Flying With Youngsters

A few thoughts on flying with young children:

1 - Up until 18 months, it makes a lot of sense to fly with your child as a lap baby.  We found that our son wouldn't really stay put in his own seat anyway.  Between 18-24 months, things get a bit tight.  After 24 months, airlines will make you buy your child his/her own seat anyway (and frankly at that point you probably won't want to keep your son/daughter on your lap anyway).

2 - Think in advance about food.  Airlines have cut WAY back on in-flight food.  Gone are the days when you could expect even a mediocre in-flight meal, unless you're flying across the country.  Even on long flights meals frequently aren't served -- United eliminated meals on its SFO -> Chicago flights long ago.  While you can sometimes buy a sandwich or a box of crackers and junk food in flight, some kids won't eat that stuff even if you'd let them.  Bring some food with you.  Bring an empty bottle and/or sippy cup and buy your drinks once you get past security (and give yourself a bit of time to do that).

3 - Think in advance about what your child is going to do while in flight.  Bring some activities.  We've found sticker books to be great on a long flight.  Bring some headphones that your child can wear comfortably and hook into a computer with a DVD player/iPad with some saved kids shows/videos.

4 - Pack your diapers and wipes where you can get to them quickly.

5 - Bring 2 changes of clothes for your child on long flights -- "just in case."  Also, bring some cloth diapers or a small hand towel (again, just in case, to clean up messes).

6 - Make sure your bags have wheels (if at all possible).  Helps on long walks through the terminal.

7 - Where you can't do #6, spring for the push cart that you find in the terminal.

8 - Find out if your child seat will actually fit on the play you'll be flying on.  We've frequently found that the seat takes up so much room there's no place for legs or feet to go.  The person in the seat in front of your child will have an especially bumpy ride as your son/daughter kicks the seat (especially if they try to recline).

9 - Try to be mellow.  Note - this is way easier said than done.  A corollary:  try to give yourself time to get to a connecting flight (especially if you're flying into an airport with a large terminal).

--TC Daddy