Flying with a toddler

[spanner14]

They have stopped making and selling any antihistimine medicines, like Benedryl for children PERIOD. so if you are planning to take that route you will need to do it with Adult formula and try to figure out a dose, not the best thing without a Dr. and most Drs. are not going to help you do it.

 

Luckily we don't have that problem in the UK; there are still several meds for babies of 6 months and upwards.

 

Do you have anything like Piriton (active ingredient chlorpheniramine maleate) in the US? That's a fairly drowsy antihistamine that as a syrup can be taken in the UK by children 1 and over. Not sure if there's anything like that but it could help (again, try it at home first and with your doctor's consent).

 

I'd also recommend a lollipop; you can get sugar free ones over here so I guess they sell them in the US if you're worried about sugar and little teeth (although I'd rather eat a little sugar than all those artificial sweeteners but that's just me!).

 

Good luck! x

[goldenfarm]

we've traveled quite a bit already with our 16-month-old son. he has flown roundtrip six times in the past year. I give him a sippy cup for takeoff and landings and that works well, now that he's done with bottles.

 

and as for the benadryl, my son has allergies, so our pediatrician and the allergy specialist both advise giving him 1 tsp. of Zyrtec each day for his allergies. it's an antihistamine but the bottle says for children ages 2 and up. my son weighs 23 lbs and that is the doctor recommended dose for him.

 

hope that helps!

[WineDown17]

Any ideas to keep them busy??

 

Bringing many small new toys and a DVD player....crayons, paper, etc..

 

Not worried one iota about the european cruise.. but the flights have me daunted.. too late for cold feet.. but welcome lots of ideas!

[nothriver]

I too take dum dums as well as tippy cups, and perfer the sippy cup. We just use those first years disposable type cups when we travel. I've tried them, you do need to suck pretty hard to get water out. I really think the tippy cup is better than the sucker, when I give her a sucker, I have to tell her to acutally suck and swallow, she usually just licks and that isn't really going to help pop her ears.

 

I've never used benedryl for my children although I take it myself every time I fly. My doctor advised me not to give it to the kids unless I have reason to need it. If your children have had problems flying in the past, talk to your doctor. But if they have no problems, why medicate unnecessarily? I have problems with my ears when I fly, sometimes quite severe, so I keep a close eye on my kids when we fly but neither of them have ever had a problem.

 

As for distractions, we took a DVD player last trip and I purchased "childrens" headphones at Best Buy. We tried them at home and they worked great. However, apparantly, they reduce the sound, or set it at a maximum to protect kids hearing which is fine under normal circumstances, but on the plane, the "maximum" was too low and my daughter couldn't hear her movies and therefore wouldn't watch them. I let her use my earbuds from my ipod, but they are too big for her ears and fall out all the time. If anyone has solutions for earphones for kids, I'd really like to hear it, no pun intended. :)

 

For other distractions, we take some normal and some really odd items. I like post it notes, we play games with counting and letters, she can stick them all over the plane but unlike stickers, they are easily removed. We like those invisible ink books, those are fun even for young kids since they can just randomly color and the lines or writing appear, even if they don't understand the activity. One mom told me she takes dental floss and her young son spends time just pulling the floss out of the container. Something new and different, that is for certain, lol. The magnetic drawing board is a perennial favorite with my kids. I take small books and read - other people look at me funny but who knows, perhaps they are just enjoying the stories. We have a bag of tiny animal figures. One thing NOT to take is playdoh, it gets all over, yuk. I've heard the crayola model magic doesn't crumble. Not sure if those are really FAA approved since they are "moist" and although I haven't had my playdoh confiscated before, but wouln't be surprised if it was, either. Another mom mentioned that they just take two colors and let a young child squish them together. Keeps them occupied for a good long time and you can just throw it away as you get off the plane. In general, I look for anything new, small, and lightweight. And as much as I stress about it ahead of time, I usually only pull a few things out because lets face it, there just isn't a lot of room and it is a pain to get things out then put them away and get something else ad nauseum.

 

I definately take food. I generally try to avoid sugar, I bring pretzels, dried fruit, crackers, raisins, granola bars, cheese sticks, etc. Eating keeps them occupied. We play games with the food too. M&M's we sort into colors, divide them up equally - just trying to waste time basically. You can do the same with healthy snacks if you can find something with different colors or shapes. I do try to avoid sugar but on an airplane, anything to keep them happy and occupied. Which is ironic because we travel by car all the time and for a 3 hour trip I bring nothing for the kids, not a thing, and they are always fine. I think the difference is if they scream in the car, they don't bother anyone but me. On a plane, I feel like I *need* them to behave.

 

I love all the suggestions posted so far, and I'm looking forward to more!

[lds26]

I too take dum dums as well as tippy cups, and perfer the sippy cup. We just use those first years disposable type cups when we travel. I've tried them, you do need to suck pretty hard to get water out. I really think the tippy cup is better than the sucker, when I give her a sucker, I have to tell her to acutally suck and swallow, she usually just licks and that isn't really going to help pop her ears.

 

I've never used benedryl for my children although I take it myself every time I fly. My doctor advised me not to give it to the kids unless I have reason to need it. If your children have had problems flying in the past, talk to your doctor. But if they have no problems, why medicate unnecessarily? I have problems with my ears when I fly, sometimes quite severe, so I keep a close eye on my kids when we fly but neither of them have ever had a problem.

 

As for distractions, we took a DVD player last trip and I purchased "childrens" headphones at Best Buy. We tried them at home and they worked great. However, apparantly, they reduce the sound, or set it at a maximum to protect kids hearing which is fine under normal circumstances, but on the plane, the "maximum" was too low and my daughter couldn't hear her movies and therefore wouldn't watch them. I let her use my earbuds from my ipod, but they are too big for her ears and fall out all the time. If anyone has solutions for earphones for kids, I'd really like to hear it, no pun intended. :)

 

For other distractions, we take some normal and some really odd items. I like post it notes, we play games with counting and letters, she can stick them all over the plane but unlike stickers, they are easily removed. We like those invisible ink books, those are fun even for young kids since they can just randomly color and the lines or writing appear, even if they don't understand the activity. One mom told me she takes dental floss and her young son spends time just pulling the floss out of the container. Something new and different, that is for certain, lol. The magnetic drawing board is a perennial favorite with my kids. I take small books and read - other people look at me funny but who knows, perhaps they are just enjoying the stories. We have a bag of tiny animal figures. One thing NOT to take is playdoh, it gets all over, yuk. I've heard the crayola model magic doesn't crumble. Not sure if those are really FAA approved since they are "moist" and although I haven't had my playdoh confiscated before, but wouln't be surprised if it was, either. Another mom mentioned that they just take two colors and let a young child squish them together. Keeps them occupied for a good long time and you can just throw it away as you get off the plane. In general, I look for anything new, small, and lightweight. And as much as I stress about it ahead of time, I usually only pull a few things out because lets face it, there just isn't a lot of room and it is a pain to get things out then put them away and get something else ad nauseum.

 

I definately take food. I generally try to avoid sugar, I bring pretzels, dried fruit, crackers, raisins, granola bars, cheese sticks, etc. Eating keeps them occupied. We play games with the food too. M&M's we sort into colors, divide them up equally - just trying to waste time basically. You can do the same with healthy snacks if you can find something with different colors or shapes. I do try to avoid sugar but on an airplane, anything to keep them happy and occupied. Which is ironic because we travel by car all the time and for a 3 hour trip I bring nothing for the kids, not a thing, and they are always fine. I think the difference is if they scream in the car, they don't bother anyone but me. On a plane, I feel like I *need* them to behave.

 

I love all the suggestions posted so far, and I'm looking forward to more!

 

 

Thank you for all your suggestions. We are going to be flying with our kids in November. I am looking at our DVD player to make sure that it also runs on batteries so that on a real long flight we have enough juice to keep it running through a good section of movies. I dont know what all we will be doing. I know that we have a 6 yr old who is a super puker in the vehicle. We also have a 4 yr old who is very chatty. But there will be 4 adults to help with 2 lil boys. Im very excited about this trip but I think we will be checking into the possibility of exploring medical intervention as well.

[spanner14]

As for distractions, we took a DVD player last trip and I purchased "childrens" headphones at Best Buy. We tried them at home and they worked great. However, apparantly, they reduce the sound, or set it at a maximum to protect kids hearing which is fine under normal circumstances, but on the plane, the "maximum" was too low and my daughter couldn't hear her movies and therefore wouldn't watch them. I let her use my earbuds from my ipod, but they are too big for her ears and fall out all the time. If anyone has solutions for earphones for kids, I'd really like to hear it, no pun intended. :)

 

 

 

 

My daughter's ears were too little for the earbuds provided with the ipod so we bought her a pair of travel headphones by Sennheiser (these ones: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-PX-100-Headphones-White/dp/B0009WA01I/ref=sr_1_33?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1239617859&sr=1-33 ) which are great; they adjust for little heads and fold up into a sunglasses size case for travelling. She's had them for 3 years now and they're still going strong and she uses them for the DVD player, her Nintendo DS, and her ipod as they fit all three.

 

If you have Crayola Colour Wonder in the US I'd recommend that for journeys; it's special paper (comes in various colours) and pens that only work on the crayola paper - no mess on hands, clothes, or anything else! We've been using this since it came out over here and even when DD was only big enough to scribble, she loved it because the colour came out like magic. You can get colouring books and ordinary paper and it's brilliant for journeys. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crayola-Colour-Wonder-Colouring-Markers/dp/B000ET454Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1239618144&sr=8-1

 

Hope that helps! Spanner :)

[loveysbydesign]

Great tips!

I'm planning to wrap up several little presents for my almost 2 y.o. (as well as my older 2 so they're not left out-Bakugan balls)for our flight, that I got cheap at the $ Store, books, stickers, a kaleidascope(sp), finger puppets, glow bracelets as well as bringing along a roll or 2 of scotch tape. I've heard scotch tape can entertain them the entire flight if it's only 2-3 hours-lol.

Also don't forget to pack an extra outfit for you and your child incase of motion sickness, as well as a damp washcloth or 2 in a ziploc baggie(better to be safe than sorry)!

[Kerry's Girls]

I also bring a small plastic trash bag to avoid the mountain of trash we create from piling up under our seats - too many times I'd had to sift through the trash on the floor for something that's been dropped, etc.

 

Best,

Mia

[ginger2000]

Lollipops - great idea!!!! Or any cup with a straw will help with the ears. When my daughter was a toddler, we gave her a little bit under the dose of infant gravol about 45 mins prior to boarding. The other thing will still do with our kids (now 5 and 8) we NEVER do the preboarding! Preboarding means being seated on the plane for a very long time!!! My husband goes on first with the bags and after everyone has boarded we join him. The first time we did the preboarding thing, there were a couple of people we were waiting for and by the time they closed the doors to the plane we were on there for about 1 hour! Kids should be boarded LAST!

[nothriver]

My daughter's ears were too little for the earbuds provided with the ipod so we bought her a pair of travel headphones by Sennheiser (these ones: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-PX-100-Headphones-White/dp/B0009WA01I/ref=sr_1_33?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1239617859&sr=1-33 ) which are great; they adjust for little heads and fold up into a sunglasses size case for travelling. She's had them for 3 years now and they're still going strong and she uses them for the DVD player, her Nintendo DS, and her ipod as they fit all three.

 

Hope that helps! Spanner :)

 

Yes, thank you so much for posting! These look wonderful, very highly rated, too, and I love that they fold. Here is the link to the US Amazon site if anyone else is interested.

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-PX-100-Collapsible-Headphones/dp/B000089GN3/ref=reg_hu-wl_mrai-recs

[Eclipsepearl]

When my daughter was a toddler, we gave her a little bit under the dose of infant gravol about 45 mins prior to boarding. The other thing will still do with our kids (now 5 and 8) we NEVER do the preboarding! Preboarding means being seated on the plane for a very long time!!! My husband goes on first with the bags and after everyone has boarded we join him. The first time we did the preboarding thing, there were a couple of people we were waiting for and by the time they closed the doors to the plane we were on there for about 1 hour! Kids should be boarded LAST!

 

Just as a reminder, Gravol is also an antihistamine, so it shares the same concerns as Benedryl. Please don't give it before boarding in case of a delay or emergency (or be sure that the dose is small enough that the child could function and wouldn't be sleepy). Even on the runway, it would have enough time to take effect.

 

For those of us who either suffered and/or have children prone to motion sickness, descent is the critical time for both ears and getting sick. I don't remember children throwing up on take-off. You can probably get up in the air without too much trouble but be prepared coming back to earth.

 

That's a good plan for boarding if there is more than one adult. One gets on and the other stays outside with the children until the last minute. I don't recommend last-minute boarding with one adult or all together because if there's a seating problem, it could be too late to sort it out. Also make sure the "outside" parent keeps the diaper bag in case it's needed before boarding.

[spanner14]

Yes, thank you so much for posting! These look wonderful, very highly rated, too, and I love that they fold. Here is the link to the US Amazon site if anyone else is interested.

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-PX-100-Collapsible-Headphones/dp/B000089GN3/ref=reg_hu-wl_mrai-recs

 

You're welcome! We've been so pleased with them; they come in a really good case for easy storage in DD's flight/car bag. They really are good headphones; I'd buy another set straight away if anything happened to these.

 

The white ones we have seemed to be a lot more expensive on the US site - sorry! Hopefully they may be cheaper elsewhere :)

[WineDown17]

This video gets great reviews-

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Little-Traveler-DVD-Toolkit/dp/B0009I860E/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1239984060&sr=8-9

 

Just ordered it.. keeping my fingers crossed.