Getting Ready for Our First Trip.

J.,
My husband is in the airline industry so I have been a frequent flier WITH my children for 13 years and my children are now 15,14,11,6 and 2. One small little thing that has not been mentioned yet. You can no longer take liquids or any gel like substance on airplanes. I suggest before packing your carry on luggage you visit the TSA's website at www.tsa.gov for a list of things that you are no longer allowed to carry on to a plane. Including things you might find in your purse such as: mascara, liquid lip gloss, and foundation. If you are not prepared your stress levels are likely to go through the roof. You are allowed to take a certain amount of baby formula on board. I'm not sure about the milk. Give him a dose of children's decongestant - it helps with the pressure. And if you don't mind a little sticky mess give him a sucker for take-off and landing. Definitely pre-board! The flight attendant will inform you that the carseat must be in the window seat. As soon as you get on the plane first thing is to buckle in that carseat. Your husband will have so much fun doing that unless you are using a booster seat (which makes it much easier for your 3 yr old to get out of on his own! Those seat belts are very easy to unbuckle). The quicker you sit in your seat and the less you get up the better. That way he sees that you have to sit down. There is no perfect plan for traveling with a toddler. (In fact, babies are easier.) Just be as prepared as possible, hopefully your son will take a nap the whole way and you will have stressed for nothing. I have found that waiting to get on the plane can be a more stressful experience than the plane ride itself.
One other helpful tip - If the pressure does start to bother him a lot, rub your hands firmly together creating warmth and put them over his ears.
Well, that's all I can think of for now. Good luck and God Bless!

Have him drinking or chewing something at take-off and landing. If you trust him to chew gum (sugarless, of course, heh) then give him a small piece to chew. My boys had their first plane ride last year, and they did just fine. I made a big bag of trail mix, and they snacked on that for the entire trip. The raisins and M&Ms were the first gone, of course. :P
Good luck, and have a fun and safe trip!!

J.

My daughter now 8 has been on airplanes since 10 days old. I have learned that having something crunchy or chewy is better than going back to a bottle or binkie. I have also used the spill proof sippy cups. My first suggestion would be to try either pretzels or the fruit snacks or gummy bears to help with the air pressure.

When I flew with my then 15 month old son, I brought his sippy cup with us. I tried to make him drink from the cup like i had been told. But he didn't really need it. He was so interested in looking around checking out all the passengers, that the air pressure didn't seem to bother him.

take 2 plastic cups and hold them on to his ears(pressed against his head tightly but not uncomfortable), it helps alot with the pressure esp during taking off and landing. also if he eats or drinks while taking off or landing helps too

Although I haven't taken my son on a plane trip yet, he is also 3 yr old and has ear tubes, I find gum helps with his ears. He had his tonsils taken out about a month ago and that is what the nurse suggested about day 3 when his ears starting hurting.

I would suggest talking to the doctor and seeing what they suggest because they might actually give you something for the plane trip to give your son during the plane ride

MY 7 YR OLD AND I HAVE BEEN FLYING SINCE SHE WAS 2YR OLD. I WAS ALWAYS TOLD FROM THE DOCTOR TO MAKE SURE SHE WAS DRINKING OR CHEWING ON TAKE OFF AND LANDING. THIS HELPS WITH EARS. THIS ALWAYS WORKS FOR US. ALSO JUST KEEP HIS ATTENTION ON THE WINDOW. THAT IS SO EXCITNG FOR THEM. GOOD LUCK AND MAY YOU HAVE A SAFE TRIP.

We just returned a week ago from our 1st flight with our 15 month old daughter. I was told we could bring milk, but I will tell you right now, it depends on the airport, or inspector. We had no problem leaving from St. Louis, however on our way back from florida they acted like I was a terrorist and began to search everything(i am caucasian). You can only bring breast milk or formula. Once thru the gates we filled the sippy cup back up. We still had no problems, I think things would have been fine. We did bring lots of books, coloring book etc.. she started to get ansy. Good luck. :)

We went on our first trip with our 5 yo and 2yo and I had the same concern. I even considered bringing the binky that she got rid of 6 mo. ago. Everything was FINE! I handed out gum during take off and landing and she swallowed it all 4 times! She has tubes and she didn't show one sign of discomfort. They would not allow us to bring drinks onboard. The smartest thing we brough was the travel DVD player! Good Luck.

We've flown with our four year old three times, and he always falls asleep as soon as the plane takes off (kinda like he does in the car). Maybe you'll be that lucky! If not, just bring a sippy cup with something for him to drink, and he should be fine. Make sure you bring along activities for the plane ride too, so he'll be happily occupied. Have fun!

I have a 15-month old, and he just went on his first plane ride a couple of weeks ago. I would highly recommend using Benadryl about 30 minutes before takeoff (or however long it takes for it to kick in). My pediatrician recommended this b/c it opens up their ears so they don't get infection. Taking a drink or some food to chew on is good too, but they don;t always cooperate with drinking or eating during takeoff or landing. We didn't use the Benadryl on the first takeoff, and he screamed during takeoff. The next time, we gave him Benadryl and he was fine. As far as taking liquids on planes, they let us take his medicine as long as it was under 5 mL (or something like that).

I do not recommend bringing the car seat on the plane it is much more comfortable without it. As for his ears he will be fine. I just got back from Europe for 2 weeks with my 3 and 4 year old boys and they did just fine and we were at a very high altitude for 13 hours. Good luck you will be fine

Hi J. ~

I always used drink boxes on planes -- the sucking on the straw accomplishes the same thing as a binkie or drinking from a bottle for younger kids. To make the sucking more pronounced, and to make the juice last all the way through take-off, try to get some of the plastic coffee stirrers that are like flattened straws. (They're usually brown or red, I think, and have small holes in the ends.) The holes are smaller so kids have to suck harder to get the juice out.

Good luck, and enjoy your trip!
S.

J.,

I would take your son's favorite snack and a sippy cup of milk with you like the other moms suggest. You can get juice on the plane from the stewards, but milk is harder to get. When we took our daughter on her first plane trip at 16 months we also bought a cheap umbrella stroller to help get her through the airports easily. You just tell the staff you want to check it at the gate and they take it from you on the jet way just before you step into the cabin. Then when you get out it is right outside the door at the next airport. A little luggage cart is also great if you have a couple of bags.

To ease any flying worries we talked to our daughter about everything that was going to happen at the airport. We also had books about flying to read to her. Our worst issue was getting her to want to get in the car seat when she could see other passengers walking around before preflight. Once she was strapped in she was perfectly happy.

The staff at KCI was great with her. They let her look at the xray of her stuffed toy. They also helped us get her to walk through the metal detector by herself. Oh, my husband had to carry the carseat almost over his head to get through the isles without beaning other passengers. So we preboarded whenever possible and waited until everyone is off before we got off the plane. Have a safe trip!