Here are my best tips for flying with a 12-18 month old:
- Let them run around before.
This really helped my son get the "wiggles" out before we boarded. We let him run around at the gate and explore (as long as he wasn't bothering anyone) and he loved looking out the windows. We also tried to board as late as we could so he'd have less time sitting on the plane. - Have 30-minute shifts (if you're with a partner).
If I had to boil it down to one big thing, this would be it. Splitting the flight into 30 min shifts for me and my husband was a lifesaver! Not to say you can't help each other during your "off-time," but it definitely helps to have one of you "in charge" at one time. And it is really nice (and necessary) to get a break. Doing the 30-min shifts made it so much easier for all of us. - Have food and snacks that take a long time to eat.
We fed my son things like Cheerios (one at a time!) and that was fun for him and also killed time. Having lots of little snacks like that was fun for the flight and easy to do beforehand. - Bring new Dollar Store toys.
We bought a bunch of little new toys from the dollar store before our trip and didn't let our son see them until we were on the plane. He loved playing with the new toys and we didn't use them in our trip unless it was on the plane. This kept things fresh and exciting for him! We also only pulled them out one at a time after he got bored with the previous one to maximize the effect :) - Try to have naps in the plane, not before.
This can be super difficult if your flights are at the wrong times, but having them sleep in the airplane makes things easier for you and them! - Have them chew/drink for take-off.
Hopefully your child's ears are like mine and aren't bothered too much with the take-off and landing! I don't know if your child still takes a bottle, but we actually had him stay on the bottle a little longer than we originally planned (just for the flights on our trip). We tried to have him eat/drink during the take-off so it would work his jaw and hopefully pop his ears for the altitude adjustment. It went pretty well. - Walk/Crawl around.
We had a few really long flights (10+ hours!) so when my son was really restless, we'd take some crawling (or walking) trips down the aisle with me or my husband behind him. We tried to do this in the middle of the flight because most people were sleeping or settled in and not walking the aisles as well. - Flight attendants are your friend.
We had some really helpful flight attendants. We tried to be really friendly to them as well and they were always willing to help us out, getting extra water or blankets for our son. They even moved our seats so that our son had his own seat between us since there was an empty seat! They can really help out and usually notice before you ask, but don't hesitate to ask them for help. - Have fun!
When your baby cries, try to soothe them but don't stress. Sometimes we would worry about bothering other people on the flight but I think most people are more understanding than we think. And if not, who cares? You probably won't see them again.