Airplane tips for toddlers

[dnlsmith]

We are from Wa. state and are going to be on 7-9 hour flight with a little one who will just be turning three when we go. Does anyone have any good tips/avtivities to keep them occupied during the flight?

Thanks

 

[lisadr]

I go to the dollar store and get a bunch of stuff and just keep bringing new things out of my bag o' trick. Also if you have a portable DVD player or a laptop-bring it!

One other thing-lollipops, and earplugs. Just in case the little ones ears hurt! I forgto the first time I flew-Thank goodness for a kind soul who had brought pops for their little boy-it saved my DD.

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

I just did London to Washington, washington to orlando with a 20month old, 4 year old, 5 year old and 10 year old (5 year old has autism and various other issues that make him "tweaky" at times)

We took...

small box of lego with lots of mini-figs
star wars galatic hero figures (small ones)
teeniest tiniest pet shop hamster set (3 little tiny hamsters in their home)
colouring books- diego and dora ones
plain paper, coloured shape stickers, stick on foam animal shapes
little einsteins magnetic story board
fuzzy felt set
nintendo DS (dd10 mostly)
story books

We found DS20m slept most of it and wanted to watch the tv alot too, dd4 played with the little figures, drew or slept most of it (and this was a daytime flight) DS5 (who we'd been really worried about) watched kungfu panda 3 times in loop- twice in spanish before he thought to tell anyone, was fascinated by airplane food and read the safety manual and inflight magazine a few times (he reads tremendously well for five)

We took our own snacks for them too (bought after security though) which helped dispurse a couple of narky patches from DS20m

Good luck- I really, really worried about the flights but there were plenty of other kids on board and none of them stayed silent the whole time (and none were a nightmare either)

When we boarded our flight home I was seperated from DH and was with DD4, DS20m, DS4 on my own and a couple in front of us looked horrified to see me board (the "ohhh no screaming brats" look) but when we arrived back in London the man stood up and complimented me on what wonderful travellers my children were - made me feel fabulous to have someone say that!

 

[Darcy03231]

I have:

Small puzzles
Coloring books & crayons (triangular crayons so they don't roll)
Colorwonder books & markers
Mini Fuzzy posters and markers
Pipecleaners
Stickers and a plain journel book
Preschool work books (numbers, letters, etc.)
Books w/CD's & a CD player (Lion King, Finding Nemo, Little Mermaid & Beauty & the Beast).
Ipod loaded with Disney music
Post-its
Tape & cut outs and plain paper
Princess storybook board that has the clothes you put on the princesses (think colorforms).
Magnetic rocks

We have a three hour flight so I plan to some of the stuff on the way down and new stuff on the way back. I'm planning on doing the puzzles in the airport while we wait because even though they're small, I think they're too big for the tray table.

 

[Fellowship9798]

Two things worked great for us with our son who just under 3 during our trip last December.

1. Several new and unseen Dollar Store toys, carefully distributed over the length of your travel day.

2. A portable DVD player with lots of Disney movies he's seen before.

We don't generally like to sit him in front of hours and hours of TV and movies, but in this case we definitely made an exception. We also brought gummy bears to keep him chewing and swallowing to help with the pressure on the ears.

 

[KEMdisney]

I was so nervous to fly with my 18 month old niece, this is a game I played with her...and it surprisingly lasted a very long time! Try it out, maybe it will work with your children! Its the crazy and strange things that keep them occupied!
The game started with me giving her a sticker, and her putting it on paper.
Then it turned into me putting a sticker on her leg, her taking it off, and putting it on the paper.
She concentrated so hard! We did this for about 45 minutes! Sometimes she put them on the back of the seat in front of us too, but make sure your stickers come off easily before doing that!

 

[asoko]

Pipe cleaners -- sounds weird I know. You can bend them into any shape or words. DD and DS sat on the way home across the aisle from each other. DD wanted the yellow pipe cleaners so DS would pull them out, bend them (for some reason) and hand them to DD. This went on for the majority of the trip home (our flight about 2.5 hrs)

 

[wrighter]

Where in WA do you live? I grew up in WA myself, but have lived on the east coast for the past five years, so I make that long trek a lot - usually with my DS5 and DD3 in tow. It's never easy, but it's also never as hard as I think it's going to be.

Most of the pps gave you great lists. I always bring the sippy cups with straws in them and make my kids take little sips on the way up and the way down. I just ask them, "Are your ears starting to feel funny?" And if they answer yes, more sips. The sucking motion clears their ears better than food or even lollipops. Plus I like to avoid giving them sugar when we travel. As far as snacks go, I like to bring "carbish" type foods that are low in sugar. Bagels, crackers, bananas - things that I know won't upset their stomach. We also avoid dairy and even juice - they have "come up" before on flights, and I hope to never see them again. One favorite treat for my kids is the Ritz Bitz crackers with the peanut butter middle.

I highly recommend investing in a portable DVD player if you can. I agree with a pp who said they don't like to plop their kids in front of the telly, but when we're traveling we always say we go from "No" parents to "Yes" parents. That's the whole point of vacation, right? I always bring DVDs that they like, and they each get a new one for each trip. I wrap it up in wrapping paper and they get to open it once we get in the air. They really look forward to seeing what their new DVDs are.

Another staple for me when traveling with my kids are the DK sticker books. You can get them in the "games and activities" section of the kids' section at Barnes and Noble. (I've seen them other places, but I know they can be found here and they have a good selection.) They have Disney and Nickelodeon themes, and everything from bugs to ballerinas and everything in between. They have sheets of stickers in the middle of the book, and then pages with the outlines of the stickers. My kids love to see if they can match the stickers to their outlines, or vice versa. And it's great for takeoff and landing because you don't need the pull down tray to do it.

Guess those are our big ones. Good luck - you'll do great!

 

[akersten]

Playdough. I haven't had a problem getting it though security yet. Coloring books. Dvds. And when all else fails, candy just in case.

 

[melancholywings]

We travel with Ipods and DS's and a sketchbook and crayons. I've kept DD occupied for hours by taking turns drawing in pieces to a story. I also make a surprise bag, with little toys or small craft kits, snacks, maybe a new DS game and give it too her once we take off. DD loves playing with magnet dress up dolls, one trip I printed out dolls from makingfriends.com on magnet printer paper and put them in a metal case

 

[dnlsmith]

Where in WA do you live? I grew up in WA myself, but have lived on the east coast for the past five years, so I make that long trek a lot - usually with my DS5 and DD3 in tow. It's never easy, but it's also never as hard as I think it's going to be.

Most of the pps gave you great lists. I always bring the sippy cups with straws in them and make my kids take little sips on the way up and the way down. I just ask them, "Are your ears starting to feel funny?" And if they answer yes, more sips. The sucking motion clears their ears better than food or even lollipops. Plus I like to avoid giving them sugar when we travel. As far as snacks go, I like to bring "carbish" type foods that are low in sugar. Bagels, crackers, bananas - things that I know won't upset their stomach. We also avoid dairy and even juice - they have "come up" before on flights, and I hope to never see them again. One favorite treat for my kids is the Ritz Bitz crackers with the peanut butter middle.

I highly recommend investing in a portable DVD player if you can. I agree with a pp who said they don't like to plop their kids in front of the telly, but when we're traveling we always say we go from "No" parents to "Yes" parents. That's the whole point of vacation, right? I always bring DVDs that they like, and they each get a new one for each trip. I wrap it up in wrapping paper and they get to open it once we get in the air. They really look forward to seeing what their new DVDs are.

Another staple for me when traveling with my kids are the DK sticker books. You can get them in the "games and activities" section of the kids' section at Barnes and Noble. (I've seen them other places, but I know they can be found here and they have a good selection.) They have Disney and Nickelodeon themes, and everything from bugs to ballerinas and everything in between. They have sheets of stickers in the middle of the book, and then pages with the outlines of the stickers. My kids love to see if they can match the stickers to their outlines, or vice versa. And it's great for takeoff and landing because you don't need the pull down tray to do it.

Guess those are our big ones. Good luck - you'll do great!

We are from a little town called Castle Rock it's right on I5 between Seattle & Portland Ore. We'd love to move to the east coast one day. We have some property in Florida.

Do they leyt you through the bag checks with snack like that? I thought we had to buy every thing after we get through. Also I read that you can't bring wrapped presents through because I think that is a great idea.

Thanks for the great tips.

 

[wrighter]

I actually do know where Castle Rock is - I've made the drive between Cannon Beach and Seattle before.

The only thing you can't bring through security is liquids. We bring the empty sippy cups and then buy the water once we get through. Everything else is pretty much fair game.

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me. We travel with our kids at least a few times a year (and often I am the sole parent!) and so any questions you can come up with, I'm pretty sure we've dealt with. We even have our airport dropoff system down to a science! (DH drops me and the bags off at the baggage claim area - so we can pile our bags on a cart. While I get the cart up to check in, he takes the kids to the parking garage to park the van. Then we meet up at check in and off we go. We don't like to use curbside checkin/skycap, because we like the ability to change our seats if something better is available, and you can only do that at a desk.)

Anyhoo - I digress. You'll do great!

 

[DVC Sadie]

When I use to travel by plane with my son I made sure that I booked a night time flight so he would sleep most of the way. This worked great and I only had a an hour or two to keep him amused.

 

[Minniemouse07]

My best advice is to use a car seat. It is familiar and comfortable and a lot easier to sleep in the car seat than in a huge (to them) airplane seat!

Dd flew 5 round trips before she was 3.5yo and she slept through 90% of her time on the plane (most of the time before take off), ds has only flown one round trip, and he didn't sleep...but I can't imagine what a nightmare the flight would have been if he hadn't been strapped into his seat!

We do a lot of what others have suggested. I pack NO writing implements of any kind because I don't want to be chasing them all over the floor. We use a MagnaDoodle (now called a Doodle Pro) in the travel size instead. Other things I've found useful were small character sets (like from the Disney Store), Sticker activity books, color forms (can stick them to the window!), magnet sets and board books.

I mix old and new toys in their backpacks. Each child gets their own backpack and it carries ONLY stuff to amuse them. I pack them up the night before and they aren't allowed to look inside until we are waiting at the gate at the airport.

Our flights are shorter (3-4hrs)so we skip the DVD player, but for a longer trips I would definitely bring it.

HTH

 

[yellowtink]

When I was about 3 I went to WDW. Our flight is about 2 to 2.5 hours I played wiht Oscar (imagineary friend). I had cups and plates and I was in charge of a restraunt. My parents said that is what I did the whole time.

 

[nikkers]

My one tip would be to bring a carseat. We fly several times a year with our 2 kids. DS (4) and DD (2). I think it is so much more comfortable for them, and easier for them to take a nap. And they cannot unbuckle themselves. We just stopped bringing a carseat for my DS at 4.
I think everyone's suggestions are great. Bring a variety of snacks. My kids love getting treats on the plane.
Also, if you are on a non-stop flight for 7-9 hours. A lot of airplanes have those built in TV monitors in each seat. Bring a headset for your child, they usually have cartoons.
Good luck!

 

[Nanu57v]

DD3 has been on 17 flights!!! (over 6 trips.) Our furthest trip was from Philadelphia to Hawaii.

I second the car seat thing. And, take the shoes off the toddler to soften any kicks that may slip by.

Also, bring the DVD player and some coloring pages or a book (and crayons of course). Stickers are great, too!

 

[dnlsmith]

I just ordered the snack & play travel tray to go on the car seat so my daughter can color & play on the plane. Anyone have this?

thanks

 

["Cinder" Ella's Mom]

Leap Pad or Leapster and a portable DVD player. Just make sure your battery is charged!

 

[hkeller27]

I just ordered the snack & play travel tray to go on the car seat so my daughter can color & play on the plane. Anyone have this?

thanks

We have trays like that for our girls - haven't used them on the plane but have in the car driving from NJ to NC - they are great! My girls loved them, good for playing, coloring, and snacking!

My suggestion for the plane.....hit up the dollar store, but lots of fun little toys etc., and slowly pull them out as need be on the plane. New goodies are sure to buy you time! And, age depending of course, never underestimate the power of the lollipop