So, I've done a great deal of flying over the last 22 years. From coast to coast...Phoenix, Los Angeles, Dallas, Seattle, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Jacksonville, FL...all the way to Hawaii and Guam and Tokyo...some flights were made by myself and others were with family. Flying by myself is easy-peasy. Not an issue. But flying with an infant/toddler, I find comes as a whole new experience. Only being 3 and a half, Hannah's already experienced a great deal of time in the air. While I lived in the San Diego area, I made multiple flights to and from L.A. up to Seattle and back, to visit my family while Allen was gone for various training events. Those flights were always fairly easy. Especially since Hannah was a little infant and she slept for the majority of each flight. Fellow passengers also tend to be a little more tolerant of a small infant crying versus a toddler throwing a tantrum.
The toughest flight I've ever had was one I made from Los Angeles to Hawaii. It was just Hannah and I. Allen was deployed and I was going to go be with my family for the remainder of the deployment. Hannah was about 15 months old. It's 5.5 hours in the air. Unfortunately, our flight got delayed and we spent an additional 5 hours in the airport waiting to board. Hannah spent that entire time sleeping. Allowing her to do so was a huge mistake on my part. The entire flight, with the exception of the very last hour, was spent battling Hannah. She was extremely restless and cranky. She's old enough that she didn't want to sleep, but young enough that it was really hard to find things to entertain her. I stressed myself out, every second of that flight, trying anything and everything I could think of to occupy her. But nothing worked. There was a older couple sitting in front of me, obviously headed to Hawaii for a vacation. Well, they didn't seem too happy to have a baby disrupting their relaxing flight to their vacation destination. An hour or two into the flight, after turning around and repeatedly giving me dirty looks, the lady called over a flight attendant and rudely asked, loud enough for me to hear, to be moved because she couldn't take the noise anymore. The attendant found her another seat. She asked her husband to come with her but he responded "No, I'm staying in the seat I purchased!", then turned around and scowled at me. Another half hour or so later (although it felt like endless hours of torture to me) , the man turned around and said to me "You better finally shut that child up, or I'll do it for you!". I was appalled...in complete disbelief. He caught me so off guard, I didn't even know how to respond. It wasn't like I wasn't trying. I had worked up quite a sweat, trying absolutely everything I could to make her quiet and happy, but she just wasn't having it. I simply responded "I'm trying here.". Shortly after, Hannah finally fell asleep. It was the last hour of the flight and I could finally take a deep breath. But all I really wanted to do was cry. I was flighting back tears. I couldn't believe that someone would be so rude to me. It was already difficult and mortifying to have a cranky, loud child on a cramped, long flight. What was his point in making such rude comments to me? My husband was deployed. I didn't need this! He's on his way to Hawaii for a stupid vacation. Meanwhile, I'm headed there to LIVE there. What should I have done? Driven there???! Sorry, two years later and it still infuriates me. So, I ended up with one of those horror story situations you sometimes hear about. It was a dreadful experience.
I must say, I learned a thing or two for our flight back to California a couple months later and it went much more smoothly. I was much more prepared in what to expect...prepared for all the worst case scenarios. Hannah was much better behaved. But I can't say that the flight to Hawaii hasn't traumatized me. I stress at the very thought of flying with her, ever since that happened. It was my number one thing holding me back from flying back out to Hawaii for this deployment, now. But I finally succumbed and here we are, planning our trip. We're leaving in 17 days and I am already preparing. I feel much more confident after developing a good solid plan for our multiple flights to and from Hawaii.
Here is a list of Hannah's and my Carry-On:
-Hannah's Backpack Contents:
*Crayons
*Stickers
*Coloring Books
*A couple of her favorite toys
*Snacks (Lots and lots of snacks!)
*Leapster (Haven't bought it yet, but fixing to. I know parents who swear by them.)
-My Backpack Contents:
-Extra change of clothes for Hannah
-Diapers (She's potty trained but I figured diapers would mean less trips to the bathroom)
-Diaper Wipes (for the obvious, but also come in handy for messes, which are inevitable)
-A couple bottles of juice, along with two sippy cups
-Laptop & Children's DVDS (movies will go a long way, I have no doubt!)
-Ear Phones (so her movies and games don't bother other passengers)
-A small blanket (because I know she's going to complain if she doesn't have one)
-My iPhone (I've already downloaded multiple kids games that I know will certainly come in handy)
I am bringing her car seat, obviously and to make hauling through a busy airport easier, I invested in a car seat travel cart a while back. It's worked wonders. You strap it to the car seat and it's on wheels so it looks basically like you've converted your car seat into luggage with wheels. You can even strap your child into the car seat while using it and transport them through the airport in a hurry, much easier. The other thing I invested in is a car seat tray. It attaches to any cat seats and it a large tray for your child. It also has pockets and cubbies that hang on the sides of it for your child to store their belongings. That will help a lot! That way, every time Hannah wants something, I'm not bending over and digging into my bag, trying to find it. She'll be all set up.
I'm pretty sure I've thought about every detail. I've done this so many times now that there can't possibly be anything I'm forgetting. I don't think that there'd be anything else I could do to make this flight easy on us. I really think this will be enough, though, to get us through each flight without too much mishap. It's enough that I actually feel excited about our trip, rather than all the anxiety, I usually feel. It helps that Hannah's so much older now. She can communicate to me, if she's uncomfortable or has a problem. And she is easier to entertain.
I hope my list can help any other parents out there that may be inexperienced to traveling with a toddler.
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