Monday, June 1, 2009

Flying

I'm going to Canada to visit my family on Thursday and it's going to be my first time flying with Sierra. I'm so nervous about it! I swear I almost had a panick attack in the tanning bed the other day thinking about it.
Sierra is not one to ever sit still. She is constantly on the go and I'm afraid she's going to freak out and start screaming if I don't let her down to play on the plane. Does anyone have any suggestions for me of how to keep her calm and avoid a disaster and lots of dirty looks on the plane? lol I'm also nervous about her ears popping!
I've heard a lot of people say that their doctors prescribed them benadryl to make their babies sleepy. But of course mine says they won't prescribe anything, they don't recommend it and to give her a lollipop to suck on. What? Does that actually work?
HELP!!!!

10 comments:

Heather @ Raising Memories Blog said...

Having flown with Talia at 6 mo, 1.5 years, & 3 years, & Katrina at 6 mo (just yesterday), I thought I should share my 'wisdom' (haha whatever!).

So, I noticed that this time (3rd time flying w/kids), I didn't care as much about what the other people thought- we had one late flight, Talia fell asleep, then woke up with a sore arm or neck & didn't know where she was & was loudly cry/screaming- not cool, but she was genuinely sad, & I just worried about helping her & not as much about what other people thought- I have realized that MOST people understand about kids b/c either they have/had them, or they have grandkids or whatever. Only a few people will be snobby about it. However, we all know that a loud kid can be annoying even if you do understand, so...

I have heard of people giving their babies tylenol just to knock them out (we've never done that though), but we did use Child Gravol once (I can't remember how old they need to be- and you don't need a prescription)- & it doesn't make you feel guilty, since it makes sense to give them motion sickness medicine, it's not just to 'knock them out'.

Also, a big help is to bring toys that they have never seen before, & don't let them see them until the moment you need them as a distraction- let her play with one until she's not interested & only then bring out another one. (With Talia this trip, we bought a few little things from the dollar store- that way we didn't care if they got lost, & it wasn't a big expense to get her new things since she already has plenty of things at home).

If the child is still nursing, you can nurse them during takeoff/landing & the sucking is supposed to help with the ears. (I've done this & it seemed to be fine), or you could use a bottle with the same effect. With Talia we got her to pretend she was yawning, or gave her candies/little cookies to chew. With Katrina, when she wasn't needing to nurse, we tried to make sure she was sucking her thumb or on one of our fingers. Those are some ideas, and so far we haven't had any ear issues with our girls.

That's all I can think of off hand- good luck, Hil!!! I can't wait to see you!!!

Atkinsons said...

Flying with the baby can totally be stressful...Victoria has been on several plane rides and most of them have been just with me and her. Every flight gets a little harder with victoria getting older. The biggest thing that helps me is to just stay cool and calm even when Victoria has her fits...I flew with her on Thursday, and while we were in the crowded plane sitting, waiting for the bad weather to pass, I decided to feed her some sweet potatoes for dinner...she threw a little fit of hers and knocked a spoonful of sweet potatoes all over me...awesome...
I find the isle seat to be more comfortable when flying with a baby, that way you can get up easier and feel like you have a little more room...if you don't have an isle seat you can always ask to switch someone. For take off and landing I have Victoria suck on her binkie...when she was smaller I would nurse her...I did nurse her once on the plane trip and it was hard because of her size and movements ha ha.
Your little munchkin will probably cry a little, they all do...and don't worry about the people who give you dirty looks, they are the ones that don't have kids. Maybe you could buy a cool new toy for sierra to play with on the plane. It will be fin, you will do great!...and if it does turn out to be a disaster...then at least you will have something to blog about ha ha.

mandy said...

YES... suckers are a gem. I gave Mya some Tylenol about 30 minutes before take off... and then make sure you just have lots of lots of things for babies to play with... coloring books, CANDY, Juice... maybe even a portable DVD player? But, just make sure you have yummy treats for take off and landing cuz that's normally when it's the worst on the ears.
I was so nervous about her first plane ride, but it went by pretty easily and very uneventful. :) (I think we had one blow out...)

Megan and Jonny said...

Confession: we were totally illegal and gave Seth a dropper full of Dimetapp on his last flight with the sole purpose of knocking him out. He only slept for 20 minutes, but still...

I think you said your flight is only an hour, so that's good. She'll be entertained by everything for at least 20 minutes. Seth enjoyed whacking the tray table (much to the dismay of the person sitting in front of us). And his ears never seemed to bother him.

I second Heather's comment--people are genuinely nice to poor mothers traveling alone. But definitely get an aisle seat. Good luck!

Jenae said...

I have done a lot of flying with Ella...one trip was to see Bethany and it was an 8 hour trip. I tried to knock her out with some Dramamine but it did just about the opposite and made her upset and crazy...don't do it!

The ones that went the best were the ones that I brought good snacks and a bottle/drink. The bottle or drink is what helped us the most through take off and landing. I would be careful not to bring too many sugar treats because it makes them more wired and difficult to manage. If Sierra will watch a show, take a portable DVD player.

Ella has had only one or two major freak outs on the airplane and it's true that most people are pretty understanding about it. Sit by a woman that looks like a grandma or a mother. Do not sit by a young hot guy! Women that have been mothers/grandmothers are the best!

Mindy Williams said...

It's all about the diaper bag. I have flown WAY too many times to count, usually with more than one kiddo. Just pack great snacks and toys and books, a blanket and favorites. A few new ones can also help. Make sure you have a drink and an extra change of clothes for her in the carry on b/c my kids ALWAYS poop on the plane! And naturally, that means it is a blow out. Take a plastic bag for the dirty clothes, although there are the barf bags. As for ears, if she has a pacifier and will take it great or have her drink a bottle or sippy cup or whatever. i don't love breastfeeding on the plane, but i have done it. You'll be fine. An hour is super fast (that is our new flight to SLC from here) and Rachel just ate and played. Plus, you can almost always walk the aisles. Make sure you can get thru security with ease too. email me if you need more ideas! You'll be just fine and worst case scenario she screams the whole way? you'll never see those people again anyway!

Unknown said...

I've flown with Reese 6 times and they haven't been too bad. One thing that has REALLY helped is to let her crawl or walk her around the airport alot before you board! Afterwards, Reese just sat in my lap the entire 2 hour flight. I also took a few NEW toys so she wasn't already bored with them. And I just gave her a bottle on the take off so she would be sucking on something to help with ears. I'm sure you will be fine though!! Have fun with your family!

The Bedke Fam said...

looks like you got some awesome tips. hope your flight went well today :)

Erika Sullivan said...

If you can, have Eric or whoever's taking you to the airport ask the ticketing agent when you check in if he can have a security pass to help you through security. For me, going through security by myself is a nightmare because you have to take her out of her carseat, put the carseat through the belt, along with breaking down the stroller and putting that through, etc. I have had more than one occasion when I've had to do it by myself and some jerk behind me is in a huff because it's taking so long. Also, my doctor told me that Benadryl works for some kids, but not for others. If your child is naturally a little more active and alert (like Camie) Benadryl just makes them MORE awake and jittery. But if they're more mellow (like Maddie) then the Benadryl will probably calm them down. I don't know, all I know is, Camie would never sleep on the plane and Maddie always would, with or without Benadryl. Make sure to take your own trash bags for her diapers on the plane because the flight attendants usually aren't thrilled about throwing away a dirty diaper for you. You will be fine! Good luck! You just have to prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and just have the attitude of come what may and there's only so much control you have.

Reed and Jen said...

Everyone is so helpful when you are flying with a baby! I have flow with Sabrina multiple times and it was never too much to handel. She is very active too and loves to explore and get into everything. What kept her occupied was the lights and fan nozzels above the seat. Also Stickers and those color wonder markers can be fun too. If you have a video ipod or a portable DVD player and she has a favorite show, that works wonders. Sabrina loves Backyardigans and I packed my ipod with episodes and she sat still for half of the flight watching the videos. Sabrina's ears never popped. I got nervous about that too but it ended up being just fine!
Good luck and have fun!!