When does flying get easier?
We just got home from a trip to San Diego.... The flight was exhausting with our 16-mo-old! We went through books, toys, snacks, any and all buttons in our vicinity, a child-friendly neighbor making faces for him... Even tried a DVD (this was our last resort!). We've issued a moratorium on air travel until things get easier. When is that?
1 Answers
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Sorry it was a rough one! I think sometimes flights are just rough, even at "easy" ages. For what it's worth, I think 12-18 months might be the toughest ages for air travel, because new walkers just want to walk! We've spent much of these flights just walking up and down aisles, greeting anyone and everyone who's not annoyed (luckily many folks are charmed by small children ;) As they get older, children get more interested in books, favorite toys, TVs, etc. and you can talk with them about why they need to stay seated, how much longer it will be, what's happening with the ground crew outside the window, etc.
We've had some luck with choosing flight times where we know they'll be sleeping - late afternoon (after keeping them up past normal nap start time in the airport) and red eye flights. We spend the money to get our under-2 her own seat on the red eyes a) so that we can get some sleep and b) so that she feels like she can't just jump down and run off - she's buckled in just like in the car. (It's also safer - some say a lot safer - to get infants and toddlers their own seat if there's turbulence or a rough landing. But that doesn't mean we always do it. For short flights we often don't.)
