long airplane ride/time change with a 15-month old

[maclolo]

Have any of you travelled a long distance with your toddler(s)? We leave Friday for my dad's (England) and I am nervous about the plane ride and time change--especially the time change because I really like to sleep at nighttime!! any suggestions for how to make a smooth transition to 8 hours ahead and/or keeping a little one happy in a confined space for 9 hours?

[scheelimama]

No advice on the time change, but good luck with the whole trip!

If it were me, I'd take a bag of his favorite toys, maybe a coloring book if he's into that yet. I've had people recommend going to the dollar store to pick up some new toys/books, etc and hiding them away until the flight. Maybe he'll sleep a good chunk of the flight. Oh, and definitely something for his ears, whether that is nursing, bottle, binky, or just some food to eat during take off/landing.

[stanswife]

We are leaving for France in 3 weeks with our 15 month old. I was nervous until I found Herbs for Kids Valerian :, to be used mostly for the plane ride. He just does NOT sit for any length of time, so I was really dreading it. We've tried it once and it seemed to work. As for the jet lag, I'm not sure how that's going to go. I guess we'll just be flexible and use our carrier for naps if need be.

[gibsonsmom]

I have traveled extensively with my son since he was 3 weeks old. We have been successful with bringing lots of toys. We sometimes bring a portable DVD player so he can watch his own movies/kids shows. Wrap a few toys like gifts that he can open along the way, it takes time to discover whats inside and it makes them more exciting. Don't expect that any of this will work. Then if it does you are all happy but most importantly you will have been stress free regardless.

For the time difference what I have always done is to sleep on the plane as much as I can, DH and I would take turns and then when you land switch immediately to local time, DO NOT try to take a nap to adjust. If you land in the morning stay up and enjoy the day even if wearily. This way you will sleep when you are supposed to and the jet lag will be less severe.

Good luck

[BarefootinBrooklyn]

I have a flight question, but it's more about pregnancy...is it totally safe to be flying when pregnant? I spotted after a cross country flight this past weekend, and have a couple more (less than 2 hour) flights coming up in the next couple of months...not sure whether to take the risk...has anyone talked to their doctor/midwife about travel when pregnant?

[maclolo]

Originally Posted by gibsonsmom

I have traveled extensively with my son since he was 3 weeks old. We have been successful with bringing lots of toys. We sometimes bring a portable DVD player so he can watch his own movies/kids shows. Wrap a few toys like gifts that he can open along the way, it takes time to discover whats inside and it makes them more exciting. Don't expect that any of this will work.

Thanks for the tips, everyone! We have bought a few small (and quiet!) toys for the flight... and will bring some books... I am definitely hoping he will sleep a large part of the way. I know DH and I will be fine timechange-wise; I've travelled back and forth to my dad's my whole life... I'm just nervous about DS, who is harder to keep awake when he is sleepy--especially since he gets cranky, so it helps our sanity to let him sleep!! We arrive in London at 2p.m.-ish and will probably be at my dad's by about 6p.m.... so hopefully, even after however much sleep DS gets on the plane and train, he'll be able to conk out for (much of?) the night! No choice but to get through it, I suppose!!

stanswife - have a great trip to France! Where will you be going? DH and I lived in Southern France for a while a couple years back. We loved it!

BarefootPregnant - our midwife didn't bat an eye when we mentioned going to England...and during my last pregnancy (same MW), we went to Italy...I have never heard it is risky to travel while pregnant, at least until the end (maybe not risky at that point...but delivering in the air, if it came to that, might be a little stressful!)...but maybe you should talk to your MW/DR about whether s/he thinks there was any correlation?

[Isaac'sMa]

Good luck and have fun!
I haven't been on a long plane ride with ds yet, but my SIL and BIL took a flight from Baltimore to San Francisco last summer with my nephew who was about 12 months at the time. They bought a portable DVD player and downloaded 20 minute cartoons from iTunes (she mentioned Ferdinand the Bull which I have no idea about). She said they were about $1 per download and much better than a movie for the toddler attention span!

We don't watch TV much and ds not at all, but we have a long car trip coming up this summer (B'more to Ontario) and I think I'll probably do the DVD player thing...it'll be a good "trick up my sleeve" for when/if other methods of amusement fail!

[stanswife]

Originally Posted by maclolo

stanswife - have a great trip to France! Where will you be going? DH and I lived in Southern France for a while a couple years back. We loved it!

Hey, thanks! We are flying in to Paris and then taking a train to Beynac in the Dordogne region. After all that we go to see DH's brother in Vence near Nice. Where did you guys live? I can't imagine how cool that would have been. Not to hijack, but pm me if you have any travel tips.

[mittendrin]

I have been flying to Germany with my kids every year since they were under a year. Once I was even 8 mos preggers w my 1.5 y o and it always worked out fine. I was also always alone, hubby never went.
On the way there we were always flying at night, getting there early morning. The kids slept a bit on the plane and then took a long nap during the day, within 2 days the timechange wasn't an issue anymore. Coming back to the states is a bit different, it always takes a few days longer to adjust back, cause you're flying "against" time.
I would get a couple of cheap toys for the plane ride, new stuff to keep them interested. The toys the airline provides are sometimes not age appropiate, seldom have they had anything the boys were interested in. Playdo was always a good thing to bring but you're not allowed to take that on the plane anymore. Don't worry, there's so many things to see that they susally don't want to play w stuff anyways, they much rather look at all the people.

Have a safe trip and a great time!