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We are visiting my parents in Florida this week. The plane tickets are our yearly Christmas present from them. Niko is still young enough to be considered a lap passenger.
Flying is stressful for us. My husband is a horrible traveler – I never have to worry about traveling because he is worrying enough for both of us. If we had it his way, we would sleep at the airport the night before our flight so we wouldn’t have to worry about running late.
Adding Niko to the mix ups the ante.
I remember the old days of having two carry-on suitcases for the both of us… those days are long gone. Niko has a suitcase all for himself! We have a carry on case that’s ready to go for any breakdown. Snacks (that is if TSA will allow them), portable DVD player with Yo Gabba Gabba, toys and TWO changes of clothes (We had a problem last year when we only packed one change of clothes).
I totally understand the TSA thing, really I do, but the added stress of going through security with a toddler sucks. We take the family lane, but that doesn’t really mean anything. It takes us forever to unpack everything, take off our shoes and jackets, unload the stroller and send everything down the conveyer belt.
There always seems to be a more proficient parent behind me that is kinda huffy about how long I am taking. I understand to a point, but then again, I am in the family lane and I did get there before you so… sorry.
While security is examining my bags I always wonder if they are going to throw away my milk/snacks. They change that rule up on me all the time… I honestly think it’s a scam to get you to buy $2.50 milk on the other side of security.
We finally get on the plane and it’s melt-down city. My husband looks at me and tells me that next year we are driving. Yea right. It’s a 21-hour drive. Niko is just tired and cranky… we just have to ride it out until he falls asleep… which is the longest 15 minutes of my life.
We made it to Florida after a connecting flight through Atlanta. The second flight was much better – Niko slept through the whole thing.
Can’t wait to do it again on the way back!
Any suggestions on how best to travel with toddlers? Any tricks from an experienced travel family?
Oh, how I miss those memories - now we just make the 20+ hour drive to the East Coast. We flew all the time when the kiddos were young and I feel your pain. The largest mistake we ever made was flying during nap times. Our kids would never fall asleep on the planes - or if they did it was just before we had to make a connection. Ever drag 3 kids under 3 through a terminal with bags and car seats? Not a pretty sight. Suggestions...have a plan with hubby to switch taking the kiddo every half hour or so - he gets a change of scenery and so do you; new toys - ones without lots of parts; lots of stickers and a brand-new notebook to put them in. For the older ones, a pair of binoculars so they can 'spy' on the people on the ground. We traveled before ninentods, personal dvd players and the such so I don't know if they work or not for the little ones. Mine always got bored with movies and would fidgit and squirm.Your snack foods should be OK because they are not liquids. Don't know if there are exceptions for forumula and infant milk. I would take powdered milk (remember that?) or powdered formula and mix after getting through security. Travel with kids are always interesting, but my wife got stuck with most of it because I always had to go first earlier, so I can't offer much more good advice. Hope your return trip is relatively uneventful.I always got them thier own seat. No way would I let them sit on my lap, it's not only uncomfortable and awkward, but in turbulence they become projectiles. I also never got to travel with my husband, so if I couldn't carry it, it didn't come. My bag always had little baggies of small crafts and edibles. When they got bored with one, the other came out. And my squirmiest kid sat still when I put headphones on him, so he got music. Have a nice trip!It could be worse, you could be travelling internationally. I just did this over Christmas with three kids under 3. The TSA changed the international flight rules while we were gone so the flight home we had no access to overhead bags and no access to bags at our feet for the last hour of flight and couldn't have anything on our laps. No books, bags, blankets, etc. We couldn't get up during the last hour of flight either, no bathroom, no diaper changes, nothing. With no diversions allowed for our kids we stuffed the seat back pockets full of snacks and prayed for a quick flight.I didn't travel with the kids until my youngest was four, but we always traveled by car. We are going on our first plane trip as a family Saturday and even with them being older, there is a lot to worry about and think about having or doing. But, so much quicker is the trip. Hope you had a good trip.We traveled to Germany with our daughter when she was three (we have family there, and it was her last visit with her great-grandmother), and my daughter really rose to the occasion. She was a wonderful traveler under very difficult conditions. On the way back, she was so well behaved the stewardesses all got together and gave her a big chocolate bar as a reward for being the best-behaved child they had ever traveled with. We were so proud of her.I always packed activities like stickers and crayons or a little toy. I had plenty of snacks like cheerios. I still pack Starbursts for my youngest to chew during the descent to help with his ears popping. The bottle or sleep worked when he was younger. Sometimes it is fun and sometimes it really stinks! Have a great week out of the snow.I do feel your pain. I can hardly leave the house with a 3 month old who screams every time he gets in the car seat.Good luck! I have no words of advise! We are the parents that drug our kids to PA in the middle of winter and drove straight through to get there! Umm yeah, that was DH's great idea! I will never do that again! But I do have to say that they were really good until that last hour of the trip, and then oh my gosh all bets were off!We survived! That last flight about killed us though. Yes... we were "that kid on the plane that screamed for 20 minutes." For some reason his ears hurt on the last plane ride. I felt so bad for him... he wouldn't take his cup or food or anything! There was nothing we could do. He screamed real loud then he was quiet for a second. His ears had popped. He wimpered for a bit then was quiet. I think that sahmiam43 is right about getting him his own seat though, it would have made travel a LOT easier!
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