A dad planning a summer trip to Italy with his wife ended up stuck on one very specific parenting question: is it smarter to take a 10-month-old on a long-haul flight now, or wait until that same baby is almost 2 and hope travel gets easier?
At first glance, waiting sounds like the safer bet. An older child seems like they would be easier to manage than a baby on an eight-hour flight and a two-hour drive. But the more he thought about it, the less certain he felt.
He Thought Waiting a Year Would Make the Flight Easier to Survive
In his post on Reddit, the dad explained that he and his wife are debating whether to travel from New York to Italy this summer, when their baby will be around 10 months old, or push the trip back a year and stay local for now.
The logistics are not small. The trip would include an eight-hour flight to Italy, followed by a two-hour drive from the airport to where they are staying. His wife is strongly in favor of going this summer. She thinks next year would actually be tougher.
He feels the opposite.
From his point of view, an almost-2-year-old seems like they would be better equipped for the trip. He imagined that by then, their son could run around before the flight, burn off some energy, and maybe handle the travel day more easily than a baby who is still under 1.
That was the theory he brought to the post.
The Problem Is That an Almost-2-Year-Old Is Not Just an Older Baby
What made the question so interesting is that it sounds logical until you picture what a nearly 2-year-old is actually like.
That stage is not usually calm, sleepy, or easy to contain. It is often the exact opposite. Kids that age are mobile, restless, curious, stubborn, and not especially interested in sitting still for hours just because the adults need them to. On a plane, that can turn a hard day into a brutal one.
That was the part many parents zeroed in on right away.
A 10-month-old may still be happy being held, worn in a carrier, soothed to sleep, or even placed in a bassinet on the plane if they still fit. An almost-2-year-old is much more likely to want to move constantly, fight sleep, and melt down when trapped in one place too long.
What Sounds Better in Theory Started Falling Apart in the Comments
The dad’s plan to let a toddler “tire himself out” before the flight was one of the biggest sticking points.
A lot of parents said that idea sounds great until real life gets involved. Airports are loud, chaotic, and overstimulating, and tired toddlers do not always become sleepy toddlers. Sometimes they become louder, more emotional, and much harder to settle.
That is why so many people pushed back on the idea that waiting would make things simpler.
Several said travel before age 1 was surprisingly smooth compared with the stretch between 12 and 24 months. Others shared that the absolute worst travel experiences they had were with kids around 16 months, 18 months, or just under 2, because that is the age where they are desperate to move but too young to be reasoned with for hours.
The Strongest Take Was That the Easier Window May Actually Be Right Now
A lot of the replies landed in the same place: if the choice is specifically between 10 months and almost 2, many parents would take 10 months without hesitation.
Some said babies under 1 are easier on long flights because they are smaller, more portable, and still flexible enough to sleep in arms or a carrier. Others admitted that while older toddlers can be more fun once you arrive, the flight itself can be far more exhausting.
The overall mood was that the dad may be picturing an older child as automatically easier, when in reality he may be describing one of the toughest travel ages there is. For many parents, the sweet spot is either before 1 or after the toddler chaos settles down a bit. And for this specific Italy trip, a lot of them seemed to think this summer may be the better bet.
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