On Flying with a Toddler

Flying with a toddler is a little like a root canal. It often has to happen, but it's something that is anxiety filled and painful.

(Plane watching)

Hendo and I have flown three times. Once, when he was a little under a year, to Peoria, Illinois (my hometown) for my best friend's wedding. Once, when he was a little over a year, to North Carolina to meet my grandparents. And, just last week to Peoria, Illinois for my little sister's 16th birthday.

(Eating the snacks the flight attendant brought him)

I'm pretty lucky. For the most part, I have the most perfect child that has ever lived. Henry is sweet and funny, and rarely fussy. However, the stress of flying is, well, stressful. Walking through an airport with a child, people look at you like you're carrying anthrax. Usually, we've been pretty lucky. We've sat around people who play peek-a-boo with Henry behind their seats. One woman even let us play a baby game on her iPhone. People adore Henry. He is a sweetheart, and it's kinda hard to be mad at him, even when he's fussy. But there's always the fear that I'm going to sit next to a bad egg. Let's pray that never happens.

(Flash Face)

For the most part, Henry's "melt-downs" on planes have been short lived. We've flown close to 12 hours now. I can honestly say, he's probably cried for a total of 20 min. He's never even full out cried, just fussed. Most people have come up to me afterwards and marveled at how "good" he was. I'm a lucky woman.

(My little angel got his wings)

This last flight was BLESSED. There's really no other way to describe it. I have no idea how I got so lucky. We flew out of Austin, TX at 6:35. We had a row of three seats at the back of the plane to ourselves. Hendrix was tired, but didn't cry. He simply sat on the floor, and played with a few toys. When we got off the plane in Dallas (it was only a 40 min flight), I went and changed his diaper. We then sat at our next gate and he watched planes, played with his car and ate some fruit.

Our flight from Dallas was delayed, and while we sat in our seat (we got lucky again and had 2 seats to ourselves), Hendrix made eyes at the stewardess and BLEW HER KISSES while she demonstrated safety procedures. For this, she brought us bags of Craisins and crackers. She was smitten. By the time we finally took of, Hendrix was asleep. He then proceeded to SLEEP THE ENTIRE PLANE TRIP. I know. Miracles happen every day.

Here are my "secrets to flying":

• Nurse/ make sure baby has something to drink or eat during take off and landing. Henry has never pulled on his ears during a flight, and I'm pretty sure making sure that has helped us.
• SIPPY CUPS/ SNACKS are a must. If you don't have time to get something, or forget it, ask a flight attendant the second you get on the flight. They're usually wonderful about keeping baby happy.
• New/ Different little toys. I usually stop by the dollar store/ Targets cheap bins before flying. I buy roughly $5 worth of new toys and BOY DOES IT PAY to have something he hasn't seen before to take out and surprise him with.
• A box of band-aides. My friend Brandy suggested this, and I honestly don't know what I would have done without them a few times. Baby can stick them anywhere (they'll come off easily), and the box itself can be fascinating.

So, there you have it. Tell me, what do you do to keep baby entertained? Have you flown? Any ideas to add? Any horror stories?