Flying with a 1 year old

A few weeks ago, we unfortunately had to go to a memorial service in Seattle. We were very sad to have to go, but are glad we were able to be there with our family during a very tough time. Since Ruthie has flown a few times now, I thought I'd give my tips on flying with a one year old. Here is what I did:

-Our flights were about 1 hour and then 4-4 1/2 hours each.

Toys:
-I packed a backpack full of toys. I didn't pull any of them out. I should have just packed a few books.
-What she really wanted to play with was the airplane safety guide, in flight magazines, and peekaboo with the people around us. I had to get over the dirtiness of the safety guide and in flight magazines. We did the best we could to keep things clean and chose our battles.

Food:
-I packed a full sippy cup of milk (10 ounces), a sippy cup of water, and lots of snacks and baby food. You can take milk, food, water through security if it is for a baby. They run a scan on it, but nothing touches the food/milk/water.
-The best things I packed (and they sell them at starbucks usually in the airport also, a different brand, but same concept), are the squeezable fruit/veggie pouches. They don't require a spoon, and she pretty much drinks right out of it, plus they are resealable. To me, these are a must on flights now.

Mobility:
-Since Ruthie is walking I thought we would be spending hours walking up and down the aisles and surprisingly she had no desire to do that at all. I don't know why, maybe too many people around, but she just wanted to be in our laps playing with the guides.

In the Airport:
-I carried Ruthie in our boba carrier, and we put our carry on items in the stroller (I have the peg perego pliko p3 which I love and found at a consignment sale) to go through security, check in, etc. It works great because I have her close and easy and we don't have to hassle with all our bags. When we have a long layover, we put her in the stroller so she can check everything out, but through security, we've found that is the way to go.

Sleeping:
-This is a tougher one for us on flights because she wants to watch everything going on and see everyone. What seems to work the best for us is if we don't try and force her to sleep we just follow her cues. On these past flights, on the way to Seattle, she slept exactly when she normally naps, but on the way home I don't think she slept 5 minutes. That was tough, especially because our flights got in around midnight, but it was no big deal.

Time Change:
-We were only in Washington for about 6 days I believe so it was much easier to keep her on East coast time than try and change to West coast time. We put her to bed around 4pm, and she slept until about 4am sometimes 5am. It made it much easier on us and much easier on us when we returned home.

Number one tip:
-Make sure your baby doesn't have an ear infection before flying ;-). It makes things much more pleasant!

Hope this helps!