If you must travel with a young one, here's my US$0.02
Aug 01 '00
Short of saying "STAY AT HOME!! STAY AT HOME!! MAKE YOUR RELATIVES COME TO YOU!! DON'T VACATION FARTHER AWAY THAN A FEW HOUR'S DRIVE" this is what I learned from our last trip. Two adults ferried a busy 1 year old who does not require a lot of sleep from Oregon to New York.
* Don't do it alone if you can help it. I always admire single moms and admire moms traveling alone with children even more.
* When you make your reservation, ask the agent for help. If they are nice, they'll try to get you an extra seat at the back of the plane. It worked on 3 of the four legs of the trip. Keep asking at the gate right up until boarding. (Sorry, sometimes being a pest is a good thing...) On United, maybe they will pity you and get you into Economy Plus, which has extra leg/play room.
* Stay off the Boeing 757 unless you are certain it's practically empty.
The '57 is nothing but a very long 737. Not much personal space, about 8 zillion fellow passengers, and an aisle too narrow for baby walking make for a miserable flight.
* Ditto the MD80. Same reasons as above, only the MD80 is also the one that crashed in the Pacific a few months back...why press our luck?
* If you stop in Chicago's O'Hare along the way, make sure you get a long layover and go to the Children's Museum. Sorry, I forget which Concourse it's on, but it's over by the Post Office. Any child of preschool age and maybe a bit older will love it. Rubbery floors, interesting airplane-related play structures, Duplo thingies, big blocks. A great place.
* Two or three weeks before the trip, take all the small toys your baby likes out of circulation. You can pull them out during the flight and get some nice periods of play with some now-new-again beloved toys.
* Go to the kids' toy store before you leave and stock up on little interesting toys. Bendy toys were introduced for the first time and were good for at least a half hour of contentment. I don't usually place such emphasis on toys and our little one, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
* Even if you get an extra seat free, check the car seat through. Unless your child loves the car seat, that is. Ours hates it. That extra seat is a good play area. Our girl stood on the floor and played with her things on the seat.
* Bring an umbrella stroller and check it at the gate. It will be waiting for you at the jetway on your way off the plane. Umbrella strollers are great for making those mad dashes through airports. Our baby really loved going fast, too.
* Pack lots of food for the little one. We brought lots of little interesting things. Fruit, cheese, crackers. It helped a lot.
* If mom is breast feeding, she should try to nurse on the way up and the way down. The sucking motions of the mouth make cabin pressure changes easier on the little one's ears.
* Team up to get the little one off the plane fast. Ours did a lot better off the plane in the waiting areas than on. So my partner was the Baby Extraction Specialist who got her off the plane as fast as humanly possible, and I was Sherpa Dad who loaded up on all our junk and schlepped it off the plane. I must blow my horn here; we do not travel light. I found it funny that on most flights there were a few of us beast of burden papas struggling off the plane with a slightly impatient flight crew right behind.
* Go ahead and walk up and down the aisle. There will probably be a few child lovers along the way to make friends with. Maybe some other kids, too. Ignore the icy stares of the others. You have the most beautiful and charming child in history...what's their problem?
* If you are traveling with your spouse, remind them how amazing they are and what a great job they're doing. (Even if they aren't.) This little boost will go a long way and maybe even inspire the unamazing to actually be amazing.
* Thank the flight crew lavishly for any kindness. They have a hard job and they aren't there to help you particularly, so any nice thing is a real bonus. Besides, you'll probably be hanging out in the galley in the back, and you need their sufferance to stay there.
* Stay calm and remind yourself that it's going to be over eventually. When you have reached your destination, try not to think about the return trip.
Good Luck!
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Epinions.com ID:
cking
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Member: Chris King
Location: Portable, OR
Reviews written: 44
Trusted by: 54 members
About Me:
I am a rock. I am an island.
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