Flying to Seattle with a 2-year-old

[Anonymous]

She's only flown once (when she was 10 months) on a direct flight to Florida, and that was relatively painless. But she'll be two in a week and I'm booking a flight to Seattle in March. And, well, general two-ishness makes me a little nervous to fly such a long distance. Parents of active toddlers who have flown- is it better to just do a direct flight and get it out of the way (about 6 hours direct to Seattle) or pick a flight with a layover? Looks like there's a handful of direct flights but also a few that stop in Minneapolis or Detroit for 1.5-2 hours...so we'd do the 2-3 hours to one of those, layover, and then 3-4 to Seattle. Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Direct flight but there are only a few direct flights from here. Get it done. Bring car seat and iPad or kindle and lots of snacks and make it work.

[Anonymous]

No layover. Direct. Ipad. Snacks. I think 2 is too big for the car seat personally. She will not want to sit in it.

[Anonymous]

I've flown D.C. to Seattle 5 times with my now-4yo, and twice with him and my now-12mo. I've only ever done direct flights. It's a long enough day as is without adding extra flights, layovers, etc. At age 2, I loved bringing the car seat. I rolled it through the airport with my kid in it, and he sat in it through a lot of the flight.

There are tons of great threads with ideas for ways to entertain kids on flights. At that age, I tended toward snacks and reusable sticker books.

[Anonymous]

Yes, direct! And IMO a car seat is more trouble that it's worth. The CARES harness is great at that age, though.

[Anonymous]

Potty trained or still in diapers?

[Anonymous]

I’d opt for straight through. Just do it.
Here are some things to help your trip:
*If you can afford it, try the new kid’ carryone luggage: Trunki, Skoot Kids, Kiddee Cases. Your child can sit on it as you pull it through the airport.
*Plan your flight in 15 minute slots - magazines, a favorite story book, drawing, snacks, etc. (and sleep!)
*Use a DVD player or tablet
*Your trip is a long one, but try giving them a little present every 15 min. to half hour of good behavior
*Stickers – decorate an empty water bottle or whatever presents itself
*Take a pillow – to sleep on or to sit on
*Lollipop – for takeoff, to help with any ear problems
*Sweets in moderation – raisins, other fruit