Flying with Children

Last night Ethan got on the plane for the 20th time! I'm always nervous about how Ethan is going to be on the plane. I've experienced it all, screaming, happy, not so happy.... Last night we were flying right at bed time and didn't land until 11:20 pm.

I was fully stocked, huge bottles of milk, toys, crackers and cheerios. On the flight over to Calgary Ethan was good, I think that an hour is about his max because he was ready to get off when we got there, he was getting fussy and I was out of moves to keep him quiet! Thankfully on the flight over to Edmonton Ethan fell asleep before we took off and didn't wake up until I stood up to get off.

I have had some really bad expereiences, On the flight home over Christmas Ethan screamed the entire way and there was NOTHING I could do to soothe him. I get all hot an bothered when it is my child screaming, because I know that I'm rolling my eyes when someone eles child is crying.

My best advise for flying with children....
-Fly as much as possible before your child is 6 months. For the first six months Ethan slept everytime for the entire flight. It is great! I could still watch the TV's. Once he reached 8 months he was a little more hot and bothered when we flew. He wanted to be up and moving around!
-IF at all possible fly with someone. I think Kelly has only flown with me on one trip (when Ethan was two weeks). It would be so nice to have someone to help you move all of your junk in and out of the plane, help entertain etc.
-Be prepared with an over abundance of food, toys and entertainment... Last night I think Ethan drank a whole jug of milk, the toys I brought got boring quickly, he was much more interested in the seatbelt and the puke bag. But it never hurts!

Ethan is free until he is TWO on the planes so we will try to take full advantage of that, it will be much more costly when we have to pay for an entire seat for him! It is always an adventure and we always have a story to tell after we fly!