Reddit put me off flying with a toddler but y’all were wrong

[marks1mpson]

@johnd yeah I've flown quite a few times now with my nearly 2 year old and it's been fine. Few difficult moments, few moments where I seriously questioned my life decisions, but in the whole, it was always worth it for us. I kept telling myself and my husband 'you can survive any for X amount of hours'. And we did!

 

[home4good]

@johnd Absolutely, we completely circled the earth with a 30 month old back in November and December.

I would do it all over again. Sure, there were loads of inconveniences but you go into it expecting them and getting your mindset right and they are barely a memory.

The one story I tell to people as the worst of it was when she woke up after sleeping a few hours on an 11 hour flight. She was crying uncontrollably and we finally figured out she needed to pee. She was wearing a overnight diaper (daytime trained for almost a year). So ok we got to the lav. Get in there and pull the pull up down and before we could get on the seat the flood gates opened. Big puddle on the floor. Use the, luckily still dry, diaper to soak it up. Clean everything up, carry her back to our seat with naked butt hanging out. Then you know what happed? Life went on.

 

[little1]

@johnd I'm about to take my daughter on a 7hr flight tonight! We've taken her on long overnight flights before and she was fine. I booked a late flight and let her run around the terminal as much as she can, so she only lasts maybe 30 min to an hour before passing out. Even on daytime the flight home she got antsy, but mostly was happy with the activities I brought.

 

[petekoziar]

@johnd I flew with my toddler to Denmark (from USA) and he did great. Yeah rough moments but great. He has also flown on a plane pretty much 2 a year since he was 4 months old.
But flying can be rough because there is so much unexpected. It just depends on the kid.

 

[lisa_c]

@johnd There is this great instagram/tiktok account on traveling with kids. Whereisbriggs

 

[6jysusluvr66]

@johnd We recently flew to Florida with my 2.5yo and she was amazing the entire way. We got delayed over four hours for our connecting flight and she only started to meltdown the last 20 minutes of our final flight because at that point it was 1030 and it was way past her bedtime. We loaded up her backpack full of snacks and toys and she was able to bring through TSA, it was glorious.

Airports that have moving sidewalks is the best way to get your child tuckered out. She had a blast at BWI.

 

[therb1006]

@johnd We've flown a couple times with our first born and it went just fine. It took some screen time and other activities but otherwise went fine. We'll see how #2 does this summer.

 

[iscah]

@johnd My 2yo has been delightful on flights too, it's been a breeze honestly. But it varies entirely by kid!

 

[shanax]

@johnd So glad you did it! I’ve traveled with my son 10 times at least. He’s only had one rough plane ride but otherwise he did great!!

 

[bonrouge]

@johnd Woohoo glad it was a great experience! I think it’s all about setting your expectations and just taking it as you go. Travelling with kids can be so fulfilling

 

[hopelessfool]

@johnd We’ve traveled with our daughter since she was 6mos. Always got her a seat and used her car seat including trips from the US to Asia. The jet engine lulls her to sleep. She’s now 5y and the plane is just another vehicle to her. The earlier you can start them traveling the better. It’s not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Just bring plenty of snacks and activities.

 

[mosesjustice]

@johnd Our kid at 2.5 puked all over me during landing, at 3 she was a champ and complaining about crying babies on the plane exposure, time, snacks and mitigation plans helps

 

[penguinagent]

@johnd I just accepted that it was going to be hard. Our flight was 3 hours I think and she was fine other than the taking off and landing. The ears. Yeah it sucks for the other passengers and it sucks for us as the parents. But hey, the other people can put on their noise cancelling headphones and pretend like it’s not happening. It’s their choice to be grumpy about it or not. Children have just as much right to travel on airplanes as anyone else. I’m not going to let a difficult plane ride stop me from going somewhere I want go. I will say traveling with a car seat made life so much easier so I could do my own thing and if we didn’t, we would have had a stranger sitting in the third seat in our row which would have made it all much more stressful.

 

[revdr]

@johnd All toddlers are different and I’ve had both experiences good and bad. My first was the perfect travel baby/toddler. We did five 6+ hour flights his first year so when he hit the toddler stage it was a breeze! He was always a lap child until required to get his own seat at 2, and never screamed or cried. Always listened and just chilled or slept in my lap. He’s no longer a toddler and still the perfect travel companion.

Just got off a 6+ hour international flight with my 22 month old yesterday and OMG it was so so hard! He’s been a terrible traveler since he hit 10 months, and much better on night time/red eye flights. Our flight yesterday was late afternoon and he screamed very loudly for the first 2 hours, squirmed and was so busy. I was exhausted and prayed for peace lol he finally fell asleep and stayed that way for 3 hours. He woke up happy and chill.
Even with my annoyance, exhaustion and frustration with the screaming, I would still take him on another flight tomorrow because our trips are always so worth it! It’s like child birth to me… few bad hours/pain and then I completely forget when I think about the overall great trip with him. And he’s a toddler doing what toddlers do! Completely normal. I think most adults expect a fussy toddler/baby and know to bring earplugs or headphones.
I agree, take the trip and don’t be afraid to fly with your babies/toddlers. This time is so short so just enjoy everything that comes with it - good, bad & stressful!

 

[lucyana1129]

@johnd People love to project their own experiences onto other people and forget that children are ALL so different.

 

[jhedon]

@johnd Traveling alone with my toddler was fine, I went cross country (US). But the terrible part was we got covid during the flight out, so we both got very sick during our vacation. I would like to travel again soon but I have no idea how to avoid the us getting sick during travel again. Should I work on trying to get my 2 year comfortable with wearing a mask? Anyone have any hints and tips? I really don't want him to get covid again due to air travel.

 

[sfanacogdoches]

@johnd I am glad you had a good experience. We have flown with our two kids under 3 several times between Oregon and Alaska. It’s always been a mostly positive experience. I do feel discomfort if I perceive that my kids might be annoying to others in public, but I have realized I am probably overly attuned to that and it causes me extra stress. I don’t actually let my kids continue disruptive behaviors without redirecting them, which is as much as can be expected of a parent.

While every child parent relationship has unique challenges and parenting really hard. I sometimes read the posts on this subreddit and feel they are a bit over the top with how terrible parenting toddlers is. I have an almost 3YO and 18 M old and I am in nursing school and my wife works as a nurse. We have very little child care (a few hrs 3 days a week). When I have my kids by myself for several days at a time (wife works 12hr shifts), there are always hard moments but for the most part it’s a positive experience.

I totally understand the need to vent. And my child free friends will never understand how difficult parenting is. But reading this sub I see very few comments or posts that portray resilience in parents of toddlers. Maybe people are just trying to empathize with others who are venting on here.

To be honest, It’s kinda turned me off from reading the posts here.

 

[nathanpaul]

@sfanacogdoches As someone who is due in a few weeks (!) and reads this sub to be prepared because baby will be a toddler before I know it, this is actually very reassuring

 

[sfanacogdoches]

@nathanpaul Congratulations! It’s gonna be great. First baby is always a big adaptation and comes with a healthy dose of anxiety. Lots of researching and trying to figure out how to solve problems. It got better for me when I realized that I would never figure out the perfect way. Every solution has trade offs and kids change so quickly it’s hard to tell whether your intervention worked or they just grew out of whatever problem you’re solving.

First baby is also so sweet and each new twinkle in their eye or sounds they make is the most amazing thing you’ve ever witnessed.

A big challenge for me was my own loss of identity as the focus of my activities and life shifted from my individual interests and hobbies to being nearly fully consumed by the needs of my family. I’ve since embraced this though and view the process as “cutting out the fat” on a too often unexamined adult life. I am looking forward to building a “new adult life” when the kids get older and I regain my free time.

Everyone has their own experience and kids a different out of the box. Whatever challenges you face I am sure you can overcome them and your family will be stronger for it.

 

[lostnconfused]

@johnd We flew with my son when he was 2. It was a much shorter flight/trip than you described. He did pretty good, and honestly the worst part was having to haul around his car seat through the airport along with our luggage. Huge pain in my back.