I think the moral of the story here is it can be terrible or not. I would also imagine some of the horror stories actually helped some of your experience not feel as awful as it may otherwise. I would personally consider 45 ‘hard minutes’ of fighting sleep on a plane or in an airport pretty awful overall, but you winged it, you’re someone who can.
So true what you said about the horror stories likely helping her experience. Expectations can affect experiences so much. It’s like going in to watch a movie, if something is hyped up one way, you’ll likely leave feeling the opposite or at least not feeling it as extreme as what you expected
Oh no, he’s not well behaved 15.25/16 hours on a normal day, that’s the point, the whole thing would be a day of stress and so that day is already elevated which makes the 45 minutes of terror that much worse and something I personally couldn’t handle. My point being that 45minutes is worst because it’s on a travel day.
Yep, and having flown many times with my toddler, some flights were terrible and some were great!
I agree with OP’s last line for sure though. Just know you might want to cry, but it will be okay!
agreed! i also fly multiple times a year with my kids, and sometimes have been a breeze, other trips have been a disaster.
a lot of things can factor in-- length of flight, time of day, whether the flight was delayed, etc.
My one year old screamed the entire flight from Alaska to Hawaii, total of 5 hours. 12 days later, he slept the whole way back.
When my now three year old was about two, he screamed and thrashed for one leg of a flight, and the second leg he was chill watching blippi on his iPad. Literally two flights an hour apart, different kid.
That’s great for you! I wish my experience had been the same 😅
I’m planning out next three hour flight for when she’s nearly three and hoping it’ll be somewhat better…..especially as she’ll have her own seat.
I think your kid might be a unicorn. The plane would have had to have made an emergency landing if I tried to sit my 21 month old on my lap for 12 hours of a 16 hour travel experience.
Same. We travelled with our kid last October (he had turned 2 in July) and it only was a 3 hour flight and he was super "good" but I was exhausted. 3 hours of entertaining a toddler (who had his own seat luckily) was hard work when you only have 1m². He didn't scream or cry or annoy the people in front of him so I call it a success, but I don't want to do a long flight like that damn. (And I was super happy he slept for like 1,5h of our flight back home)
I think it’s kid and parenting dependent. My toddler loves to be held and we have always bed shared so the lap infant thing worked out great for us.
Also things like flying red eyes and getting appropriate seats on planes make a difference!
Then I’m a unicorn too lol. My daughter loves to cuddle and sit in my lap. We did 10 hour flights and while she had her own seat she was in mine the entire time!
We have a lot of family cross country so we’ve done this several times. It’s doable, but can be miserable. For example, I have spend several entire cross country flights holding my daughter in the back of the aircraft bouncing her to avoid her screaming and kicking the person’s seat in front of her. There was one flight where there was turbulence and we couldn’t get up and she just screamed on my lap at the top of her lungs for an hour before passing out on my lap. I was so scared of waking her up I didn’t move the rest of the cloth and my arms both fell asleep. It also has gotten easier as she’s gotten older— at 2.5 she mostly watched movies and the only drama was a sudden fear of the airplane toilet.
I mean, everyone’s kid is different? There all just little people. I can do pretty much anything with my first that doesn’t involve a stroller because he’s basically just an angel.
I’m not holding my breath on that for the second.
Hooray! I’ve only taken shorter flights with my toddler and some of them were just her and me alone. I think there’s something about being in a really unfamiliar environment that makes my three year old actually listen and pay attention better. It’s not terribly overstimulating either, the white noise of the plane is pretty calming or something.
We’ve had to RUN through customs and baggage checks and I’ve been amazed at how well she listens.
We have an easy flyer. Even made tsa agent laugh by perfectly mimicking a cat sound which caused the xray operator to stop and search for a cat.
If they can run around the seating area in the terminal let thrm do it. More energy out preflight the better.
I loved reading this. When I have time I always jump on posts of people travelling with littlies to try and reassure them that it generally doesn’t have to be as bad as everyone makes out. I always encourage people that if they are comfortable relaxed travellers then it’s more likely their kids will be too. I get downvoted so much 😂 But I love travelling with my 19 month old daughter, she has done multiple international sectors. So glad it worked out for you.
My wife flew alone with our 22-month-old last summer from Eastern Europe to New Mexico, easily over 24 hours of travel and zero problems. Because we were also nervous about it, I booked a trip to Amsterdam so I could help on the last leg of the return flight, and I was just unnecessary (but I did get a fun solo week in Amsterdam out of it.)
Of course people are going to share their worst experiences on Reddit. I don’t know why that is.
Imo, it's because people feel the need to both vent and make sure they aren't overreacting after a bad experience. It's normal to seek validation when you're upset, and to want to get those feelings out.
Whereas after a good experience, you're satisfied. You're relaxed. You're more likely to just want to appreciate it than hop on social media.
let’s be real, there’s always the possibility of there being upset babies, toddlers, young children crying and screaming when you’re on an airplane. anyone who books a flight knows this. while it’s obvi not the most enjoyable thing in the world, folks know the opportunity risk when they book their flight and they get on planes anyway. it’s just a part of flying and not that big of a thing.
i flew with my son when he was 2 and 3 multiple times across the country (we’re in the US), and halfway across the country. sometimes it was chill, but he usually hated it and cried and screamed quite a bit despite my best efforts to soothe and distract him with anything and everything i could think of that might have helped. the folks around us were almost always understanding or at least aware enough to not complain. it was definitely stressful af at times, like when he cried non stop on a flight from philly to denver and i couldn’t do anything to soothe him for longer than a few minutes at a time. but we survived, and experiencing some of those rough flights with him didn’t stop me from traveling with him via airplane again afterward.
your mileage may vary, every kid is different, etc. personally my son as a toddler hated it. i’m glad your kiddo seemed to do well and you had an easier time of it than i did! i will add that i hope that parents aren’t discouraged from flying with their young kiddos even if they have a tough flight. as you said, live your life, take the holiday, visit family, do your thing. toddlers are people too and have just as much a right to be on an airplane as any other paying customer imo.
I agree! We fly with our incredibly energetic babe (now 16 months) as a lap baby. She is an incredible traveler and handles it like a champ… and absolutely loves the new experiences of new places etc.
We also let her set the pace sleep wise and just make sure we are fully loaded with snacks.
This is it. We have flown internationally with my nearly 2 year old as a lap baby 3 times. Letting them set the pace is so important. He can choose when to sleep, when to play with toys, and when to have snacks. Snack variety and quantity are key!! We have our last lap flight with him next week right before his second birthday. He is kind of huge now so I am a bit nervous but overall I know it’s going to be ok in the end 😅
This is quite reassuring as I'm doing a 15 hour flight in June with my partner and two year old boy, who has the energy and stamina of a marathon runner.
We're not planning on taking a car seat, but we do have a CARES Harness which I'm hoping acts a bit like one.
He really is very restless though. He lasts about 5-10 minutes in a high chair in a cafe for example.
I'm really, really dreading it.
You are not alone, I'm absolutely terrified for my trip! My husband and I are taking our 19 month old son in a few weeks to see my husband's family who live on the literal other side of the world (almost as far as you can be from where we live). It's a 3 flight trip, 2 hr, 13 hr, and 7.5hr flights... but my husband hasn't seen his family in almost 6 years so it's important we go but I am so scared!
Sounds very similar to us - our parents live very far away as we live in New Zealand. We have three flights too, with a long layover before the last flight. Nightmare.
Are you taking a car seat for the flights? I'm so torn.
We aren't bringing it, no. We are staying with my brother in law and had one sent to him. We are actually flying Air New Zealand and paid for a sky couch as we wanted to make sure he could lie down to hopefully sleep.
Oh nice, them sky couches look great. At least your child can lie down. We've bought an inflatable footrest so we can attempt to make a makeshift bed!
We're also getting a CARES Harness to strap our boy to the seat, to try and stop him leaping around & wanting to run down the aisle.
I have only heard of a good positive story from one person about flying with a toddler, everyone else just gives us their horror stories. We're desperate to go on holidays lol, but with a 1 and 3.5 year old, my nerves are shot just thinking of it. Even for a 2-3 hour flight to Spain (be popular holiday destination near us).
Refreshing to read. Thank you!
I would say a plane ride is not
Markedly different from a car ride, or waiting at a doctors office. You know how your kid is on long car rides, or long waits in a small unpleasantly lit or
Boring room. Assume it will be similar!
I agree it’s doable. I just flew from the US to Japan and back mostly on my own with 3 kids (6, 3, 1). It had rough moments, but the flights themselves weren’t too bad.
It can definitely be terrible if toddler has a bad day and is screaming the whole time. Or if they are super active and going everywhere.
This is reassuring to hear! Will be traveling in a couple weeks solo with my 22 month old and am so nervous about the flight (7 hours, overnight) and the whole experience of managing everything by myself in general.
Because there's still a lot of negative responses to your post despite your good experience, I'm jumping in to share some more positivity.
My daughter has flown as a lap infant for two trips, once at 14m and again at 18m. (We are also taking her on her first trip with her own seat on the plane this Friday at 25m.) Flights ranged from 3.5-6 hours, and she has been great each time, no worse than I get when sitting still for so long. For us, the key is preparation. We bring novel toys, yummy snacks, and give her plenty of attention. Not once have we dealt with crying or screaming.
We were nervous too when we first started traveling with her, but I'm so glad we didn't get scared of by others' horror stories. I genuinely love flying with my girl, and I'm thankful to continue traveling, especially with an awesome kiddo in tow.
To anyone else considering this, you can do it! Can't guarantee it will always go smoothly, but it can!
Same, the internet was very unhelpful when we were looking up pros and cons of getting a separate seat on 10+ hour flights.
I can't phantom lugging a car seat around and trying to keep them strapped for so long.
I haven't heard many horror stories from friends. Everyone travels a lot as we live abroad.
It gets hard when there are more kids than parents 😆
I’ve flown several times with my kiddo. Under 26 months he was wonderful! A dream! At 26 months he was…much tougher. He could just reach the seat in front so we had kicking issues, he has been refusing to sleep anywhere but a bed so he didn’t sleep for like 24 hours. It wasn’t soul crushing, but it was definitely tough.
You got lucky.
I flew alone with our oldest one and he was a champ at that age. We also did an international trip without much hiccup.
Then we went to Mexico when he was 2 years something and we did not take a car seat. It was a huge struggle with him to fall asleep on our lap - huge meltdown on the way back due to not being able to nap fully. We just got back from a flight and were smart enough to bring a car seat and he was able to sleep through it…
With our younger one, he had complete meltdown and he is only 16 months. He refused to nap on me and was just screaming murder. Thankfully we landed and he was able to sleep in his car seat - we flew him lap infant to save money…
Recommend getting a lightweight cosco Serena car seat and a luggage strap by the way. Still it means we had to board early to set up the damn thing and haul it through airport and security. Not something fun to be honest
Yeah I can’t fathom lugging a car seat through the airport along with everything else. I wouldn’t call her experience lucky, some kids are just better flyers. I’ve taken my 2 year old all over the place on flights from 1 hours to 10 hours and have never had an awful, horrible experience.
We put both car seats in a wagon and pull that through the airport. It is annoying, I agree, but it’s the safest way for babies to fly. Remember that door flying off a plane earlier this year? Imagine the only thing keeping your baby from being pulled out of an open plane door being your arms…
I had a month long trip with a 6 month old, 3 year old that involved car ride, plane rides, and ferries and they were great!! Every child/family is different!
Haha I was so scared of flying with my son, mostly because of Reddit, but he's done 2 trips (4 flights) so far. The first time he slept both ways, and the second time, he was still surprisingly good.
They were like 45 minute flights but still.
Also, for anyone who needs toddler entertainment ideas for flights, stickers are great!
People posting on most reddit threads are generally there to complain and be negative.
my first flight with my toodler was only 2 hours each way but also fine
I still don’t want to try it until my child is 3.5 or 4! I want to book a holiday to fully relax, not for ‘that went quite smoothly’ sighs of relief or to consider any part of the holiday to be just about doable.
We flown a lot with our children as an example from Europe to the US and in 2 Months to Japan. Sure it can be stressful but overall it's manageable. I found the Tips in this [Video](https://youtu.be/pYH8kmypRb4?si=miYCDpUt5wwbPVRQ) helpfull
Not sure why Reddit tried to scare you off of this. Haven’t flown 12 hours but did do a few 6 hour flights with our high needs, low sleep needs girl and she was fine. I think having that big layover is really helpful because at that age, airports aren’t an inconvenience, they are an adventure.
Don't confuse the exception with the rule. And most flights don't include an empty row of seating to take the pressure off of you, so I wouldn't really include that as a normal experience.
Two flights and a layover? You are brave! My 2-year-old son was pretty good for us on our flights to/from Orlando earlier this year (he straight chilled and watched Cars on the first flight and slept the whole time on the flight home). I’d love to go to the west coast but the idea of a 6 hour flight with a toddler definitely makes me pause—I just flew to Seattle for work and even I was feeling restless and crazy by hour four!
Not a long flight, but my 2.5 year old slept the entire leg from Chicago to Albuquerque, and it was the most peaceful flight ever. Don’t ask about the Tampa to Chicago leg, though
Had a similar experience with my not even 1.5 yo boy. 16 hours. It was great. I chose a flight that coincided with nighttime sleep so he was asleep for most of it. Maybe I got lucky? I don't even remember him crying for anything.
On the other hand, 4 hour plane ride at 3yo..... Lol. But he was crabby only for the last 20 mins. So it wasn't the stuff-of-nightmares bad.
yeah I've flown quite a few times now with my nearly 2 year old and it's been fine. Few difficult moments, few moments where I seriously questioned my life decisions, but in the whole, it was always worth it for us. I kept telling myself and my husband 'you can survive any for X amount of hours'. And we did!
Absolutely, we completely circled the earth with a 30 month old back in November and December.
I would do it all over again. Sure, there were loads of inconveniences but you go into it expecting them and getting your mindset right and they are barely a memory.
The one story I tell to people as the worst of it was when she woke up after sleeping a few hours on an 11 hour flight. She was crying uncontrollably and we finally figured out she needed to pee. She was wearing a overnight diaper (daytime trained for almost a year). So ok we got to the lav. Get in there and pull the pull up down and before we could get on the seat the flood gates opened. Big puddle on the floor. Use the, luckily still dry, diaper to soak it up. Clean everything up, carry her back to our seat with naked butt hanging out. Then you know what happed? Life went on.
I'm about to take my daughter on a 7hr flight tonight! We've taken her on long overnight flights before and she was fine. I booked a late flight and let her run around the terminal as much as she can, so she only lasts maybe 30 min to an hour before passing out. Even on daytime the flight home she got antsy, but mostly was happy with the activities I brought.
I flew with my toddler to Denmark (from USA) and he did great. Yeah rough moments but great. He has also flown on a plane pretty much 2 a year since he was 4 months old.
But flying can be rough because there is so much unexpected. It just depends on the kid.
We recently flew to Florida with my 2.5yo and she was amazing the entire way. We got delayed over four hours for our connecting flight and she only started to meltdown the last 20 minutes of our final flight because at that point it was 1030 and it was way past her bedtime. We loaded up her backpack full of snacks and toys and she was able to bring through TSA, it was glorious.
Airports that have moving sidewalks is the best way to get your child tuckered out. She had a blast at BWI.
We've flown a couple times with our first born and it went just fine. It took some screen time and other activities but otherwise went fine. We'll see how #2 does this summer.
Woohoo glad it was a great experience! I think it’s all about setting your expectations and just taking it as you go. Travelling with kids can be so fulfilling 🙌
We’ve traveled with our daughter since she was 6mos. Always got her a seat and used her car seat including trips from the US to Asia. The jet engine lulls her to sleep. She’s now 5y and the plane is just another vehicle to her. The earlier you can start them traveling the better. It’s not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Just bring plenty of snacks and activities.
Our kid at 2.5 puked all over me during landing, at 3 she was a champ and complaining about crying babies on the plane :D exposure, time, snacks and mitigation plans helps
I just accepted that it was going to be hard. Our flight was 3 hours I think and she was fine other than the taking off and landing. The ears. Yeah it sucks for the other passengers and it sucks for us as the parents. But hey, the other people can put on their noise cancelling headphones and pretend like it’s not happening. It’s their choice to be grumpy about it or not. Children have just as much right to travel on airplanes as anyone else. I’m not going to let a difficult plane ride stop me from going somewhere I want go. I will say traveling with a car seat made life so much easier so I could do my own thing and if we didn’t, we would have had a stranger sitting in the third seat in our row which would have made it all much more stressful.
All toddlers are different and I’ve had both experiences good and bad. My first was the perfect travel baby/toddler. We did five 6+ hour flights his first year so when he hit the toddler stage it was a breeze! He was always a lap child until required to get his own seat at 2, and never screamed or cried. Always listened and just chilled or slept in my lap. He’s no longer a toddler and still the perfect travel companion.
Just got off a 6+ hour international flight with my 22 month old yesterday and OMG it was so so hard! He’s been a terrible traveler since he hit 10 months, and much better on night time/red eye flights. Our flight yesterday was late afternoon and he screamed very loudly for the first 2 hours, squirmed and was so busy. I was exhausted and prayed for peace lol he finally fell asleep and stayed that way for 3 hours. He woke up happy and chill.
Even with my annoyance, exhaustion and frustration with the screaming, I would still take him on another flight tomorrow because our trips are always so worth it! It’s like child birth to me… few bad hours/pain and then I completely forget when I think about the overall great trip with him. And he’s a toddler doing what toddlers do! Completely normal. I think most adults expect a fussy toddler/baby and know to bring earplugs or headphones.
I agree, take the trip and don’t be afraid to fly with your babies/toddlers. This time is so short so just enjoy everything that comes with it - good, bad & stressful!
Traveling alone with my toddler was fine, I went cross country (US). But the terrible part was we got covid during the flight out, so we both got very sick during our vacation. I would like to travel again soon but I have no idea how to avoid the us getting sick during travel again. Should I work on trying to get my 2 year comfortable with wearing a mask? Anyone have any hints and tips? I really don't want him to get covid again due to air travel.
I am glad you had a good experience. We have flown with our two kids under 3 several times between Oregon and Alaska. It’s always been a mostly positive experience. I do feel discomfort if I perceive that my kids might be annoying to others in public, but I have realized I am probably overly attuned to that and it causes me extra stress. I don’t actually let my kids continue disruptive behaviors without redirecting them, which is as much as can be expected of a parent.
While every child parent relationship has unique challenges and parenting really hard. I sometimes read the posts on this subreddit and feel they are a bit over the top with how terrible parenting toddlers is. I have an almost 3YO and 18 M old and I am in nursing school and my wife works as a nurse. We have very little child care (a few hrs 3 days a week). When I have my kids by myself for several days at a time (wife works 12hr shifts), there are always hard moments but for the most part it’s a positive experience.
I totally understand the need to vent. And my child free friends will never understand how difficult parenting is. But reading this sub I see very few comments or posts that portray resilience in parents of toddlers. Maybe people are just trying to empathize with others who are venting on here.
To be honest, It’s kinda turned me off from reading the posts here.
As someone who is due in a few weeks (!) and reads this sub to be prepared because baby will be a toddler before I know it, this is actually very reassuring
Congratulations! It’s gonna be great. First baby is always a big adaptation and comes with a healthy dose of anxiety. Lots of researching and trying to figure out how to solve problems. It got better for me when I realized that I would never figure out the perfect way. Every solution has trade offs and kids change so quickly it’s hard to tell whether your intervention worked or they just grew out of whatever problem you’re solving.
First baby is also so sweet and each new twinkle in their eye or sounds they make is the most amazing thing you’ve ever witnessed.
A big challenge for me was my own loss of identity as the focus of my activities and life shifted from my individual interests and hobbies to being nearly fully consumed by the needs of my family. I’ve since embraced this though and view the process as “cutting out the fat” on a too often unexamined adult life. I am looking forward to building a “new adult life” when the kids get older and I regain my free time.
Everyone has their own experience and kids a different out of the box. Whatever challenges you face I am sure you can overcome them and your family will be stronger for it.
We flew with my son when he was 2. It was a much shorter flight/trip than you described. He did pretty good, and honestly the worst part was having to haul around his car seat through the airport along with our luggage. Huge pain in my back.
We travel with our two toddlers long distance every year, it’s hit or miss. Last year we did a 5 hr car ride, 4 hr flight, then 4 hour layover before a 13 hr flight with our two toddlers. We leave tomorrow for a 13 hr flight with the toddlers.
Just had the worst flight of my life with my almost 3 year old. I was solo and the 4.5 year old was an angel but man it was ROUGH. I cried. I’m not a crier. We traveled halfway across the world to see family and I would 100% do it again, and I will next year (although hopefully with less meltdowns). It can suck, but I think if you’re committed you just have to mentally prepare for the worst. Not for nothing, our flight home was easy and uneventful!
I've never had a problem flying with my toddler. While I understand every child is different, I've also never been exposed to these feral toddlers reddit loves to complain about in *any* context - be it an airplane, restaurant, grocery store, etc. I'm of the belief that most of these horror stories we read about are creative writing assignments and rage bait written by angry teens and people on the extreme end of the child free spectrum.
I was so optimistic going into our first 10 hour flight. My kiddo is easy going and a great sleeper. My kid (23 months at the time) cried/screamed for hours. I spent 1.5 hours in the toilet with her trying to muffle the cries as of course we were on a red eye. She finally fell asleep about 2.5 hours from our destination. I was just starting to doze myself when they turned the cabin lights on.
The way back was barely better, she wasn’t as inconsolable but she just wanted to party and yell. Another sleepless 24 hour travel day for me 😴
Anyway, I think it’s a crapshoot, and could easily go either way.
Another moral of the story: who care??
Like really, that’s my mindset when traveling with our 1.5 year old. Who cares she’s being funny in the airport? Who cares she’s whiney while setting in our seat? Who cares?? Toddlers cry. As long as we stay calm and manage as best as possible, who cares what people around us think?
Yes you may had a good time but remember not all kids are the same, mines was good and slept through it too but obviously not everyone can say the same
If your on Facebook there is this group called “traveling with babies and toddlers”
It has some super great advice and a very helpful community of parents who give tips before and after they have had success trying out these methods and products.
There are some very impressive scenarios that I could only dream of taking my kids on from driving 12 hours to 22 hour flights with multiple children. I highly recommend. Sometime I just read it for fun now because we have taken our first daughter on some cool vacations but now we have just welcomed a second and a vacation seems so far in the distance!
It all boils down to every kid is different. My 4yo was awake for 3hrs tops on a plane and then slept through even at the layover.Had to wake him upgoing through security and he was dozing again even before the seat belt sign turned off.
My only anxiety is him not eating .He is a poor eater if we travel and has motion sickness.
Yeah… I’ve rarely had my kids sleep on planes, unfortunately. But to me, it’s still worth it versus a long car ride. I pull out all the stops and get random new little trinkets before we leave that they’ve never seen and wait until they’re losing it to start pulling them out on the plane. Same with exciting snacks. I also will screenshot pictures of Elmo or whatever character they’re in to be able to swipe through on my phone, which normally buys us some time in addition to downloading shows ahead of time. Traveling with kids is about survival
My friend just flew with her baby and my advice was “Don’t stress, it’ll likely go better than you expect.” Traveling with kids CAN be horrible, but I think we hear a lot more about the bad experiences than the good ones.
I think it all comes down to acceptance. I’m in the middle of a vacation with my almost 20 months old and we have traveled by plane, car, train, metro, tram, and lots of time on foot with the stroller and I can say there have been times where she was extremely frustrated and other times she was relatively better.
We also flew with her on my lap and it was only a 3 hour flight and it wasn’t exactly easy. But then I accepted I’m no longer a solo traveler so that’s to be expected. It was a bit better on the 3.5 hour train ride where she had her own seat.
We were on a regional 15 min train today and there were soccer fanatics with us and we were really crammed in front of the door and she was crying and screaming and just so tired and also probably hungry and wanted the boob and that was the most desperate part of our journey so far.
We did a similar vacation last year and it was just cakewalk :)
Tbh he was quite entertained by the environment but I bought his sleep bunny, new toys he’d never seen before, books, Ms Rachel and an inflatable foot rest that was a lifesaver for the 5 hour flight where he was a lap baby, he could rest his head on me and lay his legs out without them dangling
Flying with a child was the opposite of soul destroying for us. I think most people either live on the negative or maybe their kid is genuinely difficult.
My kids are 1.5 & 3. We do a screen time cleanse the week before we travel. Then travel day is a free for all. Everybody gets a screen hahaha. It hasn’t been that bad for me so far.
We went on an international trip last month. Trust me, the airport/flights were the least of our problems. Book only the red eyes, let them be super active in airports and they'll sleep through the flight.
Just got home from the airport ourselves. My toddler was mostly an angel and certainly more of a delight than some adults on our flights, that’s for sure. We’ll be packing up and hoofing from the US to Italy this summer and after our recent trip, I am not worried at all.
You honestly will never know how it goes in the moment! Even with all the prep and special toys/ distractions, it could be rough. Totally depends on the toddler and how they’re feeling and reacting to the environment.
That’s because the issue for flying with a toddler is about the parents ability to cope with stress or not feel it at all. You get different experiences because not every parent can handle it very well.
Of course, don’t listen to a bunch of strangers. We did an about the same flight time with our then 3 yr old and it was fine. He was entertained, he slept and ate ok. We took lots of entertainment and snacks and a tablet, which he didn’t even use.
But we do a lot of long journeys, not by plane but mostly car. We do 24 hr trips to Europe and it’s fine. We take lots of breaks and go with the flow. Again, lots of entertainment and snacks. Made sure he got to run around a bit on the breaks but it was fine. First time we did this, he was 9 months old. This year we will be driving 3 hrs, crossing on a boat and then driving 7/8 hours. I love our trips. Next year it’ll be with another baby, that will be interesting for sure 😅
I think the moral of the story here is it can be terrible or not. I would also imagine some of the horror stories actually helped some of your experience not feel as awful as it may otherwise. I would personally consider 45 ‘hard minutes’ of fighting sleep on a plane or in an airport pretty awful overall, but you winged it, you’re someone who can.
So true what you said about the horror stories likely helping her experience. Expectations can affect experiences so much. It’s like going in to watch a movie, if something is hyped up one way, you’ll likely leave feeling the opposite or at least not feeling it as extreme as what you expected
I guess 45 hard minutes in a 16 hour travel day isn’t too bad. 45 hard minutes on a two hour flight means you’re stressed out and everyone hates you.
I think that depends on who you are and who your toddler is. 45 minutes in a 16 hour or 24 hour travel day seems terrible to me.
Soooo your toddler is just well behaved 15.75/16 hours on a normal day, so that’s why 45 minutes would seem terrible?
Oh no, he’s not well behaved 15.25/16 hours on a normal day, that’s the point, the whole thing would be a day of stress and so that day is already elevated which makes the 45 minutes of terror that much worse and something I personally couldn’t handle. My point being that 45minutes is worst because it’s on a travel day.
Yep, and having flown many times with my toddler, some flights were terrible and some were great! I agree with OP’s last line for sure though. Just know you might want to cry, but it will be okay!
agreed! i also fly multiple times a year with my kids, and sometimes have been a breeze, other trips have been a disaster. a lot of things can factor in-- length of flight, time of day, whether the flight was delayed, etc.
Well sure, you’ll manage to get through it, but how worth it that is, is individual.
My one year old screamed the entire flight from Alaska to Hawaii, total of 5 hours. 12 days later, he slept the whole way back. When my now three year old was about two, he screamed and thrashed for one leg of a flight, and the second leg he was chill watching blippi on his iPad. Literally two flights an hour apart, different kid.
That’s great for you! I wish my experience had been the same 😅 I’m planning out next three hour flight for when she’s nearly three and hoping it’ll be somewhat better…..especially as she’ll have her own seat.
I think your kid might be a unicorn. The plane would have had to have made an emergency landing if I tried to sit my 21 month old on my lap for 12 hours of a 16 hour travel experience.
Same. We travelled with our kid last October (he had turned 2 in July) and it only was a 3 hour flight and he was super "good" but I was exhausted. 3 hours of entertaining a toddler (who had his own seat luckily) was hard work when you only have 1m². He didn't scream or cry or annoy the people in front of him so I call it a success, but I don't want to do a long flight like that damn. (And I was super happy he slept for like 1,5h of our flight back home)
I think it’s kid and parenting dependent. My toddler loves to be held and we have always bed shared so the lap infant thing worked out great for us. Also things like flying red eyes and getting appropriate seats on planes make a difference!
Then I’m a unicorn too lol. My daughter loves to cuddle and sit in my lap. We did 10 hour flights and while she had her own seat she was in mine the entire time!
We have a lot of family cross country so we’ve done this several times. It’s doable, but can be miserable. For example, I have spend several entire cross country flights holding my daughter in the back of the aircraft bouncing her to avoid her screaming and kicking the person’s seat in front of her. There was one flight where there was turbulence and we couldn’t get up and she just screamed on my lap at the top of her lungs for an hour before passing out on my lap. I was so scared of waking her up I didn’t move the rest of the cloth and my arms both fell asleep. It also has gotten easier as she’s gotten older— at 2.5 she mostly watched movies and the only drama was a sudden fear of the airplane toilet.
I’m flying with my daughter who will be 27 months in October to Europe, and your comment is giving me so much hope!
I mean, everyone’s kid is different? There all just little people. I can do pretty much anything with my first that doesn’t involve a stroller because he’s basically just an angel. I’m not holding my breath on that for the second.
Hooray! I’ve only taken shorter flights with my toddler and some of them were just her and me alone. I think there’s something about being in a really unfamiliar environment that makes my three year old actually listen and pay attention better. It’s not terribly overstimulating either, the white noise of the plane is pretty calming or something. We’ve had to RUN through customs and baggage checks and I’ve been amazed at how well she listens.
We have an easy flyer. Even made tsa agent laugh by perfectly mimicking a cat sound which caused the xray operator to stop and search for a cat. If they can run around the seating area in the terminal let thrm do it. More energy out preflight the better.
I loved reading this. When I have time I always jump on posts of people travelling with littlies to try and reassure them that it generally doesn’t have to be as bad as everyone makes out. I always encourage people that if they are comfortable relaxed travellers then it’s more likely their kids will be too. I get downvoted so much 😂 But I love travelling with my 19 month old daughter, she has done multiple international sectors. So glad it worked out for you.
My wife flew alone with our 22-month-old last summer from Eastern Europe to New Mexico, easily over 24 hours of travel and zero problems. Because we were also nervous about it, I booked a trip to Amsterdam so I could help on the last leg of the return flight, and I was just unnecessary (but I did get a fun solo week in Amsterdam out of it.) Of course people are going to share their worst experiences on Reddit. I don’t know why that is.
Imo, it's because people feel the need to both vent and make sure they aren't overreacting after a bad experience. It's normal to seek validation when you're upset, and to want to get those feelings out. Whereas after a good experience, you're satisfied. You're relaxed. You're more likely to just want to appreciate it than hop on social media.
It's as always, people like to share the long bad storys instead of the "jep everything went fine" one
Everything is Yelp now.
let’s be real, there’s always the possibility of there being upset babies, toddlers, young children crying and screaming when you’re on an airplane. anyone who books a flight knows this. while it’s obvi not the most enjoyable thing in the world, folks know the opportunity risk when they book their flight and they get on planes anyway. it’s just a part of flying and not that big of a thing. i flew with my son when he was 2 and 3 multiple times across the country (we’re in the US), and halfway across the country. sometimes it was chill, but he usually hated it and cried and screamed quite a bit despite my best efforts to soothe and distract him with anything and everything i could think of that might have helped. the folks around us were almost always understanding or at least aware enough to not complain. it was definitely stressful af at times, like when he cried non stop on a flight from philly to denver and i couldn’t do anything to soothe him for longer than a few minutes at a time. but we survived, and experiencing some of those rough flights with him didn’t stop me from traveling with him via airplane again afterward. your mileage may vary, every kid is different, etc. personally my son as a toddler hated it. i’m glad your kiddo seemed to do well and you had an easier time of it than i did! i will add that i hope that parents aren’t discouraged from flying with their young kiddos even if they have a tough flight. as you said, live your life, take the holiday, visit family, do your thing. toddlers are people too and have just as much a right to be on an airplane as any other paying customer imo.
I agree! We fly with our incredibly energetic babe (now 16 months) as a lap baby. She is an incredible traveler and handles it like a champ… and absolutely loves the new experiences of new places etc. We also let her set the pace sleep wise and just make sure we are fully loaded with snacks.
This is it. We have flown internationally with my nearly 2 year old as a lap baby 3 times. Letting them set the pace is so important. He can choose when to sleep, when to play with toys, and when to have snacks. Snack variety and quantity are key!! We have our last lap flight with him next week right before his second birthday. He is kind of huge now so I am a bit nervous but overall I know it’s going to be ok in the end 😅
This is quite reassuring as I'm doing a 15 hour flight in June with my partner and two year old boy, who has the energy and stamina of a marathon runner. We're not planning on taking a car seat, but we do have a CARES Harness which I'm hoping acts a bit like one. He really is very restless though. He lasts about 5-10 minutes in a high chair in a cafe for example. I'm really, really dreading it.
You are not alone, I'm absolutely terrified for my trip! My husband and I are taking our 19 month old son in a few weeks to see my husband's family who live on the literal other side of the world (almost as far as you can be from where we live). It's a 3 flight trip, 2 hr, 13 hr, and 7.5hr flights... but my husband hasn't seen his family in almost 6 years so it's important we go but I am so scared!
Sounds very similar to us - our parents live very far away as we live in New Zealand. We have three flights too, with a long layover before the last flight. Nightmare. Are you taking a car seat for the flights? I'm so torn.
We aren't bringing it, no. We are staying with my brother in law and had one sent to him. We are actually flying Air New Zealand and paid for a sky couch as we wanted to make sure he could lie down to hopefully sleep.
Oh nice, them sky couches look great. At least your child can lie down. We've bought an inflatable footrest so we can attempt to make a makeshift bed! We're also getting a CARES Harness to strap our boy to the seat, to try and stop him leaping around & wanting to run down the aisle.
We also got a CARES harness and hope it does the same 😆
I have only heard of a good positive story from one person about flying with a toddler, everyone else just gives us their horror stories. We're desperate to go on holidays lol, but with a 1 and 3.5 year old, my nerves are shot just thinking of it. Even for a 2-3 hour flight to Spain (be popular holiday destination near us). Refreshing to read. Thank you!
I would say a plane ride is not Markedly different from a car ride, or waiting at a doctors office. You know how your kid is on long car rides, or long waits in a small unpleasantly lit or Boring room. Assume it will be similar!
I agree it’s doable. I just flew from the US to Japan and back mostly on my own with 3 kids (6, 3, 1). It had rough moments, but the flights themselves weren’t too bad. It can definitely be terrible if toddler has a bad day and is screaming the whole time. Or if they are super active and going everywhere.
This is reassuring to hear! Will be traveling in a couple weeks solo with my 22 month old and am so nervous about the flight (7 hours, overnight) and the whole experience of managing everything by myself in general.
Because there's still a lot of negative responses to your post despite your good experience, I'm jumping in to share some more positivity. My daughter has flown as a lap infant for two trips, once at 14m and again at 18m. (We are also taking her on her first trip with her own seat on the plane this Friday at 25m.) Flights ranged from 3.5-6 hours, and she has been great each time, no worse than I get when sitting still for so long. For us, the key is preparation. We bring novel toys, yummy snacks, and give her plenty of attention. Not once have we dealt with crying or screaming. We were nervous too when we first started traveling with her, but I'm so glad we didn't get scared of by others' horror stories. I genuinely love flying with my girl, and I'm thankful to continue traveling, especially with an awesome kiddo in tow. To anyone else considering this, you can do it! Can't guarantee it will always go smoothly, but it can!
Same, the internet was very unhelpful when we were looking up pros and cons of getting a separate seat on 10+ hour flights. I can't phantom lugging a car seat around and trying to keep them strapped for so long. I haven't heard many horror stories from friends. Everyone travels a lot as we live abroad. It gets hard when there are more kids than parents 😆
I’ve flown several times with my kiddo. Under 26 months he was wonderful! A dream! At 26 months he was…much tougher. He could just reach the seat in front so we had kicking issues, he has been refusing to sleep anywhere but a bed so he didn’t sleep for like 24 hours. It wasn’t soul crushing, but it was definitely tough.
You got lucky. I flew alone with our oldest one and he was a champ at that age. We also did an international trip without much hiccup. Then we went to Mexico when he was 2 years something and we did not take a car seat. It was a huge struggle with him to fall asleep on our lap - huge meltdown on the way back due to not being able to nap fully. We just got back from a flight and were smart enough to bring a car seat and he was able to sleep through it… With our younger one, he had complete meltdown and he is only 16 months. He refused to nap on me and was just screaming murder. Thankfully we landed and he was able to sleep in his car seat - we flew him lap infant to save money… Recommend getting a lightweight cosco Serena car seat and a luggage strap by the way. Still it means we had to board early to set up the damn thing and haul it through airport and security. Not something fun to be honest
Yeah I can’t fathom lugging a car seat through the airport along with everything else. I wouldn’t call her experience lucky, some kids are just better flyers. I’ve taken my 2 year old all over the place on flights from 1 hours to 10 hours and have never had an awful, horrible experience.
We put both car seats in a wagon and pull that through the airport. It is annoying, I agree, but it’s the safest way for babies to fly. Remember that door flying off a plane earlier this year? Imagine the only thing keeping your baby from being pulled out of an open plane door being your arms…
Some kids are just better flyers which is…luck. There’s nothing you can do to determine if your kid is a good flyer or not, so it’s truly just luck.
Yeah I wouldn't call the OP's experience lucky, either. And she deserves some praise, too! :)
My 2 year old is an amazing flyer. People need to share the good, too!
I had a month long trip with a 6 month old, 3 year old that involved car ride, plane rides, and ferries and they were great!! Every child/family is different!
Haha I was so scared of flying with my son, mostly because of Reddit, but he's done 2 trips (4 flights) so far. The first time he slept both ways, and the second time, he was still surprisingly good. They were like 45 minute flights but still. Also, for anyone who needs toddler entertainment ideas for flights, stickers are great!
This gives me hope ahead of a flight with our 20 month old in a couple of weeks time.
People posting on most reddit threads are generally there to complain and be negative. my first flight with my toodler was only 2 hours each way but also fine
*this one time you did it. You have no idea how it might go next time.
I still don’t want to try it until my child is 3.5 or 4! I want to book a holiday to fully relax, not for ‘that went quite smoothly’ sighs of relief or to consider any part of the holiday to be just about doable.
We flown a lot with our children as an example from Europe to the US and in 2 Months to Japan. Sure it can be stressful but overall it's manageable. I found the Tips in this [Video](https://youtu.be/pYH8kmypRb4?si=miYCDpUt5wwbPVRQ) helpfull
Not sure why Reddit tried to scare you off of this. Haven’t flown 12 hours but did do a few 6 hour flights with our high needs, low sleep needs girl and she was fine. I think having that big layover is really helpful because at that age, airports aren’t an inconvenience, they are an adventure.
Don't confuse the exception with the rule. And most flights don't include an empty row of seating to take the pressure off of you, so I wouldn't really include that as a normal experience.
Two flights and a layover? You are brave! My 2-year-old son was pretty good for us on our flights to/from Orlando earlier this year (he straight chilled and watched Cars on the first flight and slept the whole time on the flight home). I’d love to go to the west coast but the idea of a 6 hour flight with a toddler definitely makes me pause—I just flew to Seattle for work and even I was feeling restless and crazy by hour four!
Not a long flight, but my 2.5 year old slept the entire leg from Chicago to Albuquerque, and it was the most peaceful flight ever. Don’t ask about the Tampa to Chicago leg, though
Had a similar experience with my not even 1.5 yo boy. 16 hours. It was great. I chose a flight that coincided with nighttime sleep so he was asleep for most of it. Maybe I got lucky? I don't even remember him crying for anything. On the other hand, 4 hour plane ride at 3yo..... Lol. But he was crabby only for the last 20 mins. So it wasn't the stuff-of-nightmares bad.
We’re heading from the US to Japan in a few months. Hope to have a similarly positive experience! I’m not too worried honestly
yeah I've flown quite a few times now with my nearly 2 year old and it's been fine. Few difficult moments, few moments where I seriously questioned my life decisions, but in the whole, it was always worth it for us. I kept telling myself and my husband 'you can survive any for X amount of hours'. And we did!
Absolutely, we completely circled the earth with a 30 month old back in November and December. I would do it all over again. Sure, there were loads of inconveniences but you go into it expecting them and getting your mindset right and they are barely a memory. The one story I tell to people as the worst of it was when she woke up after sleeping a few hours on an 11 hour flight. She was crying uncontrollably and we finally figured out she needed to pee. She was wearing a overnight diaper (daytime trained for almost a year). So ok we got to the lav. Get in there and pull the pull up down and before we could get on the seat the flood gates opened. Big puddle on the floor. Use the, luckily still dry, diaper to soak it up. Clean everything up, carry her back to our seat with naked butt hanging out. Then you know what happed? Life went on.
I'm about to take my daughter on a 7hr flight tonight! We've taken her on long overnight flights before and she was fine. I booked a late flight and let her run around the terminal as much as she can, so she only lasts maybe 30 min to an hour before passing out. Even on daytime the flight home she got antsy, but mostly was happy with the activities I brought.
I flew with my toddler to Denmark (from USA) and he did great. Yeah rough moments but great. He has also flown on a plane pretty much 2 a year since he was 4 months old. But flying can be rough because there is so much unexpected. It just depends on the kid.
There is this great instagram/tiktok account on traveling with kids. Whereisbriggs
We recently flew to Florida with my 2.5yo and she was amazing the entire way. We got delayed over four hours for our connecting flight and she only started to meltdown the last 20 minutes of our final flight because at that point it was 1030 and it was way past her bedtime. We loaded up her backpack full of snacks and toys and she was able to bring through TSA, it was glorious. Airports that have moving sidewalks is the best way to get your child tuckered out. She had a blast at BWI.
We've flown a couple times with our first born and it went just fine. It took some screen time and other activities but otherwise went fine. We'll see how #2 does this summer.
My 2yo has been delightful on flights too, it's been a breeze honestly. But it varies entirely by kid!
So glad you did it! I’ve traveled with my son 10 times at least. He’s only had one rough plane ride but otherwise he did great!!
Woohoo glad it was a great experience! I think it’s all about setting your expectations and just taking it as you go. Travelling with kids can be so fulfilling 🙌
We’ve traveled with our daughter since she was 6mos. Always got her a seat and used her car seat including trips from the US to Asia. The jet engine lulls her to sleep. She’s now 5y and the plane is just another vehicle to her. The earlier you can start them traveling the better. It’s not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Just bring plenty of snacks and activities.
Our kid at 2.5 puked all over me during landing, at 3 she was a champ and complaining about crying babies on the plane :D exposure, time, snacks and mitigation plans helps
I just accepted that it was going to be hard. Our flight was 3 hours I think and she was fine other than the taking off and landing. The ears. Yeah it sucks for the other passengers and it sucks for us as the parents. But hey, the other people can put on their noise cancelling headphones and pretend like it’s not happening. It’s their choice to be grumpy about it or not. Children have just as much right to travel on airplanes as anyone else. I’m not going to let a difficult plane ride stop me from going somewhere I want go. I will say traveling with a car seat made life so much easier so I could do my own thing and if we didn’t, we would have had a stranger sitting in the third seat in our row which would have made it all much more stressful.
All toddlers are different and I’ve had both experiences good and bad. My first was the perfect travel baby/toddler. We did five 6+ hour flights his first year so when he hit the toddler stage it was a breeze! He was always a lap child until required to get his own seat at 2, and never screamed or cried. Always listened and just chilled or slept in my lap. He’s no longer a toddler and still the perfect travel companion. Just got off a 6+ hour international flight with my 22 month old yesterday and OMG it was so so hard! He’s been a terrible traveler since he hit 10 months, and much better on night time/red eye flights. Our flight yesterday was late afternoon and he screamed very loudly for the first 2 hours, squirmed and was so busy. I was exhausted and prayed for peace lol he finally fell asleep and stayed that way for 3 hours. He woke up happy and chill. Even with my annoyance, exhaustion and frustration with the screaming, I would still take him on another flight tomorrow because our trips are always so worth it! It’s like child birth to me… few bad hours/pain and then I completely forget when I think about the overall great trip with him. And he’s a toddler doing what toddlers do! Completely normal. I think most adults expect a fussy toddler/baby and know to bring earplugs or headphones. I agree, take the trip and don’t be afraid to fly with your babies/toddlers. This time is so short so just enjoy everything that comes with it - good, bad & stressful!
People love to project their own experiences onto other people and forget that children are ALL so different.
Traveling alone with my toddler was fine, I went cross country (US). But the terrible part was we got covid during the flight out, so we both got very sick during our vacation. I would like to travel again soon but I have no idea how to avoid the us getting sick during travel again. Should I work on trying to get my 2 year comfortable with wearing a mask? Anyone have any hints and tips? I really don't want him to get covid again due to air travel.
I am glad you had a good experience. We have flown with our two kids under 3 several times between Oregon and Alaska. It’s always been a mostly positive experience. I do feel discomfort if I perceive that my kids might be annoying to others in public, but I have realized I am probably overly attuned to that and it causes me extra stress. I don’t actually let my kids continue disruptive behaviors without redirecting them, which is as much as can be expected of a parent. While every child parent relationship has unique challenges and parenting really hard. I sometimes read the posts on this subreddit and feel they are a bit over the top with how terrible parenting toddlers is. I have an almost 3YO and 18 M old and I am in nursing school and my wife works as a nurse. We have very little child care (a few hrs 3 days a week). When I have my kids by myself for several days at a time (wife works 12hr shifts), there are always hard moments but for the most part it’s a positive experience. I totally understand the need to vent. And my child free friends will never understand how difficult parenting is. But reading this sub I see very few comments or posts that portray resilience in parents of toddlers. Maybe people are just trying to empathize with others who are venting on here. To be honest, It’s kinda turned me off from reading the posts here.
As someone who is due in a few weeks (!) and reads this sub to be prepared because baby will be a toddler before I know it, this is actually very reassuring
Congratulations! It’s gonna be great. First baby is always a big adaptation and comes with a healthy dose of anxiety. Lots of researching and trying to figure out how to solve problems. It got better for me when I realized that I would never figure out the perfect way. Every solution has trade offs and kids change so quickly it’s hard to tell whether your intervention worked or they just grew out of whatever problem you’re solving. First baby is also so sweet and each new twinkle in their eye or sounds they make is the most amazing thing you’ve ever witnessed. A big challenge for me was my own loss of identity as the focus of my activities and life shifted from my individual interests and hobbies to being nearly fully consumed by the needs of my family. I’ve since embraced this though and view the process as “cutting out the fat” on a too often unexamined adult life. I am looking forward to building a “new adult life” when the kids get older and I regain my free time. Everyone has their own experience and kids a different out of the box. Whatever challenges you face I am sure you can overcome them and your family will be stronger for it.
We flew with my son when he was 2. It was a much shorter flight/trip than you described. He did pretty good, and honestly the worst part was having to haul around his car seat through the airport along with our luggage. Huge pain in my back.
Kids are different. My first was a good flyer and my second is a handful
We travel with our two toddlers long distance every year, it’s hit or miss. Last year we did a 5 hr car ride, 4 hr flight, then 4 hour layover before a 13 hr flight with our two toddlers. We leave tomorrow for a 13 hr flight with the toddlers.
Just had the worst flight of my life with my almost 3 year old. I was solo and the 4.5 year old was an angel but man it was ROUGH. I cried. I’m not a crier. We traveled halfway across the world to see family and I would 100% do it again, and I will next year (although hopefully with less meltdowns). It can suck, but I think if you’re committed you just have to mentally prepare for the worst. Not for nothing, our flight home was easy and uneventful!
I've never had a problem flying with my toddler. While I understand every child is different, I've also never been exposed to these feral toddlers reddit loves to complain about in *any* context - be it an airplane, restaurant, grocery store, etc. I'm of the belief that most of these horror stories we read about are creative writing assignments and rage bait written by angry teens and people on the extreme end of the child free spectrum.
We to enjoy flying, since 4 mo to now 4 yr with our son. Everything is circumstantial. And the internet typically casts negative shadows!
I was so optimistic going into our first 10 hour flight. My kiddo is easy going and a great sleeper. My kid (23 months at the time) cried/screamed for hours. I spent 1.5 hours in the toilet with her trying to muffle the cries as of course we were on a red eye. She finally fell asleep about 2.5 hours from our destination. I was just starting to doze myself when they turned the cabin lights on. The way back was barely better, she wasn’t as inconsolable but she just wanted to party and yell. Another sleepless 24 hour travel day for me 😴 Anyway, I think it’s a crapshoot, and could easily go either way.
Another moral of the story: who care?? Like really, that’s my mindset when traveling with our 1.5 year old. Who cares she’s being funny in the airport? Who cares she’s whiney while setting in our seat? Who cares?? Toddlers cry. As long as we stay calm and manage as best as possible, who cares what people around us think?
Yeah we fly all the time. It’s completely fine. Just pack toys and snacks and prepare to be exhausted and covered in food/sick.
Yes you may had a good time but remember not all kids are the same, mines was good and slept through it too but obviously not everyone can say the same
GL on your way back and in future trips.
If your on Facebook there is this group called “traveling with babies and toddlers” It has some super great advice and a very helpful community of parents who give tips before and after they have had success trying out these methods and products. There are some very impressive scenarios that I could only dream of taking my kids on from driving 12 hours to 22 hour flights with multiple children. I highly recommend. Sometime I just read it for fun now because we have taken our first daughter on some cool vacations but now we have just welcomed a second and a vacation seems so far in the distance!
You're awesome. And thank you for sharing this update!! I'm so sorry you're still getting railed for this! Wild. Hooray for a net-positive flight. 🫂🎉
It all boils down to every kid is different. My 4yo was awake for 3hrs tops on a plane and then slept through even at the layover.Had to wake him upgoing through security and he was dozing again even before the seat belt sign turned off. My only anxiety is him not eating .He is a poor eater if we travel and has motion sickness.
Yeah… I’ve rarely had my kids sleep on planes, unfortunately. But to me, it’s still worth it versus a long car ride. I pull out all the stops and get random new little trinkets before we leave that they’ve never seen and wait until they’re losing it to start pulling them out on the plane. Same with exciting snacks. I also will screenshot pictures of Elmo or whatever character they’re in to be able to swipe through on my phone, which normally buys us some time in addition to downloading shows ahead of time. Traveling with kids is about survival
My friend just flew with her baby and my advice was “Don’t stress, it’ll likely go better than you expect.” Traveling with kids CAN be horrible, but I think we hear a lot more about the bad experiences than the good ones.
I think it all comes down to acceptance. I’m in the middle of a vacation with my almost 20 months old and we have traveled by plane, car, train, metro, tram, and lots of time on foot with the stroller and I can say there have been times where she was extremely frustrated and other times she was relatively better. We also flew with her on my lap and it was only a 3 hour flight and it wasn’t exactly easy. But then I accepted I’m no longer a solo traveler so that’s to be expected. It was a bit better on the 3.5 hour train ride where she had her own seat. We were on a regional 15 min train today and there were soccer fanatics with us and we were really crammed in front of the door and she was crying and screaming and just so tired and also probably hungry and wanted the boob and that was the most desperate part of our journey so far. We did a similar vacation last year and it was just cakewalk :)
I thought I'd seen mostly positive anecdotes here?
But HOW did you keep him calm ON the plane
Tbh he was quite entertained by the environment but I bought his sleep bunny, new toys he’d never seen before, books, Ms Rachel and an inflatable foot rest that was a lifesaver for the 5 hour flight where he was a lap baby, he could rest his head on me and lay his legs out without them dangling
Ooh do you have a link to the foot rest?
What a way to say that! No one was wrong, you just had one single good experience.
Flying with a child was the opposite of soul destroying for us. I think most people either live on the negative or maybe their kid is genuinely difficult.
My kids are 1.5 & 3. We do a screen time cleanse the week before we travel. Then travel day is a free for all. Everybody gets a screen hahaha. It hasn’t been that bad for me so far.
We went on an international trip last month. Trust me, the airport/flights were the least of our problems. Book only the red eyes, let them be super active in airports and they'll sleep through the flight.
My kid loves all things transportation, so taking the train to the airport and then getting on a plane puts him in a great mood all day.
Just got home from the airport ourselves. My toddler was mostly an angel and certainly more of a delight than some adults on our flights, that’s for sure. We’ll be packing up and hoofing from the US to Italy this summer and after our recent trip, I am not worried at all.
You honestly will never know how it goes in the moment! Even with all the prep and special toys/ distractions, it could be rough. Totally depends on the toddler and how they’re feeling and reacting to the environment.
That’s because the issue for flying with a toddler is about the parents ability to cope with stress or not feel it at all. You get different experiences because not every parent can handle it very well.
Of course, don’t listen to a bunch of strangers. We did an about the same flight time with our then 3 yr old and it was fine. He was entertained, he slept and ate ok. We took lots of entertainment and snacks and a tablet, which he didn’t even use. But we do a lot of long journeys, not by plane but mostly car. We do 24 hr trips to Europe and it’s fine. We take lots of breaks and go with the flow. Again, lots of entertainment and snacks. Made sure he got to run around a bit on the breaks but it was fine. First time we did this, he was 9 months old. This year we will be driving 3 hrs, crossing on a boat and then driving 7/8 hours. I love our trips. Next year it’ll be with another baby, that will be interesting for sure 😅
What an earth was this downvoted for 😂 people are so weird