Flying with a 16 month old. Need advice on what kinds of things i should bring along on the flight.?

Question

im only flying from montana to nevada but i already know that it is going to be a long trip because im flying with my 16 month old daughter. I need help or advise on what to expect.

and also because my daughter is going to be sitting on my lap and i only get one ticket , does that limit my lugage to what i would be able to take if it was just me flying or does my daughter get the same amount of luggage too??????

Answer 1

Definitely bring your child's favorite toy, snacks are always a good idea. You want to make sure that the baby chews a lot, (it will relieve the pressure in her/his ears). And, as bad as it sounds... baby Tylenol preferable the night time stuff. If your baby gets too uncomfortable, give it to her/him. He or she will fall asleep, making the flight easier for the both of you.

Answer 2

You may be in for a tough time or things could be fine.
I had same situation with my 15 month old this past Feb. We had a four hour flight that seemed a lot longer....
For take off and landing, make sure daughter either has pacifier or something to gnaw on - this will help her deal with the air pressure changes on her sensitive ears.
Sitting for a long flight will be next to impossible unless you can get her to sleep the entire way. She'll want to be up and mobile - I walked my son up and down the aisles but you are really limited for space and people are always up and heading back and forth to the washrooms so you'll just have to play it by ear. Most people are understanding, but there are always a few that have no kid experience and may be complaining - just ignore them. YOu can also try bringing your daughter up near the washroom (there's a little extra space that you can bounce and swing her around). The stewards are great - very accommodating - and will help any way they can.
Bring diaper bag, change of clothes, books, water and munchies as carryon.

Good luck.

Answer 3

first of all because u only have one ticket, ur luggage allowance will only be for 1 ticket.
take a favourite toy that will keep the little one occupied over the journey. also take a toy that your daughter has not played with before, take a book. remember to take some snacks and drinks because you don't know how long u will be waiting in queues, etc... give ur daughter a drink when plane is taking off and landing and hopefully this will prevent sore ears. Ur daughter may b sleeping throughout the journey so it's always good to get a blanket from staff when u board the plane. don't stress about the journey as ur daughter will pick up on that from u.
last of all, good luck.......

Answer 4

Have a big purse or a diaper bag doubling as your purse. Have snacks for your daughter and an extra sippy cup for water or juice on the flight. Have her blankie or stuffed animal she'll cuddle or sleep with and have some books and small toys to play with in the airport and on the plane. Preferrably quiet toys. Bring a portable DVD player or rent one at the airport with at least two movies for her to watch. Pray the flight isn't full so you can get her a seat!! Then you'll need a carseat, so I don't think you can pull that one off. Use an umbrella stroller to keep her contained in the airport and everything will go through security, the stroller and even stuffed animals. Plan on not having carry on luggage for your daughter. One seat, one set of carry ons. You won't be able to carry it all and her, too, anyway. Take baby tylenol in case you need it on your trip. Be sure she can suck on something (bottle, sippy cup, pacifier) when the plane goes up and lands, her ears will be hurting. The pressure doesn't seem to affect adults as much.

Answer 5

If your daughter does not have a seat, she does not get a baggage allowance. I would strongly recommend you consider purchasing a seat for your daughter. It is very, very dangerous for a baby to travel in a parent's lap. If you purchase her own seat, you can then strap her into her car-seat, buckle the car-seat into the airline seat, and enjoy a safer trip. You also get the advantage of having your hands free to entertain and care for her. When there is severe turbulence or an emergency landing or (shudder to think) an actual crash, anything unsecured will go flying about the cabin. A baby in a lap has no seat belt and if the ride is rough enough, she can bounce out of your arms. I have seen this happen twice; once the baby hit his head on the seat in front of him so hard that you could hear the crack. Securing your seat belt around both you and the child is even worse; it practically guarantees that your child will not survive a crash even if you do. Many airlines offer a deeply discounted rate for infants who need their own seat. I really suggest you take advantage of that and get the baby her own seat. Chances are she will be just fine as you don't have crashes every day but it can happen, and rough air is possible any time. You'd never dream of taking her in the car unsecured--- a plane goes about 10 times as fast as a car! It is simply not worth putting your daughter in such risk just to save a few hundred dollars.

Answer 6

When you check in tell the attendant that you have a child sitting on your lap. The airline we flew on leaves empty seats in the back for the filght attendants in case of an emergency. They gave us a seat by those so they knew their would be empty ones close by.

The stroller advice is great also. You can take it all the way to the airplane door and it will be waiting for you when you get off the plane. The stroller doesn't count as luggage. You still only get to take one person's worth of luggage. Ask the airline about checking car seats or mabye a pack-n-play. We have a big Kelty back pack that carries the baby and they didn't count it a luggage.

Answer 7

Wow, I wished I had asked this before I flew with mine!! First, bring your stroller (it is not considered an extra piece of luggage, which I didn't know), I did not and boy did I regret it. Also make sure to bring plenty of munchies that your child really likes, don't depend on the airline for food. Make sure to bring extra blankets as it get really cold. I would also make sure to bring lots of books, and maybe ever a new puzzle toy of some sort that does not have pieces that fall off, that way you won't be spending the flight picking up pieces off the floor. Check out these links for ideas:
http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/baby-travel-toy.html
http://www.babyscholars.com/cucubaactoye.html
http://www.babyscholars.com/tagrelea.html
http://www.babyscholars.com/babyscholars.html

Keep the new toy or toys for the flight so that she has a new an interesting item to keep her busy, and most importantly, don't get embarrassed, all babies cry, and there will be other parents on the flight that will feel your pain, even if they do not have their child with them!!!!!

Oh, one last thing, make sure you have a bottle ready for take off and landing as this will help with her ears popping.

Answer 8

The amount of luggage depends on the airline. You should bring any decently quiet activity. Coloring books, story books, a walkman and kids music, a favorite blanket or toy, a couple sheets of colored paper to crumble and tear (instaed of her books!) Snacks of course, a bowl spoon and straw for eating and playing. Don't worry about a little mess like crumbs or confetti scraps they get payed to clean and it's much better than an upset bored baby. Just do your best and don't be afraid to let people her you whispering all the "please don't"s they'll appreciate knowing your trying instead of the pretend it's not happening approach. Good luck and if all else fails, remind yourself and anyone giving you dirty looks that it'll be over soon.

Answer 9

I'd bring fruit snacks ..ones that she has to chew alot..cabin pressure will hurt her little ears and You don't want that to cause her to cry the entire flight! Favorite toys...maybe a simple came YOU can play with her..so it will help keep her occupied as well as yourself! GOOD luck...I don't know what kind of luggage or how much...sorry..don't travel much

Also, try to postpone any nap time she may have...maybe have her soo exhausted on the plane..she sleeps most of the flight...that would be wonderful for you...

Answer 10

You have been given a ton of terrific suggestions and I would like to add one that comes from my own experience of flying with a very small child. We brought my husband's laptop that plays DVDs and some of my son's favorite DVDs (baby einstein's are a hit in my home.) He was upset when we landed and he couldn't see the rest of his Wiggles show. I realize some of the people on the plane could be aggravated by listening to the kiddie DVDs but it's a how lot less irritating than a screaming toddler!