Imagine an active one year old that only wants to walk/run. Now think of trying to keep him happy on your lap for at least 6 hours while keeping him from grabbing the people next to and in front of you. Now add being crammed into a plane on top of everything else; not my idea of fun. However I have learned a lot from flying 5 of the 6 times with Spencer all by myself. The three most important lessons I learned are as follows:
1) My doctor’s office told me that I could give 1 teaspoon of Benadryl to Spencer in order to make him drowsy for the flight. (I tested Benadryl a few days before we flew because it makes 10% of kids hyper.) This really saved me. I discovered that it took about half an hour to kick in and that Spencer will do anything to fight sleep in your arms. Eventually he fell asleep and, although it was hard to be comfortable with a big 24 lb, 31 inch baby on your lap, I was grateful not to be wrestling with him. I would estimate that we wrestled for half of the flights and he slept for the other.
2) Bring less stuff. I made this mistake over and over. I kept thinking more stuff would keep him entertained but it didn’t matter. Plus it is hard to keep it all under the seat in front of you. Having bags in the overhead bin is hard too because you can’t always get it easily when you need it.
3) Take help when offered. My usual response is “oh I can do it” because I don’t want to inconvenience anyone or burden them. However if they offer then they must want to help, so now I say yes to the little old man who wants to carry my bag. The truth is I can do it but accepting help is truly helpful.
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