What to take on plane w/21 month old DS?

[chipper10]

We will be flying to Disney in September with our DS. This will be our first trip since he was born. I've only flew 2 times before and I'm not very good at it. (I get very panicy before the flight and during)

Anyways, I'm wondering what all we should pack for our DS. Our flight leaves at 8am from St. Louis and we should arrive in Orlando around 10:30am. We are going to take the Magical Express to Pop Century. I'm assuming that our room will not be ready yet though. We have reservations at the Whispering Canyon Cafe at 6:45pm, so I think we might just go to the Magic Kingdom after we check in.

But since we are not sure if the room will be ready and we probably won't have our luggage yet, what all do we need to pack on the plane?

Thanks for any help!!!

 

[kim_o]

If you have a seat for him - car seat...he'll stay seated and possibly even sleep that way. No seat for him, then....a lot of valium for you (j/k). Take snacks, a sippy cup if he's not drinking out of a regular cup, a portable dvd player (if you have one and allow him to watch movies), activity stuff (coloring book, etc). It also helps to go to the dollar store and buy a few cheap toys to present on the plane...new toys tend to keep the attention longer.

 

[rgmartin]

I am a very nervous flyer, and flew alone with 25month-old DS. ASSUME NOTHING!! Be prepared for anything. We were supposed to have 1 hour layover to change planes in Chicago - ended up being a couple of hours longer. You never know what will happen.

I took a fold-up umbrella stroller - kept him restrained, my hands free to travel through airport. I was able to take stroller all the way to the gate, the airline attendant then took it when I boarded, and had it popped up ready to go when I exited. SO VERY CONVENIENT!!

I packed him a little backpack with sippy cup (even if he can drink from a regular cup, think turbulence=spills), wipes, snacks, diapers and little toys. One of my favorites was little sheets of stickers - he plastered himself, me and the seat, but cleanup was easy, they were quiet and he stayed occupied for long periods of time.

 

[Alison_in_Wonderland]

We just flew with our 22 month old twins. En route we held them (oh what fun) and on the way home they had their car seats.

Here is what saved us:

snacks of things in little packages that he doesn't normally get at home. For us it was chewy fruit snacks, chocolate granola bites (HUGE hit and not very messy), little packs of animal crackers, and boxes of yogurt covered raisins. Eating kept them busy for awhile and helped the grouchies.

Play cell phones. Who knew that $2 phones from Family Dollar would be so entertaining? They played with them the ENTIRE trip.

McDonald Happy Meal toys. We didn't bring them, but ended up eating at McDonalds before boarding and they got Happy Meals. They played with those toys forever. One of the toys was a toddler toy (Ronald McDonald in a plane) and the other was a "big kid" Lego toy that they loved.

A puppy backpack/leash. We didn't want to confine them in their strollers too much before boarding. We wanted them to walk off/run off energy before they had to sit in their car seat/be stationary. It helped since they both took a nap.

Good luck. It won't be bad. We've flown with our twins 7x and in many respects it is like traveling solo with a child since we are responsible for "our" child/car seat/stroller/backpack.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Just wanted to add in that in Sept there is a good chance that your room might be ready when you arrive (ours always is in Sept). Also, if you are staying for more than a couple of days...I would advocate skipping a park on day one and just hanging out at POP. We have found (through experience) that going to the parks on day 1 is disasterous. My kiddo is exhausted from getting up early and flying. But she never sleeps on planes because she's so excited. So by the time we get to Disney, everyone could use a nap. However, on her first trip, DH and I were so excited for her to see the castle that we rushed off to MK. Ya, well what we got was a very tired little girl who was WAAAAY too tired to enjoy our dinner ADRs so she cried during most of dinner (she was 23 months on her first trip).

So, we now always make day 1 a hotel day (dinner at the hotel) and we can start day 2 fresh and happy!

 

[Luhts]

Yes, be prepared for flight delays...something to entertain at the airport. I got stuck for 10 hours with a 3 y/o once!

Someone mentioned stickers...go with "reuseable" stickers...my son likes sticking them on the airplane window and moving them around to make up stories. Plus you don't have to worry abt them coming off when you're done.
If you bring little toys like cars or lego, be prepared to be fishing them out from under the seat. Some airlines charge for headphones and they don't stay on little ears too well, so if you can bring your own that might be good, although unless they have the two 'jacks' only one ear will work. My 3 y/o didn't mind, tho. Do they play music on shorter flights? Our flights always seem to be more than 3 hours.

I've never brought a sippy cup, but now I'm thinking I will do that as I am always afraid of spills. I always bring spare clothes in the carry-on for both of us just incase.

 

[mandynee22]

I'm going Sunday with my 8 yr old and my 18 month old. We're also doing the ME to Pop.
In our carry on will be swim suits, diapers/wipes and a wet bag for dirties (I use cloth diapers), a sippy cup and toothbrushes/paste and PJs (we get in at 6pm). That's probably it. Oh, the car seat too but that will be what he's sitting in. We're flying Southwest and they give "snack boxes" to everyone so I might not even take snacks. I'm trying to pack light for carrying on since I'll be by myself with 2 kids and a car seat.

Thanks for this thread though- I never thought of window clings for the plane windows or taking our new monkey harness for the airport instead of a stroller that he may or may not utilize.