We had two successful flights last week— to and from Utah. That's over a five hour trip excluding the layover.
This, of course, means I have no funny blog fodder about the experience. (She slept! It was awesome!) So instead, I have deemed myself "The Official Toddler Traveling Expert" and am sharing my tips on Babble.
I'll give you one major clue as to how to pull this off:
(Yes, that's the motherhood mocking My Playhome app.)
If you are still not convinced of my expert status, check this out:
Yeah. I'll take my 'Official Expert' certficate now.
Check out "Toddler Travel Tips for Uneventful Flying" for more startegies on how to get your toddler from Point A to Point B without a major meltdown.
I've even got tips for parents who want to go electronic-device-free. (Are you out of your mind???)
I have a whole new respect for traveling mothers/parents with infants/toddlers after having to do it myself! I used to be the person giving the sidelong glances at people with children silently hoping they weren’t on my flight… until I was the one on the receiving end of those glances. And to make matters worse, each time I have flown, it has been solo– wrangling an infant AND carry-ons. I have learned that it is definitely worth the $20-40 to check bags… and making friends with those sitting next to you is PRICELESS.
Awesome.I am traveling cross country with my toddler later this year. I WILL have an ipad by then!
I just took my 5 kids (including 3 toddlers)on a 3 hour plane trip by myself!! We survived thanks to built in TVS on JetBlue and junkfood and candy that I would normally never let them have!
Congrats on a successful trip. I’m envious although happy for you at the same time. Clearly I’m a very complex person!
That’s pretty amazing, I’m impressed.
I like to boast the ‘I swear I won’t give my kids my iphone to settle them’ attitude, but I’m a bit of a hypocrite. They are probably a godsend when you need them.
I’ll agree that you are an official expert.
..and people say flying with young kids is impossible.
SHHHHHHHHH! Woman, have you learned NOTHING!?!?! The minute you proclaim excellence in one area, the Parenting Gods will throw you a curve that will bring you to your knees!
I’m so glad you had a good trip. Remind me to bring you with me when I fly with my four next!
We just did two 5 hour flights recently (the return flight became 6 1/2 hours as we sat on the tarmac for the first 90 mins due to electrical problems, yee haw), and Monkey behaved remarkably well too (yes an iPad was in play). I’ll go over and read your post to verify that I am indeed, an expert too. 🙂
We had a neighboring passenger ask to hold Mazzy once. At first I thought it was werd, but then I was like— SURE! I’m going to go finish reading my copy of US Weekly!
I mean, it’s like the woman could run off with her or anything…
It will be SO WORTH IT. The entire time Mazzy was on the iPad, I was watching episodes of Revenge on my phone. WIN WIN!
DAMN! You win the Official Expert title then. I have no idea how you made that happen!
I appreciate every emotion when it comes to toddler travel. Including the annoyed passengers.
We realized midway through our trip that Mazzy’s vacation was getting to use the iPad whenever she wanted. Probably the biggest difference from being at home.
OMG! You are right! Is it too late to delete the post? Or maybe I should just lay low for awhile.
Thanks for the warning.
I found the layover to actually be the hardest part of the trip— although it did give Mazzy some time to stretch her legs and run around.
Glad you had a good experience too!
My 21 month old daughter loves my iPad, so I know I’ll be handing it over to her this summer on our vacation. Any tips on Mazzy’s favorite iPad apps or things to do on the iPad? Ps Revenge AND US Weekly? I think we’re kindred spirits!
Yes! My Playhome is AWESOME. Mazzy loves it, can play it forever and it’s not completion oriented so she never gets frustrated.
Other apps she loves are Alien Buddies, Logic (it looks like a wooden matching toy), First Words Animals and Drawing Pad.
She likes the ones above much better than the games that are set up to be read like a book, like Bizzy Farm. She would prefer to make choices at will and not have to play through a bunch of levels to advance to the games she likes. Does that make sense?
W00t!
That’s a feat with or without an iPad. Great job!