I also wanted to record a little of my experience traveling with a 1 1/2 year old. It's kind of like giving birth and having a newborn....you get through it and kind of forget it all until the next time...and then you remember..oh yeah..this is really hard! I figure I better write it down, so I don't forget the next time I'm tempted to take a trip with her....it will have to be when she's a little older!
Anyways, I traveled alone with Lucas and Rachel on the first leg to Dallas. Zac and Ben took a red eye flight later that night because we weren't sure if Ben would still be playing Football. Rachel did pretty good that flight...it was all still new and exciting! I met up with my mom in Dallas, do I did have some help the rest of the way. Unfortunately when we were trying to leave Dallas, our plane had some problems, so we had to go back to the gate...wait...unload the plane...wait in the terminal...reload a different airplane...and wait some more. Well, at this time...Rachel was way over due for a nap. All of a sudden she started getting really fussy....then all right mad. She went ballistic! We were still sitting on the plane, waiting for it to be ready...and I couldn't calm her down at all. I went up the front of the plane and asked the flight attendant if I could get off and wait right outside until they were ready to leave. Having a ballistic child was convincing enough. She still wouldn't calm down after standing outside with her..but at least everybody couldn't hear. Shortly after, the flight attendant told me they were ready to go, so I had to get back on the plane..Rachel still screaming...and to wait another five minutes or so until we started to move. It wasn't until we started to taxi out to the run way that she finally gave up and conked out. The whole episode probably lasted about 20 minutes...but to me it really felt like hours! I do have to admit that I had slipped a natural herb that is a sleep aid into her juice that she had started to drink before all this happened, and I think it probably made her too loopy or something. Anyways, it was horrible, but at least she slept that whole flight...and most of the 3 hour drive to our hotel...and slept through the entire night!
Needless to say, I didn't give her any on the way back. She had a few fussy moments but nothing like the big freakout. She liked to push Lucas out of his seat, and most of the last flight was with Lucas on my lap and her in own seat! She did finally fall asleep on her own and I was able to have 45 minutes of stress-free traveling!
So, lessons learned....
1- try out any sleep aids before the flight
2- toddlers might be better off with their own seat....even if they are free until 2
3- I will never have to see any of those people that we completely annoyed again in my life...so what's a little screaming!
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