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Toddler on a Plane!!!
13:55 Posted In Family , Parenting , Personal Edit This 0 Comments »
So it seemed like I would pull my hair out at the thought of taking my 19mon. old son on a 3 leg flight plan from Chattanooga, TN to Hagerstown, MD. I was surprised to see a play area at the Chattanooga Airport, however, the building blocks were filthy and needed scrubbed with a wire brush and disinfected. My plan was to find play areas to pass the time of layovers from airport to airport. Atlanta had a few play areas - 2 at the B terminal, I didn’t find anything in C terminal. I never made it to A terminal. It was frustrating to ask airline agents where the play areas were because no one knew. They said the stuff gets moved around all the time. Pittsburgh Airport was a blur, but I think there’s supposed to be a play area in the C terminal there. Trust me, the little plastic houses and little school buses for the kids to play on is a welcome sight when you know that as soon as you unbuckle the stroller to get them out it’s going to be unpredictable. At least they can run around and get some energy out of their system before it’s time to get on the plane again.
What I took on the plane in a backpack:
- portable MP3 player w/ baby songs loaded, my 19month old really did like listening to this, and fell asleep to it on one flight!
- baby blanket
- small portable $2 Spiderman game from Toys-R-Us
- Books that unzip, flip, have attached animals
- Stickers and a little calendar for little guy to stick them into
- Sippy cup, goldfish crackers, and teddy grahams
- Diapers and wipes
- Benedryl
- Change of clothes for the baby and clean shirt for me
- Bibs
- My wallet
- Baby’s birth certificate/ my driver’s license
- Stuffed animal
- Cell phone and toy cell phone
- gum for the both of us
I questioned if I should bring talking books on the flight because it might be annoying to fellow passengers, but I think they’d rather hear that than a crying child.
I did take a folding umbrella stroller, but I opted out of taking the car seat. The little fella did get a seat for himself 2/3 of the fights. Most of the time I checked in at the gate asking the attendant if there were any empty seats for him to have a place to sit. For the smaller jets it wasn’t a problem, but the bigger jets were full every time. My little guy enjoyed playing with the seat belt. Since he was under age 2, the flight attendant told me that I needed to hold him on take-off and landings. During the longer flights when I did have to hold him the entire time, he usually did fall asleep. He knew there wasn’t anywhere to go because of all the people around, and he really didn’t want to go to any of them anyways.
I hope this eases the minds of any parents out there looking for some ideas for traveling with a toddler. You just do what you can, and realize that most people are very supportive and have been through having children at one time or another. They feel your pain, and will praise you if they see your child having a good time too.
What I took on the plane in a backpack:
- portable MP3 player w/ baby songs loaded, my 19month old really did like listening to this, and fell asleep to it on one flight!
- baby blanket
- small portable $2 Spiderman game from Toys-R-Us
- Books that unzip, flip, have attached animals
- Stickers and a little calendar for little guy to stick them into
- Sippy cup, goldfish crackers, and teddy grahams
- Diapers and wipes
- Benedryl
- Change of clothes for the baby and clean shirt for me
- Bibs
- My wallet
- Baby’s birth certificate/ my driver’s license
- Stuffed animal
- Cell phone and toy cell phone
- gum for the both of us
I questioned if I should bring talking books on the flight because it might be annoying to fellow passengers, but I think they’d rather hear that than a crying child.
I did take a folding umbrella stroller, but I opted out of taking the car seat. The little fella did get a seat for himself 2/3 of the fights. Most of the time I checked in at the gate asking the attendant if there were any empty seats for him to have a place to sit. For the smaller jets it wasn’t a problem, but the bigger jets were full every time. My little guy enjoyed playing with the seat belt. Since he was under age 2, the flight attendant told me that I needed to hold him on take-off and landings. During the longer flights when I did have to hold him the entire time, he usually did fall asleep. He knew there wasn’t anywhere to go because of all the people around, and he really didn’t want to go to any of them anyways.
I hope this eases the minds of any parents out there looking for some ideas for traveling with a toddler. You just do what you can, and realize that most people are very supportive and have been through having children at one time or another. They feel your pain, and will praise you if they see your child having a good time too.
