The last time we traveled with Miss H on a plane, she was 8 months old. Now, she’s 18 months old and we’re about to embark on our next plane trip with her, with flights about 3.5 hours each way. Although our previous flying experience with her wasn’t terrible, we’re still a bit scarred from that trip. Miss H was fussy, didn’t want to sit still for that long (4.5 hour flights), and got quite fussy toward the end of our flight back to Chicago (which was also a late afternoon flight that went dark – something she hated!).

However, we have to remember that things were pretty different back then. Miss H was eating some foods but was still primarily breastfed. Which means we could keep her happy with some pouch purees and puffs, but only to a certain extent. And we didn’t bring any bottles on that trip (since I was going to be with her 24/7 I could exclusively nurse on the trip), so we were reliant on me to keep her happy on the flight (i.e. I’m pretty sure my fellow passengers saw a lot of me as Miss H constantly kicked the nursing cover aside).

Going into this next trip, we’re doing our best to anticipate what Miss H’s needs and interests will be. We’re tackling “survive the plane” by doing the following prep.

iPad Practice
Miss H doesn’t get any screen time right now, so she has no real interest in sitting and watching anything on an iPad or the tv. She also currently doesn’t play any iPad games. But, we know for the trip this could be key to keeping her occupied during the flight, so Miss H and I have periodically been sitting together and watching children’s movies on my iPad with her sitting in my lap. The first time we did this she asked me to turn it off within minutes. Now we’re up to about 20 minutes of her being somewhat interested in watching the movie.

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We’ve also downloaded some of the apps Mr. Bee has suggested here and here. Miss H has a pretty short attention span for these, but she does absolutely love the “Bubbles” app. It’s very basic and easy for her – tap/swipe the screen to create bubbles, touch them to pop them.

Strategic Flight Timing
We’ve opted to fly early in the morning both ways. Miss H typically naps from 1-3pm. We were fearful of traveling during or near her naptime and have her not be able to fall asleep and then just get terribly upset. By flying in the morning, we’re capitalizing on the time of day where she’s happiest. On our way out, we should land about an hour before her normal nap time, which has me hoping she’ll fall asleep in the car on the way to our final destination.

Buying New Gear
I’ve bought a new book for Miss H that she won’t see until we’re on the plane. We’ll also carry on a few favorites, but we hope she’ll like reading something new. We purchased a kid-friendly iPad case and a pair of kid-friendly headphones (which we’ll try out in advance at home so she gets used to them). We also purchased a cover to go over the home button of the iPad as she’s constantly pushing it! We also bought a sticker activity book, something Miss H is starting to be interested in, and some fun silly bandaids we can play with. We’re hoping all of these things will set us up for interesting activities to hold Miss H’s attention.

Lots of Food
Miss H loves to eat! So we’re going to come prepared. We’ll have a container of O’s cereal, pouches of puree (applesauce is a favorite because it doesn’t stain!), some dried fruit, a banana, some toddler cookies, and mum-mums. We can also buy a wide variety of options in the airport if we need to having anything else with us – string cheese, additional fruit, toast, etc. We will also have Miss H’s sippy cup with us with water in it and can pick up some whole milk at the airport. When we’re at restaurants Miss H gets really antsy in her high chair unless there’s a constant stream of food in front of her, so hopefully it will work the same way on the plane if we get desperate.

And, of course, we’ll be equipped with all of the “usuals” – plenty of extra diapers and wipes, extra change of clothes, Children’s Tylenol, hand wipes, hand sanitizer, extra books, extra toys, stroller for the airport, Miss H’s “lovey,” etc.

While I’m a bit anxious about the trip, I’m also very intrigued to see how this compares with traveling with an infant! Last year it felt like Miss H was so much harder to please and I felt both limited in how we could keep her happy and a lot of pressure to be the one to constantly keep her happy because I was the only one who could nurse her. This time around, Mr. H and I will be able to share the work between the two of us. And, while Miss H can be quite squirmy and always wanting to move, it is also much easier to entice her with special things.

Hopefully all of this prep will serve us well, and I’ll be excited to share how things went following our trip!

Do you have experience flying with an 18 month old? If so, what helped you the most during the flight?