“One more cuddle, one more!”
And–oh–Ari grabbing Evie’s toes (their suppleness pictured below) and squealing “wee, wee, wee all the way home”–I am hopelessly wrapped around their fingers…toes (really any digit would serve).
By the way, we fly overseas with the girls in just a little over a week!! We got great suggestions from friends about some helpful apps because, after this catastrophic flight, we’re not really expecting either one of them to sleep. But I think I’d also like to get my hands on a couple new paperback books. I’m tempted by this one, by the same author as Rosie Revere, Engineer, a big favorite in our household. Also consulting this list. Any recommendations/suggestions/advice?
I thought this idea for flights with small kids to be pretty endearing, but I don’t think I have it in me this week. After I finish the paper I’m currently working on, I’ll only have about 45 pages left to write between me and graduation, so I’m trying to make a final push before we fly. My apologies to the fellow flyers who are less than charmed by my very vocal progeny.
anna in med school 
Have a GREAT flight. And don’t feel like you need those damn baggies. I’ve had friends give them out, and I’ve thought about giving them out (I have a 2 year old and have done a good share of flying, especially her first year)–but the dour faced naysaying passengers will never be appeased no matter how much you try…and You Will Never See Them Again. Plus, after all the years of flying with crying babies all around: it’s your turn.
Ugh! Thank you! What a perfectly awesome and kind comment, and exactly what I needed to hear, particularly the part that nothing I could do would really appease anyone 🙂 I was initially worried about Evie because she’s now nine months and crawling, but (and I do NOT want to jinx my luck here) she continues to remain fairly chill, so I think she’ll be okay. The fact that Ari can be somewhat entertained with books and fun apps (that we don’t take advantage while on ground) I think/hope will also go a long way. Thank you so much for the encouragement!!
I do judge parents of toddlers who don’t pack anything to entertain their kids, but a 10.5 month old who can’t be consoled is just a 10.5 month old who can’t be consoled and there is nothing that can be done about that.
We don’t normally allow our son access to television or IPads, but make a very happy exception for airplane rides. I also bring a bunch of small toys and wrap them in tin foil. Every so often my son gets to pick and unwrap a new toy from my diaper bag (unwrapping things is fun for kids, plus he makes balls out of the tin foil). You can find toys at the dollar section of Target. Just be really careful with taking anything that can’t be replaced since it is easy to lose toys (and your mind) on a flight with children. Another thing people sometimes bring is painter’s tape since it doesn’t make a mess when attached to anything and kids like to play with it. Dover makes really small, cheap $1.50-$2.00 reusable sticker books that are good for travel. There’s a whole set, so you can get them on different topics your girls would like. http://www.amazon.com/Little-Airport-Sticker-Activity-Stickers/dp/0486412725/ref=pd_sim_b_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=183829SRNS2C50QJ87QG . My son is a little older (4) and he really likes arts and craft activities like make your own jewelry kits. I open them, take out the items and pack them since the boxes they come in are usually much bigger than the jewelry parts. But I’m not sure if your oldest daughter is big enough for this.
If you are planning on bringing carseats (and if your flight is under FAA regulations – EU regulations do not guarantee you the right to bring a carseat, and it is at the airline’s discretion if you can use it) you might want to print out the regulations which state that you have the right to bring a FAA approved car seat on the plane, and that you have the right to install it according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Our son was asleep in his car seat halfway back home when a flight attendant told us the car seat needed to be turned around. This particular model – a Graco Snugride 35 – could not be installed forward facing on a plane and was FAA approved. The flight attendant kept insisting that is was against Jetblue policy to let a 2 year old sit rear facing, but the FAA mandates it and it would have been better if I could have given her documentation to prove that (eventually she went away, probably realizing if she woke a 2 year old halfway to the destination to take away his car seat the rest of the plane might have rioted since they’d rather have my kid sleeping than awake). Oh, and kids are more likely to sleep in their car seat so if you purchased seats for your children you might want to consider bringing car seats for the plane. You can use a mommy hook to attach a car seat to your carry on so you don’t have to carry it on top of everything else.
Oh -sorry – I forgot to mention the dover sticker books are really, really small (about the size of a postcard) so some people don’t like them for that reason. But there are lots of bigger options you can look for if you’d prefer that.
Also, I hoard stickers from Trader Joe’s and other places to bring with me to the airport. When I see other kids crying I ask their parents if it is okay for me to give them stickers, and sometimes that helps them calm down.
BRILLIANT!!! I seriously just read all of this out loud to my husband because I would like to take all this advice! Painters tape–done! Of course, Ari adores tape, and I never thought what a fantastic aid it might me on a flight.
We didn’t think about bringing Ari’s carseat until reading this post. She’s a little over two and way too big for the graco one that now Evie uses. She’s in the britax marathon…I’ll have to research if I can bring that one.
We are bringing Evie’s carseat (she is 9 months) but checking it, since she’s just a lap infant. Was hoping to get a bassinet on the flight but it’s not going to shake out. We’ll be three seats in a row. I think Evie will do okay just sleeping in my arms or in a carrier…hoping, hoping.
Also, thank you for not judging me too much for our previous flight fiasco! Ugh! We really did all we could, and I thought I was going to lose my mind when John got called away on a medical emergency for 3-4 hours (luckily, he was such a hit with the patient and the attendants that they were a lot more generous with letting me pace the aisles to try to calm Ari down).
Seriously, thank you so, so much for all this!
anna