entertaining a 1 yr old on a plane

[kfigment]

Flying with a 1 yr old for the first time, looking for ideas to keep the busy on a 2 hour flight.

 

[E(ticket)lizabeth]

We're taking our very active 17 mo DS, and we decided against buying him a seat and bringing his car seat. I'm now regretting this, because he's used to sitting for long periods in the car seat, and not on our laps. Luckily, there will be 3 of us, so I think we'll make it!

We're bringing the laptop for movies--he & Dad are going to share. We'll also have a few of his favorite books, and a couple of small toys that are relatively quiet. For example, he is fascinated with my cell phone, so I bought him one of the fairly new Parents Magazine cell phones. They look pretty real, and although they do make noise when the buttons are pushed, the noises are not loud or obnoxious. I doubt many other passengers will be able to hear it!

Will he/she be in the carseat, or will you be holding the baby? Is he/she walking yet? How squirmy or hard to keep occupied is he/she? These are all important factors!

 

[DisneyPhD]

Benadryl!

Too bad it doesn't actually make my DD tried! (it does my older one, but not the baby)

Actually my Dr says it is good to give them something like triamentic on the plan to decongest them so their ears are open (if they have a little bit of a cold, as most kids constanly do in winter.)

Good luck, I will be there also in a few months. It is an early and late flight so I am hoping she will sleep for at least part of it.

 

[WDW_MegaFan]

We just flew with our 13-month old daughter a few weeks ago, and here are some suggestions that worked for us:

- Stickers (stick on each other...she thought it was amusing to pull the stickers off mommy's hand or daddy's nose)
- Small books
- Mini photo album (she loves photos, especially of family members, so we brought a small album with pictures in it)
- Movies on mini-DVD player or laptop
- Snacks
- When all else fails....flipping through the plane magazines worked for at least 20 minutes (we pointed out all of the animals in the catalog)

Have fun!

 

[fanofdisney]

My son is 4, but Barrell of Monkeys worked great. And snacks are good for the little ones, like cheerios and marshmallows.

 

[amyedreger]

Thank you for these ideas! We are flying with our 4 year old and our 13 1/2 month old in January and I am NERVOUS!

 

[DisneyPhD]

Thank you for these ideas! We are flying with our 4 year old and our 13 1/2 month old in January and I am NERVOUS!

We are going in Jan too (Jan 4th to 11th, staying at SSR)

Hope the weather is good and the crowds low!

 

[jill9072]

we too are flying with a very active 20 month old, for the first time for all of us and i cant wait and scared at the same time!!! please reasure me i will be ok!! thanks
Jill

 

[DisneyPhD]

we too are flying with a very active 20 month old, for the first time for all of us and i cant wait and scared at the same time!!! please reasure me i will be ok!! thanks
Jill

We have flown many times with our DD (7 times since between 9 months and 4 years old) and this will be my youngest DD's 3rd trip (7 months, 9 monhts and will be 17 months old) The worst was an hour of the last flight home at 9 monhts old. After we got home it became clear she had an ear infection, I would guess it was starting on the plane. She cried for an hour, the poor girl. Poor me I got to hold her and try to comfort her.

Most trips are very good. Most trips have MANY kids under 5 years old on them, and most you don't even know until you pass them on the way out.

It will go fine and you will have a good time. If not it is just a few hours right? (or is your flight longer, if you are from England I might have to edit my post.)

 

[jill9072]

Thank goodness its only a 2 hr flight!!!

 

[horsegirl]

we too are flying with a very active 20 month old, for the first time for all of us and i cant wait and scared at the same time!!! please reasure me i will be ok!! thanks
Jill

You'll do great. Our first plane trip with all three DKs when they were 1,2,3 respectively, our 6 our flight turned into a 36 hour nightmare, complete with reroutings all over the country and delays and missed flights everywhere! It was exhausting, but surprisingly our kids were true champs. We had luckily brought a fair amount of snacks and drinks (one leg we were stuck on the runway for 3 or more hours and they refused to bring out drinks!). Make sure you bring enough drinks and snacks. We also always had luck with the magnetic drawing boards (Doodle)-all our DKs loved them and theres no mess. The car seat is key too for the youngest. They are used to it and thus stay seated. We sprang for the extra seat even though our youngest DS could have sat on our laps. Thank goodness we did that given the length our trip!

 

[DisneyPhD]

Thank goodness its only a 2 hr flight!!!

Same with us. I have found a 2 hour flight is very liveable. Any longer concerns me. (why we havne't been to CAL yet.)

 

[phoebusII]

I took my son when he was a year old and, despite all the toys and things we had brought to keep him occupied, the only thing he wanted to do was play with the overhead buttons. After 2 1/2 hours of this he finally fell asleep exactly as the wheels of the plane touched down on the runway. It was like magic. Then I got to carry the sleeping child through the airport.

 

[Super Momma]

Both of my sons have traveled since they were very young (olest- 4 mons, 11 mons and 2.5 and now 3.5 -- youngest- 3 mons, 5 mons and now 18mons). We fly marathon flights (min 10 hours) and short flights. The best things I can recommend are new toys and books. Buy some new toys and books and wait until they get restless and pull them out. That trick works really well for both long and short trips. I usually take about four or five new toys (from the dollar store) and spend them out through out the flight. Also movies are great. For the littlest one, I take raisins and give him one at a time. It is a great game and makes snack last a long time. Make sure you have a drink or chewy snack ready for take off and landing as it is important that the kids have something to help "pop" their ears. I didn't the first time and my son screamed the whole time we took off. I hope that helps. Flying with kids can stress you out but try to remember that soon you'll be in Disney!!

 

[nucpharm29]

I definitely second or third the DVD player or laptop with movies. DH actually recorded Playhouse Disney TV shows onto his laptop and that kept DD (16months) pretty occupied. Needless to say, it didn't work for the entire trip. She had a meltdown about halfway through. Luckily for us though, DH got upgraded to First class b/c he flies so much for work, and there happened to be an empty seat next to him and we snatched it up for DD. I think the other people on our flight would've let us do whatever to get her to be quiet! Anyway, good luck. Just remember, you probably will never see the people on your flight again. So if your little darling has a meltdown, so what--it happens everyday! If you get dirty looks from anyone, they obviously don't have kids or grandkids! All that being said, wish us luck, we're going to WDW in January with DD, now 2, and DS, who will be 2 months!

 

[cindyding0412]

I think it a trouble thing!

best wishes!

 

[haley's mom]

I would also recommend taking a laptop or portable DVD player. My DD 2-1/2 made it through The Little Mermaid and part of Snow White. It not only entertained her for the flight, but also got her anxious and excited about going to WDW for the 1st time.

 

[chw919@excite.com]

We're making a two hr flight frm Indpls Dec 12 for a wk. We live in Kokomo, (I lived in FW for yrs as a minor). We have a 3 yr old dau and 19 month old son. I'm not sure how we'll keep the kids content, tho I'm hoping the excitement of the trip will help. I hope it'll be btr for them that we'll be able to interact with and play with them more than we can when we're driving, too. I'd love to hear how the trip goes for you>

 

[sara74]

We are taking DD4 and DS 1 in April. One thing that DH thought of is that when we booked the tickets, CheapTickets let us pick the seats ourselves. The outside rows of the plane have 3 seats - which would leave one of us with both kids by the window and the other across the aisle. DH picked our seats in pairs. One parent to each child and one in front of the other. That way the kids each have a window seat, and if DD wants to kick the back of someone's seat it will be her brother's!

 

[kimwim8]

Benadryl!

Too bad it doesn't actually make my DD tried! (it does my older one, but not the baby)

Actually my Dr says it is good to give them something like triamentic on the plan to decongest them so their ears are open (if they have a little bit of a cold, as most kids constanly do in winter.)

My doctor recommended the decongestants too. We usually do Dimatap (sp?), since it does make my kids tired. We always do the earliest flight possible (7am), and wake the kids up around 4:30 to get them all hyped up about going to WDW, eat breakfast & get moving. Then they usually have some time to walk around the airport. About 1/2 hour before boarding, we give them the Dimatap and then usually within 15 minutes of taking off they take an hour or so nap.

Make sure to take a sippy cup or bottle with you. If your child is awake, they will need to suck to help their ears.