Flying with a young two year old - masks?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. "Crickets," ha, I did something else for 45 minutes! Sheesh!

There are a few posts that people are assuming are me, they are not - all the posts from me are explicitly labeled as such.

I didn't not come here for validation, I wanted to know how the regulations translate to real life for two year olds. For those of you who have kids around this age and have provided info on your experience and advice on how you handle things, thank you! That's been really helpful. If any other such folks want to weigh in, I'm really interested in your experience and what worked/didn't work.

Interesting that none of the real sticklers have actually flown with two year olds, militantly having them sip drinks under their masks with their perfectly fitting N95s worn correctly 100% of time. They just see a rule and they are here. for. it. Black and white, no grey at all!! REGULATIONS! Glad to see you never had a drink at age 20 and I'm sure you're carefully reading the emergency instructions in the seat back pocket during every flight. You must have fun driving on the beltway at 55 MPH. 56 is against the LAW! Hahaha.

Anyway, thanks again for the real life stories - keep em coming, and everyone else, keep it up, you're entertaining me on a tough day.

OP again - just wanted to add that I'm generally a big rule follower and am very conscientious about stuff generally, so it's kinda nice to be the WILD ONE for once... Ooooo look at me talking about an unmasked 25 month old on DCUM - finally I get to be the rebel!!

[Anonymous]

All you have to do is read the news to know that everything depends on the flight crew. Maybe you’ll be fine and maybe you’ll be booted from the flight. And while you’re focused on the flight you also have to wear a mask in the airport. So you’re looking at close to 4 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. "Crickets," ha, I did something else for 45 minutes! Sheesh!

There are a few posts that people are assuming are me, they are not - all the posts from me are explicitly labeled as such.

I didn't not come here for validation, I wanted to know how the regulations translate to real life for two year olds. For those of you who have kids around this age and have provided info on your experience and advice on how you handle things, thank you! That's been really helpful. If any other such folks want to weigh in, I'm really interested in your experience and what worked/didn't work.

Interesting that none of the real sticklers have actually flown with two year olds, militantly having them sip drinks under their masks with their perfectly fitting N95s worn correctly 100% of time. They just see a rule and they are here. for. it. Black and white, no grey at all!! REGULATIONS! Glad to see you never had a drink at age 20 and I'm sure you're carefully reading the emergency instructions in the seat back pocket during every flight. You must have fun driving on the beltway at 55 MPH. 56 is against the LAW! Hahaha.

Anyway, thanks again for the real life stories - keep em coming, and everyone else, keep it up, you're entertaining me on a tough day.

Anyway you want to justify your immorality to make you feel better. Disheartening to know there are parents like yourself out there. You chose to pick the flight that you don’t want to follow the rules when it comes to how your actions affects others. I have children and would not put them on a flight that they cannot handle. I did not drink at age 20 and it’s not a regulation to read the safety instructions. Deflecting much? I have done immoral things, but I would not make excuses and justify my wrongs. You however are, and you are absolutely looking for validation. If you are so right in your decision, then why are going about it underhandedly? You argue with me, if you are so right, why are looking to lie about his age to flight crew before boarding? Are you’ going to accuse flight crew of past wrong doings also to make it ok for you to not have to follow regulation? You know very well you are wrong. Keep trying to say others do things wrong, therefore, you can. At least most would say I know I shouldn’t, but not you. You point blame.

[Anonymous]

Probably best that you had not booked the flight knowing your issue. You should not put this burden of yours onto others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All depends on which flight attendants you get. Bring lots of snacks and drinks and hope for the best. Sit the child by the window so he’s less visible to other passengers. Flight attendants don’t tend to walk up and down the aisle during the flight, so once the service cart passes by, you should be fine.

OP here - this is a good point. I think we'll probably mask him for boarding and then hope it's out of sight, out of mind. He'll definitely have the window seat.

So regulation that still is in effect doesn’t apply to your family? You must be superior.

This is the OP. He's been old enough for a mask for FOUR WEEKS. We're doing our best here, just like everyone else. Back off.

NP. My son turned two January 15th. We slapped a mask on him and headed to his regular playground. He was fine with it. He'll be on his first flight in April. He will wear his mask any time he's not eating or drinking, and already can pull his mask down to drink from his water bottle.

[Anonymous]

OP I had the same worry about flying with my newly-two year old. She's not in daycare, she didn't see people in masks beforehand, she was terrible at keeping it on. What we did was:

1. Start drilling for it now. Any time you put a mask on, you say "we're going to Safeway. Safeway is an 'always mask' place, like the airport and airplanes! Afterward we'll go to the park, a 'no mask' place!" Lather, rinse, repeat, wherever you're going.
2. Buy some distraction gadgets and bust them out on the plane. These don't have to be high-tech (DD likes the water wow books) but they do have to have a shiny new vibe to keep the kid's attention.
3. Use a lounge at the airport if you have a long layover or are going to be at the airport for a while. "Sometimes mask" places give you a chance for some breaks.
4. Window seat for sure, or in between parents if it's a three-seat row.
5. Make a genuine attempt to follow the rules and the flight attendants are 99% going to give you a pass if your kid is struggling. If you just try to walk on in no mask and assume you're going to get leeway, you'll trigger the thing that turns some FAs into martinets. And you won't get much sympathy from nearby passengers (or DCUMers, as you can see).
6. Bring a water bottle and snacks for DS, if he's having a mask meltdown or being super non-compliant then you can just be "feeding" him the whole flight long. Not ideal but every plan needs a plan B and a C behind it.

Getting your kid ready for the mask is your new job, and it's stressful. But the good news is that after all of that stress and worrying that a kid who had never worn a mask before would never be able to hack it for hours at a time, DD was great on the plane and it was fine. I hope it is for you too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All you have to do is read the news to know that everything depends on the flight crew. Maybe you’ll be fine and maybe you’ll be booted from the flight. And while you’re focused on the flight you also have to wear a mask in the airport. So you’re looking at close to 4 hours.

OP here.

Good point about the airport - I'm less worried about that as there'll be lots to see and do and places to run around, so I think he'll be fine with the mask there. I'm mostly concerned about him trying to sleep on the flight itself, which I think will be much harder/potentially impossible with the mask on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. "Crickets," ha, I did something else for 45 minutes! Sheesh!

There are a few posts that people are assuming are me, they are not - all the posts from me are explicitly labeled as such.

I didn't not come here for validation, I wanted to know how the regulations translate to real life for two year olds. For those of you who have kids around this age and have provided info on your experience and advice on how you handle things, thank you! That's been really helpful. If any other such folks want to weigh in, I'm really interested in your experience and what worked/didn't work.

Interesting that none of the real sticklers have actually flown with two year olds, militantly having them sip drinks under their masks with their perfectly fitting N95s worn correctly 100% of time. They just see a rule and they are here. for. it. Black and white, no grey at all!! REGULATIONS! Glad to see you never had a drink at age 20 and I'm sure you're carefully reading the emergency instructions in the seat back pocket during every flight. You must have fun driving on the beltway at 55 MPH. 56 is against the LAW! Hahaha.

Anyway, thanks again for the real life stories - keep em coming, and everyone else, keep it up, you're entertaining me on a tough day.

OP again - just wanted to add that I'm generally a big rule follower and am very conscientious about stuff generally, so it's kinda nice to be the WILD ONE for once... Ooooo look at me talking about an unmasked 25 month old on DCUM - finally I get to be the rebel!!

+100 for OP - no advice, just can't believe some of the replies, and you are handling them very well. Hope you have a great, no issues flight!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I had the same worry about flying with my newly-two year old. She's not in daycare, she didn't see people in masks beforehand, she was terrible at keeping it on. What we did was:

1. Start drilling for it now. Any time you put a mask on, you say "we're going to Safeway. Safeway is an 'always mask' place, like the airport and airplanes! Afterward we'll go to the park, a 'no mask' place!" Lather, rinse, repeat, wherever you're going.
2. Buy some distraction gadgets and bust them out on the plane. These don't have to be high-tech (DD likes the water wow books) but they do have to have a shiny new vibe to keep the kid's attention.
3. Use a lounge at the airport if you have a long layover or are going to be at the airport for a while. "Sometimes mask" places give you a chance for some breaks.
4. Window seat for sure, or in between parents if it's a three-seat row.
5. Make a genuine attempt to follow the rules and the flight attendants are 99% going to give you a pass if your kid is struggling. If you just try to walk on in no mask and assume you're going to get leeway, you'll trigger the thing that turns some FAs into martinets. And you won't get much sympathy from nearby passengers (or DCUMers, as you can see).
6. Bring a water bottle and snacks for DS, if he's having a mask meltdown or being super non-compliant then you can just be "feeding" him the whole flight long. Not ideal but every plan needs a plan B and a C behind it.

Getting your kid ready for the mask is your new job, and it's stressful. But the good news is that after all of that stress and worrying that a kid who had never worn a mask before would never be able to hack it for hours at a time, DD was great on the plane and it was fine. I hope it is for you too.

OP here - thank you! This is really helpful!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All depends on which flight attendants you get. Bring lots of snacks and drinks and hope for the best. Sit the child by the window so he’s less visible to other passengers. Flight attendants don’t tend to walk up and down the aisle during the flight, so once the service cart passes by, you should be fine.

OP here - this is a good point. I think we'll probably mask him for boarding and then hope it's out of sight, out of mind. He'll definitely have the window seat.

So regulation that still is in effect doesn’t apply to your family? You must be superior.

This is the OP. He's been old enough for a mask for FOUR WEEKS. We're doing our best here, just like everyone else. Back off.

NP. My son turned two January 15th. We slapped a mask on him and headed to his regular playground. He was fine with it. He'll be on his first flight in April. He will wear his mask any time he's not eating or drinking, and already can pull his mask down to drink from his water bottle.

Of course you son can with good guidance and practice. The OP is being dramatic. She isn’t looking for solution, she simply doesn’t want him to wear the mask and will not try to help that situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All depends on which flight attendants you get. Bring lots of snacks and drinks and hope for the best. Sit the child by the window so he’s less visible to other passengers. Flight attendants don’t tend to walk up and down the aisle during the flight, so once the service cart passes by, you should be fine.

Your moral compass points south.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. "Crickets," ha, I did something else for 45 minutes! Sheesh!

There are a few posts that people are assuming are me, they are not - all the posts from me are explicitly labeled as such.

I didn't not come here for validation, I wanted to know how the regulations translate to real life for two year olds. For those of you who have kids around this age and have provided info on your experience and advice on how you handle things, thank you! That's been really helpful. If any other such folks want to weigh in, I'm really interested in your experience and what worked/didn't work.

Interesting that none of the real sticklers have actually flown with two year olds, militantly having them sip drinks under their masks with their perfectly fitting N95s worn correctly 100% of time. They just see a rule and they are here. for. it. Black and white, no grey at all!! REGULATIONS! Glad to see you never had a drink at age 20 and I'm sure you're carefully reading the emergency instructions in the seat back pocket during every flight. You must have fun driving on the beltway at 55 MPH. 56 is against the LAW! Hahaha.

Anyway, thanks again for the real life stories - keep em coming, and everyone else, keep it up, you're entertaining me on a tough day.

OP again - just wanted to add that I'm generally a big rule follower and am very conscientious about stuff generally, so it's kinda nice to be the WILD ONE for once... Ooooo look at me talking about an unmasked 25 month old on DCUM - finally I get to be the rebel!!

+100 for OP - no advice, just can't believe some of the replies, and you are handling them very well. Hope you have a great, no issues flight!

You want to be a rebel in regards to eliciting comments on an unmasked situation? Weird.

[Anonymous]

Our two year old wore her mask for the entirety of a cross-country flight. Screen time helped a lot. She was wearing a little KF94 covering her nose and mouth. I was worried because she often had a hard time keeping it on before, but it turns out she’s totally fine as long as she’s staring at a screen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our two year old wore her mask for the entirety of a cross-country flight. Screen time helped a lot. She was wearing a little KF94 covering her nose and mouth. I was worried because she often had a hard time keeping it on before, but it turns out she’s totally fine as long as she’s staring at a screen.

That pesky regulation doesn’t apply to the primadonna OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our two year old wore her mask for the entirety of a cross-country flight. Screen time helped a lot. She was wearing a little KF94 covering her nose and mouth. I was worried because she often had a hard time keeping it on before, but it turns out she’s totally fine as long as she’s staring at a screen.

OP here - yeah, unfortunately he gets really car sick, so I think we're going to try to avoid screens on the flight to avoid puking if we can. Plus he's not that into screens, will only distract him historically for 10-15 minutes? But this is a good point - we'll have some TV at the ready on my iPad if all else fails. Thanks!