Tag Archives: traveling with kids

Holiday Travel With Kids: Know Before You Go

If you are loading up the kids and heading to grandma’s house in New York State for the holidays, then you might want to do some quick measuring first. Not to see if your minivan can accommodate all the extra gifts you are hauling. Rather, state troopers want you to use your measuring tape on your kids. The New York State DMV recently expanded its child restraint law to include all children under the age of eight. Meaning, kids less than eight years old must be restrained in a child carseat or booster seat while riding on state roads. The … Continue reading →

Screaming Kid Makes for Travel Nightmare

In more ways than one… Talk about a flight from hell: Not only did Pamela Root’s nightmare of flying solo with her 2-year-old son come true, but so did her fear that her toddler would not behave in the airplane. In fact, the boy’s behavior was so distracting it led to the mother and son getting booted from their Southwest Airlines flight last week. According to airline officials, the Roots were sitting onboard a flight departing Amarillo, Texas, bound for San Jose, California, when young Adam got hit with a major bout of the crankies. The boy reportedly spent the … Continue reading →

Why It’s a Good Time of the Year to Be Flying with Kids

No, I haven’t lost my mind. It’s true; the busy holiday season is typically when I suggest to parents with young children to avoid crowded airports at all costs, but that was before one airport started to give away free food with proof of a pint-sized traveling companion. Dallas/Fort Worth Airport is hoping that free food and entertainment for kids will help make the hectic holiday travel season a bit brighter. To that end, the airport is offering a two-day “Kids Eat Free” promotion. Here are the details: From noon to 2 p.m. on December 20-21, airport employees will distribute … Continue reading →

In Flight Diaper Changing Etiquette

No mother takes pleasure from having to change a messy (not to mention smelly) diaper on board a crowded flight filled with strangers. But, believe me the alternative would be much more unpleasant. Imagine having to deal with a putrid smelling odor and the uncontrollable wails of a 10-month-old. Talk about flying the unfriendly skies. A travel forum I frequent recently took aim at parents who change their child’s diapers on airplane seat cushions and tray tables. (By the way, who changes a child’s diaper on a tray table? My 3-year-old’s Cabbage Patch Preemie doll barely fits on tray table. … Continue reading →

Benadryl Flight Attendant Saga—The Untold Story

This blog is a continuation in a series I have written regarding air travel and families. Most recently I covered the incident involving a mother and her chatty tot who got booted from a flight after an irritated flight attendant couldn’t convince the mom to quiet the child with some Benadryl. The flight attendant’s employer banned her from publicly speaking about the incident until a full investigation is complete. However, in the days since the much publicized booting, various flight attendants who have no connection to the case have come forward to shed light on the issues flight attendants face … Continue reading →

More Fallout From The Benadryl Flight Attendant Saga

In a previous blog I wrote about the incident involving a mom, her chatty tot, and a frustrated flight attendant who suggested that the mother use Benadryl to quiet her talkative toddler before a flight. The widely publicized event ended with the mother and her child getting booted from the flight. In the days since the incident irate parents from around the world have sounded off about the Continental ExpressJet flight attendant and the audacity she had to recommend sedating the chatty child. But, they weren’t the only ones. A number of doctors also went public with their thoughts about … Continue reading →

“Mommy, I Don’t Feel Good!”

It may very well be the most dreaded phrase that could be uttered from the back seat during a long car trip. (Other than “Mom, Bobby is bleeding.”) Motion sickness… car sickness… whatever you want to call it, the after effects can put a real damper on your family’s summer road trip. So what can we do to help our young travelers (and more mature ones) from experiencing that awful queasy feeling during long car rides and on stomach turning thrill rides? Well, first, doctors say we need to stop blaming our stomachs. Studies show it’s the brain not the … Continue reading →

Mom and “Chatty” Tot Get Booted From Flight

I’ve written about the teen who was booted off a flight for having a coughing attack. I’ve also shared the story about the mom who was escorted off a plane because she was allegedly making other passengers uncomfortable while breastfeeding her baby on board a flight. Then there’s the incident involving the family who was forced off an airplane when they couldn’t get their toddler daughter to stop crying. Now comes another report about a mom and her toddler getting kicked off a plane because she allegedly refused a flight attendant’s request to medicate her son to get him to … Continue reading →

Even More Tips To Remember When You Travel With Kids

So you decided to brave the crowds and hit the highways, skies and rails this holiday weekend? With the price of gas edging ever so close to the $4 mark around here, my family has decided to sit this Memorial Day weekend out. Yes, we are one of the millions of Americans who will be spending the holiday attending festivals close to home. Which means I will not be planning, packing, driving, flying, or sailing with an overtired 3-year-old in tow (like I did two months ago). However, for all of you brave souls who will be heading out on … Continue reading →

“Mommy, There’s A Dinosaur In The Airport!”

In the first four months of 2007, my 3-year-old daughter has flown more than 21,000 miles. We have spent more hours in Chicago’s O’Hare airport than I care to remember (though the experiences are rather hard to forget). At this point my daughter knows her way around Terminal One better than some of the custodians… and certainly better than most business travelers. These days she knows if we fly United Airlines she will be reunited with her friend “Brachy.” They’re pals now, but it wasn’t always this way. In fact, the first time she laid eyes on “Brachy” she wanted … Continue reading →