. For kids Clara’s age, one variation to coloring books/crayons that worked for us is stickers — mine always seemed to enjoy peeling off the stickers (and that takes some time with little fingers – bonus!) and sticking them onto the paper. Anyway, congrats on surviving the long trip!

    Reply
    • Young House Life says

      March 9, 2012 at 9:56 am

      Oh yeah, we definitely had a stockpile of stickers – though they didn’t seem to be a hit until the very last flight.

      -John

    • Zoë says

      March 9, 2012 at 10:51 am

      I don’t want to be one of those people either especially as I know what it’s like to fly with kids (see earlier comment). So today I have decided that whenever I fly in the future, I’m going to buy cheap stickers and notepads and offer them to kids on the plane who are not my own. It makes a flight so much easier when the other passengers are understanding. I will also make a point to praise the kids when the flight is over, as people have done for me. It is such a confidence booster.

  31. PlanePrincess says

    March 9, 2012 at 10:02 am

    As a flight attendant and life-long traveler (my parents worked for the same airline I work for so it was always cheaper for us to fly places than drive!) I’d say it sounds like you guys did just about everything you could possibly do! I second your flight attendant’s veto on the Benadryl. Like she mentioned, it can backfire and in the event of an emergency, you might do better with an alert and cooperative toddler as opposed to a sleepy zombie. I also strongly endorse the use of CARES or a car seat. (I cannot recommend the CARES enough – lightweight, portable, easy to install…) FAA stats have shown that lap children have a significantly better outcome during crash situations if they’re secured in their own seat. Not to mention the numerous turbulence situations we encounter in flight – I’ve seen a mom almost lose her infant in the air when we encountered some severe turbulence while over the Rockies.
    Also, should you find yourselves on a transoceanic flight sometime in the future with an infant, one tip a lot of people don’t know about is the bulkhead bassinet for babies. Most airlines carry them on their dual-aisle aircraft (767, 777, 787, A330 etc.) and the bassinet is attached to the bulkhead at cruise. On a funny note, a friend of mine (also a flight attendant) used to bring on ear plugs, candy and Starbucks $5 gift cards. She’d break the ice with her seatmates whenever people saw her and the baby coming and gave her the side-eye by passing out the earplugs and candy “just in case”. And for the people who were really kind or just went out of the way to help her (and the one time Baby F was teething and had a meltdown), she’d give them gift cards. It always went over really well and people got a laugh and seemed satisfied that she’d come as prepared as possible. Passengers and your flight crew can tell a prepared parent who’s doing all they can from someone who just shows up expecting the plane to babysit their kid. Anyway, I’m rambling… :-) Again, you guys sounded like you did a great job and maybe Clara just needs some more practice to sleep on planes. Happy Future Travels!

    Reply
    • Young House Life says

      March 9, 2012 at 11:35 am

      Great tips, one and all!

      xo,
      s

  32. Ola says

    March 9, 2012 at 10:31 am

    I think it really depends on the personality and age of the child. We travelled with our daughter to Europe last year and she was 7 months old. We had an 8.5 hr red-eye and another 1 hr local connector after a couple hours of layover. She slept probably 6 hrs of the 8.5 hr flight and the entire connector, everyone kept commenting on what a good traveller she is (lucky us, haha).

    Of course then she had trouble adjusting to the new time zone despite us doing similar tricks that you did and would not go to sleep till 2-3 am. And on our long flight back (during the day) she slept a total of 20 minutes, so we spent most of the time walking around the plane with her. It’s always something, it seems!

    Reply
  33. Kiley says

    March 9, 2012 at 10:34 am

    My husband is from Barbados and we decided to take our 14 month-old son there to meet his family since i was 6 months pregnant with our second baby and figured we wouldn’t get to vacation for a few more years. It was ugly! My son is a very “spirited” child, if you will, and let’s just say he was extra “spirited” while up in the air. The worst part was flying through Miami airport and having to wait in customs and baggage claims. That airport is a zoo and frustrating for adults. So you can imagine how overwhelming it was to an exhausted toddler:( And traveling pregnant with a toddler is something i don’t recommend to anyone! Glad things went well, and i’m sure you’re glad to finally be home:)

    Reply
  34. Kara says

    March 9, 2012 at 11:08 am

    And here I was thinking that taking kids on a red eye may be the way to go. I’m glad to hear about your experience! We just went to Maui about a month ago. We have no children, but we were surrounded by several kids 2 and under on our red eye back. We must have really lucked out, they were all so great through the whole flight (even the itty bitty nearly newborn!). I only slept an hour or so, but only because I couldn’t get comfortable. We had two other flights after that, one that was on a tiny express plane that was delayed for a while after we had already boarded. Once we got to our final airport, we still had a two hour drive home. My poor husband had to work the next day, so no sleeping in until 1 for him! Can’t say the same about myself though :)

    Reply
  35. James Olsen says

    March 9, 2012 at 11:18 am

    Due to custody issues my little girl has had to do a pair of cross country flights with me and my exwife, she has just turned three and loves flying, which also means she rarely sleeps! The funniest one was the last time when there was a minor league hockey team on the flight, she spent the WHOLE time talking to the goalie [well babbling, but you get the idea] unfortunately this also meant when he closed the window to try and sleep she opened it again to talk to him more! He was a great sport, and yes I found candy and coloring helped a lot as well!

    Reply
  36. Heather says

    March 9, 2012 at 11:31 am

    My family and I spent a year and seven months living in both England and Washington DC. When we first left for England, the kids were 11 months and almost 4. We called ourselves professional travelers. By the time my daughter was 2, she had been on 9 transatlantic flights (plus more within Europe). I am blessed that my kids do well (as long as I am prepared with plenty of entertainment and lovies). I found that I had the best flights when I didn’t bring anything for myself to read or do because I was resigned to simply entertaining them. Barf bags can be used for hours of fun. Surprisingly (or not) my daughter (now 4) has always gotten a bit upset when we first get on the plane. I finally figured out that it is because she is disturbed by loud noises so she now wears earphones before boarding to help her block it out. They help her relax a lot.

    We also prepare them mentally a lot before leaving. We really play up all of the fun things that we will be doing on the other side. One time we took a short flight to Belfast, Northern Ireland and while we were on the tarmac walking from the plane to the airport, my son declared “Mommy, I love Northern Ireland!!” “That’s great but how about you tell me that after we have seen something.”

    Reply
    • Young House Life says

      March 9, 2012 at 11:38 am

      Haha, too funny! I love all the stories everyone! Thanks for sharing!

      xo,
      s

  37. Edan says

    March 9, 2012 at 12:05 pm

    Once, during the first drink service on a flight from Milan to Toronto, I watched someone tap 4 sugar packets into their toddler’s mouth. Safe to say, that does not work for keeping toddlers mellow. ; ) Sounds like you did really well, considering, though. Noise cancelling headphones might help.

    Reply
  38. Leslie says

    March 9, 2012 at 12:17 pm

    A little benadryl works great for some kids, but definitely not for all, so don’t give it for the first time when you’re getting on a plane! :) It also helps to clear any nasal/ear congestion, so the don’t have discomfort from the pressure changes when taking off and landing.

    When my son was about 3, we were flying into LA, and when we were landing all of a sudden he started yelling “we’re going to crash! He was just being silly, but I think he seriously freaked out the guy in the seat ahead of us…

    Reply
  39. wendy says

    March 9, 2012 at 12:24 pm

    I went to a conference in Vegas and my husband come with b/c he was nervous about being along with the bambino. He actually went out first to gamble a few days and the baby and I came later. Surprisingly, I found older businessmen to be super-helpful getting baby + stroller + car seat + babybag + computer + baby through security. But, for the exciting part….on the way home, 30 minutes after takeoff….one word – EXPLOSION!

    Reply
  40. Julianne says

    March 9, 2012 at 12:44 pm

    While going through security at an airport I was pulled aside for extra scans while holding my 13 month old! We had to stand in a clear box while daddy was kept at a distance. Holy cow, what were they thinking? Everyone in the airport security line got to watch me trying to calm a terrified toddler. No one from security ever approached us, we were just left isolated in this box. It was horrifying for myself and my little girl.

    I flew a lot as a teenager and it was an amazing experience where everyone dressed up and the airport was fun. Now I hate it, even flying w/out my kid. What a shame.

    Reply
  41. Cher says

    March 9, 2012 at 12:45 pm

    No red-eye for us before 5. However, we have taken our little on to Europe on the overnight flight when she was 5 and again when she was 9. On Air France they had baby beds which popped out from the wall, although our 5 year old was too big.

    We have travelled all over with our little one and would never think of going anywhere without her. Just remember the fun time you had, and forget the bad, they are just not as important.

    Reply
  42. Kim Wethe Rily says

    March 9, 2012 at 1:10 pm

    J & S,

    When my daughter was about 1 1/2, we were flying from L.A. to Chicago to see relatives and my daughter, who we were lucky enough to have in an empty seat between us, was playing happily on the floor in front of her seat. (She’d climbed up and down repeatedly and decided we’d let her stay where she was happy and quiet.) And we got to read and enjoy ourselves. Then, we got a tap on the shoulder asking us if we’d lost anything. She had crawled UNDER the seat to the row behind us and surprised the gentleman who was sitting by himself. :) To be that small again!

    Reply
    • Young House Life says

      March 9, 2012 at 1:14 pm

      Hahaha, no way! That’s hilarious!

      xo,
      s

  43. Kelly says

    March 9, 2012 at 2:21 pm

    We had a nightmare flight back from Hawaii this past year with our 2 year old. It was 26 hours in airports, 16 hours without access to food (besides little snacks for Tessa) and a horrible time in LAX. If you want to read a play by play of it, you can read it on the blog – http://scottandkellymcmillan.blogspot.com/2011/06/before-i-move-on.html

    Reply
  44. Ranelle says

    March 9, 2012 at 2:26 pm

    Yes, I just shake my head yes in empathy. When my son was 17 months old, we flew from Seattle to Dublin. No sleep. At all.

    But he loves airplanes!

    Reply
  45. Maggie says

    March 9, 2012 at 2:32 pm

    I’ve had similar travel experiences, with kids who don’t sleep and are otherwise discombobulated. On the ear-popping, one thing that worked for us was having the kids suck beverages through a straw. Of course, the kid has to have mastered that skill! And having snacks like cheese sticks, so there’s protein as well as carbs in crackers and such, can also help. And, yes, no red-eyes!!

    Reply
  46. Kathleen says

    March 9, 2012 at 2:53 pm

    We had a similarly disastrous red eye flight while traveling to the east coast from HI last fall with our 2 yr old. Ironically, we visited family in Portland before heading off to HI and had similar experiences you did on the flights-it was all good until the no sleep red eye. If only I could have warned you! LOL

    Reply
  47. Allison says

    March 9, 2012 at 3:07 pm

    If you ever want to try the youtube videos again on the plane but don’t have wireless access you can try downloading them beforehand using: http://www.zamzar.com. It’s a website that would help you convert Clara’s favorite videos to whatever format, .wav or whatever works for you. As long as you can have your electronics up and running, you can play her saved videos for her.

    Thanks for sharing the adventures of your trip. It looks like you had a memorable and fabulous time!

    Reply
    • Young House Life says

      March 9, 2012 at 5:04 pm

      Thanks for the tip Allison!

      xo,
      s

  48. Jill Stigs says

    March 9, 2012 at 4:18 pm

    I thought of you guys when I read this:

    http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/toddler-tantrum-gets-family-booted-jetblue-flight-flying-184600037.html

    Good thing Clara is such a good girl!!

    Reply
    • Young House Life says

      March 9, 2012 at 5:04 pm

      Oh man, that’s rough!

      xo,
      s

  49. Katelyn Made says

    March 9, 2012 at 4:35 pm

    Wow good to know! Everytime I fly and there’s a baby or toddler I always moan because I know it’s going to be a loud flight. Now I’ll be that person soon! Oh boy!
    I’ll have to “star” this post.

    Reply
  50. Clarissa says

    March 9, 2012 at 5:00 pm

    I would put you guys in the “win” column for travelling with a toddler. It seems the general consensus is that it’s no easy task and at least Clara didn’t have the kind of meltdown this poor family suffered from: http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/toddler-tantrum-gets-family-booted-jetblue-flight-flying-184600037.html

    Reply
    • Young House Life says

      March 9, 2012 at 5:03 pm

      Oh man, that must have been horrible!

      xo,
      s

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John and Sherry Sitting On Woven ChairHey, we’re John & Sherry. We’ve fixed up 7 homes, written books, designed products, started a podcast, and then downsized & moved to the beach! Here you’ll find over 3,000 DIY projects & home updates. More about us…
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