Air travel with an 11 month old: Happy Holidaze...
For Thanksgiving this year, we decided to visit my parents in Southern Florida. Clearly, this involves more than just a 2.5 hour flight... it also brings with it:
- Packing clothing for 3 and food and toys for the kid
- Travel to the airport
- Navigating security
- Waiting at the gate
- The flight
- Collecting bags
- Finding our ride
- Drive to final destination
All this while trying to stay in the holiday spirit and enjoy time with my wife and baby.
Given all this, I would say we had an incredibly successful trip and minimized judgmental looks and glares from other passengers, and minimized our own stress with a simple hack: Do not try to win parent of the year and just bribe your child.
I found this hack after straw poling a number of parents who had traveled with babies of all ages.
We had flown with G before when he was 8 months old, and it was not big deal, thanks to a bottle at takeoff and landing and sleep in between. Since then, he has become MUCH more active and inquisitive. (One friend of mine said that between 9 and 18 months it is extremely hard to travel with kids)
How we used this hack: We stuck with the bottle at takeoff and landing (although he finished the bottle in both cases while the plane was taxiing). We were also prepared with iPhone 7+s loaded with visual games, extra bottles, water cups, and snacks (our favorite is Annie's Cheddar Bunnies)
The iPhone 7+ is good versus an iPad as it is easier for G to manage on his own. Games we found to be good included Fish School, Magic Fingers Lite, and Baby Shark.
While the hack seems simple, it was a giant success, and made our trip not only bearable but also enjoyable!
What are your favorite traveling with children hacks?
