From: sg@tredysvr.Tredydev.Unisys.COM (Susanne Gilliam)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Air travel w/2 yr old!
Date: 15 Oct 92 16:01:09 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: /usr/lib/news/organization

In article <1992Oct13.233428.2239632@locus.com> judy@locus.com (Judy Leedom Tyrer) writes:
>
>Also, I'm really against medicating a child to calm them.   I know it's 
>popular, but it just goes against my grain.  
>
>Judy Leedom Tyrer
>
  
  If you are going to do it (and plenty of people have, and some pediatricians
even suggest it) OR if you have any other reason that requires you to
give the child medicine while in any confined environment, TRY IT FIRST AT
HOME.  My kids, and plenty of others, get hyper, not sleepy with any kind
of cough or cold medicine.  Trust me -- you wouldn't want to be on board
when my kids have had any!  Unfortunately, my kids sometimes need it, to
keep their ears clear enough to adjust to pressure, or to keep the tail end
of a cough from running wild (very dry on planes...), or whatever.  If you
really need to, we follow these rules: (1) don't give it until you are
actually on board -- flight delays are frequent, even if all looks good at
the gate, and you may wind up in the position of not being able to give
more when you really need it (2) give the minimum possible amount that will
be acceptable (e.g. you may not need to stop the cough, only reduce it),
(3) give it on a full stomach, (4) carry and use more than one kind; some
kids are unbelievable on 3 (appropriately spaced) doses of the same
medication, but much better on 3 doses of 3 different medications.
  As for other distractions, one of our best was a roll of masking tape.
A little piece can be stuck and unstuck to nearly any surface, it leaves
no residue or mark, it is cheap, light, and appropriate for any age!  We
also follow the "eat, eat, eat" method of survival on planes -- take a billion
snacks, and dole them out once an hour, or when you can't take it anymore.
I usually do take some candy as bribes for when the going goes beyond tough
into impossible.  I like "Skittles" best; small enough not to block the
wind pipe of a 2 year old, relatively clean (they have a shell like M&Ms),
small enough that you can give what seems like a lot to a child, and they
don't stain the way chocolate will.  Take tons to drink too; the dry
environment really can dry you out, and the kids too.
  If you wrap the little gifts, some kids will take a long time to get
the wrapping off, and if you use ribbon, it can be another play thing.
My kids both like the curly ribbon that you can stretch out, then let go
and it bounces back.  Be prepared to deal with a lot of trash if you
do wrap the gifts.
  A deck of cards has always worked well for us, for any age, as long as
you have mentally resigned yourself to the fact you aren't going to be
playing with a full deck afterwards!      
  I agree with most all the previous suggestions except for the soft   
ball (I can't remember their real name...); my kids view those as projectiles,
and will happily study trajectories with them until someone comes and
bops them!  They are banned, as are any other objects that might conceivably
look like a throwing object.  Of course, anything can fly, but ColorForms
don't fly well, and neither do pieces of masking tape!
  Don't take little cars and trucks if your child likes to play with them
on a flat surface -- first, their tray won't go flat if they are in a car
seat, and second, the jiggling of the plane is sufficient to make them
roll all over a tray.  I spent part of one flight scrabbling for the cars
under the seats before I concluded it had been a big mistake.
  We have nesting cups we often take - they can be used in a huge variety of
ways.  Turn some upside down on a tray and play "Where did I hide it",
get the child to guess which one comes next when you are re-nesting them,
etc.
  That is all I can think of now, though I'm sure I'll think of 10 more
by tomorrow!  Good luck.  I've flow, sometimes even happily, many times
with my kids (now 5 and 2), often without another adult.  For me, the
real keys where not what I took, but what I thought.  First, I quit 
worrying about bothering other people -- once I am doing my best to keep my
kids behaving appropriately, there is nothing more I could do, even if
the rest of the people on the plane are ready to kill me -- my best is still
my best.  Second, I had to gear myself to assume zero "free" time; I had
to learn to mentally shift into "fully occupied" mode as soon as we hit
the airport doors.  I often enjoy the flights, though they are tiring,
because there are so many new and exciting events for the kids, and because
I have no other responsibilities and we can really play.  They always
say a lot of funny things too, which keeps me laughing.  (Like when my
3 year old asked me, about 10 minutes after take-off on our return trip,
"Mommy, when do we get little?"  It took me a few seconds to realize that
when he saw planes from the ground, they were little, and he thought they
had shrunk.)
 
					Susanne Gilliam