Traveling with a toddler on my lap. HELP!

[Anonymous]

10h flight. Brazil. We first go to Atlanta (afternoon), and then at 9:45 we leave again.

You guys are awesome. I leave next thursday and this thread gave me a lot more confidence.

[Anonymous]

You have some things going for you - flying at night is good, because your child will likely naturally want to sleep a bunch. Also, you aren't crossing time zones (or only one?), so that's helpful too.

I would also recommend not eating or drinking too much before or on the flight, because if your child is sleeping on you, I'm sure you won't want to wake her so you can go to the bathroom. Also, it will be pretty hard for you to eat a meal if she's on your lap. It would be nice if the people sitting next to you are willing to help out by holding your child while you eat or pee, but I'm not sure it's to be counted on.

At any rate, 10 hours will go by surprisingly fast if you keep a positive attitude. Good luck!!!

[Anonymous]

I was the one posting on June 17, traveling the following day with my 17-month daughter on my lap. Well, I came back last week, so I now have two experiences of long flights (7 hours and 8 hours) with her on my lap! It went much better than I had expected. We spent about half of each trip walking down the aisles. When she was seating on my lap, I entertained her with books, small toys (including a small aquadoodle type of toy), and stickers (the reusable stickers were a big big hit), and food when nothing else worked or we could not get up. She slept for about 45 minutes in each flight, as expected. The way back was much more pleasant, as my neighbor was much more understanding and helpful than the one I had in the first flight (the flights were both full). Also, we were in the front row on the way back, which means DD could play on the ground in front of me (ask when you are checking if you can have a seat there, it really makes a difference). She did melt down once in each flight, but calmed down afterward. Be careful to wash the hands of your kid often, as he/she will tend to go everywhere in the plane and touch pretty much everything. In the end, what was actually the most tiring in my trip was the jet lag: DD woke up once or twice each night at our destination, and is doing the same now that we are back! So you are very lucky not to have not a big time difference. Good luck to you, but do not worry, the trip will go better than you had expected (even if you end up counting the hours remaining until you land...

[Anonymous]

It's totally doable--i've done it 3+ times. bring lots of toys but space out when you give them to your kid (so there is always something new). bring lots of different snacks and be willing to give up your phone as a toy. -you'll survive!