Signing with Baby About Vacations

Christmas Day is over but we are still enjoying winter vacations and holiday fun!  Many people wait until after Christmas to travel for the holidays.  If you and your baby or toddler are traveling soon, here are some signs that can help as you talk about your trip.  
​

We've traveled with our daughter a few times since she's been born, and I've found that preparing her beforehand can make a huge difference.  Read books about airplanes and traveling like Goodnight Planes by Adam Gamble or make your own little book about where you are going and how you will get there.  We read our books every day for about a week before the flight and played with toy airplanes.  When it came time for the trip, she was so excited to fly that she was even willing to wait (for a painfully long time) on the tarmac before our flight was cleared for departure.  The other key to our airplane survival was buying her a seat and not lap sitting.  It's expensive but so worth it to have that extra space.  As an infant, we brought her carseat on board and she slept through most of the flight, just like she would have in a car.  When she was older, we started using the CARES airplane safety harness to help keep her safe in her seat.  Unfortunately there's no way she's going to sleep sitting upright in a plane seat, but hauling on her car seat at this point just seems like far too much to handle.  So some other helpful signs during the trip are definitely SIT and WAIT! 

If you are flying soon, good luck!  Bring lots of new toys, books and snacks and hopefully all will be well.  But you might want to download some episodes of Daniel Tiger on your iPad just in case!