![]() We joked that she was the mayor of the plane by the time we got off since she schmoozed so many people. She liked to stand up and say “Hi people!” or “Hi lady” to the folks around us. Clara actually loved just looking around the plane. We may have a lollipop addict on our hands now, but at least they did the trick in the air: no complaints during take off or landing! Not even one ear tug or whine! We also learned that the sucking motion made her a bit sleepy too. But since our MO was to keep her happy and not disturb other riders at all costs, we were happy they worked so well. Well, Clara made a big dent in our stock of dum-dums before, during, and after the flights. Someone suggested these as a way to trick kids into swallowing during take-off and landing to keep their ears from hurting. She also really liked eating the crushed ice that the flight attendants served during drink service and playing with snacks by putting them into different cups like a mad scientist. So we were well stocked with a few snacks (and a water cup). ![]() Someone made the point that in the fuss to keep kids active on a plane, you can forget that they may just be hungry. Mainly, Goldfish crackers and Teddy Grahams. Between coloring, identifying colors together and simply pulling the crayons in and out of boxes – these were probably the biggest hit. One of our carry-ons was her monkey backpack, which was stocked with items to keep her engaged. Some flights were pretty darn good (we had an empty seat next to us on the way to Maui!) while others verged on nightmarish (this means you red eye). Oh yeah, and try to enjoy the ride best we could. Our game plan: keep Clara happy (and relatively quiet) at all costs, while encouraging sleep at every turn. So we knew going into it that we’d have our work cut out for us. The flights between the West Coast and Hawaii were the longest at six hours each, and since Clara’s still under two, we didn’t buy a seat for her (we knew she’d be most comfortable in our laps anyway and potentially could make a LOUD scene until we let her sit in our laps even if we did). Two on the way to Portland (layover in Chicago), one direct from Portland to Maui and then a whopping three on the way back to Richmond (with layovers in Seattle and Chicago). We spent a lot of time in the air: six flights in total. After getting lots of great tips from you guys about flying with a toddler, we thought we’d give you guys a recap about what worked well (lollipops!) and what didn’t (two words: red eye).
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