Paisley has now been on 10 flights and we have only had one near meltdown which I described several posts ago. And I was kinda on the verge of having my own at that point, so I understand where she was coming from. Lots of you have asked me to share how I keep her happy and what I take with us to make flying a pleasant experience. I'm certainly no expert and mostly I just wing it when it comes to parenting. But this girl LOVES to travel and I was determined to not let a baby slow us down.
As far as what I take with us on the plane... I just carry-on a little rolling suitcase that can slide easily under the seat in front of us. I don't want to stow it overhead because crap up there is essentially useless during the flight! We also travel with a very lightweight (8 pound) stroller which we check in at the gate. In her bag, I keep our travel documents in the front pocket away from everything else and easily accessible.
Milk: Paisley drinks whole milk and I've taken a sippy cup of whole milk through security just fine, but I find that it's a nuisance to pack a cooler with ice to take extra for later. So, we have been using Enfamil Toddler formula. It's for kids over 1 and she actually really likes it, which is good for a kid that drank nothing but breastmilk. So, I pack the formula divider bowl that holds 3 servings and an empty water bottle to fill at a water fountain before we get on the plane. It's easy to mix it up that way and super simple to go through security.
Food: Snacks work really well to entertain a lot of kids on a plane, but not so much my little multi-tasker. She likes to grab a handleful of Goldfish to munch on while reading a book and playing with a doll. So, I take them out of necessity, not so much to keep her busy. We packed the 100 calorie bags of Goldfish and also little boxes of cereal. I also took several bananas.
Diapers: I took 5 diapers, a small thing of wipes, and the wonderful little blue diaper sacks just in case she decided to drop a deuce on a plane. Let's face it- that kid's diapers could smell up an entire shopping mall, so imagine what it could do to a plane. Luckily, I've never had to change her on a plane and I'm still not positive how I would manage that feat. :)
Toys: The part I'm sure everyone really wanted me to talk about... This time around, I packed three of her favorite books, a brand new doll, sunglasses (she loves to put them on and take them off over and over), a sticker book, a toy truck, a squishy ball, etc. Mostly we took just tiny little toys because they're lightweight and don't take up much room. I also had a travel pillow. Not because I thought I'd get a wink of sleep, but to cushion my arm on the armrest when she'd fall asleep on me.
Ears Popping: Paisley only gets a binky when she sleeps now, so they make her REALLY happy when she has one. So, I took several with us so that she could suck on it when we took off and landed. Her ears never seemed to be a problem, so I guess it worked well! Giving her the sippy cup might have worked but it would be hard to get her to drink for long enough.
What we did: We had a 2.5 hour flight and then a 1.5 hour flight both ways this time and she slept during one of the flights each way. Paisley is great about napping anywhere so it definitely comes in handy during travel. Otherwise, she was awake the rest of the flight time. She loves to watch out the window during take-off and landing. She also likes to play with the overhead light and fan. We found that her favorite item to play with was an empty cup. We could put her toys under it so she could lift it to find them. She liked to talk into the cup like a megaphone. This kept her busy the longest! She also enjoyed flipping through the Sky Mall magazine and identifying objects she knows such as "cat", "dog", "fish", etc.
She also likes talking to people near us. On one flight, we had a little baby boy behind us so she loved peeking over our seats to see him. Both babies really enjoyed interacting and stayed perfectly happy. It really always goes so much better than I anticipate! I'm always terrified that she's going to freak out and scream for 2 solid hours while I'm trapped on a plane, but it just never happens. Kids seem to always surprise us! :)
As far as what I take with us on the plane... I just carry-on a little rolling suitcase that can slide easily under the seat in front of us. I don't want to stow it overhead because crap up there is essentially useless during the flight! We also travel with a very lightweight (8 pound) stroller which we check in at the gate. In her bag, I keep our travel documents in the front pocket away from everything else and easily accessible.
Milk: Paisley drinks whole milk and I've taken a sippy cup of whole milk through security just fine, but I find that it's a nuisance to pack a cooler with ice to take extra for later. So, we have been using Enfamil Toddler formula. It's for kids over 1 and she actually really likes it, which is good for a kid that drank nothing but breastmilk. So, I pack the formula divider bowl that holds 3 servings and an empty water bottle to fill at a water fountain before we get on the plane. It's easy to mix it up that way and super simple to go through security.
Food: Snacks work really well to entertain a lot of kids on a plane, but not so much my little multi-tasker. She likes to grab a handleful of Goldfish to munch on while reading a book and playing with a doll. So, I take them out of necessity, not so much to keep her busy. We packed the 100 calorie bags of Goldfish and also little boxes of cereal. I also took several bananas.
Diapers: I took 5 diapers, a small thing of wipes, and the wonderful little blue diaper sacks just in case she decided to drop a deuce on a plane. Let's face it- that kid's diapers could smell up an entire shopping mall, so imagine what it could do to a plane. Luckily, I've never had to change her on a plane and I'm still not positive how I would manage that feat. :)
Toys: The part I'm sure everyone really wanted me to talk about... This time around, I packed three of her favorite books, a brand new doll, sunglasses (she loves to put them on and take them off over and over), a sticker book, a toy truck, a squishy ball, etc. Mostly we took just tiny little toys because they're lightweight and don't take up much room. I also had a travel pillow. Not because I thought I'd get a wink of sleep, but to cushion my arm on the armrest when she'd fall asleep on me.
Ears Popping: Paisley only gets a binky when she sleeps now, so they make her REALLY happy when she has one. So, I took several with us so that she could suck on it when we took off and landed. Her ears never seemed to be a problem, so I guess it worked well! Giving her the sippy cup might have worked but it would be hard to get her to drink for long enough.
What we did: We had a 2.5 hour flight and then a 1.5 hour flight both ways this time and she slept during one of the flights each way. Paisley is great about napping anywhere so it definitely comes in handy during travel. Otherwise, she was awake the rest of the flight time. She loves to watch out the window during take-off and landing. She also likes to play with the overhead light and fan. We found that her favorite item to play with was an empty cup. We could put her toys under it so she could lift it to find them. She liked to talk into the cup like a megaphone. This kept her busy the longest! She also enjoyed flipping through the Sky Mall magazine and identifying objects she knows such as "cat", "dog", "fish", etc.
She also likes talking to people near us. On one flight, we had a little baby boy behind us so she loved peeking over our seats to see him. Both babies really enjoyed interacting and stayed perfectly happy. It really always goes so much better than I anticipate! I'm always terrified that she's going to freak out and scream for 2 solid hours while I'm trapped on a plane, but it just never happens. Kids seem to always surprise us! :)
thanks for the tips! she is really advanced with recognizing stuff in magazines like that, huh?
ReplyDeleteyour diaper post a couple of days ago cracked me up!
What a great little traveler!!!!
ReplyDelete