K.S.
Hi B.,
My son has traveled since he was 11 months old (he's now 6 year old) on 8-hour-long flights. My tips in bullet points:
- Don't expect to rest on the flight; your role is to cater to your boy during the flight - unless you want to get dirty looks...
- Throw out all the rules about food etc. while on the plane. Stock up on the foods, including treats, he likes, and let him eat as often as he wants. He'll know that the plane is a special environment, and you won't destroy the habits you created by making an exception on the plane.
- Have a reserve of new cheap toys to present whenever he gets bored.
- Be ready to walk along the aisles a lot with him... at his age, he won't want to sit still for a long period of time.
Using those strategies, and a few others I outlined in an article I wrote (go to http://www.dailymastery.com/free.htm for the article, scroll down to the SuperMom section), I got compliments on how well behaved my son was on almost every plane trip I was on, and I think I used Benadryl children only once.
Hope this helps,
K.
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