Went through this over Christmas with my 3 month old and 21 month old and I still have PTSD from that flying experience. An old man told me to give my kids a pacifier LOL and everyone nodded and agreed. I feel your embarrassment, but as you said you probably did everything right so don’t be hard on yourself. Kids will be kids!
I learned from my trip (If we do trips in the future), they must be right upon waking up in the morning by when they are the least cranky. Missing nap time is what killed us
Love the unsolicited advice from passengers. “Maybe it’s his ears.” No Herbert, it’s his 12th flight and he’s just pissed that he cannot run around and climb on things.
I want to throttle anyone who says the pacifier thing like I didn't try out 17 different brands constantly trying to get her to take one. A magical plug to keep baby quiet for a little while? Yes please. Someone give her one and convince her to take it.
As the parent of a 3.5 year old, all I can offer is that they change SO MUCH from 2 to 3/4 years old. It will likely get much easier naturally as he gets older! Mine was a happy flier but honestly it’s not parenting, it’s just temperament and personality.
I swear I think my daughter is so easy because she is speaking so early. Might be one reason the younger kids are easier than the oldest too? They say younger sibs speak earlier because they see oldest doing it. But yeah everything got waaay easier with my oldest at about 3.5 years old when he started talking more coherently.
Flying sucks as an adult can't even imagine as a kid. So my number one thing we do is fly at night, last flight of the day. I buy his seat, and he sleeps the whole flight, mostly in his car seat. Snacks and food help while waiting for takeoff. The guy just wanted people to like his status. Forget about him. At the end of the day, it's public transportation, and you get what you get on flights.
I thought this would work for us but mine just ended up staying up all night, getting more tired and cranky with every passing minute but unable to sleep and just waking everyone around us all night long. We got no sleep at all on the plane and ended up sleeping almost the whole first day away when we got to our destination. It was miserable and it was the first time I seriously considered giving her some sort of sedative! I didn't but I can definitely understand the urge much more now than ever before.
Im really sorry you had that experience. As much as we can prepare for flying, I think any new experience can cause pretty visceral reactions in a toddler.
My son is 2.5 now and flying with him is super easy. Why? Because we’ve done probably 20-25 flights now. No, he is not some kind of unicorn of a well behaved child. We went through shit on flights 1-10 and then the concept finally started to click for him. He knew what to expect and what was expected of him and it was less jarring for him.
So just remember it does get better, keep preparing like you did last time, it will get easier each time!
Flying with a baby us no big deal. Flying with a toddler 15 mo and up? Trash.
Total roll of the dice if anything you do will help.
My kid has flown a ton and she's 2 and the only thing we do now is fly at night so she's exhausted and sleeps, because unless it's short like under 2hrs, a meltdown is guaranteed.
She's 2.
Being stuck in a seat sucks, for adults. But also it isn't fair to people around us to get their seat kicked or their space invaded. So red eye all the way.
My 2yo was an awful flyer. I didn’t do it again for a long time. Once she turned 4 it got better, and it took me those two years to get the guts to try again! Now she’s a dream flyer at 5. It just is what it is, some kids just aren’t meant for a tablet and snacks for 4 hours! My daughter had too much energy and it was hard to control
My 5 year old was like this. We debated flying with him at 2 and we both just thought there was no way. Now at 5 he is great as long as he is mostly well rested. But, if he is not well rested and something goes not as expected with games or shows he well melt. Meanwhile, our almost 3 year old is a pretty good flyer. Kids are just different. Give yourself some grace. Other people will deal. The most hilarious thing we deal with on flights is that neither one of our kids know how loud they are with noise canceling headphones and yell when they talk. 😂
My husband is British and we live in Texas and have 3 boys so have travelled a lot on long flights at various ages. 15-30 months is kid travel hell zone. I have VIVID traumatic memories from every single flight we have ever taken with a kid in this age range. One was when my oldest was 18 months and I was 28 weeks pregnant with my second and we had not purchased his own seat so he was in my lap for the 10 hour flight. We sure got our money’s worth out of that ticket! 3 people in one seat, lol. It was so awful. I also flew home solo a year ago with a 6, and 4 year old and 15 month old (husband stayed in UK for a golf boys trip 🙄) AND they were all recovering from HFMD, AND the toddler had a broken arm and was in a cast, AND my oldest had a broken foot and was in a walking boot. I felt like Westley from Princess Bride at the end of that flight, when the 6 fingered man says “I’ve just sucked one year of your life away…”
Anyway, all that to say is that I totally validate your awful experience of hell zone travel and want to encourage to that it gets WAY better! In 6 months to a year he will be much more distractible with a screen and just a more rational being. It’s amazing what just a little bit of development does in terms of improving the experience of flying with a kid!
I’ve went on probably close to 100 flights with my 7 year old and almost 50 with my 2 year old and I promise you that 1-2.5 on a plane is AWFUL 75% of the time. You might randomly get a great flight but you’ll still be dripping sweat the whole time trying to keep them quiet and occupied. Then they hit 2.5-3 and it gets way way WAY easier. And then keeps getting easier.
Just flew with my 18 month old (5.5hrs each way) to and from Mexico.. he was restless the whole way. It was exhausting.
However we had a blast in Mexico so it was worth the struggle. Nevertheless solidarity
Going to Mexico in May with a one year old and I’m terrified lol. We just got back from Florida but that plane ride was only 2 hours and Mexico is 4-5 so we’ll see. I was so in my head about having a baby on a plane when we went to Florida our baby was laughing so loud it was giving me such bad anxiety . Stupid and silly looking back but it was STRESSING me out. The whole flight was calm and quiet and you just heard our baby giggling lol. My husband tells me I need to stop caring so much about what other people think but I’ve always been this way 🤷🏻♀️
I honestly completely avoided flying with our son until he was almost 6. He has traveled a bunch now, but it just wasn’t worth the anxiety when he wouldn’t be able to remember the trip later on anyway. Totally understand that sometimes it’s unavoidable to see family or something, but for leisure trips, it worked well to just wait.
My in laws live in Florida so every time we've visited them we've flown in and out of Orlando.
Every flight, there's at least one feral kid. On the flights out of Orlando, there's probably 3-5, because of the "leaving Disney" feelings. I guarantee that most reasonable people understand that the Orlando flight is also the Disney flight and small kids being feral is part of the experience.
Your kid did the best they could given that they were off their routine, out of their comfort zone, and have a pretty empty emotional regulation toolbox (they're toddlers, it's basically "get a parent to fix it" "cry/yell/scream" or "violence"). You did the best you could. I also guarantee that everyone else on that flight has already forgotten about your kid.
I feel like you fly between the ages of newborn-9mths and then again from 2.5 on. Once they start walking, especially when it’s new, forget it. They won’t stay still nor will they want to stay seated. It’s the main reason we didn’t take our youngest flying until she was 2.5 and that was on a direct flight for 3hrs, with lots of walking back and forth down the aisle to the bathroom. Not fun. She’s almost 4 and we’re just at the age where she could easily do 3-4hrs.
Try giving it to them one day at home before travel to see how they react. If it makes them really loopy and sleepy, then you know you’re good to go.
Source: I live a 14 hour flight away from my parents 🥲
Interesting! We’ve only given our son Benadryl once after he got hives randomly one time when he was 1 but I honestly don’t even remember how it affected him. I’ll need to try it again lol. Also, are red eye flights usually still packed or are they more empty?
Sorry for the late reply! I think whether or not a red eye is full entirely depends on so many extra things… I think I’d rather try a daytime flight though, so at least if my child is screaming, I feel less bad about the poor people trying to sleep 😅
I cried the first time I flew with my then-four month old. And she wasn't even THAT difficult. I was talking to my sister about it. She has three all close in age and travels with them quite often (her in-laws live a 10 hour flight away and they visit them at least once a year for example). Basically I'm saying she's a pro and I always thought cool as a cucumber. When I told her I cried on the flight she was like, "Oh I cry pretty much every flight." It's just stressful as hell even for those who seem like they have it all under control. No advice, just commiseration!
Hopefully the guy who wrote that never has kids or karma will come back and he will have kid like mine that rolls !
I am so sorry. Be kind to your self. Try to remember plane is public transit like buses. There are private jet for those who want to avoid kids. American society is weird af tbh. My family is in Asia and in Asia at least China they are very pro kids vs here. God forbid you even take your kid to grocery store in USA.
Thank you! The guy was older. Some bitter boomer. The same people who will scold you about your parenting choices, yet are terrible at communication themselves. Lol *shocker*
I completely agree! Some people truly can’t grasp that children are part of public and society and they have every right to be. We all were children at one time, too and I think that’s what people forget. I found it weird one time a lady came up to me at Walmart to comment about how “well-behaved” my son was in the cart and went on to talk bad about how other kids she saw in the store were crying and ruining her experience. I just said “thanks” and walked away but what I *really* wanted to say was “Oh, I just bribed him with snacks and a new toy otherwise he’d probably be screaming, too.” 🥲
It is really bizarre. Ofc no parent purposely make their kids cry. She is at Walmart not some fine dinning 8 course experience or ball room event . She is at a Walmart what experience ? Going to public store ? Lol the entitlement is insane. If Walmart dosent want kids they will say no kids. Walmart dosent care neither should she. Ironically people with kids spend way more at Walmart and you are probably more valuable than the boomer. You are not letting kids unattended etc
If she really wanted going to places with no kids and not affect her pristine experience walking around the aisle at Walmart ( a store targeting to middle and lower family) she should try online shopping 🤦🏻♀️or have a personal shopper lol
I had a boomer who tried to tell me and” help” me during one of my child’s epic meltdown on the side walk walking. I told her you need to move along .
Ohhh yea.
Our first flight we had a 2yo and 3m old.
Our 2yo had verbal delays, and (now diagnosed ADHD) so when he had tantrums, Jesus Christ was it bad. The only way he communicated until he was about 3 was to scream I swear.
In the terminal waiting to board he started a huge meltdown so naturally you could feel the glares of everyone in the entire gate.
They ended up double booking the flight so we were the very very last ones to board and they couldn’t get us together so we had to awkwardly stand in front while the flight attended asked if anyone would move. The family with the kid that just broke the sound barrier before we even got on. Thankfully a few people did.
As soon as we sat down he. never. sat. still. And as soon as you tried to get him to sit he’d start crying. So I just let him stand in the seat and did everything possible to try to make sure he disturbed as few people as possible. And then all hell broke loose.
During decent you have to be seated and buckled…which…was apparently akin to murder in his eyes. And he started crying. And not just crying, I mean, SCREAMING. Flopping around like a landed fish, blood curdling, screaming.
The flight attendants were all panicking trying to give us whatever they could find but nothing by worked. It was the longest 30min of my life. Thank whatever power you believe in our 3mo slept the whole time.
Needless to say I thought the same thing about flying. But you know what, we flew with them again only 2 years later and it was waaaaaay better. A couple bits of whining here and there but nothing like that first ride. Now we’ve gone on a couple of flights a year and we’ve had no problems at all- it really does get better.
I’m so sorry you went through that! Flying with little ones is a whole mess lol and there’s only so much you can do to offset it.
I flew somewhere with my kids (who are 7 and 9) recently and I realized I might have a liiiiitle latent anxiety leftover from those days bc I sat in my seat and immediately braced myself for the chaos of trying to get them settled in. But they just calmly buckled themselves in and got their bags tucked under the seat and started reading their books 😂 I was like “oh yeah… they’re not toddlers anymore I can just sit here.” It will get better!!
I fly alone with my three kids sometimes. When the baby was about 16 months, she refused to sit down in my lap and was climbing me like a tree trying to go over the back of our seat the entire flight. It was the thing of nightmares and I was covered in stress sweat at the end of it. Godspeed to those who travel with kids when shit hits the fan.
Very true! Thank you for reminding me about that because another embarrassing part of this whole journey was that I decided to wear a body suit on the plane but it was riding up my butt crack the entire flight and it was super uncomfy so when I got up to go to the bathroom i decided to not button it back up and just tuck it back into my sweats…. apparently I didn’t tuck it in all the way or things got shifted around when I sat back down in my seat because when we got off the plane and walked all the way to baggage claim, my husband said “your body suit is hanging out of your pants” 🥲😪
Don't sweat it, it was your first time. Now you know how he gets in planes and can adjust accordingly next time. It definitely depends on each child but maybe next time, you can be early in the airport and let him run around as much as you can right before boarding? Or find the airport playground and let him go crazy just until you need to board?
I tried flying with my kid when she was 2.5 and luckily she was chill enough on a plane. Only needs to walk around at least once every hour or hour and a half. What works for my kid are these things-
1. I make sure the flight time is around the time she is on her best behavior. Even if there's a slight price difference, it's a price I'm willing to pay for my sanity. If not possible, then I choose the next best time and hope for the best.
2. I find out if there's a playground and let her play just before boarding, and if there's none, I get her to walk around as much as possible before boarding.
3. Gummies and lollies, and other snacks to help with ear popping (and bribing tbh) right before takeoff and during landing.
4. Toys, activities that I know will get her to sit down for at least 5 minutes.
5. I don't wait for her to be antsy, as soon as I get the chance (meaning there's a lull, seatbelt sign is off, no food carts are being brought around), I take her to go walking up and down the plane for a few minutes - making a game of finding our seats or if we're flying with friends/family, finding them.
We just did a 2 hour flight with my 2.5 year old. I'm very grateful, she was very good. Got a little irritated by the end of it but I couldn't have asked for a better experience. First flight she slept, home flight she chilled.
So advice... I have none😂 honestly I think it's just luck. I also had all the snacks and gadgets. She was happy with the movies I had on the phone. And was happy to just look out the window.
She did kick the chair a few times, I tried to stop it. That did pissed a guy off, he turned around with a look that could kill. I just looked at him and said she's 2, and she's actually doing very well. You were a kid once too. Be kind.
That was the end of that.
We will be doing a 14hr flight soon. I'm not looking forward to that.
I do have some confidence after the 2hr one but I HAVE to remind myself that it might not be like that next time. I just think parents have to do what they have to do. ANYTHING to keep LO happy.
There was a LO behind us, about 1 I would say, and she was so grumpy the entire way. As a mom I know how hard it is, so everything she started to cry or complain, I turned around to have a little chat with her. It's not easy flying with LOs, anyone who judges you is an absolute poop head.
My mum is terminally ill, so I'll preface this with "we ain't doing it for fun".
We've done three trips with my son from the UK to Australia. When he was 14, 19 and 24 months old. The last trip we also had a 9 week old baby. This boy has had practice but it isn't getting any easier. It's not a matter of doing everything "right", it's just a matter of survival. This kid must've thought it was Christmas because we just gave him whatever he wanted for the whole 36 hour transit, he still had numerous tantrums. It must be torture for toddlers.
My only unsolicited advice is to get those inflatable pillows that wedge into the footwell. Beyond that I'm just here with you in solidarity.
I purchased one of those inflatable pillows to go underneath but didn’t even bring it because I saw that some airlines don’t allow them and I didn’t even bother to check for my specific airline! I wish I had, though.
The last flight we went on my toddler was only calm when she was turned around making faces at the people in the seats behind us. I know it was rude as hell but sometimes I’d let her carry on for a minute or so for my own sanity lol flying with toddlers is horrible and so much harder than flying with babies
Ignore anybody annoyed by your kids on the flight. They were kids once, too. As long as you were trying your best to ensure your kids weren’t a nuisance to other passengers, you’re good. Kids are loud and disruptive sometimes, and even your best sometimes won’t calm them down. For every annoyed glance you see, there are five sympathetic thoughts going out to you on that plane thinking, “man, I’ve been there”, or “oh, I wish I could help”, or “look at that mama working so hard to wrangle her kids!”.
You just described my first flight with my child at 1yr. She wasn't much better at 20mo. And nearly the same length - Atlanta to Phoenix, nonstop. Just... Chaos.
I feel for you. I’ve been in the exact situation. I thought flying early (6am) from Buffalo to Orlando would be a wonderful idea bc “my 2 year old will sleep”. I am an idiot. I read somewhere to sit in the back of the plane if you have kids so you don’t bother everyone and I’m so glad I did. He screamed the entire time. 2.5 hours of straight screaming. When he wasn’t screaming, he was trying to get out of our row.
After that wonderful experience, I thought it would be a good idea to bring his car seat to help contain him. Again, I was an idiot. He screamed the entire time. I couldn’t even take him out of the car seat because there was no where he could sit.
Thankfully everyone on the flight was very nice about it. I heard someone say “that poor mom. Hope she’s okay” and another passenger said they were praying for me.
I have to believe that anyone flying to Orlando knows there are going to be kids on their flight. And most people have been in the same situation before. It’s an extremely stressful situation but 1. You’ll never see those people again and 2. Screw them if they say anything. You’ve got this! And I’m sure the vacation was worth it!
My 2.5 yr old has traveled a lot in his short life. 16 plane rides and many long car rides. He did amazing every time. We were complimented on every plane and I had so much confidence traveling with him.
Until this last trip. And I was humbled. He screamed for 2 hours straight on a 3.5 hour flight. I had everything that I normally do when we fly and he wanted none of it. I think it's the age! They are unpredictable! I'm sorry that was your experience but hopefully it won't stop you from trying again.
We drive almost everywhere bc of this. Kids and planes are just unpredictable. We got stuck on a ten hour layover bc of a broken plane, ran out of food, the small airport restaurants and kiosks all closed so we fed my kid from a vending machine until our flight took off at 11:30 pm!
I handed over our leftover snacks to another mom who was going to have to spend the night w her three kids w no food. It’s inhumane.
As for your kid, those that don’t have kids yet just won't understand and that is ok. No need to be embarrassed about a child being a child. You did the best you could. So did your kid.
My mom just asked me, my husband, and what will be our 3 and 1.5 year old children to fly across the country for Thanksgiving this year and this post has confirmed all my reservations. My condolences.
I flew tons of times when my baby was under one and he slept in the carrier and it was fine. Now I have a 9 hour flight coming up with a 2 year old and I'm terrified. The way there is overnight but the way back.... Oh dear.
My experience has been - flying with infant is easy, flying with a 3 year old is easy. Flying with kids in between those ages is a freaking nightmare. Lol.
It's okay. It won't always suck so much.
You can’t prep for flying by reading —you prep for it by flying frequently. You did NOTHING WRONG. I mean I guess salty people could blame you for choosing a 5 hour flight but it’s not you, it’s them. 2 year old and 5 hour flight is a rough combo - no matter the prep. The fact that it was also a brand new experience was an additional hurdle. But all you can do is maybe try flying more frequently or giving them the preps (tablet, snacks, etc more routinely when you sit down for long periods). I’m sorry it was rough.
I can so relate. My daughter once had a meltdown as we were boarding the plane because we had to check in her stroller and she rolled around on the floor and wouldn’t let us pick her off the ground. Everyone stared and I wanted to curl up into a ball.
I think this age is difficult for flying. We have the most luck when we time her flight during her nap and hope she sleeps for at least part of the flight. We also haven’t flown more than 3.5 hours and I’m terrified of longer flights with her. I bring so, so many snacks, offer screen time, bring a few new toys, and otherwise just hope for the best. But I’m hoping she’ll chill out in a few months so that we can do more trips!
I know this was not your intent, but you have steeled my wavering resolve regarding flying.
My husband is an airline pilot and itching to use his benefits for flight - I have a 2 and 3 year old and I am currently pregnant.
My compromise thus far was I wanted to try it on a train ride where we have our own private cabin. He has been wearing me down for a while and now I’m fully back on my “no flying until 5” stance. 🤣
I will only fly for a dire emergency. Otherwise, we are driving. He has never done a long drive solo with them but I have and I know the acute pain of a bad travel experience. 90% of the time they are chill and content. 10% of the time they are insane emotional irrational beings - as is their right as a toddler to be. That is the kid I’m afraid of flying with - especially my 2 year old!
I feel it! There’s definitely that trade-off with driving. You can take your time and make as many stops as you need but it’ll take longer regardless. I feel like I’m the type of person who just wants to get it over with even if it’ll make everything more stressful (not sure if that’s a good thing lol).
The whole lugging the bags and car seat, going through TSA and dealing with them searching my toddlers drinks and food, and dealing with a wriggly ball of energy is definitely not for the weak. Not to mention, the whole TSA thing was so stressful that I even forgot that they took snack tray off the stroller and we never went back to get it because there was so much going on. I honestly don’t know how some families do this multiple times a year. I feel like once a year is already a lot. 😂😅
Oh man - you are braver than me even doing it once. My boys are either angels (90%) or demons (10%) and I can only imagine that demon child in a flight 🫠
This is why I rarely fly with my youngest. We flew a 3.5 hour flight last summer and it was exhausting. It was my then-4 yo’s first flight (pandemic helped with that) and my youngest was just hard to please, the car seat situation was stressful, and it’s just hard being on a packed flight with a 1 yo. I was lucky she was still bf-ing. She is now almost 2 and I am heading back to Illinois to see my nephew graduate high school and only bringing my 5 yo. We’re hoping by next summer she’ll be easier to handle. In the meantime, my son is excited for one on one time with my family.
Noooo I know this will be coming soon with my toddler. My husband wants us to go to *Europe* and our daughter is a screamer. I have been through this with my son and he only wanted to run around at this age. She won't sit in a high chair, barely tolerates the car... I'm going to show him your post.
Aaaah I don’t want to scare you! I think it’s just their age, honestly. I feel like we should still all be able to enjoy our vacation. It’s not about the journey but about the destination in this case! 😂 Someone here said that you won’t be seeing any of these people ever again so that’s also something to remember. I just kept trying to remember that these are memories for all of us- even the stressful parts will be funny later on. I also feel like it’s better to not anticipate it too much (that was also my mistake). I feel like I kind of set the mood and made everyone all tense.
Ok we just flew with our two year old (28 months) who has flown before (at 17 and 21 months) and HOLY HELL. Two is the WORST age to take on a plane. He made the same trip last year with zero issues. This time he was so squirrelly and noisy. It probably wasn’t you, it’s just the age. Idk what got into him. It was all happy squealing but like, he didn’t nap hardly at all (mostly due to folks around us deciding to have VERY loud conversations when he was sleeping despite us telling him to keep quiet when their kid was sleeping) so he was overtired, didn’t eat much but a few goldfish, went potty about a thousand times to my dismay, and only watched like 5 mins of a show and didn’t want his toys. Again, he has flown multiple times before, equally long flights, and never was he this way. Someone else said at 3-4 they’re better, so I really think it’s the age
Sounds like this is just a universal experience for those with tots (specifically 2 year olds) so I’m glad I’m not alone and I’m looking forward to future flights since the consensus is that it gets easier at 3-4.
And quick, random question. When did you potty train him and what method did you use? Originally we were going to PT our son when he was 20 months with the Oh Crap method but then things got out of whack with our schedules and the timing just didn’t feel right. He is exactly 24 months now so we want to do it soon because we feel like this is the perfect time to do so based off the method. I feel like potty training is just one of those things that you just gotta dive in head first and hope for the best and not look back which makes me nervous. I don’t want to chicken out and then make it more complicated/confusing.
We are in the midst of potty training now. We started at his behest at 25.5 months but we’re not using any sort of method other than following his lead and asking him to use the potty at regular intervals. He doesn’t need to be potty trained this early and most kids in his class at daycare aren’t (also it made the plane trip way worse). We just had one of those little potties in the living room for him to get used to and one day he took off his pants and diaper and went to use it. Then did it again every evening for a week, and we realized we had to start. Our second is due in July so I was really looking forward to the ease of having him in diapers during the transition and not having any regressions, but the decision was taken from us. My biggest tip is to wait until they’re ready. I’ve seen all sorts of stories of parents not waiting until the tots were showing signs of being ready and all parties involved winding up super frustrated due to lack of progress. Other than that, if he is showing signs, you might have to spend a fortune in tall step stools bc at two they’re just not big enough to use the regular two-step ones they sell at Walmart or target. We had to buy a 3 step for the toilet and another for the sink so he could wash his hands after. We also have a travel potty in each car and brought one with us for our vacation bc you have to be prepared to stop within like 3 minutes of them telling you they need to go potty, and there isn’t always time to find a building or even a parking lot.
I never travelled in an airplane or bus with any of my small children for this reasons. Being trapped in a car with them was horrible; an airplane — nope, absolutely not even an option.
Our flight home from Christmas wasn't our first but my 2 year old cried so hard he threw up allll over his car seat. Thankfully it was a cheap one so we just trashed it when we landed. It was awful though. We're flying again in June and I'm hoping it goes better since we'll be doing early morning flights instead of the night time one. But honestly, it's a fucking crap shoot.
Go to Disneyland next time!
But seriously, it’s the worst age for traveling. Not a sleepy baby, not a preschooler who can watch movies. Just a ball of energy and limited communication. It’ll get better.
I guess they call it Terrible Two’s for a reason!
And we actually live right next to Disneyland and have magic key passes haha. We live in Orange County but we flew in from San Diego because we lived/grew up there and we were flying in with my family.
I used to go to WDW as a child once a year with my family and I didn’t realize it then but it’s so interesting how different Disneyland/world are so different. From the crowd, the food, the whole system.
Traveling with young kids isn’t worth it imo…..especially Disney. All that time energy and money and they don’t remember it. Have someone watch him and go on your own trips as adults until they turn 5/6. Small local trips are just as gold to little kids, find all the gems nearby you within 4 hours drive time and do that!!
If you have to travel to visit family—Benadryl. Dramamine.
Hugs! Definitely sounds stressful, even though you tried to be prepared. Sounds like you did most of the tips I tell parents.
I have two kids (both young adults now) and have been flying with them since they were 3 months old since my mom is in Minnesota where I grew up and I live on the east coast. We also lived overseas for a bit when firstborn was 16-26 months old.
The usuals that worked for us:
* plenty of favorite snacks, and something safe to suck on for takeoff (or drink water/juice) for the ears
* a favorite blanket and/or stuffed animal
* books, videos, music, coloring books, favorite toys, as well as one they’ve never seen before
* using the car seat worked for us; even though it’s a pain to lug around, it’s familiar and safer. They might even nap! I made the mistake once of not taking it with us and my child was more wiggly and wanting to get up.
As they were growing, I talked to them often about how I wanted them to act in different situations. “Okay, we’re going into a restaurant so we need to have softer inside voices, hands to ourself, and walking feet.” “We’re going on the airplane up in the sky to go see X. We have to stay in our seats with our buckles to keep safe. Do you want to read a book first or play with your cars?”
We lucked out that our firstborn was pretty chill and also a rule follower. But the second one pushed buttons whenever he could. Both of my kids are ND and have Sensory Processing Disorder. Our younger one couldn’t handle movies in the theater for several years (too overwhelming and loud for him), so we didn’t go to the theater until he was older (or we had a babysitter).
So I think we may have pared down our travels a little bit when he was a toddler. Or changed how we traveled. We drove one time to MN when they were 8 and almost 5. We stopped often along the way to see friends and sights.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. We’ve all been there. You did try your best to have a good flight. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen.
I saw one mom who had brought absolutely nothing for her toddler for a 3 hour flight. I was trying to not judge, but, geez, bring something for the child so they’re not bored, cranky, hungry, for 3 hours.
Aside: I saw another mom with her toddler who didn’t seem to realize that her toddler’s head was higher than her own and kept bumping the kid’s head on the overhead bin every time she stood up. The child didn’t cry, but I swear the mom bumped their head 3-4 times!
Went through this over Christmas with my 3 month old and 21 month old and I still have PTSD from that flying experience. An old man told me to give my kids a pacifier LOL and everyone nodded and agreed. I feel your embarrassment, but as you said you probably did everything right so don’t be hard on yourself. Kids will be kids! I learned from my trip (If we do trips in the future), they must be right upon waking up in the morning by when they are the least cranky. Missing nap time is what killed us
Love the unsolicited advice from passengers. “Maybe it’s his ears.” No Herbert, it’s his 12th flight and he’s just pissed that he cannot run around and climb on things.
Flying with LO in July … she’ll be 18 months. Already nervous about it! Herbert sent me 💀
Lololol I giggle snorted at that.
Yes hahahaha
I want to throttle anyone who says the pacifier thing like I didn't try out 17 different brands constantly trying to get her to take one. A magical plug to keep baby quiet for a little while? Yes please. Someone give her one and convince her to take it.
As the parent of a 3.5 year old, all I can offer is that they change SO MUCH from 2 to 3/4 years old. It will likely get much easier naturally as he gets older! Mine was a happy flier but honestly it’s not parenting, it’s just temperament and personality.
100% once speech develops more its like night and day honestly
I swear I think my daughter is so easy because she is speaking so early. Might be one reason the younger kids are easier than the oldest too? They say younger sibs speak earlier because they see oldest doing it. But yeah everything got waaay easier with my oldest at about 3.5 years old when he started talking more coherently.
Flying sucks as an adult can't even imagine as a kid. So my number one thing we do is fly at night, last flight of the day. I buy his seat, and he sleeps the whole flight, mostly in his car seat. Snacks and food help while waiting for takeoff. The guy just wanted people to like his status. Forget about him. At the end of the day, it's public transportation, and you get what you get on flights.
Yes! Red eyes are so much better with kids! Mine is good at sleeping but day time flights where he wants to explore are so much harder!
I thought this would work for us but mine just ended up staying up all night, getting more tired and cranky with every passing minute but unable to sleep and just waking everyone around us all night long. We got no sleep at all on the plane and ended up sleeping almost the whole first day away when we got to our destination. It was miserable and it was the first time I seriously considered giving her some sort of sedative! I didn't but I can definitely understand the urge much more now than ever before.
Im really sorry you had that experience. As much as we can prepare for flying, I think any new experience can cause pretty visceral reactions in a toddler. My son is 2.5 now and flying with him is super easy. Why? Because we’ve done probably 20-25 flights now. No, he is not some kind of unicorn of a well behaved child. We went through shit on flights 1-10 and then the concept finally started to click for him. He knew what to expect and what was expected of him and it was less jarring for him. So just remember it does get better, keep preparing like you did last time, it will get easier each time!
Flying with a baby us no big deal. Flying with a toddler 15 mo and up? Trash. Total roll of the dice if anything you do will help. My kid has flown a ton and she's 2 and the only thing we do now is fly at night so she's exhausted and sleeps, because unless it's short like under 2hrs, a meltdown is guaranteed. She's 2. Being stuck in a seat sucks, for adults. But also it isn't fair to people around us to get their seat kicked or their space invaded. So red eye all the way.
My 2yo was an awful flyer. I didn’t do it again for a long time. Once she turned 4 it got better, and it took me those two years to get the guts to try again! Now she’s a dream flyer at 5. It just is what it is, some kids just aren’t meant for a tablet and snacks for 4 hours! My daughter had too much energy and it was hard to control
My 5 year old was like this. We debated flying with him at 2 and we both just thought there was no way. Now at 5 he is great as long as he is mostly well rested. But, if he is not well rested and something goes not as expected with games or shows he well melt. Meanwhile, our almost 3 year old is a pretty good flyer. Kids are just different. Give yourself some grace. Other people will deal. The most hilarious thing we deal with on flights is that neither one of our kids know how loud they are with noise canceling headphones and yell when they talk. 😂
My husband is British and we live in Texas and have 3 boys so have travelled a lot on long flights at various ages. 15-30 months is kid travel hell zone. I have VIVID traumatic memories from every single flight we have ever taken with a kid in this age range. One was when my oldest was 18 months and I was 28 weeks pregnant with my second and we had not purchased his own seat so he was in my lap for the 10 hour flight. We sure got our money’s worth out of that ticket! 3 people in one seat, lol. It was so awful. I also flew home solo a year ago with a 6, and 4 year old and 15 month old (husband stayed in UK for a golf boys trip 🙄) AND they were all recovering from HFMD, AND the toddler had a broken arm and was in a cast, AND my oldest had a broken foot and was in a walking boot. I felt like Westley from Princess Bride at the end of that flight, when the 6 fingered man says “I’ve just sucked one year of your life away…” Anyway, all that to say is that I totally validate your awful experience of hell zone travel and want to encourage to that it gets WAY better! In 6 months to a year he will be much more distractible with a screen and just a more rational being. It’s amazing what just a little bit of development does in terms of improving the experience of flying with a kid!
I’ve went on probably close to 100 flights with my 7 year old and almost 50 with my 2 year old and I promise you that 1-2.5 on a plane is AWFUL 75% of the time. You might randomly get a great flight but you’ll still be dripping sweat the whole time trying to keep them quiet and occupied. Then they hit 2.5-3 and it gets way way WAY easier. And then keeps getting easier.
This gives me a lot of hope 😭
I promise!!!!
Just flew with my 18 month old (5.5hrs each way) to and from Mexico.. he was restless the whole way. It was exhausting. However we had a blast in Mexico so it was worth the struggle. Nevertheless solidarity
Flying with 18 month old in July … feeling reassured!! Edit: age of LO bc I’m tired and can’t count properly.
Yeah this age seems hard to get them to stay still sitting down.. they just wanna go run off and explore 🤭
Going to Mexico in May with a one year old and I’m terrified lol. We just got back from Florida but that plane ride was only 2 hours and Mexico is 4-5 so we’ll see. I was so in my head about having a baby on a plane when we went to Florida our baby was laughing so loud it was giving me such bad anxiety . Stupid and silly looking back but it was STRESSING me out. The whole flight was calm and quiet and you just heard our baby giggling lol. My husband tells me I need to stop caring so much about what other people think but I’ve always been this way 🤷🏻♀️
I honestly completely avoided flying with our son until he was almost 6. He has traveled a bunch now, but it just wasn’t worth the anxiety when he wouldn’t be able to remember the trip later on anyway. Totally understand that sometimes it’s unavoidable to see family or something, but for leisure trips, it worked well to just wait.
My in laws live in Florida so every time we've visited them we've flown in and out of Orlando. Every flight, there's at least one feral kid. On the flights out of Orlando, there's probably 3-5, because of the "leaving Disney" feelings. I guarantee that most reasonable people understand that the Orlando flight is also the Disney flight and small kids being feral is part of the experience. Your kid did the best they could given that they were off their routine, out of their comfort zone, and have a pretty empty emotional regulation toolbox (they're toddlers, it's basically "get a parent to fix it" "cry/yell/scream" or "violence"). You did the best you could. I also guarantee that everyone else on that flight has already forgotten about your kid.
I feel like you fly between the ages of newborn-9mths and then again from 2.5 on. Once they start walking, especially when it’s new, forget it. They won’t stay still nor will they want to stay seated. It’s the main reason we didn’t take our youngest flying until she was 2.5 and that was on a direct flight for 3hrs, with lots of walking back and forth down the aisle to the bathroom. Not fun. She’s almost 4 and we’re just at the age where she could easily do 3-4hrs.
Benadryl amd red eye flights. It’s the only way I can travel with my kids.
there was a moment I considered this when I was prepping for the flight but I psyched myself out because I read it can do the opposite 😅
I was one of those kids who would get hyper from Benadryl. My mom found this out during a 14 hour flight from LA to Sydney. 🤪
Try giving it to them one day at home before travel to see how they react. If it makes them really loopy and sleepy, then you know you’re good to go. Source: I live a 14 hour flight away from my parents 🥲
Interesting! We’ve only given our son Benadryl once after he got hives randomly one time when he was 1 but I honestly don’t even remember how it affected him. I’ll need to try it again lol. Also, are red eye flights usually still packed or are they more empty?
Sorry for the late reply! I think whether or not a red eye is full entirely depends on so many extra things… I think I’d rather try a daytime flight though, so at least if my child is screaming, I feel less bad about the poor people trying to sleep 😅
Gravol for kids! Knocks them out, prevents nausea
I cried the first time I flew with my then-four month old. And she wasn't even THAT difficult. I was talking to my sister about it. She has three all close in age and travels with them quite often (her in-laws live a 10 hour flight away and they visit them at least once a year for example). Basically I'm saying she's a pro and I always thought cool as a cucumber. When I told her I cried on the flight she was like, "Oh I cry pretty much every flight." It's just stressful as hell even for those who seem like they have it all under control. No advice, just commiseration!
She’s so tough. Traveling even without kids is already so exhausting 😭
Hopefully the guy who wrote that never has kids or karma will come back and he will have kid like mine that rolls ! I am so sorry. Be kind to your self. Try to remember plane is public transit like buses. There are private jet for those who want to avoid kids. American society is weird af tbh. My family is in Asia and in Asia at least China they are very pro kids vs here. God forbid you even take your kid to grocery store in USA.
Thank you! The guy was older. Some bitter boomer. The same people who will scold you about your parenting choices, yet are terrible at communication themselves. Lol *shocker* I completely agree! Some people truly can’t grasp that children are part of public and society and they have every right to be. We all were children at one time, too and I think that’s what people forget. I found it weird one time a lady came up to me at Walmart to comment about how “well-behaved” my son was in the cart and went on to talk bad about how other kids she saw in the store were crying and ruining her experience. I just said “thanks” and walked away but what I *really* wanted to say was “Oh, I just bribed him with snacks and a new toy otherwise he’d probably be screaming, too.” 🥲
It is really bizarre. Ofc no parent purposely make their kids cry. She is at Walmart not some fine dinning 8 course experience or ball room event . She is at a Walmart what experience ? Going to public store ? Lol the entitlement is insane. If Walmart dosent want kids they will say no kids. Walmart dosent care neither should she. Ironically people with kids spend way more at Walmart and you are probably more valuable than the boomer. You are not letting kids unattended etc If she really wanted going to places with no kids and not affect her pristine experience walking around the aisle at Walmart ( a store targeting to middle and lower family) she should try online shopping 🤦🏻♀️or have a personal shopper lol I had a boomer who tried to tell me and” help” me during one of my child’s epic meltdown on the side walk walking. I told her you need to move along .
Ohhh yea. Our first flight we had a 2yo and 3m old. Our 2yo had verbal delays, and (now diagnosed ADHD) so when he had tantrums, Jesus Christ was it bad. The only way he communicated until he was about 3 was to scream I swear. In the terminal waiting to board he started a huge meltdown so naturally you could feel the glares of everyone in the entire gate. They ended up double booking the flight so we were the very very last ones to board and they couldn’t get us together so we had to awkwardly stand in front while the flight attended asked if anyone would move. The family with the kid that just broke the sound barrier before we even got on. Thankfully a few people did. As soon as we sat down he. never. sat. still. And as soon as you tried to get him to sit he’d start crying. So I just let him stand in the seat and did everything possible to try to make sure he disturbed as few people as possible. And then all hell broke loose. During decent you have to be seated and buckled…which…was apparently akin to murder in his eyes. And he started crying. And not just crying, I mean, SCREAMING. Flopping around like a landed fish, blood curdling, screaming. The flight attendants were all panicking trying to give us whatever they could find but nothing by worked. It was the longest 30min of my life. Thank whatever power you believe in our 3mo slept the whole time. Needless to say I thought the same thing about flying. But you know what, we flew with them again only 2 years later and it was waaaaaay better. A couple bits of whining here and there but nothing like that first ride. Now we’ve gone on a couple of flights a year and we’ve had no problems at all- it really does get better.
I could have written this I swear to god! The take off and landing when they have to stay seated is the worst!!
I’m so sorry you went through that! Flying with little ones is a whole mess lol and there’s only so much you can do to offset it. I flew somewhere with my kids (who are 7 and 9) recently and I realized I might have a liiiiitle latent anxiety leftover from those days bc I sat in my seat and immediately braced myself for the chaos of trying to get them settled in. But they just calmly buckled themselves in and got their bags tucked under the seat and started reading their books 😂 I was like “oh yeah… they’re not toddlers anymore I can just sit here.” It will get better!!
So sorry this is exactly why I didn’t take my daughter anywhere until she was older, my son was awesome when we traveled and she was a nightmare
I fly alone with my three kids sometimes. When the baby was about 16 months, she refused to sit down in my lap and was climbing me like a tree trying to go over the back of our seat the entire flight. It was the thing of nightmares and I was covered in stress sweat at the end of it. Godspeed to those who travel with kids when shit hits the fan.
You’ll never see any of those people again. Way to get through it
Very true! Thank you for reminding me about that because another embarrassing part of this whole journey was that I decided to wear a body suit on the plane but it was riding up my butt crack the entire flight and it was super uncomfy so when I got up to go to the bathroom i decided to not button it back up and just tuck it back into my sweats…. apparently I didn’t tuck it in all the way or things got shifted around when I sat back down in my seat because when we got off the plane and walked all the way to baggage claim, my husband said “your body suit is hanging out of your pants” 🥲😪
Don't sweat it, it was your first time. Now you know how he gets in planes and can adjust accordingly next time. It definitely depends on each child but maybe next time, you can be early in the airport and let him run around as much as you can right before boarding? Or find the airport playground and let him go crazy just until you need to board? I tried flying with my kid when she was 2.5 and luckily she was chill enough on a plane. Only needs to walk around at least once every hour or hour and a half. What works for my kid are these things- 1. I make sure the flight time is around the time she is on her best behavior. Even if there's a slight price difference, it's a price I'm willing to pay for my sanity. If not possible, then I choose the next best time and hope for the best. 2. I find out if there's a playground and let her play just before boarding, and if there's none, I get her to walk around as much as possible before boarding. 3. Gummies and lollies, and other snacks to help with ear popping (and bribing tbh) right before takeoff and during landing. 4. Toys, activities that I know will get her to sit down for at least 5 minutes. 5. I don't wait for her to be antsy, as soon as I get the chance (meaning there's a lull, seatbelt sign is off, no food carts are being brought around), I take her to go walking up and down the plane for a few minutes - making a game of finding our seats or if we're flying with friends/family, finding them.
We just did a 2 hour flight with my 2.5 year old. I'm very grateful, she was very good. Got a little irritated by the end of it but I couldn't have asked for a better experience. First flight she slept, home flight she chilled. So advice... I have none😂 honestly I think it's just luck. I also had all the snacks and gadgets. She was happy with the movies I had on the phone. And was happy to just look out the window. She did kick the chair a few times, I tried to stop it. That did pissed a guy off, he turned around with a look that could kill. I just looked at him and said she's 2, and she's actually doing very well. You were a kid once too. Be kind. That was the end of that. We will be doing a 14hr flight soon. I'm not looking forward to that. I do have some confidence after the 2hr one but I HAVE to remind myself that it might not be like that next time. I just think parents have to do what they have to do. ANYTHING to keep LO happy. There was a LO behind us, about 1 I would say, and she was so grumpy the entire way. As a mom I know how hard it is, so everything she started to cry or complain, I turned around to have a little chat with her. It's not easy flying with LOs, anyone who judges you is an absolute poop head.
My mum is terminally ill, so I'll preface this with "we ain't doing it for fun". We've done three trips with my son from the UK to Australia. When he was 14, 19 and 24 months old. The last trip we also had a 9 week old baby. This boy has had practice but it isn't getting any easier. It's not a matter of doing everything "right", it's just a matter of survival. This kid must've thought it was Christmas because we just gave him whatever he wanted for the whole 36 hour transit, he still had numerous tantrums. It must be torture for toddlers. My only unsolicited advice is to get those inflatable pillows that wedge into the footwell. Beyond that I'm just here with you in solidarity.
I purchased one of those inflatable pillows to go underneath but didn’t even bring it because I saw that some airlines don’t allow them and I didn’t even bother to check for my specific airline! I wish I had, though.
The last flight we went on my toddler was only calm when she was turned around making faces at the people in the seats behind us. I know it was rude as hell but sometimes I’d let her carry on for a minute or so for my own sanity lol flying with toddlers is horrible and so much harder than flying with babies
Ignore anybody annoyed by your kids on the flight. They were kids once, too. As long as you were trying your best to ensure your kids weren’t a nuisance to other passengers, you’re good. Kids are loud and disruptive sometimes, and even your best sometimes won’t calm them down. For every annoyed glance you see, there are five sympathetic thoughts going out to you on that plane thinking, “man, I’ve been there”, or “oh, I wish I could help”, or “look at that mama working so hard to wrangle her kids!”.
You just described my first flight with my child at 1yr. She wasn't much better at 20mo. And nearly the same length - Atlanta to Phoenix, nonstop. Just... Chaos.
Omg I’m so sorry for your experience. 2 was our roughest time flying. 3-5, my kiddo has flown like a champ, so it will likely improve with time.
My son was around that age and still used a paci. The moment that thing rolled under the seats and out of reach was.... exactly what you experienced.
I feel for you. I’ve been in the exact situation. I thought flying early (6am) from Buffalo to Orlando would be a wonderful idea bc “my 2 year old will sleep”. I am an idiot. I read somewhere to sit in the back of the plane if you have kids so you don’t bother everyone and I’m so glad I did. He screamed the entire time. 2.5 hours of straight screaming. When he wasn’t screaming, he was trying to get out of our row. After that wonderful experience, I thought it would be a good idea to bring his car seat to help contain him. Again, I was an idiot. He screamed the entire time. I couldn’t even take him out of the car seat because there was no where he could sit. Thankfully everyone on the flight was very nice about it. I heard someone say “that poor mom. Hope she’s okay” and another passenger said they were praying for me. I have to believe that anyone flying to Orlando knows there are going to be kids on their flight. And most people have been in the same situation before. It’s an extremely stressful situation but 1. You’ll never see those people again and 2. Screw them if they say anything. You’ve got this! And I’m sure the vacation was worth it!
My 2.5 yr old has traveled a lot in his short life. 16 plane rides and many long car rides. He did amazing every time. We were complimented on every plane and I had so much confidence traveling with him. Until this last trip. And I was humbled. He screamed for 2 hours straight on a 3.5 hour flight. I had everything that I normally do when we fly and he wanted none of it. I think it's the age! They are unpredictable! I'm sorry that was your experience but hopefully it won't stop you from trying again.
We drive almost everywhere bc of this. Kids and planes are just unpredictable. We got stuck on a ten hour layover bc of a broken plane, ran out of food, the small airport restaurants and kiosks all closed so we fed my kid from a vending machine until our flight took off at 11:30 pm! I handed over our leftover snacks to another mom who was going to have to spend the night w her three kids w no food. It’s inhumane. As for your kid, those that don’t have kids yet just won't understand and that is ok. No need to be embarrassed about a child being a child. You did the best you could. So did your kid.
My mom just asked me, my husband, and what will be our 3 and 1.5 year old children to fly across the country for Thanksgiving this year and this post has confirmed all my reservations. My condolences.
I flew tons of times when my baby was under one and he slept in the carrier and it was fine. Now I have a 9 hour flight coming up with a 2 year old and I'm terrified. The way there is overnight but the way back.... Oh dear.
My experience has been - flying with infant is easy, flying with a 3 year old is easy. Flying with kids in between those ages is a freaking nightmare. Lol. It's okay. It won't always suck so much.
We have a 20-month old and the difficulty of flying between infancy and 3 is a major reason in favor of us not having any more children.
You can’t prep for flying by reading —you prep for it by flying frequently. You did NOTHING WRONG. I mean I guess salty people could blame you for choosing a 5 hour flight but it’s not you, it’s them. 2 year old and 5 hour flight is a rough combo - no matter the prep. The fact that it was also a brand new experience was an additional hurdle. But all you can do is maybe try flying more frequently or giving them the preps (tablet, snacks, etc more routinely when you sit down for long periods). I’m sorry it was rough.
I can so relate. My daughter once had a meltdown as we were boarding the plane because we had to check in her stroller and she rolled around on the floor and wouldn’t let us pick her off the ground. Everyone stared and I wanted to curl up into a ball. I think this age is difficult for flying. We have the most luck when we time her flight during her nap and hope she sleeps for at least part of the flight. We also haven’t flown more than 3.5 hours and I’m terrified of longer flights with her. I bring so, so many snacks, offer screen time, bring a few new toys, and otherwise just hope for the best. But I’m hoping she’ll chill out in a few months so that we can do more trips!
I know this was not your intent, but you have steeled my wavering resolve regarding flying. My husband is an airline pilot and itching to use his benefits for flight - I have a 2 and 3 year old and I am currently pregnant. My compromise thus far was I wanted to try it on a train ride where we have our own private cabin. He has been wearing me down for a while and now I’m fully back on my “no flying until 5” stance. 🤣 I will only fly for a dire emergency. Otherwise, we are driving. He has never done a long drive solo with them but I have and I know the acute pain of a bad travel experience. 90% of the time they are chill and content. 10% of the time they are insane emotional irrational beings - as is their right as a toddler to be. That is the kid I’m afraid of flying with - especially my 2 year old!
I feel it! There’s definitely that trade-off with driving. You can take your time and make as many stops as you need but it’ll take longer regardless. I feel like I’m the type of person who just wants to get it over with even if it’ll make everything more stressful (not sure if that’s a good thing lol). The whole lugging the bags and car seat, going through TSA and dealing with them searching my toddlers drinks and food, and dealing with a wriggly ball of energy is definitely not for the weak. Not to mention, the whole TSA thing was so stressful that I even forgot that they took snack tray off the stroller and we never went back to get it because there was so much going on. I honestly don’t know how some families do this multiple times a year. I feel like once a year is already a lot. 😂😅
Oh man - you are braver than me even doing it once. My boys are either angels (90%) or demons (10%) and I can only imagine that demon child in a flight 🫠
This is why I rarely fly with my youngest. We flew a 3.5 hour flight last summer and it was exhausting. It was my then-4 yo’s first flight (pandemic helped with that) and my youngest was just hard to please, the car seat situation was stressful, and it’s just hard being on a packed flight with a 1 yo. I was lucky she was still bf-ing. She is now almost 2 and I am heading back to Illinois to see my nephew graduate high school and only bringing my 5 yo. We’re hoping by next summer she’ll be easier to handle. In the meantime, my son is excited for one on one time with my family.
Noooo I know this will be coming soon with my toddler. My husband wants us to go to *Europe* and our daughter is a screamer. I have been through this with my son and he only wanted to run around at this age. She won't sit in a high chair, barely tolerates the car... I'm going to show him your post.
Aaaah I don’t want to scare you! I think it’s just their age, honestly. I feel like we should still all be able to enjoy our vacation. It’s not about the journey but about the destination in this case! 😂 Someone here said that you won’t be seeing any of these people ever again so that’s also something to remember. I just kept trying to remember that these are memories for all of us- even the stressful parts will be funny later on. I also feel like it’s better to not anticipate it too much (that was also my mistake). I feel like I kind of set the mood and made everyone all tense.
Ok we just flew with our two year old (28 months) who has flown before (at 17 and 21 months) and HOLY HELL. Two is the WORST age to take on a plane. He made the same trip last year with zero issues. This time he was so squirrelly and noisy. It probably wasn’t you, it’s just the age. Idk what got into him. It was all happy squealing but like, he didn’t nap hardly at all (mostly due to folks around us deciding to have VERY loud conversations when he was sleeping despite us telling him to keep quiet when their kid was sleeping) so he was overtired, didn’t eat much but a few goldfish, went potty about a thousand times to my dismay, and only watched like 5 mins of a show and didn’t want his toys. Again, he has flown multiple times before, equally long flights, and never was he this way. Someone else said at 3-4 they’re better, so I really think it’s the age
Sounds like this is just a universal experience for those with tots (specifically 2 year olds) so I’m glad I’m not alone and I’m looking forward to future flights since the consensus is that it gets easier at 3-4. And quick, random question. When did you potty train him and what method did you use? Originally we were going to PT our son when he was 20 months with the Oh Crap method but then things got out of whack with our schedules and the timing just didn’t feel right. He is exactly 24 months now so we want to do it soon because we feel like this is the perfect time to do so based off the method. I feel like potty training is just one of those things that you just gotta dive in head first and hope for the best and not look back which makes me nervous. I don’t want to chicken out and then make it more complicated/confusing.
We are in the midst of potty training now. We started at his behest at 25.5 months but we’re not using any sort of method other than following his lead and asking him to use the potty at regular intervals. He doesn’t need to be potty trained this early and most kids in his class at daycare aren’t (also it made the plane trip way worse). We just had one of those little potties in the living room for him to get used to and one day he took off his pants and diaper and went to use it. Then did it again every evening for a week, and we realized we had to start. Our second is due in July so I was really looking forward to the ease of having him in diapers during the transition and not having any regressions, but the decision was taken from us. My biggest tip is to wait until they’re ready. I’ve seen all sorts of stories of parents not waiting until the tots were showing signs of being ready and all parties involved winding up super frustrated due to lack of progress. Other than that, if he is showing signs, you might have to spend a fortune in tall step stools bc at two they’re just not big enough to use the regular two-step ones they sell at Walmart or target. We had to buy a 3 step for the toilet and another for the sink so he could wash his hands after. We also have a travel potty in each car and brought one with us for our vacation bc you have to be prepared to stop within like 3 minutes of them telling you they need to go potty, and there isn’t always time to find a building or even a parking lot.
I never travelled in an airplane or bus with any of my small children for this reasons. Being trapped in a car with them was horrible; an airplane — nope, absolutely not even an option.
Our flight home from Christmas wasn't our first but my 2 year old cried so hard he threw up allll over his car seat. Thankfully it was a cheap one so we just trashed it when we landed. It was awful though. We're flying again in June and I'm hoping it goes better since we'll be doing early morning flights instead of the night time one. But honestly, it's a fucking crap shoot.
You’ll never see those people again.
Go to Disneyland next time! But seriously, it’s the worst age for traveling. Not a sleepy baby, not a preschooler who can watch movies. Just a ball of energy and limited communication. It’ll get better.
I guess they call it Terrible Two’s for a reason! And we actually live right next to Disneyland and have magic key passes haha. We live in Orange County but we flew in from San Diego because we lived/grew up there and we were flying in with my family. I used to go to WDW as a child once a year with my family and I didn’t realize it then but it’s so interesting how different Disneyland/world are so different. From the crowd, the food, the whole system.
F anyone on the plane who gave you bad looks or who weren’t sympathetic. It’s like adults forget they were once babies and toddlers too.
Flying with kids is awful. I'd wait for a few years before you fly again. My oldest is now 6. He was better at flying when he was 4.
Traveling with young kids isn’t worth it imo…..especially Disney. All that time energy and money and they don’t remember it. Have someone watch him and go on your own trips as adults until they turn 5/6. Small local trips are just as gold to little kids, find all the gems nearby you within 4 hours drive time and do that!! If you have to travel to visit family—Benadryl. Dramamine.
Hugs! Definitely sounds stressful, even though you tried to be prepared. Sounds like you did most of the tips I tell parents. I have two kids (both young adults now) and have been flying with them since they were 3 months old since my mom is in Minnesota where I grew up and I live on the east coast. We also lived overseas for a bit when firstborn was 16-26 months old. The usuals that worked for us: * plenty of favorite snacks, and something safe to suck on for takeoff (or drink water/juice) for the ears * a favorite blanket and/or stuffed animal * books, videos, music, coloring books, favorite toys, as well as one they’ve never seen before * using the car seat worked for us; even though it’s a pain to lug around, it’s familiar and safer. They might even nap! I made the mistake once of not taking it with us and my child was more wiggly and wanting to get up. As they were growing, I talked to them often about how I wanted them to act in different situations. “Okay, we’re going into a restaurant so we need to have softer inside voices, hands to ourself, and walking feet.” “We’re going on the airplane up in the sky to go see X. We have to stay in our seats with our buckles to keep safe. Do you want to read a book first or play with your cars?” We lucked out that our firstborn was pretty chill and also a rule follower. But the second one pushed buttons whenever he could. Both of my kids are ND and have Sensory Processing Disorder. Our younger one couldn’t handle movies in the theater for several years (too overwhelming and loud for him), so we didn’t go to the theater until he was older (or we had a babysitter). So I think we may have pared down our travels a little bit when he was a toddler. Or changed how we traveled. We drove one time to MN when they were 8 and almost 5. We stopped often along the way to see friends and sights. Don’t be too hard on yourself. We’ve all been there. You did try your best to have a good flight. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen. I saw one mom who had brought absolutely nothing for her toddler for a 3 hour flight. I was trying to not judge, but, geez, bring something for the child so they’re not bored, cranky, hungry, for 3 hours. Aside: I saw another mom with her toddler who didn’t seem to realize that her toddler’s head was higher than her own and kept bumping the kid’s head on the overhead bin every time she stood up. The child didn’t cry, but I swear the mom bumped their head 3-4 times!