Yesterday Tali and I flew down to New Orleans for a week (technically, we'll be in Florida for three of those days) and it was the first time I flew with her alone. Back in March, we took Tali down to New Orleans for my sister's wedding and she was a perfect angel on the trip. She was so young (just over two months) that she slept most of the time. But this time I was worried. I've heard numerous horror stories about babies this age (and older) causing a scene on long flights. So I chose to take a connecting flight instead of flying direct so that we could have a break between flights for her to crawl around (and me to sanitze her hands afterwards).
Our first flight left the Westchester airport at 12:30. We had enough time to check in and purchase some water before we lined up to board the plane. Although it was a tiny plane, it wasn't full and there was an empty seat next to me and Tali's car seat made it onto the flight. She was very tired so I tried to get her to sleep but she simply refused and began crying. Five rounds of "The Ants Go Marching" later, I took her out and she sat on my lap and played with some toys and my keys. Twenty minutes before we were scheduled to land in Detroit I breast fed her and put her back in her car seat to give her food. As the wheels touched the ground, Tali fell asleep mid-chew (a pea). She slept while we got off the plane and the whole time I frantically looked for the stroller (turns out it was put on the plane, contrary to one passenger's story) but left next to the plane when they unloaded the rest of the carry-on luggage). I then sprinted from the end of Terminal C to Terminal B to catch my connection.
Once at my new gate, I asked if there were any extra seats and there was one. I spoke to the woman in that seat and she agreed to switch with me! As I was boarding the plane, a guy offered to help me and he carried Tali (in the car seat) while I carried my very heavy bag. I was walking to our seats and looked behind me just as Tali was waking up. She opened her eyes, finished chewing her pea and smiled at me. She stayed awake the entire 2 1/2 hour flight and was very good. After her diaper change (two poops - I felt guilty putting a stinky diaper in the bathroom garbage), she ate the rest of her lunch, played with my keys and smiled at other passengers as we walked the aisle. As the plane was landing, I tried my luck and put her back in the car seat for a nap. She was not happy about this and let out her first real screams. Luckily, the landing was loud so it didn't carry too far. As we were leaving the plane, I got lots of compliments on how good she was.
Tali didn't fall asleep until we got in the car so Gran drove around for a half hour until she woke up. She had a lot of fun playing at her grandparent's house and went to sleep pretty quickly. All in all, it was a successful day. Fingers crossed the flight back is as smooth.
Our first flight left the Westchester airport at 12:30. We had enough time to check in and purchase some water before we lined up to board the plane. Although it was a tiny plane, it wasn't full and there was an empty seat next to me and Tali's car seat made it onto the flight. She was very tired so I tried to get her to sleep but she simply refused and began crying. Five rounds of "The Ants Go Marching" later, I took her out and she sat on my lap and played with some toys and my keys. Twenty minutes before we were scheduled to land in Detroit I breast fed her and put her back in her car seat to give her food. As the wheels touched the ground, Tali fell asleep mid-chew (a pea). She slept while we got off the plane and the whole time I frantically looked for the stroller (turns out it was put on the plane, contrary to one passenger's story) but left next to the plane when they unloaded the rest of the carry-on luggage). I then sprinted from the end of Terminal C to Terminal B to catch my connection.
Once at my new gate, I asked if there were any extra seats and there was one. I spoke to the woman in that seat and she agreed to switch with me! As I was boarding the plane, a guy offered to help me and he carried Tali (in the car seat) while I carried my very heavy bag. I was walking to our seats and looked behind me just as Tali was waking up. She opened her eyes, finished chewing her pea and smiled at me. She stayed awake the entire 2 1/2 hour flight and was very good. After her diaper change (two poops - I felt guilty putting a stinky diaper in the bathroom garbage), she ate the rest of her lunch, played with my keys and smiled at other passengers as we walked the aisle. As the plane was landing, I tried my luck and put her back in the car seat for a nap. She was not happy about this and let out her first real screams. Luckily, the landing was loud so it didn't carry too far. As we were leaving the plane, I got lots of compliments on how good she was.
Tali didn't fall asleep until we got in the car so Gran drove around for a half hour until she woke up. She had a lot of fun playing at her grandparent's house and went to sleep pretty quickly. All in all, it was a successful day. Fingers crossed the flight back is as smooth.
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