Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! On friday, Rowan and I decided we should head down to FL to visit my Mom and Dad. They have been down here enjoying their vacation home since New years (lucky them) but last week on a bike ride my mom fractured her foot. Then yesterday, my dad tore his meniscus. The luck, right? Anyway, we hopped a plane yesterday and came down to help them out for the week.
The weather is just beautiful! A nice change from the frigid cold in the Northeast. Today we got to watch the dolphins play in the canal, go for a walk in bare feet, catch some geckos, and lay around reading books in the sun. It will be a good week! Although, we do miss Kev terribly. We do get to facetime with him every night which makes it a little easier. Rowan just loves it!
We made it through the plane ride which was my biggest fear in getting here. Rowan doesn’t sit still, like ever. So, I was pretty scared about making it here in one piece by myself. Here are some tips that I learned along the way…
1. Get the extra seat! Using the lap infant ticket when that lap infant is the squirmiest baby around is not a good idea. We were lucky and on both of our flights just happen to have an extra seat on the plane. It gave her some personal space and a little area to stand. I think from now on if I can afford to pay for the extra seat I will. So worth it.
2. Get an ipad. We loaded up the ipad with a bunch of Yo Gabba Gabba, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock and Phineas & Ferb.
3. Buy stickers and a plastic folder or sticker book they can peal stickers on and off from.
4. If you are traveling alone, get your husband a security pass to come to the gate with you. We just asked at the counter and Kev was allowed to come with us all the way to the plane. So freakin’ helpful!
5. Have lots of small, new toys in your carry on. Rowan’s attention span is short. In the time we got on the plane, to the time we took off we had made our way through almost every toy. Have lots of options.
6. Get this little Crayola Dry Erase Activity Center
. Rowan loved it. She colored and I drew her about a million kitties.
7. Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm. Kiddos feed our your stress level.
8. Special snacks. Things you might not normally feed them on a day to day basis.
9. Favorite books
10. Bring a blanket. Hopefully your kiddo will eventually fall asleep on the plane. Most likely it will happen with the calm vibrations and loud white noise. It is nice to have a blanket to cuddle them up in. It is cold on airplanes! and you can wrap it up around their ears to block out all the seatbelt announcements that will most likely wake them up. Grrrr!
Your photos are so sweet and Rowan is such a cutie! Enjoy the sunshine!
so sweet! and even though i don’t have kids i imagine that these are very useful tips.
sorry, forgot to add, i hope both your parents are feeling better soon.
Awww. Rowan is looking like such a little girl instead of an infant. Such a fun age!
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This are great tips! What a big girl to go on a plane ride with her mommy!
Facetime is pretty neat, right?! I love it. Looks like you had a swell time and thanks for the tips. 🙂
such great tips! thank you! we have a two year old and are about to MOVE across the pond to scotland. i am dreading the 10 hour plane ride. that dry erase activity center looks fun! and we did get an ipad – a big reason was for the plane rides we will be having in our future! 🙂
I hope your parents are feeling 100% again very soon. What a great daughter you have 🙂
Great tips! We’re flying from New England to CA in a few months so these will come in handy.
Guess I need to get an iPad now….
Don’t have a child, but special snacks is such a good idea! Wouldn’t have thought of that. BTW – Have a lovely week! Satellite Beach is so much better than Orlando 🙂
Hi Jen, these are all great tips. When I flew from Phoenix to Texas my son was a year old and I didn’t realize I was out of milk. It was the worst 45 minutes of my life lol but I learned my lesson. Also, I’ve read to introduce a new toy about one every hour so that you don’t go through the goodies so fast. Something else I learned from experience is that if you are taking multiple flights, try to space them out. It was too much to hop from one flight to another for my son and he was really fussy on our last flight. He needed to walk and move around when all we wanted was to get home asap. Happy flying!
Rowan is so sweet, I’m glad you had an amazing flight. Your tips are fantastic.
Hope your parents get well soon.
It is the hardest thing traveling with a toddler. I just count down the minutes till we land. Always remember no one is more concerned about your kid than you. So don’t worry if she’s “bothering people.” I always worry about everyone around me and one time this guy, who I thought Anthony was driving nuts, came up to me after the flight and said “he was such a good little boy!” And I was like, “are you kidding!? he kicked your seat the entire time!” And he said “if anyone has a problem with a little baby it’s not your problem, it’s theirs, they can get over it” LOL, Nice. Turns out he had three kids and travels to south africa with them all the time. Yikes! Could you imagine!
PS, I didnt know about your parents. Sorry that they got hurt, give them a hug for me.
We just did our first flight too! We found that the 7am flight is the best. We had to wake Nora up in the morning which made her ready for a nap when we boarded the plane! Good tips!
Great tips! I have a friend that takes a small box of nerds (like the kind you get in your Halloween bucket) and gives her two year old the box, one Nerd at a time during the flight–she said it guarantees 30 minutes of entertainment on a flight!
Another tip I learned, but should have known, is don’t fly with a straw sippy cup!! When you get to the higher elevation it starts spewing out! Lol
Have a great time in FL!!
Great tips!!! Although my baby is only (almost) ten months old, i just tagged the tips for the future 🙂 Thanks! And Rowan is such a cutie-pie! 🙂 Greetings from far-far away (Estonia)
I never thought to get a security pass for my husband! That is so smart… traveling with kids is so insane, you need all the help you can get!
Thank you so much for documenting, and sharing this! I have a daughter the exact same age (love your blog!) and we have a trip planned for the end of next month. Can I ask you a few questions?
Did you bring a carseat? If so, did you check it? Carry it to the gate? I purchased a seat on the plane for her, even though I didn’t have to, just to guarantee that she’d have her own space on the plane. Like Rowan, my daughter also has NEVER, ever sat in my lap for more than 2 minutes, tops! I was planning on bringing her carseat on the plane, thinking that she’s used to sitting in it, and it’s comfortable for her. But, I don’t know if it will be too bulky/crazy to manage.
You mention the iPad. Did she wear earphones to listen to it? I have an iPad loaded with some of her favorite movies (Horton!) but wondering about the sound on the plane.
I had some other questions, but of course can’t think of them right now…
My friend Christina is getting ready for a long flight with her 18 mo old son. So I referred her to your post! Something I hope to worry about in the near future. 😉