Flying with a 3 year old

Not having done this my first question is do we have to have them in a special seat.

I read of some taking car seats

It will be a TA.

Not having done this my first question is do we have to have them in a special seat.

I read of some taking car seats

Safest would be a car seat. Make sure it has a label on it that is approved for aircraft use.

2nd would be one of these: http://kidsflysafe.com/

We used one for a trans-pac when Kid was 2+; It is kinda of a pain to install as you need to access the seat tray behind your child's seat to install and to remove the main strap. If the seat tray can't fully close you won't be able to use the harness.

It's FAA approved, but some non-US airlines will not allow it use, unless the plane is flying to/from the US. When we used it a lot of the FAs had heard about it, but never seen one in use.

Can you give us some clues, please? Airline(s) and route(s) would be a start.

Can you give us some clues, please? Airline(s) and route(s) would be a start.

It is 554 days away

Just starting to plan so all I know now is we are flying over to Barcelona and cruising back 😄

Most airlines allow you to bring a carseat tto use during the flightt, but it most fit beteen the armrests. So check if you can use it.

Indeed also check if you can use the kid safety strap.

or else yur kid will have an ordinary seat as for aults. Most likely you will fly during the night.

Bring some new small toys to keep him busy. Also most airlines have kids movies on the entertainment system.

Just a couple of suggestions:

If it was my trip with a 3 year old, I would fly to JFK from your home airport, spend the night someplace (NOT at a JFK airport hotel-they are all mostly crap) and then fly DIRECT from JFK to Iceland and connect to BCN (you can usually get it worked out so you can spend a good portion of the day at the Blue Lagoon which your child will enjoy). OR JFK to Ireland and connect to BCN (again, time it so you have plenty of "leg stretching room"). Or worst of the options timewise-nonstop 8 hour flight from JFK to BCN on quite a few carriers.

By breaking the trip into segments, it will be a darn sight easier on your child, yourself and other passengers than trying to subject a 3 year old to a 12-14 hour plane trip (with connections)

May cost you slightly more-hotel at JFK plus possibly the connecting flight from your home airport to JFK. But Icelandair and Aer Lingus are two of the cheaper airlines flying to Europe with connections to most places in Europe. You may be very surprised when you price out the trip.

I completely disagree with Greatam. Book the overnight direct from whatever US gateway airport works best for you and your three year old should sleep the entire way.

I completely disagree with Greatam. Book the overnight direct from whatever US gateway airport works best for you and your three year old should sleep the entire way.

Good suggestion - the idea of breaking the trip up into segments - with far more boardings than necessary is insane. Having travelled with toddlers - my own and grandchildren, I know that the thing to avoid is extra transitions - airport to motel and back, flight changes, etc.

Check with cruise line to arrange easiest as well as least expensive flight over a la "cruise air".

When traveling with children, I have found the less complications, the better. Get there as fast as you can, with the Keats amount of connections possible. Every stop is a disruption for them.

I completely disagree with Greatam. Book the overnight direct .... and your three year old should sleep the entire way.

I'm guessing you don't have kids??? :D

I have three. For two of mine, this probably would have been true. For the middle, not a chance. Anything that made sleeping different from sleeping at home and he was a nightmare to deal with, so wouldn't have mattered if it was an overnight flight on which he SHOULD have been sleeping. ;)

I'm guessing you don't have kids??? :D

I have three. For two of mine, this probably would have been true. For the middle, not a chance. Anything that made sleeping different from sleeping at home and he was a nightmare to deal with, so wouldn't have mattered if it was an overnight flight on which he SHOULD have been sleeping. ;)

You guessed wrong. When he got tired enough, mine would fall asleep or at least settle down and rest wherever he was.

Maybe I didn't write my post very well. Flying from XXX to a gateway city to BCN will make a very long day for a 3 year old-most likely about 12-14 hours.

By breaking the trip into home airport to gateway city with a motel overnight, staying at the motel until check out time, GOOD breakfast someplace, and then taking something like Icelandair where the child actually gets to have a FUN day at the Blue Lagoon if the proper flights are chosen before leaving for the short hop to the final European city should be a more enjoyable trip and give a little downtime and a little fun.

When my step sons were little and we flew to both Hawaii (from Iowa/Kansas City) and to Alaska, they were so darn warn out and cranky with the waiting for plane changes, on and off planes, we said never again. So when AA was flying nonstop from ORD to ANC, we drove them to Chicago to board. Hawaii trips were broken up with a hotel in LA, sometimes with a beach day or something fun (one time Disneyland) before the long flight to Hawaii.

Sure worked a lot better for us than sitting and waiting in airports, particularly one time when the plane was delayed over 3 hours. THAT was a nightmare and DH decided we would never try to do the longer trips in one shot. JMHO.

Maybe I didn't write my post very well. Flying from XXX to a gateway city to BCN will make a very long day for a 3 year old-most likely about 12-14 hours.

 

By breaking the trip into home airport to gateway city with a motel overnight, staying at the motel until check out time, GOOD breakfast someplace, and then taking something like Icelandair where the child actually gets to have a FUN day at the Blue Lagoon if the proper flights are chosen before leaving for the short hop to the final European city should be a more enjoyable trip and give a little downtime and a little fun.

 

When my step sons were little and we flew to both Hawaii (from Iowa/Kansas City) and to Alaska, they were so darn warn out and cranky with the waiting for plane changes, on and off planes, we said never again. So when AA was flying nonstop from ORD to ANC, we drove them to Chicago to board. Hawaii trips were broken up with a hotel in LA, sometimes with a beach day or something fun (one time Disneyland) before the long flight to Hawaii.

 

Sure worked a lot better for us than sitting and waiting in airports, particularly one time when the plane was delayed over 3 hours. THAT was a nightmare and DH decided we would never try to do the longer trips in one shot. JMHO.

We always preferred to just get it over with. Our son (and nieces/nephews) were much better off getting there and settling in then getting herky jerky in and out of hotels and airports a bunch of times.

You guessed wrong. When he got tired enough, mine would fall asleep or at least settle down and rest wherever he was.

My bad on guessing wrong. I'm glad that you child would sleep whenever/wherever, but that doesn't mean all 3 year olds will. ;)

Regardless of the forum or website, when the conversation goes to the behavior of children on ships, in dining rooms, on airlines: it is very rare for a parent to say their kids misbehave. It is usually said that the kids are well-behaved and total strangers will come up and comment to the parents about how well-behaved and trained their kids are.

Just an observation from years and years of Internet wandering…

As someone who does not have kids, but is frequently confined to a plane which will have children onboard:

absolutely buy a seat for the child and have the appropriate child seat or CARES harness. Yes, it will cost, but I would never risk the possibility of my child becoming a missile in turbulence.

Bring their favorite comfort animal/blanket with them.

Bring a few of their favorite snacks on board. Yes, it may be more junk than you normally allow, but the purpose is to keep the kid happy and not cranky.

Nip cranky behavior in the bud immediately. It shows your fellow passengers that you understand and are doing your best to keep the kid in check. If you have to, get up and walk the child to the nearest galley for some calming.

Bring something for the child to suck on during descent - it will help alleviate the ear discomfort they will feel.

If I am in the vicinity of a parent who does these things, I appreciate the care they give to their child and their willingness to keep their child from disturbing others.

OP,

I just want to say good luck. No matter the flights you choose, it will be hassle.

If you have an FAA approved car seat that fits into the seat, you should be allowed to use it. If you don't have one, I would either invest in one, or get the strap kind.

For the best answers, contact the airline directly and request all responses in writing. Chat may be best, as you are getting real time responses. Email is also good. Either one, I would print out any responses.

Don't forget to pre-order a meal if you have a picky eater, and to take extra snacks and finger food. If your little one has a favorite couple of movies (the kind that you get sick of watching) I would load them onto a digital device (Kindle, iPad, etc) and take them along with headphone for your little one. I'd also get the little one used to doing headphones ahead of time.

My bad on guessing wrong. I'm glad that you child would sleep whenever/wherever, but that doesn't mean all 3 year olds will. ;)

I know what you mean regarding different choices for different children. My sons when younger were not good sleepers so we would never risk an overnight flight. The one time this happened was a flight delay and it wasn't great.

However they were able to be entertained easily when awake so we would take day flights. We also took their favourite snacks and toys, books to read to them etc. I think if we had done a long haul flight requiring a stopover we would do the same as greatam.

It is a case of knowing what works best for your child.

Maybe I didn't write my post very well. Flying from XXX to a gateway city to BCN will make a very long day for a 3 year old-most likely about 12-14 hours.

 

By breaking the trip into home airport to gateway city with a motel overnight, staying at the motel until check out time, GOOD breakfast someplace, and then taking something like Icelandair where the child actually gets to have a FUN day at the Blue Lagoon if the proper flights are chosen before leaving for the short hop to the final European city should be a more enjoyable trip and give a little downtime and a little fun.

 

When my step sons were little and we flew to both Hawaii (from Iowa/Kansas City) and to Alaska, they were so darn warn out and cranky with the waiting for plane changes, on and off planes, we said never again. So when AA was flying nonstop from ORD to ANC, we drove them to Chicago to board. Hawaii trips were broken up with a hotel in LA, sometimes with a beach day or something fun (one time Disneyland) before the long flight to Hawaii.

 

 

 

Sure worked a lot better for us than sitting and waiting in airports, particularly one time when the plane was delayed over 3 hours. THAT was a nightmare and DH decided we would never try to do the longer trips in one shot. JMHO.

Leaning towards the stops with her. We drove to Miami when she was 18 months. Thought a straight through night drive would be good. Then she could sleep. We call it the trip from hell!

Each time a tractor trailer passed us she woke. Which means she was awake and extremely cranky all night. We would have stopped except her mother and I (grandmother) are both night shift nurses and both of us had slept during the day.

Let me ask what and where is this Blue Lagoon you wrote of?

I completely disagree with Greatam. Book the overnight direct from whatever US gateway airport works best for you and your three year old should sleep the entire way.

There speaks an optimist! Show me any child that sleeps through 12-14 hours of travelling and I will show you a miracle.

Where are you getting a 12-14 hour trip from a U.S. Gateway city to BCN? JFK, ATL, CLT, PHL, EWR, BOS to BCN is under eight hours.

Where are you getting a 12-14 hour trip from a U.S. Gateway city to BCN? JFK, ATL, CLT, PHL, EWR, BOS to BCN is under eight hours.

The big IF in your theory-does the OP live in a gateway city? If so, I would agree with you.

Otherwise, even a short hop from Pittsburgh to Philly will add at LEAST 2 hours to your 8. And that short hop will be on one of the barbie jets most likely.

From a very large percentage of the US, for a 3 year old to fly to BCN, it will be much closer to 12-14 hours than 8 from a gateway city.

I have been traveling with my 3 children internationally since before they could walk. Most of their flights were 10/11 hours straight with a connecting flight after that.

Did I ever have meltdowns ? In all of the years , three times. Once was when my middle son got his finger pinched in the the folding dinner tray , once pre-flight for no real reason ( but then DD slept the whole way) and once due to ear pressure ( very brief). All in all , we have had very good experiences and have never received dirty looks from fellow passengers . [emoji3]

- pack a special backpack with new little treats and toys just for the trip. Things like stickers are great , coloring books etc. Tell the child he/she can only open it on the plane.

- talk , talk , talk about the rules on the plane before you leave. I told all my kids that it was absolutely forbidden to walk in aisles and that it was a rule that after dinner was served they had to go to sleep. I emphasized that these were airplane "RULES" and the FA would enforce them. I know some people my frown on my " fib" , but my kids are big on rules and it ended up working quite well.

- I only book red-eyes. My kids bedtimes are long past by the time the plane is at cruising altitude and they sleep surprisingly well.

- I book Economy Plus or such for extra legroom. When they were three , I did not use the carseat on the plane.

- a comfy blanket and little animal is great .

- as I said before , talk up the trip before. Look at pictures of destination , talk about the adventure , make the plane trip seem exciting. My boys knew the different kinds of planes when they were quite small.

Ex : When we arrived from our Antarctica cruise in February 2010 , we disembarked in GRU and my 9 year old son got really excited and said " Look mom , the Antonov 225! He made me take a picture. Only later did I discover it was a very rare sighting!

- I would take the fastest , most direct route. However , I think my kids would have loved the Blue Lagoon at 3 . We will be visiting Iceland for the first time next year and we are very excited.

My kids are now 18 , 15 and 11 and time has gone by so fast. Our adventures continue and the " wonder " of getting on a plane and flying to an exotic destination never gets old!

Flying with a 3 year can be a fun adventure. Good luck!

The big IF in your theory-does the OP live in a gateway city? If so, I would agree with you.

 

Otherwise, even a short hop from Pittsburgh to Philly will add at LEAST 2 hours to your 8. And that short hop will be on one of the barbie jets most likely.

 

From a very large percentage of the US, for a 3 year old to fly to BCN, it will be much closer to 12-14 hours than 8 from a gateway city.

SMH. The "hop" will be during the day. They will have a few hours in the gateway city to have some dinner and let the kid run around. About bedtime they get on the overnight flight. The cabin lights are dimmed, the child falls asleep and wakes up as the descent to the European airport begins.

SMH. The "hop" will be during the day. They will have a few hours in the gateway city to have some dinner and let the kid run around. About bedtime they get on the overnight flight. The cabin lights are dimmed, the child falls asleep and wakes up as the descent to the European airport begins.

I'll make you a deal. My dear departed DH promised his grandkids a trip to Alaska and another trip to Alaska for his Dad. FIL is getting up there (83). And the kids are almost 4 and 7. So guess who got elected to take the family to Alaska over Labor Day.

The 7 year old has been on a plane from Cedar Rapids, IA to Denver. The 4 year old has never been on a plane.

I have looked at every possible connection to make this the shortest, fastest, least complicated trip there is. From Cedar Rapids, it is just about as far to ANC as it is to BCN from an East Coast gateway City. The time factor on the shortest flight is almost 1.5 hours longer. I am truly dreading it. FIL will sleep most of the way which leaves me to entertain 2 kids I barely know.

So I will pay for the entire trip so YOU can take FIL and the two kids to Alaska for 5 days. Rental car already booked and we co-own a condo in Homer, so a place to stay is not a big deal. Wanted to take them to Hallo Bay but they are too young. They want to go fishing like their grandpa and great grandpa. I HATE fishing and I don't really want to leave FIL with the boys to take them fishing because just like his son, FIL fishes waaaaay, waaay off the beaten path. SO that leaves me again with the boys to find something to do while Great Grandpa goes with the guide or on the boat fishing.

I have to go up there anyhow for business during this time frame. I go to Seven Glaciers every year (not suitable for kids). I go to the Wildlife Conservation Center every year (the oldest one is scared of everything except his Rottweiler-go figure) so I am sure a moose or an elk or especially the bears being very close would terrify him. I can't even see taking them on one of the shorter Kenai River trips because the oldest one is too shy and afraid of everything. I can hear it now-"we are probably going to drown, we should go back, I don't like this".

And back to the plane ride. My stepson said that 5 hour plane ride from Cedar Rapids with a change at DFW continuing to Denver was a trip from hell. Jason SCREAMED for almost all 800 miles. I was going to pop for FC but after I heard the screaming story, figured the BACK of the plane was the safest.

Shortest flight I can find is a little over 9 hours on AS with a connection in ORD, then straight to ANC. BUT it leaves at 6AM, which means trying to wrangle to kids out of bed, with all their sh*** together at 3-3:30AM. Even their mother says the almost 4 will be impossible to get out of bed and behave at that hour of the morning.

So the offer is open. I will pay for your vacation. You can go babysit the boys and watch that FIL doesn't have something happen to him. He is in amazing physical shape for his age but he is 83. And I guarantee you he won't have a lot of patience with the kids.

I am now stocking up on Xanax as I am sure that is the only way I will survive this trip. I miss my DH horribly but sure am kicking him in the butt right now because of his promise to his sons, grandkids and his Dad.