Seeking Advice for Traveling with a 13 Month Old

GIve her something to eat while taking off and landing! It´s important for her ears!
Take toys and a lot of patiece!
good luck
J.

We traveled to California when my son was 14 months old. I took the earliest and most direct flight out and a red eye back so my son would sleep most of the way. I did as little as possible to wake him up, I even left him in his pajamas. Plus I gave him a pacifier which always helps him sleep longer. He was awake for only the last 30 minutes going to CA and the last 50 minutes coming back.

Traveling with a little one can definately be difficult. I traveled with my son when he was that age. Does she have her own seat or will she be a lap rider? Either way I think that plenty of snacks and juice is the best way to go. Bring a few small toys and her favorite blanket or pillow, anything to make her feel comfortable. If she has her own seat I would suggest a portable DVD player. Those are life savers.

Hope this helps,
~M.

Hi L.,
I've traveled with my 5 kids before. My best advice is try to schedule the flight around her nap time or when she's the least active. I would also give my children some tylenol or benadryl just to keep them calm during the flight. It doesn't not harm them, but the choice is yours. Take a blanket, bottles, sippy cups, anything that would make her more comfortable and at ease in a big diaper bag so it's at a hands reach. Try to relax and think positive cause your daughter will feel your tension. Also at least when I traveled I was able to take the stroller all the way to the plane and to carry the baby's things it just had to be a dieper bag or something like it (not a small suitcase). Call the airline and find out more info cause I traveled last year and the airline wouldn't let me take any liquids in the sippy cup. I had to wait till we were in the plane and buy water or juice from them. If your daughter is pretty calm, depending how long ur flight is, I would just sit her on your lap. It's easier to comfort them than in a carseat on a plane. You should be fine theres very good advice form everyone here...Good luck!
Liza

Hi L.! We just took several plane rides with my little 6 month old and he did great! I hear this is a good age, since they don't want to get down. I'm not sure how your daughter is, but hopefully she will be the same way. Did you get her a seat? We just carried him on our lap and he was fine.

Be sure to make sure she is sucking during take off and landing (breastfeeding, bottle, pacifier, etc.) so that her ears will pop. Otherwise, it can cause a lot of pain.

Take several toys, preferably new ones she hasn't seen before so she will be easily distracted. Bring at least one diaper per hour of travel time (including to and from airport, layovers, etc.) You may not change her that much, but that way you will have extras in case you get stranded on a runway somewhere, flight delays, etc. I think we had 2 per hour because we were paranoid. :)

We checked the stroller at the gate, which was nice for those bigger airports. They will give you a ticket at the gate, so you don't need to claim it util you are about to go down the jetway. We also had a baby bjorn with us, which was nice.

You can take baby medications on the plane with you (despite regulations), but will need to claim it at security. They may have you taste it. We were lucky and all of his mediations were less than 3 oz, which is the regulation I believe.

Lastly, my advice is for YOU to be as calm as possible and ac as you always do around her. Try to stick to routines as much as possible and enjoy traveling with your little one!

Take care and have a great trip!
M.

I've traveled with my daughter at about this age and she was everywhere(wanted to explore everything) so this last time we took her we bought a portable dvd player this was a god send i'm telling you i would invest in one of these and bring a few differnt dvds to keep her attention and with eny other road trips you might take in the future it will be very helpful look around i was able to find one for 50$ and i think weve already got our money worth! but dont stress shell be fine no matter what you take for her most people on planes are very conciderate about childern and are willing to talk to her(my baby is very out going and wanted to talk to everyone). o and take the stroller but let her walk so she gets some of that unwanted energy out!!! good luck and everything will be fine!!!

I took my 11month old daughter on a flight from Ft. Lauderdale to NJ (about 2.5 hours). I didn't let her nap before the flight and I gave her a bottle on take off and landing (the drinking helps with the pressure in the ears during the altitude change). I was extremely lucky because she fell asleep shortly after takeoff and didn't wake up until the last 30-40 minutes of flight. She was realy well behaved.....considering I let her play with everything she shouldn't have....like the headphones and the snack packages...
The only other thing I did and my pediatrician said it didn't do anything was I gave her teething tablets (Hylands - found at most drugstores in the baby section.) I gave her about 5 after I gave her her milk.

Car seat is a great idea. My cousin just came down and used her car seat but I belive she was told to have it by the window. Double check with your airlines. Also depending on how long the flight is I might sugest a small amt of benadryl if that puts your child to sleep. It makes some kids hyper. We have been to Brazil when my son was 4 months and then when he was 3 and his sister was 8 months and we gave them both benadryl. Also the bottle to suck on is great or a pacifier. My daughter is a thumb sucker so that made it easy.
Most of all enjoy your trip.

Buy a portable dvd player. Good luck!!

I have traveled several times with my oldest daugter since she was an infant. I found that when she was in her carseat on the plane she was fine. I brought food and toys to keep her entertained.

My family is going on a two week road trip this summer up north with an 18 month old and a 4 year old. I am more nervous about that, then when I fly with them.

Hi,
when I first traveled with my daughter, I took her car seat to the plane , so she would sit in something comfortable.. Then I took a lot of bottles, so she can drink while the plane starts and lands.. makes it easier for her ears to adjust.. finally I had lots of toys to play... and just in case, I gave her some homoeopathic stuff, thats called cocculus in germany, and its for calming down in case of travel sickness.... But luckily I didnt need to give it to her... all she basically needed was to see me being calm during the start and she felt comfortable.. and didnt leave her seat almost the whole flight... which was 9 hours...I was amazed..

Good luck...and all the best...

Dvd player, maybe a new movie. Lots of snacks, go to the dollar store and buy some new little toys that shes never seen before and if they get lost on the plane, oh well! Crayons, small doodle pad etc. I traveled with my son...just us 2 since he was 6 months old. Now he is 3 and I have a 5 month old and we are going on a trip next month, daddy wont be joining us this time either. LOL

Its not that bad, give her a bottle or passi or anyting to suck on when you take off and land. Try to schedule your flights around naptime as well.

Dear L.,

Bring a few bottles if she uses 1. Also take a pacifier too. It will help with the altitude change she will have in her ears. Bring cherios and her favorite snacks, her blanket and stuffed animal she sleeps with......She will need a car seat on the plane. Help her swallowing alot after take off and landing. Let her sit in the middle seat between you and your husband.

Good Luck,

G. H.

Hi L..
Just wanted to tell you that I traveled with my son when he was 12 months old, and he did great. If your daughter has a pacifier, or still on the bottle, definitely give it to her while taking off and landing. If the rules are still the same, your daughter just has to be in the carseat for take off and landing. Any other time, you can hold her, so that might help.
Just make sure there's stuff to do, or maybe travel when you know she should sleep and then she could end up sleeping the whole way there.

Good luck.

Hi L.,
We traveled with my son on plane and in a car to N.J since he was 4 months old. We took a back pack instead of a diaper bag and put everything that he would need bottles, diapers, wipes and toys and his favorite book. as he got a little older we brought a portable DVD player and played a movie for him. so many people were schocked at how good he did. if your plane is empty and you didn't purchas a seat for you baby ( i never did) we sat in the back or where there was a lot of empty seats and sat there so that if he fell asleep he could stretch out.What i also got was a stroller they sell one with a hard back but it is just as small and easy to open and close as a umbrella stroller. Our flight was delay and my son was very tired and someone else told me about that and the next time we flew we used it and it was perfect.we are going up north in july. Can't wait to see my family...;-D hope this helps and i hope you have a great time.If you have any question email me at any time.What airline are you flying with? Jet blue has a lot of leg room and each seat has it's own TV.

Hello! A week before our daughter's first birthday, we traveled to California (we live in FL) to visit my husbands family. We took along a backpack with all the necessities - diapers, wipes and a few changes of clothes; books, LOTS of stickers (which pretty much did the trick), some snacks and a NEW stuffed puppy she got to pick out just for the trip. We decorated her face with the stickers and she put them all over her bottle (which we used for her to eat as we took off and landed to prevent her ears from popping - we also had a pacifier ready in case). We still have that bottle and now her baby brother uses it. Its fun to tell her the story and show her pix of her on the plane with stickers all over her face and the bottle. We went early and let her look at the airplanes up close and watch them take off and every time we saw a plane in the air we made a big deal about how NEAT and PRETTY it was. By the time we were leaving, she was pumped about the whole idea of it. We made sure to have lots of lil activites for her. We also bought one of those little books that have that marker that turns plane white pages into colorful pictures (I dont know how else to explain it, they've had them since I was a kid - not the crayola ones - tho they would work too!) That way she wouldnt be coloring all over everything. If all else fails, most airports now have a place where you can rent a portable dvd player and movies for the flight then when you get to your destination you turn them in there. Good Luck! Hope some of this helped! ~ N. ~

she needs soemthing to suck for when the preasure changes. anything will do a lollie pop or a pacifier. my babysitter uses beef jerkey. as long as she will suck it. I always sit on the frount row there is more legg room to the baby to stay up if she needs to and I have always let her sit in my lap. I have never bought a extra ticket for a car seat and we did just fine. good luck

I travel by plane with my kids at least twice or more a year with my first child i learned that if my child was sleepy he would sleep through the whole flight but my other child that didn't work i learned to bring a lot for her to drink and eat also i took my lap top computer for her to watch movies on. and some coloring books to color in try to get a window seat most kids love looking out the window hope this helped good luck p.s if your baby is still on the bottle u might want to give her the bottle to suck on during take off and landing

You really never know until you're on the plane how the child will respond but when I took my daughter at 17 months, we read books, looked at pictures and talked about airplanes we saw in the sky ALOT for the month prior to departure! I think that will help alleviate the fear if there is any. I also put a tiny bell (one that you attach to a fishing pole to let you know you've got a bite, lol!) on the back of her shirt any time she wasn't in the stroller....that let me know if she so much as wiggled and it allowed other people to hear her as well.....allowing the child to burn off energy prior to getting on board is critical...check the packing allowances for the airline you'll be traveling on...most are pretty consistent and lenient when it comes to carry on for the baby.....if she will be a "lap sit" passenger instead of w/ her own seat, she won't have any baggage allowance...you will have to include her stuff in your 2 carry ons. They don't count the stroller as baggage and you can roll up to the plane door, leave it there (tagged of course) and they will have it waiting for you when you deplane. Make sure you have enough bottles/cups or sucking toys to help with ears popping....we lucked out and didn't have any problems. Any way, hope this helps a little, feel free to contact me with more questions but I bet you get alot of good responses....we take the cow bell with us everywhere now....! good luck! A.

I just got back from a flight up North. I was so worried about it, but theres just not much you can do. If you want details, email me and I will tell you exactly how it went. I took a carry on bag with bottles, sippy cup, book, crackers, his blankie, diapers & wipes. Whatever you do, take enough milk because the flight I was on didnt have any milk and on our layover I didnt have enough time to stop and buy more. I dont know if you got a seat for your little one or she will be sitting on your lap. Mine sat on my lap and it was hard, there was not much room to move at all. It will be better for you though, cause you'll have your husband to pass her back and forth. If I did it again, Id get him his own seat. Im sure your baby will be absolutely fine though. You'll probably worry more than you need to!! Good luck!

I was curious of the responses since I too will be traveling in June with my 4 1/2 yr old as well as my 15 1/2 month old, by myself.

Don't sweat it, she'll be fine! Make sure she stays hydrated though so lots of liquid! There are things things you can get at CVS called "ear planes" that help stabilize her equilibrium to minimize ear popping, you can check these out...they are usually over by the pharmacist. A Gymboree instructor once told me that when she travels with her baby by plane, she brings toys in a rolley bag and plays with her baby BEFORE the flight. She will find a secluded place near her gate and play with a ball or something active...this tires her daughter out and she is therefore more apt to sleep on the plane.
For take off and landing, make sure baby is sucking on something...this too will help her little ears.
Remember, you get to "pre board" so that is very helpful in getting yourself situated. I bid you confidence and a safe and happy flight with your family! Happy Travels!

Hi L.,

My sons are now ages 7 and 9, this always worked for us:
1.) Make sure your baby/child has lots to drink and/or suck on during take off and landing: Bottle, juice box, water, lollipop, etc. Swallowing is penultimate to dissipate the pressure that builds up in their little ears.
2.) Bring "new" stuff to play with, keep her occupied. Wrap up a few dollar store items that will keep her busy, a few picture/story books, and/or wrap up a few of her favorite little playthings that give sustained attention focus. Unwrapping any gift, whether old or new, is just lots of excitement (and a great distraction) in itself!
3.) Bring her a "blankie" and be sure not to leave it behind! Or a favorite stuffed anima. And bring a sweatshirt of your own to use as a pillow. Bring her only one thing, lessens the chances of losing more than one of her favorites.
4.) Bring snacks including such as Goldfish crackers, Cheerios, sliced/diced fruit, cheese cubes or cheese stix(in a Ziploc with an icepack), bottles of water, and a book for you to read for your own calm time.

Hope your travels are happy,

C. N.

L.,

I have a 12 month old who has been on 8 flights and has never cried. The key is to relax. If you are stressed the baby can sense it. If the baby wants to wander and make friends, let her (it is not like she can leave your sight). From my experience, it actually makes people very happy when your baby smiles at them or pats their knee as they go by. I can not tell you how many people left their seats to come play with my son.

Beware of the naptime advice! We tried the naptime flight once and it backfired. He was cranky and overstimulated by all the different places and faces to sleep. Only you know your child. Follow YOUR gut.

Enjoy your trip.

UUGghh, I just did that with my 13 month old. She was 12 months at the time. Total travel time from driving to and from airports, layovers, getting rental cars, etc-20 hours each direction! We had to change planes twice each time, so we had to take off and land a bunch of times. Have a baby bottle and snacks handy. Have her suck some water or something or eat some type of snack she can chew on. This will help her ears pop during take off and landing. We brought the portable DVD player and had movies, books, toys, and stickers. Stickers were good because it took forever for her to stick it to something because it would stick to her finger, etc. Try to change her diaper before you get on the plane. There is a baby table in the bathroom, but oh lord, she was definitely bigger than the table. She had to keep her knees bent to stay on it. Besides that I couldn't even turn around in there. Hah, try to wash your hands when your done, That's a neat trick! They made me dump the water out each time I went through security. Any other liquids must be less than 3 oz and in a clear plastic bag, seperate from your other carry ons. I just brought two bottles. One for water and one for milk, to save space in the carry ons. I had dish soap that I had to keep explaining to security, especially since it was in an unmarked bottle. one time they escorted my husband all the way back outside to dump the water and go back through security. So make sure you dump it first, then fill it back up before you get on the plane (after you've passed security)

We flew with our daughter when she was 11 months old. We didn't have her carseat on the plane, but it was manageable between my husband and I. We planned both the flight there and back at night, so she slept the majority of the time. She was off the bottle by then, but a sippy cup would work for you too if your daughter doesn't take a bottle.

Hi L.,

I second all the suggestions about bringing entertainment (books, *doodle pad* - no crayons required, even an MP3 player - yours, of course, but you could let her listen and bop a bit), snacks and all kinds of emergency stuff. But my main suggestion is a SLING!!! (or some version of a baby wearing doohickey). There are lots of advantages to having this while travelling.

A sling is so easy to just tuck her in and she'll feel more secure when she's nice and close to you. You can carry her but have your hands free to present documents, go through gates etc. No fears about someone swiping her. (It's a real concern for some moms.) But more than anything else she'll feel so much safer being close to your body.

Not sure what the security check points (SCPs) are like at your airport but you'll have to break down the stroller for every single one. You do still have to remove the sling when going through a SCP. But it beats unstrapping, breaking down and loading the stroller onto the conveyor belt. (then of course, whipping it open and strapping her back in on the other side.) I have 2 kids and have travelled with both of them in the sling and i think it saved our lives!!!! Good luck to you! Have a great trip!

C.