18 months or two years - better for travel

[lammjame]

For Christmas this year, I want to take my triplets home to see my parents for the first time.  The triplets will be around 18 months old at the time. My wife is reluctant, as she has heard that 18 months is a horrible age for flying with toddlers.  She has been told that 24 months is much better.  Can any of you advise me on this?

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[24 months]

We have travelled a lot with our child and now children, including some longesh flights, i.e > 10 hours.

We did find 18 months to 24 months very hard. To young to be entertained by movies, and too old for the basinet.

If you can handle the wait to show off you family I would wait until they are 24 months.

[did it]

We flew with our twins last year at 18 months and at 24 months and I would say both trips ended up much better than we could have hoped for. Now, I would guess it helped a lot not being outnumbered (2 of them and 2 of us).

I don't know how far you are going, but our trip essentially took 24 hours with the connections & airport waiting times, etc. We pretty much threw out our regular schedule during the flight & they ate and slept whenever they wanted. We figured the more they slept, the better for us and everyone around us on the plane!

Both times we flew business class and took the carseats on board the plane. That way if and when we needed them to stay in their seats, we could strap them in. The carseats also worked just fine when we reclined the plane seat and the kids did just fine sleeping in them that way.

If you do it, know 2 things:
1) You cannot expect to get any sleep yourself (and the only way you will is if they all fall asleep at the same time and you can will yourself to sleep then too!)
2) You will not get the 'luxury' of enjoying any of the movies being shown on the plane ---- LOL!

Oh, one final note, we've always traveled with Benedryl (works as a mild sleeping agent) as a 'just-in-case-someone-totally-freaks-out' precaution. We've not had to use it on any flights so far (fingers crossed for our next big journey!).

Good luck  

[good luck]

Wow - 4 business class seats, not sure that too many families could afford that!

[lammjame]

Thanks for the advice & information so far.  By the way, we can't afford business class seats.  If we go, it will be economy all the way. That might be better anyway as we could take up an entire middle row and would be able to lift the arm rests.

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[Suggestion]

It might be easier to fly the grandparents out here and take them back to show to the rest of the family when they are a touch older?

[Caligirl]

I think Suggestion offers a great suggestion. Are your parents fit enough to make the flight here?

My daughter (10 months) & I just returned from the states -- we travelled economy, just the two of us. She's a pretty good kid, but it was still really tough, as she hated being restrained when she wanted to walk and crawl.

We shared the bulk head with a family traveling with 20 month old twins -- I think it took every ounce of energy an strength for the parents to make it though the 16 hour flight.

Best of luck with whatever you decide. Benadryl in safe doses can work wonders, if you do decide to fly!

[did it]

If you pay for full fare economy seats, it only takes 30,000 miles to upgrade a seat - round-trip - to business class. For us that means we need 120,000 miles to upgrade 4 seats & we've been able to do that thus far. Between the purchase of the tickets with a FF miles card, the actual flight miles & the odd trips my husband makes in the region for work it's kept us going.

[Fly them out]

 I think the idea to fly your parents out is a great one. Having just returned from the states with a 6 month and 24 month year old which was physically and mentally exhausting. When we were there the kids were very unsettled to be out of their environment. Much better for the grandparents to fly out and see them in their natural habitat where they are happy and relaxed. Save your self the stress.

[I agree]

I agree with your wife.  Been there a few times with both children at that 'difficult travelling age'..........and that was one child in that age bracket and 2 adults and each time we'd say 'never again'.  My son is 17 months now and he's not flying more than a few hours until he's 2.

I think with 3 it will be really challenging.

[Mum of three]

Flying long haul at any age with triplets is going to be challenging.  More so at 18 months than 24 months.

Avoid flying long haul with children aged between 12 - 36 months, especially if you have more than one to contend with.  (One is easy.  Completely irrelevant to three... especially triplets!)

But that's not realistic, is it?  So you have to suck it up at some point and just do it.

Tips to help:  Don't eat or drink too much because you won't have time to go the the bathroom at all.

Don't drug. I was advised NOT to drug my kids (flights are too long, kids can't possibly sleep for all that time and when they wake after an 'assisted' sleep, they tend to be grumpier than when they wake from a regular sleep) and I'm glad I didn't because my three are all sensitive to antihistamines and go slightly hyper when given a dose.  (Which would NOT have been fun on a plane.)

Try and get seated away from the 'nursery' (airlines seem to bunch all the kids into one area so that if one wakes up and cries, they all wake up and cry.  Great fun.)

Split your kids up if you can.  One for one parent (the lucky one!) two for the other parent.

Use carseats if you can afford it.  Most airlines like kids to be buckled in turbulance and it's easier to have them buckled in all the time.  Easier for meals etc. too.

Good luck.  

[lammjame]

Thanks all for the continuing suggestions.  I've read many posts on this board over the years about the trials and tribulations of parents travelling with babies.  Unfortunately the suggestion to fly my parents out wouldn't work because my Mom is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer and my Dad is needed at home to be the househusband.  In fact, that is the main reason I am considering visiting for Christmas instead of waiting till the children are older: I want my Mom to see them while she still feels well.  I think no matter their age, it will be difficult. I appreciate those of you who shared your experiences regarding which age is better.  Have any of you ever tried to split the trip with layovers for a day or so in between segments.  We would be going to the U.S.  So maybe a day or two layover in Amsterdam or Germany before continuing to the US would be good.  That way, the babies would be free of the car seats and restraints for a little while before continuing on.

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[Caligirl]

Hi there:

So sorry to hear about your mom -- of course I understand why you'd like to bring your kids to her.

Re: splitting the trip up -- yes, I have done this. If you pick a city that has good airport accomodations, this can be a nice thing. My daughter & I had the trip from Hell from Singapore to the East Coast (US). On the way back, I broke up the trip by spending a day in LA. We booked the Radisson right next to LAX, enjoyed a nice bath for her/hot shower for me, a morning walk in Manhattan Beach & then an evening flight back to Sing. It felt really good to get on the plane clean and (somewhat) rested. 20+ hours is a long way to go with no break.

Of course, there are downsides to breaking the trip up (more luggage hassles, for starters), but should I ever travel as a solo parent with my daughter again, I will break up my journey.

Best of luck to you & best wishes to your mom.

PS: You might want to pick an off season time to fly (i.e. avoid the holidays), as the cold weather and crowded airports/hotels don't help ones nerves!

[lammjame]

Well - you've all proven my wife right!  She had felt that 18 months would be a difficult time - and she was concerned about it being cold in the US when we arrived.  Thanks for contributing to my post.  I will keep all your ideas on mind.

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