Flying with one-year-olds

We are planning our first flight with our twins at the end of April. They will be just over one year old. At this age, did you get separate seats for both of your twins? We are thinking of buying three to save some money - one girl can be in a seat by herself and then my husband and I can take turns holding the other one. Also, should we bring one of their carseats for the third seat? Adira is squirmy and I think she would be easier to handle if she is strapped into her carseat. But she has outgrown the infant carseat and is now in the convertible type that we would have to carry through the airport.

Also, did you gatecheck a stroller and/or carseats?

Thankfully we will be taking a non-stop flight that is only 2-2.5 hours. But I am nervous about entertaining the girls for that long in such a confined space.

Any flying advice that you have would be extremely helpful. Thanks!

 

We flew with our twins when they were 10 months old. We have 2 older kids as well, so they each had a seat, and we didn't bother getting seats for the twins. We just held them or let them sit beside their sibling in their seats. When one got fussy we'd trade twins They did fantastic, and several people commented as they left the plane that they had no idea their were infant twins on board, they did so great.

Something to keep in mind, which we didn't realize. Even if you only get 2 seats, you and your hubby won't be able to sit side by side. The reason is because the drop down oxygen masks, there's only 1 extra in each set of seats. With twin babies, you'll be one oxygen mask short. So you'll likely be split into two rows, or across the row from each other. One plane we flew on only had extra oxygen masks on one side of the plane, so we had to sit in separate rows. So it might work out better to buy that extra seat...but you still might end up in separate rows with it.

As for keeping them entertained, we had lots of toys, some of them favorites, some of them new, and I fed them on the plane, it kills time and keeps them full and happy. Either baby food or formula depending on what they were due to eat.

 

Don't know if you've bought your seats yet as it's been a few weeks since your post, but when we flew with 8 month old twins we got 3 seats between the 4 of us. Then put the car seat on one seat so one could go in that and the other stay on our laps. That worked quite well as ours was a transatlantic flight so it would have been too much to have both on our laps the whole time

 

While I don't use food very often for things other than nutrition,, we flew with ours when they were almost one and to deal with the ear pain issue, we brought suckers. It was the first time they had such a thing and while we were covered with stickiness (bring wipes), it kept the girls busy and not screaming because their ears hurt.

We did not buy seats for them, but as PP said, you won't be able to sit right next to each other. (Across the aisle I think is ok, but check).

I also wet to the dollar store and got a bunch of small toys that were new to bring out every few minutes.

We gate checked our car seats and strollers.

Have fun. It will be fine.

 

Until my girls were 2 we flew many times (maybe 10?) with them as lap babies. Small toys, snacks, and books kept them entertained. It was hard after they turned 1 because they wanted to run around, so I made sure they got lots of running time in the terminal and we were the last to board the plane (oh and change diapers before boarding too... Much easier than trying to change them in the tiny plane bathroom). Good luck, keep your sense of humor, remember its only a couple hours out of everyone's lives, and try to have fun with it.

 

You have some great advice here already but because we just flew back from Florida today I thought I would chime in. We flew with our guys at two, ten and fourteen months and it is definitely doable. We just got two seats with them in our laps. We got two seats across the aisle so we could pass them back and forth. We haven't yet been on a plane that allows us to sit together because of the need to have enough gas masks for them and you in the row. We have been moved twice to the very back row which gave us three seats and allowed us to sit together which was awesome so if you want to/can buy three seats it will definitely give you more freedom. I don't see a need to bring the carseat on the plane but I did gate check their buckets at 2 months and the stroller at 10 and 14 months. It is a huge help. Definitely get new, exciting trinkets to pass the time. Also, our kids don't watch tv so the screens on the seat backs are VERY exciting. Bring lots of finger foods, for nutrition and play. Then, just go with the flow and remember it's a short flight. Good luck!

 

Hi everyone - thanks for the great suggestions. I hadn't even thought about buying new toys, but that's a great idea. We drove with them in the car for six hours yesterday, and they did fine overall (mostly slept), but were bored with the few toys we had. I ended up purchasing three seats for the flight, so I think that will work out well.

 

Hi everyone - thanks for the great suggestions. I hadn't even thought about buying new toys, but that's a great idea. We drove with them in the car for six hours yesterday, and they did fine overall (mostly slept), but were bored with the few toys we had. I ended up purchasing three seats for the flight, so I think that will work out well.