Hellobee Boards

Sorry to hear you had a rough time! I flew alone a few times with DS before he turned one, but not with him as a toddler. I agree, food is not a great answer, but that is generally what works when nothing else does.

Sorry to hear you had a rough time! My worst flight was when we chose to fly during her bedtime at 10 months old, and she only slept 1 hour during the 7 hour flight. Cue meltdown galore.

She is actually pretty good on flights. Food is a great distraction for her, and once the seatbelt sign goes off, i let her stand on my seat and i scuffle over to the edge so she can move around and play. I have flown a total of 10 times with her at different stages, and it's a crapshoot.

@Freckles agree that you just never know what you're going to get. We took the exact same flight (during her naptime) 2 weeks in a row. One week she played quietly and then slept, the next she made the executive decision to skip her nap and ended up in full meltdown mode 20 minutes from landing.

@mediagirl: I feel for you. I did that last weekend and you summed it up - it SUCKS! What kept her the most content was kicking the seat in front of us. If I made her stop, cue tantrum. She wanted to walk up and down the plan, touching everyone's stuff. If I made her stop, cue tantrum. Oh I never want to do that alone again.

@mediagirl: I posted on HB after flying with LO when she was 14 months in June. It sucked horribly! We both said, "Oh well, guess we aren't taking advantage of her flying for free anymore."

Yup, I've flown quite a bit with my LO (14 mos) and we've endured a few meltdowns. Every meltdown happened on evening flights around her bedtime. Lesson(s) learned.

@mediagirl: The flight there was so bad we bought a tablet while we were away specifically for the return trip. The return trip was much better (still not the greatest) but at least she was distracted by Caillou.

@mediagirl - i've read that flying during nap time is good, but I know that DD wouldn't nap. She'd be too interested in everything around her. I've considered giving her some Benadryl but I think it would just make her more tired and cranky. But maybe it would take the edge off??

Unfortunately DD isn't really into videos and shows. They only hold her attention for 5 minutes....like everything else. I'm hoping a bag with some new toys and activities might be exciting enough.

Yeah 14 months was pretty much our worst flight! Too old to sit on your lap for any period of time; too young to be occupied by "secret weapons" such as the iPad....If it makes you feel any better, it does get easier when they're a little older.

I flew round trip to new orleans from Oregon with my toddler, and we were along on the way out. I just kept the Curious George on repeat on my ipad, and that made things pretty ok. We nursed a lot, too, so I'll be screwed next time when I can't do that. She had some anger when we really couldn't get up, but I kept some emergency lollipops for that. We did ok.

@keiki_mama: no headphones when she was younger. I think images were entertainment enough. (Under 18 months)
When we flew when she was 27 months old she wanted to hear what was going on.