Hellobee Boards

I have flown with my son a few times alone - cross country both times. He was 22 months once and the other time 24 months. He is generally really good on the plane (has flown at least a dozen times between 14-24 mos) and usually sleeps during nap time at least for a short period of time. I would probably not fly at bed time Bc he is hit or miss with sleeping on the plane in my arms. Once with my husband and I he didn't sleep until 10 (bed time is 8) and just last week he didn't sleep allllll day and only fell asleep during the descent of our flight at 8. But I also wouldn't waste the money on a seat until you have to! Can you fly at nap time instead? And bring a fully charged iPad with videos and cartoons!

@Mrs. Rabbit: we have the same issue with the airport being 2.5 hrs away! I usually torture him in the car and hope he sleeps at nap time on the plane. Your kiddo is a little younger so might be better at sleeping on the plane, mine just surprised us by not sleeping at bedtime once (he was 19 mos then). Good luck!

I wouldn't buy an extra seat for a 3 hour flight. Hopefully she will sleep, or just be very calm and quiet. Definitely load up on the iphone videos just in case!

@Mrs. Rabbit: Just wanted to mention that when I flew with my kids I was NOT allowed to have them in the carrier for take off - you have to hold them in your lap - not sure if the rule has changed but just be aware you may have to take her out

I wouldn't bother buying an extra seat, not for a 3 hour flight. Our rule was, 3 hours or less, we could do without buying an extra seat. I took DD #1 from Seattle to Beijing by myself when she was 15 months. It was a bit hard but very doable. For a three hour flight, even if they only sleep 30 minutes, I think it's pretty easy to keep them occupied with things.

I've flown solo with LO many times. The only time she didn't sleep (even nurse to sleep) was when we flew at bedtime. I think there was just too much excitement for her to settle. Have backup entertainment!

Bringing this back up in case there is any more advice! I'm flying solo with DD next weekend, and she'll be 16 months. Starting to get a little nervous, because while she is SO well behaved, she absolutely hates to be contained or cuddled. We're only flying with one seat, so I'm nervous if there are 3 people in the row. Hopefully no one sits next to me...

@erinpye: I'm also going to be 6 months pregnant! I hope it doesn't wear me out. Massive amounts of snacks are definitely at the top of my list...

@Mrs. Rabbit: @T.H.O.U.: Yeah, I'm thinking (hoping!) no one will be able to hear the iPad on a low volume. Also, hopefully my 6 am flight will be pretty empty?

@Mrs. Rabbit: @78H2O: I did it! And I even survived!

It was... exhausting. You definitely need to be very aware of your child's personality and tailor your approach to that!
If there is only ONE thing L hates, it's being confined/held. She's never been a cuddler, and will NOT sleep on us (it started at like 10 weeks old!). So, a cramped flight with her sitting on my lap for hours on end was obviously going to be rough.

#1 best thing I did was to bring NEW snacks. I tried bringing strawberries and grapes too... yeah, I ended up eating those. She doesn't get snack food at home, so goldfish, teddy grams and vanilla wafers were OMGTheBestThingEver.

The iPad didn't even hold her attention for longer than 15 minutes because she's not *that* into it paying attention to anything for that long yet, and it's old news. Our neighbor's iPad's earbuds on the other hand, those were fascinating and it was all I could do to keep her from grabbing stranger's stuff. Thankfully (seriously, so thankful), the neighbor was awesome and indulged L by letting her play with the earbuds, and even showing her how they made sound when she held them up to her ear. I think I could have even gotten her to keep them in if I had brought my own!

I know that L loves activities that involve taking stuff out and putting them back in - her goldfish and vanilla wafer snacks came in cups with lids, so she probably spent 45 minutes taking them in and out, using the tray to put them on.

Baby wipes + hand sanitizer are perfect for sanitizing everything. I wiped down EVERYTHING when we sat down, because obviously she has to touch everything. Definitely think window seat is better than an aisle seat - she moved the window shade up and down for like 20 minutes (Score!) and she can't try to escape into the aisle that way.

I only brought a backpack as a carry-on. No time to deal with keeping a bag on my shoulders while bending over to chase L all over the airport, and it wasn't bonking anyone on the head while trying to squeeze through the aisle to sit.

All in all, SO much better than I thought. The airport personnel were amazing at all 3 airports, flight attendants were so helpful and nice, TSA took me out of the security line twice to go through a line and machine by myself so I didn't feel rushed with folding the stroller and taking off shoes/taking out liquids. My checked bag was heavy but the desk lady let it slide, flight neighbors were awesome and helped keep L entertained (since anything new is a million times better than her otherwise favorite book!!).

If I had to do anything different it would be to not bother bringing ANYTHING she had seen before. New books would have been better, a new small stuffed animal to hold on to, new toys to play with, even something new and random like earbuds!