Another flying-with-a-baby question

You will be fine! I used to fly with a friend's very squirmy child around that age --albeit on a shorter flight -- and we all lived. I basically let him do whatever he wanted that was safe and would keep him occupied, and yes this including basically letting him cover my iPhone in gummy bears. (I love that child dearly, which helps.) He had one HUGE fit and you know what? We all lived. (The rest of the time he was a delight.) At some point, let him get out and walk up and down the aisle of the plane. DEFINITELY let him run around during your layovers as much as possible to burn off some energy. He will certainly sleep for part of the time. We had a doohickey that you attach to the carseat to make it into, basically, a roll-y piece of luggage, and that helped very much, but it's up to you to decide if you want another piece of gear to juggle. A car seat that clips into the stroller is also useful in this scenario. I do think I would consider bringing something that you can sort of contain him with, be it the stroller or the Ergo or whatever -- just because him yelling and irritating but safely contained might be the lesser of two evils, the other being him darting off all the time. Take advantage of pre-boarding so you can get all your stuff settled away. The best advice I can give you is the one my mom gave me: kids have as much a right to fly as anyone else! Even if he is A NIGHTMARE on the flight, it's finite. EVENTUALLY you will get to your destination and the nightmare will end. (My bet is that it will go better than you're anticipating, though. Sincerely.) In my experience, the stereotypical grumble guses about kids on planes are fewer and farther between than you think (and you know what? Too bad for them. I don't like traveling next to people with colds, but shit happens. If you're doing your best to keep things under control, that's all anyone can ask, and obviously you will be. NO ONE likes being confined on a flight for X hours. It's just that the adults are screaming on the inside). In my experience, most people -- especially flight staff -- are sympathetic and nice when you're traveling with a kid, because SO MANY of us have been there. The fact that your little dude is an amiable and cheerful kid is going to help so much here. People make this trip every day and get through it! So will you two!

Bring his carseat, definitely. Safer, easier, and a thousand times easier to keep him contained on the flight and get him quickly through the airport-because you'll also get one of these to make your car seat work as a stroller: http://www.gogobabyz.com/product-i14550-c26-gogo_Kidz_Travelmate_.aspx Rolling suitcase, kid strapped in car seat rolling in other hand, carryin over shoulder. Also, don't be afraid to ask for some help in the airport-I had a businessman, clearly a father, stop and offer to carry my car seat to our gate for me once. Lifesaver.

I've done trans-Atlantic with a baby, but not trans-Pacific. My only advice is that the flight does eventually end! My son could not be contained and was a miserable wreck, but we all lived - as did everyone else on the flight. I sincerely hope your experience is better! In the end, there's really only so much you can do and the rest is just grit your teeth. A few things: - The Ergo was a godsend getting through the security line. Even if you never use it for the rest if the trip, if you wear baby through the line, they can't remove him. So, you both go through the metal detector together and get a quick pat down. Easy peasy. With a stroller, you have to take him out of the stroller and fold up the stroller itself and place it on the X-ray, leaving you to go through the metal detector with a loose toddler - plus then having to retrieve and reassemble the stroller. Perhaps others have been lucky enough to have security personnel allow their kiddos to stay in the stroller, but that has absolutely not been my experience. Even though I uses the stroller for 99% of the rest of the trip, I was still glad I had the Ergo for the security check. ESPECIALLY at customs where everyone is rushed and cranky. - I personally wouldn't give a child any medication they'd never had before when on a plane. Side effects can be... Well... My parents did this for my first flight and found that no, I didn't fall asleep and OH HEY EXPLOSIVE POOPS. I learned from their experience and didn't bother with my son. He did sleep on an overnight flight, the rest of the time I felt like the known frustration was better than the unknown side effects. - Absolutely bring more diapers than you could possibly need. I have so many horror stories from parents with delayed flights and running out of diapers in the airport. I would pack as many as I could fit in my carry on. - Snacks. SNACKS. ALL THE SNACKS. Constant grazing helped my son stay somewhat entertained and distracted. He didn't do many meals, but always had some kind of finger food. Crackers or cereal or anything else that's bite size is great as the act of eating is more important/entertaining than getting full. I found on our first flight that my son devoured everything I had before we'd landed so the second time I packed more food than he usually eats in two days and had just about enough. Seriously, ALL THE SNACKS. Have a great trip! Remember to eat, stay hydrated, and just roll with it. Even if it's the worst day ever, it's one day and you'll have a hell of a story to tell. (That one time when we had a trans-Atlantic flight and a baby with an ear infection who had stopped nursing two days before and my boobs were about to explode... Yep. One day, and we lived.)

I have a fifteen month old. I was a little car seat obsessed during her first year of life. I can't offer any additional tips about the actual traveling, but I did want to say that you should bring the car seat (make sure it's airline approved) for your toddler. This is an item you should research on your own before making a decision. Here are some links: Past AskMe http://ask.metafilter.com/165203/Should-we-bring-our-car-seat-on-to-the-plane, which has some good input. Carseatlady.com's http://www.thecarseatlady.com/airplanes/airplanes.html on airplane safety, which has the FAA and American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations. She's a little more guilt-tippy here than I would like, but it's a comprehensive site. Finally, the folks at the http://www.car-seat.org/index.php forum are really helpful. There are a number of safety techs on there, and they can help with the international issues as well as with the CARES device and whether or not it's good for your toddler's age (one of the issues with toddlers and is that they can't really sit properly without the car seat/booster, so it could be a comfort issue on a flight that long, even with the cares harness).

Great advice to ask the airline to drive you between flights, as that covers all the luggage management, and gives your son something exciting to do. Just be sure to let him run around — in fact make him run around before each segment. Running the kid ragged when there is space will really help. (I was once doing this with my daughter when someone complained, and I asked her, "Would you prefer she did her running on the plane?" And she laughed and said, "Run!! Run, little girl!")

There is some fantastic advice upthread. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is baby headphones. A lot of flights have in seat tvs, but you need to have headphones in order to hear the sound. We have ones like these: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=16505696&cp=&parentPage=search, which also limit the volume. This is also convenient when you're into your fourth hour of The Big Red Car or playing iPad games.

http://kidsflysafe.com/ the need to bring a car seat on the plane. It's quicker and easier to use. If he's active it has the added advantage that he can't kick the seat in front of him the whole way and will keep him as contained as a car seat with more room around him for toys and distractions. The website says it is sold in Australia. My SIL travelled to Denmark with my niece at about that age, she didn't take a stroller and she walked pretty much everywhere, the added advantage is that it ties them out so they sleep more on the plane. Maybe consider baby benadryl or something that might make him sleepy, that depends on how you feel about kids and such things. You can also pick up ahttp://www.walmart.com/ip/Disney-Baby-I-Heart-Mickey-Umbrella-Stroller-with-Canopy/24707714 (they'll be crap quality but last the trip) or a second hand at a consignment store one even cheaper to see you through the trip and then donate it to the Goodwill or something before you leave. It would be so much easier than lugging the stroller and risking it being damaged. Make sure he has something to suck on during take offs and landings as kids ears are weird and the pain from an ear that won't pressurize is excruciating, I've had it happen thanks to allergies on a flight. My SIL had lots of little packages of treats and toys made up. They were mostly things like dollar store colouring books, cheap toys, lollies etc, every hour or so she'd bring out a new zip lock bag to keep my niece distracted. I'd also suggest some story books on tape err showing my age there MP3s or whatever you young people call them, and they usually have a kids channel on flights now a days so he can always watch the in flight shows too.

I'm sure many others who have travelled with kids before will give you great advice, but I just wanted the address the third part of your question. You have every right as a person and a mum to travel with your child! I know a lot of people feel anxious about disturbing others and reactions to them travelling with children but honestly, forget them. People and staff members of airlines and airports are generally understanding, especially if you are on your own. Being a mum is all about flexibility, so no matter what happens on the day just do your best. That's all anyone can do! *My daughter (7) flew with a stomach bug that just came on randomly and was sick all the way. The airline staff were fantastic. You just gotta roll with it sometimes.

I think my niece watched 20 hours of Peppa Pig on an ipad when doing a similar trip at a slightly older age. Before Peppa she was all about In The Night Garden. If he likes ITNG then *you* should be dosing up on all the drugs because that show is insufferable.