One year old on the White Pass Railway?

[jennygirlmt]

Has anyone taken an older infant/toddler on the White Pass train ride? My family seems to want to do this but I'm a little worried about DD getting bored or wanting to get down and walk/play and not be able to. 3.5 hours in a long time to hold her still. Does anyone have any experience or have you seen young children on this excursion?

[sherryf]

When we cruised with family 10 years ago, a group of us took the roundtrip train trip. My daughter was 2 years old and my nephew was 9 months. My daughter did fine on the trip, but my nephew was much more restless and difficult to handle. I don't think this was merely due to their age difference, but in overall personality/temperament. She's always been an easier child in general, and probably would have been fine on the train even at a younger age.

 

There is a little room to move around, so you shouldn't need to hold her still the whole time. You can walk up and down the aisle a bit, if necessary. It's been a long time, but I seem to remember our little ones playing on the floor at our feet rather than staying in their seats.

 

Overall, I'd say it depends largely on the child. You know your child well enough to know if she can play quietly for a few hours. Bring small toys and snacks. If she naps easily, maybe plan it near her nap time and hope she falls asleep on your lap. If you are going with a family group, hopefully you can take turns holding her and playing with her to keep her happy. That's what we ended up doing with my nephew and we survived the trip.

[BIG_Steve]

Haven't taken kids on that train. But when either of my 2 boys were that age, they would have been very bored and very crabby.

[lmg1230]

My daughter was just a bit shy of 4 years of age when we went on the White Pass Railway. The novelty of a train ride wore off very quickly but we had stickers and colouring books to keep her occupied so she was fine. However, if we had done the same trip with her at 1yr I suspect she would have slept for the duration. The motion of any vehicle always put her to sleep - she would routinely fall asleep as soon as the airplane started to move on the runway and sleep until touch down. You will really just have to consider your daughter's temperament and judge how she is likely to behave in that situation - I'm not sure it's worth it if it's going to cause you undue stress.

 

Lisa