Flying with a Toddler

This past trip to Florida represented the end of an era. C’s 21^st and 22^nd flights, and the last one where he would fly free of charge… he turns 2 on March 18^th. The cheap side of me was psyched to squeeze in one more trip with “Infant In Arms” but the practical side of me wondered if flying with an “older” infant, sans ticket, was actually a good idea.

Flying down to Florida, I was with my husband, so I was less concerned about that leg. We booked our flight around naptime, instead of the 6am-er which would have gotten us there much earlier, but in the long run was a better decision. On this trip, we traveled with our Britax Boulevard Car Seat in our JL Childress Ultimate Car Seat Travel Bag, my 49.2lb suitcase (do I know how to pack or what?) and my Vera Bradley diaper bag, which has been a travel staple. The day before we left, there was another huge snowstorm in NYC, so I knew that there would not be open seats on the flight, so we checked the car seat at the ticket counter.

We tanked C up on an early lunch at the airport and he was asleep in my arms right around take off. He didn’t sleep quite as long as we had hoped, but the flight was less than three hours and the two of us entertained him with snacks (gotta love Jet Blue for their snack selection), walks up and down the aisle, an Elmo DVD, and Trader Joe’s stickers.

The flight to Florida was such a success, that I was nervous about flying home, alone, with C. I even thought about buying him a seat at the last minute, but I’m glad I did not. I was so lucky that there were open seats on the flight home! I carried our car seat through the airport in the backpack, installed it on the airplane seat and during taxi/take-off, C passed out. He slept almost the whole flight! It was great, I was able to watch TV (Jet Blue) and enjoy snacks and a beverage!

Flight home was a total success, although in the cab ride home, C was sitting on my lap, facing me (no car seats needed in a taxi and I have always felt safe holding the little guy this way…) he barfed all over me when we were still about 15 minutes away from our apartment. So I had to sit there, covered in barf (at this point he was fine and happy) while the taxi driver complained and I tried really hard not to puke myself!

Next flight, Puerto Rico in May. We will be purchasing three seats (yikes!), but we have had a good run with C flying for free!