Thursday, August 07, 2008

I need your help

Hi Mom friends.
Last fall Kipp and I fly to Boise to see Kelle and Aaron with baby Tanner. Tanner was 7 months old, he was crawling and pulling in but not walking. Our flight was pretty empty and we sat by a mom flying with her son who was around Tanner's age. So it was a fun and easy flight.

On Tuesday my mom and I are flying to Washington with 17 month old Tanner to see Michael, Jodie and the kids. We are so excited, but I need tips on flying with a monkey rather than a baby. I have a bunch of different snacks for the trip. I was wondering if anybody knows if I can bring juice boxes on the plane? Kipp is buying Tan a backpack leash so we can run him tired before we board the plane. We leave at 6 pm so he should be getting tired at that time.

This time we have to take his big daddy car seat too. Alright moms, please share what you have learned about flying. Thanks!

14 comments:

Kristi said...

99 cent store. Buy toys he has never seen before. Pull them out and keep him busy. Random stuff too - paperclips...post it notes...stuff he's not normally allowed to have.

If you can bring a laptop so he can watch a dvd that is the most AMAZING thing ever.

Try to run him around as much as u can before the flight.

Juice boxes and small water bottles - they will usually let you through with those. Claim them first before they find them, and make sure Tanner is standing with you to show that they are for him. It worked for us on our last flight.

Best of Luck!!!!

Carrie said...

Those are great ideas. To make it even more fun, I wrap the random 99 cent store things. They can't open a "present" til the plane is off the ground. Movies are great. My guys love color wonder or travel size aqua doodle. Maybe a sucker to help with pressure on his little ears. Make puppets out of the barf bags. Bring along, or let him fly in jammies and tell him it's a special sleeping airplane. It worked for me flying alone w/ boys to Indy. Ok, it's getting long. I fly with these guys a lot, so holla if you need more ideas.

Jodie Howerton said...

I've had security toss all my juice boxes on several occasions!

Bring his car seat and consider a dose of Benadryl!

Definitely bring some new toys that he's never seen before...

Luckily, the flight is less than 3 hours, so it won't be too miserable!

Emily said...

On our last flight home from Oregon we ended up giving Claire a dose of Benadryl. It helped her sleep through almost the entire flight. If you don't want to drug him, I've had friends that did presents too - that worked like a charm.

Charla Liedahl said...

I echo everything that's been said but have to throw in that STICKERS are aewsome! Buy a few sheets of stickers with favorite characters or themes and a small notebook for him to put them in. If Tanner's like Nolan this will be great fun! Also, one of those little magna doodle thingies and new board books! Basically anything new that's small and will fit in a kids size backpack. Security has only let me through with milk in a sippy, not water or juice. Hope that helps!

Nancy H said...

And hopefully Grandma and Grandpa will be able to help a little!! We'll play a little pass the Tanner!! Something else I always gave my kids on long car trips (we could never afford to fly when mine were little!) was a little flashlight--they love them!! I'll bring one!

Dionne Sincire said...

DID ANYONE SAY BENADRYL?????!!!!< ;)

I agree with what everyone else has offered. However the one jewel that always works for me is a good fix of Benadryl.

With my little ones, I find that the toys and other distractions work on the flight going. However they're hip to the game on the return flight.

Also, the mini DVD will be your best friend.

Dawn Coleman said...

Ok, I just happened upon your blog though Lisa P. and apparently there's only a degree or two of separation b/c I am friends with Charla Liedahl who left a comment! Anyway, I have flown numerous times with both my kids and I really dislike picking up toys thrown on the dirty airplane floor. So sometimes I string toys on a scarf (they obviously have to have a place to string though) so that they can play with them without falling on the ground. If they lap sit, I put it around my neck, if they are in a carseat, I string it through their buckle. Also, beware of flights that have boarding on the tarmack b/c the steps up are difficult with kids - ask for help! Hope that helps!

Dawn Coleman said...

Ok, so you know the Johnsons too? Wow, lots of mutual friends! :-)

Dawn Coleman said...

I know JJ Peterson too!! Ok, it seems like we would have had to have met before??

edie said...

Hi there,
I noticed your question on another blog - thought I would add my two cents! We just flew to Boston with our 15 month old and we brought lots of board books which helped tremendously. We also could bring milk in a sippy cup through security but not water.
Regarding Benadryl, this is probably a no-brainer but make sure Tanner doesn't have an adverse reaction beforehand. My sister's kids all have an adversity to Benadryl that makes her kids hyperactive instead of sleepy (her doctor said that about 10% of kids have this reaction). Unfortunately, she learned this the hard way on a flight where her daughter kicked and screamed from Phoenix to Seattle. Ugh.

Best of luck to you!

Lisa Davis said...

Hi Sarah - Your cousin from Tennessee here. I am just getting all my "blogging gear" set up. Edie is correct. Rachel, my youngest would bounce off the walls if given Benadryl...yikes. Plus, I found traveling when the kids were small, to get on the plane LAST. It cuts out on being in such small quarters for longer and watching everyone else board and they could run for a few more mintues before we got on.

Kristen Howerton said...

My biggest piece of advice: try not to worry about the people around you. This is so hard for me, but when I stress about how others are looking at my kids, I become a crazy, sweaty, manic mother and then my kids act even worse. Try to relax and remember that a loud baby won't kill anyone. If he's really loud, put your headphones on and take some Benadryl yourself. Or maybe the Templetons can give you something stronger . . . :)

I agree about the carseat, too. My kids know that the carseat means sitting still. It's familiar and seems to even calm them down. They will let you take it on if there is an empty seat.

The Mama's said...

Check out Ali's post on this! She has a ton of great ideas.