Flying with two 12 month olds

I know I've seen posts about this before, but without searching, I have to ask again. My LOs will be one this weekend and we are flying 5 hours the following weekend. Any helpful hints? We are on a strict budget so we're each planning to hold a baby, no extra seat. Nightmare. They don't sit still! Fingers crossed the seats are together and someone moves to give us room...

I nurse and they don't take bottles so I'm going to have to try something else for take off and landing...a friend suggested Gerber toddler gummy fruit snacks. Anyone ever use them for planes? I want to buy a few new toys just for the trip to keep them occupied, so if you have any small toys that your 1 year olds absolutely love, I'll take suggestions!! Any other suggestions? I would love to bring my stroller, but I'm terrified that they'll mess it up and they don't let you insure strollers on this airline...I have a beat up used double stroller that someone gave my MIL so I'm going to bring that one and just deal with the ratty cover and snarly wheels. I'd love some advice if you've got it!

 

Mine slept for most of our trip, from Oregon to Atlanta. I did give them bottles though. As far as toys they didn't really play with any because again they slept most of the time but ones they did were ones that they could chew on. My boys turned 1 a week after we got home. So they were arround the same age. Good luck flying wtih htem.

 

I have never flown w/ the babies before, but I know that the things that held my twins' attention at that age were 'adult things'- not toys. Granted, they were probably all borderline choking hazards, but...things like big binder clips, an old cassette tape case that they can open and close, a tape dispenser with the tape removed...those are all things you probably have around the house that you could throw in a grab bag.

 

We had a nightmare flight at 13 months on a flight with both in car seats. Both kids wanted me to hold them the whole time, and they were exhausted. I suggest traveling right after a nap or early in the morning, when they are well-rested and more likely to be happy. I counted on mine sleeping on a red-eye, but they were too overtired and overstimulated and literally screamed hysterically for 4 hours straight on the plane (plus 2 hours before getting on the plane). Snacks, new toys, and lots of patience are a must. Just remember: no matter what happens with their behavior, you WILL survive anything they can dish out, and everything will be okay in the end!

Good luck!!!

 

We flew with the twins when they were 13 months old. We did it without carseats...held them in our laps. Although we did book a 3rd seat for them to share. That was just for our own sanity though. Mine LOVE books...so, I took plenty of those to read to them. Little cars, toy phones, our cell phones. I would recommend little light up toys that don't make noise. Mine were really into this Playskool flash lightthat would light up with a bunch of little lights (not distracting though for other passengers). Any kind of light up spinning toy(like these). We had to hold the button for them..but it kept them fascinated for awhile. We also had plenty of snacks for them to eat and they did end up falling asleep for part of the way which was nice. We also took our DVD player with some Baby Einstein videos. However, they didn't want to wear the headphones. They did end up watching it though (for a little bit) without the sound.

As far as the ears go, I was told that any kind of swallowing helps. Even it they are just eating a snack or sucking on a lollipop, etc.. My ped. gave us some numbing ear drops to use, but I don't know how much they really helped. Our flight there was fine, but on the way back they did scream on the descent.

For the strollers~ we took umbrella strollers and bought clips to clip them together. If you have a double one, that is great! I wouldn't take a big expensive stroller though.

Good Luck and have fun!!

 

We flew with our twins as lap babies right before they turned 1, but it was only a 2 hour flight. One of the babies slept the whole time (of course the one DH had). I think bringing the old double stroller is a good idea, you'll definitely want one. Any type of new small toys they haven't seen in awhile would be good. Also any type of swallowing during landing and take off should help, so maybe sippies of juice or water? And in case you didn't realize, you and DH won't be able to sit in the same row, because there can't be two lap children in a row due to the number of gas masks.

 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea! I'm sad I never thought about it when we were traveling. It would be great to at least be able to have one sitting in a carseat even if someone had to hold the other. We are taking a trip on August 4th and I'm seriously considering calling the airline just to see what the price would be. Twin mommies are so ingenious!

As for toys during travel, this is cheap and has kept my boys entertained. I have taken an empty wipes container (I used the softside ones for packability but you could use a box) and I stuffed it full of old fabric scraps. They LOVE pulling all the stuff out.

Oh and if you fly an airline that doesn't have assigned seats, I've found if you head straight for the very last rows, you have a much higher possibility of having extra room if the flight isn't totally booked.

Good luck and have fun on your trip!

 

Yes, I would definately recommend the back row, too! You are close to the bathroom and usually there is a flight attendant hanging out back there which is handy if you need anything.

 

See if you can sit across the aisle from each other. Have two diaper bags packed just in case. Do your babies take a paci? If they stuck during the take off and landing it will help their ears, but if they don't, don't worry about it.

We've flown with my two several times as lap babies (the longest flight being 4 hours), and I won't lie, its not fun. But its totally do-able, even without an extra seat. Are yours walking yet? When we flew at 14 months it was very difficult because they wanted to get down and walk around. We just told them they weren't allowed and didn't let them down at all. Thats not to say we didn't walk around while holding them, but they weren't allowed down. I got some soft books that were gloves that were huge hits. I also brought their lovies, blankies, and LOTS of snacks! At that age I did cheerios and puffs. I do want to give people some hope though- we've flown with the girls a couple of times in the SY and it was MUCH easier even though they were big lap "babies." They understood they were on a plane, couldn't run around, and were able to pay attention to the DVD player.

Just keep your patience and sense of humor and realize its only a couple of hours out of everyone's lives. GL and have a great trip (oh and happy birthday kiddos!!!).

 

My biggest recommendation is a portable DVD player (or 2) with your LO favorite videos. They are lifesavers in situations like flying. Good Luck!

 

we flew to france about the same age. only an hours' flight though. it was much easier than we thought it would be. dh, daniel and brook sat on one side of the aisle, nobody sat next to them, then i had a lovely couple sit next to me, they were really great and played with oran, even held him while i had a drink!!! we took a few little toys with us, mainly a soft toy that has lots of dangly bits, but they mainly played with the things on the plane - the in flight magazine was happily torn up, they loved eating the laminated safety instructions!!!
ours boys likes those hard baby buscuits for the take off and landing. its the chewing that helps ease earache.
hope you have a goon flight x

 

We flew when the girls were 10 months old. If they like music bring a small toys that plays quietly to keep them happy and not annoy other passengers. We brought their favorite soft toys with rattles and baby einstein music box has flashlights and music. They played tore up the in flight magazine. Bring extra milk incase you get delayed we had a 4 hour delay and no where in the airport do they sell homo milk.

If you are doing lap babies it makes a big difference if you can sit across the asisle from each other that way you can easily pass things back and forth during the flight including the kids.

We are going again now they are 16 months we will bring books, maganadoodles, elmers mess free on the go paint, wooden cars, notebooks and stickers,puppets, lots of snacks.

Good luck