| Tony Mecia To fly to Denver over Thanksgiving with her kids, Theresa Salmen of Charlotte devised a plan to keep them entertained: ply them with DVDs, and don't forget the Gameboy.
It worked. Alec, 9, said he watched "Yu-Gi-Oh: Mime Control" and "Star Wars: Episode 2 -- Attack of the Clones" on his mom's computer on the trip home. When he took a break to play Pokemon Crystal on the Gameboy, his sister Haley, 4, watched "The Incredibles."
"I had enough to do," Alec said. "There were about 15 things I could do, and I picked one."
With the holidays shortly upon us, thousands of local residents will be headed out of town -- and many will have their children with them.
On a recent afternoon at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, parents offered plenty of advice for making plane trips with children more bearable, both for themselves and for people sitting nearby.
Among the recurring themes: plan ahead, bring plenty of activities, and don't overpack. Here's how a few travelers dealt with their kids:
Returning from a two-week trip to Biloxi, Miss., Kathleen Davis and Frank Love of Lenoir packed a large plastic bag filled with toy cars and action figures for their 3-year-old son, Justin. They also packed coloring books and crayons.
"At their age, they can get real agitated about not being able to run around," Davis said. The activities helped keep Justin distracted, she said.
Asked to comment outside baggage claim, Justin stuck out his tongue and walked backward.
Waiting to board a flight back to Denver, Jennifer Wilson, 32, of Boulder, Colo., admitted she packed too many clothes for her 2-month-old son, Cade. She should have packed lighter and done more laundry at her parents' home in Columbia, she said, though she was pleased with her decision to wait until arriving to buy a big pack of diapers.
"You don't have to bring quite as much stuff as you think," she said.
Another piece of advice from Wilson: Be flexible.
Wilson had counted on being able to walk through security while carrying her sleeping baby in a Baby Bjorn, a baby carrier that allows babies to nuzzle against a parent's chest. Screeners, though, told her to take it off, and Cade woke up.
"Things aren't always going to go the way you think they're going to go," Wilson said.
Awaiting a flight back to the Washington area, Willow Cote, 27, said the worst part about traveling to Charlotte with her 3-month-old, Adam, was "all the stuff." For babies, that usually means a stroller, portable crib and car seat, to say nothing of clothes and other items.
"If you're traveling with an infant, don't go by yourself," she said. Luckily, her husband, Brian, traveled with her.
As for the flights themselves, Adam cried only upon landing, she said.
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Tips for Air Travel with Children
** Dress them for comfort. Bring a sweatshirt, as planes can get cold and blankets are scarce.
** Plan the food and drink. Thirst and hunger can make kids cranky, and airlines have cut back on food and drinks. Best bets include bananas, crackers, granola bars, juice cartons and sandwich bags of cereal. Bring baby wipes or moist towelettes to clean up. For bottle-fed infants, bring more formula than you think you'll need -- in case your flight is delayed -- and consider bringing your own water. Water from airplane bathrooms can be unhealthy.
** Bring an activity bag. Include favorite toys, games, books and some surprises. Consider puzzles, dolls, action figures, sticker books and crayons and paper. Also consider showing DVDs on a laptop or portable DVD player.
** Bring medical records, doctors' phone numbers and medicines. Keep medicine with you in your carry-on.
** Have them use the potty. If they're toilet trained, try to get kids to go before getting on the plane. Once on board, they might not be able to head to the lavatory when nature calls. A good idea for parents, too.
** Make it a learning experience. Talk about your trip, how the airplane works, how the bags get on the plane. Show them the map in the back of the in-flight magazine and show where you're going.
** Let them roam, within reason. Especially on longer flights, walking up and down the aisles is fine if the child is supervised and there are no carts in the way.
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Sources: BabyCenter.com, Bright Horizons Family Solutions
Tony Mecia: (704) 358-5069; tmecia@charlotteobserver.com
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