Some advice regarding a 1 year old on a flight

Hi all

I hope this hasn't been done too recently, but can anyone offer any pearls of wisdom on how to handle a 1 year old on a flight to make it more of a comfortable experience for other passengers? We are travelling to Orlando soon and we will be sitting in PE. I obviously don't want to disturb the other passengers (i am aware that this might not be possible ALL of the time), but can any seasoned passengers give me any tips on how to entertain her, and keep her from being a nuisance!

Thanks in advance!

Gin.

Flew out of MAN a few days ago UC and saw to our dismay a couple with a very small baby in the lounge, our fears became reality when they joined us in the cabin. The cabin was not full and the elderly couple directly behind them asked to be moved, we stayed put and although the smallie was a little fractious at times and I recommended the use of gin, we survived but it was not the relaxing flight we wanted but it could have been worse. The father had the bed made up early in the flight and managed to sleep most of the flight leaving the mother to cope with the 5 month old child. Some years ago we flew out with Delta in business with a mother and her 5 week old baby. The baby was no trouble in the whole of the fight to Atlanta until a FA decided to pick him up when the mother went off to the toilet and he started to cry for the first time in the whole flight.Both parents had new toys to distract them but I realize these children are younger than yours who will be more mobile.

In all seriousness, I've never had an issue with any babies on any of the flights I've taken. Most trips seem to have at least one little passenger, more on some routes, they're just a normal part of flying. Planes are actually pretty noisy places so unless a baby is really kicking off no one will even really notice.

A bit like being in a car the movement of the plane always seemed to put my son to sleep when he was younger. A bit of a walk up and down every now and then, plenty of food and toys and most importantly, don't worry. It'll be fine

(And gin, obviously)

Hi Lady Muck
Our 14 month old daughter has flown 6 trips, one in upper, one in premium and four in economy to various US destinations including west coast. You will see some of my trip reports as we have learnt new things each time to make it easier. I found it useful reading trip reports others had written of travelling with young family.

Here are some tips.

The more tired she is the more chance of sleeping which is the only rest time you will get on the flight. We tried to make her as tired as possible by playing, walking, standing in clubhouse beforehand.
When she first flew at 3 months to Vegas this was actually the easiest as we were able to control her a little by giving milk but as she got older and become more mobile she became more frustrated especially when seat belt sign is on. We often had short video clips, photos of her, us on our phone which really helped keep her entertained at these moments.

During the flight we often used floor in front of us to lay down a blanket and she was quite happy playing there with toys. Always worth buying a few new small toys for the journey. We often found that a simple thing like a pack of playing cars kept her busy by hiding cars around the magazine storage and letting her find them. If you ring Virgin before and ask for a bassinet normally you will get bulk head seats which give you valuable more room.

Mealtimes are tricky. I always book her baby, infant meal and she will eat a little. For the adults it's hard to eat so we tend to take it in turn and try to just use on tray. We used to take milk for journey but on last trip crew had plentiful supply of full fat milk to top up her bottle as and when required.

During times of restlessness a walk up and down the aisle, or carry here will help. I often stand near galley and let her watch crew and she can see buttons, lights etc. Often they will be fighting tiredness so a walk around in your arms can often help her drop off to sleep.

It really helps having friendly and understanding passengers around you. Often you can see them a little nervous as they take their seats around you. We've not had any issues but most fellow passengers are understanding if at least they can see you making effort to keep baby quiet and entertained and not just leave her to cry. Even better another baby sat nearby. I find this really helps. On the Vegas run you don't get too many other babies. The only time we had one hard time with crying was during a 15 minute period on return night flight leg when she was really crying loud. She was fighting tiredness. In this case I took her into toilet area to drown out noise for a while and she eventually fell to sleep.

She may be too big for bassinet at 12 months but always useful to have the seat to give you more room. If she sleeps probably will be you lap and you have to be a bit flexible as she moves while she sleeps.

You will find yourself counting down hours during flight and being very relieved at end of journey. But my key tip is to relax and be positive as she will pick up on any nervousness and frustration and this can make her worse. Crew are generally great with baby and this really helps and provides a nice distraction to the boredom of the flight.

It's certainly no where near as bad as you might be thinking and you will then have great holiday memories with your baby. Good luck!

Of all the irritating things I have suffered on a flight, being in a cabin with a baby is not one of them. The first time I saw a couple board with a youngster I was a bit apprehensive but I needn't have been.
Far worse is the teenager tapping his IFE screen on my seat back. (always choose row 19 in PE now)
Or the stranger who wants to talk the whole flight.
Or the headphones up full volume emitting that tinny noise.
Or a full flight next to a passenger who really should have bought two seats.
Or.... the list goes on but babies are not on it.
Dick D

We've flown all over the world with our daughter - she was 6 weeks old on her first flight but we have never ever had a problem, nor has she ever caused a disturbance to other passengers - this is because, as conscientious parents we are aware that it is OUR responsibility to provide distraction etc.

I can see that you must also be concerned and that's a great start!

The best thing I ever did was to go to a cheap shop such as £world (or other similar stores) and buy a load of trash. Then wrap each one individually.

I flew to the USA with her once when my husband wasn't on the flight - so there was only me to entertain her! She was 10 months old and although I had a request for the bassinet seat it had already been allocated at check in and the people seated there refused to move - so meals were impossible for me as she was on my lap - however every so often I would 'find' one of the presents in my bag and exclaim look what I've found! The excitement of finding it, and the time to unwrap it, then play with it swallowed up around an hour each time. And because the items were so cheap it didn't matter if they broke/got left behind etc.

Also - always have a little fluid left for them to suck on when descending and landing as this is the time that the change in cabin pressure can affect their little ears. Karvol drops on a tissue tucked into their top for them to sniff helps too.

I'd better stop now because I could write a book on this subject!

ditto all the advice above. We have flown worldwide with our son since he was 9 months old in various cabins.
Lots of small toys and snacks throughout the flight seemed to help when he was younger. Asda also have some great stuff like smaller packs of plasticine , small toys, colouring books etc It also helped that he had a 'dummy' up to age 2 which seemed to help with his ears on descent and encourage sleep.
Plus his comforter - a muslin cloth.
We have always been complimented on how well behaved he is. I think getting them used to air travel at a young age is the key

The trickiest thing for us was the luggage 'kerfuffle' when you land at MCO, you have to collect bags, then give them back as you go on the monorail. Then collect them again.
Hopefully you will have enough helping hands for all this...

Above all I hope you have an amazing holiday and enjoy the happiest place on earth. Wonderful memories !

I have to admit to not really being a child liker, and had a reputation at work of being able to make babies cry at twenty paces just by looking at them , but saying that I realise we have all been there.

I have had a couple of incidents in the past that have really rattled my chains that I can think of, but that's only a tiny percentage overall:

An american couple who ignored their screaming child on a United Airlines flight by just putting their headphones on and forgetting about it for a number of hours, and, last year on a Hawaiian Airlines flight from HNL to SFO in F class on an A330 which aren't the biggest cabins another couple who couldn't do anything to subdue their screaming infant.

Noise cancelling headphones tend to work rather well and I felt sorry for them as they were trying but even the flight attendants came round towards the end of the flight and appologised, at least I was about as far away from them as I could have been, so felt even sorrier for their immediate neighbours.

Everyone has the right to travel however they wish but I think that if you have paid a small fortune for a particular flight you can expect to have a degree of peace and quiet. As long as parents are doing something to calm a screaming child I'm happy, its the ones that do nothing that get to me.

Saying all that I find adults to be far more obnoxious and inconsiderate as has been mentioned by other members on here. I once got stuck in a row of seats in Y on a BA 747 from JFK after the occupant next to the aisle loaded up on alcohol as soon as she could and collapsed over the folded down tray table for the duration of the flight so my partner and I spent the next 6 hours trapped with no chance of stirring her.

Cabin crew usually, from what I have seen, tend to make a fuss of babies and young children on flights so I wouldn't worry too much and just ignore the grumpy old gits like me and have a great time

The trickiest thing for us was the luggage 'kerfuffle' when you land at MCO, you have to collect bags, then give them back as you go on the monorail. Then collect them again.

I always hang on to my luggage. I cant bear the idea of waiting for luggage twice.
Admittedly getting up the escalator is not the easiest thing if you have two cases each plus carry on plus a baby.
I'd have the baby in a papoose on my front, my carry on as a rucksack on my back, and a case in each hand.

Dick D

I was going t mention the pressure cvhange thing, but I see that's already been done.

Both at take off and landing, which can sort of make a child associater that pain with the getting on a plane experience...

Don't stress about what others think of you and how they react.

If you are responsible parents (and by asking about this you've proved you are), and do your best with the little one, any attitude from others on the plane is their own problem, not yours.

Way too many people have become way too intollerant of young children and too tollerant of other behaviours which I consider inappropriate.

Manage the time differences very carefully to do you rbest to have the young'n as tired as possible at the right time...but not over-tired which as we all know, is whhen they get most grumpy and hard to settle.

Just watch out for dehydration as well, everyone under-estimates how dehydrated you get on a plane, and it will make babies quiter grumpy,.

Good luck, but please don't worrry too much, we're nopt all bad tempered out there about kids!!

Thank you all for your very helpful replies and advice sorry I haven't been back for a while - the aforementioned 12 month old keeps me very busy!

I have bought some new toys, colouring books, crayons etc that I will give to her at different times during the flight to keep her entertained. I like the idea of £shop trash toys too. I will have a look in there today to see what I can pick up. She is normally a very happy, contented little thing so hopefully she will be just as relaxed on the flight.

And, as you say, there is always Gin... or the mother in law who is accompanying us on the holiday. I figure that 3 against one is good odds, right?!

Ha ha you sound like you have all bases covered! Remember to wrap all the items as that builds the excitement and takes a bit longer! Enjoy!