Flying with a 2yr old any advice ???

[buzz for boys]

Hi,
We are flying with Virgin from Gatwick in 8 days time and I am looking for someone to reassure me that my 2 yr old will not the most hated person on the plane after the first couple of hours. My friends keep telling me there will prob be loads of toddlers on the plane but Im not so sure!!

Has anyone else flown with a 2yr old and what do you do when they decide they want to go on a destruction path ?? I know there is no way he will sleep for the whole flight and im afraid he is not at the age where sitting quietly is on the agenda either . Please Help !!

 

[SammieG]

ok... age 2... let me go back a few years and have a think.

We took my son from age 1 to WdW 2 x a year... so i have a bit of knowledge on flying with toddlers.

Firstly.. resign yourself that for the whole 9 hours your job is to entertain your son!!

Secondly..you are right thinking he wont sleep for the whole flight.. but he WILL sleep for some of it most probably.. (make the most of that time!)

Take one toy for each hour.. but make them small... or an activity. We took sticker books which were light and easy to carry and he enjoyed those..also snacks that you have to do something to.. like Raisins in a box - they can take ages to eat!! Same with Cheerios ... they eat them one by one.. so it takes ages.

there will be lots of kids on the plane!! The virgin planes in particular are full of kids of all ages.

My son at that age would listen to teletubbies tapes on a walkman on the plane.. so we used to take those with us... or favorite nursery rhyme tapes. people were amazed that he sat and listened.

The best advice I can give you is take some reins. I know some people dont like using them.. but planes can be very unstable and your son will probably want to walk around and around the plane. Its so much easier with something to hold onto your son with as othewise you will have to hold his hand.. We used these until my son was about 3 - they were also useful in the parks when they wanted to walk for a bit.

Rest assured... you will be fine. How often does your son have your undivided attention for 9 hours? Our son behaves better on the plane than he does at home!!!!

 

[kevin harrison]

When we took our 18 month old, it went miles better than we hoped....

Buy some small presents and wrap them up, then every hour open them up one by one - that trick worked wonders

Walk him around the plane, show him everything

Also he will sleep for part of the journey.

All in all relax, the flight is part of the holiday and the time will fly on the plane.

 

[allie5]

Its a difficult question to answer as all 2 year olds are different.

Ive taken mine every year since they were born (eldest is 4, youngest is 2) the most recent trip being a few months ago in December.

My 4 year old has always been easy to entertain on the plane, happy with crayons, sticker books and watching the movies. My 2 year old however, is a totally different kettle of fish! He has an attention span of about 30 seconds (and thats on a good day) and wants to be on the go the whole time. As you can imagine, 9 hours on a plane wasnt something I was looking forward to at all!

Was it as bad as I thought? Hmmm, well, it wasnt fun, but we got through it, even though he screamed 2 hours solid during the night flight home . My advice would be, dont be afraid to move around. As long as you walk with them, you can wander round the cabin for the whole 9 hours if you want! I also brought a goodie bag of things I dont usually allow at home, like sweets, fruit shoots, lunchables, wotsits etc. Many an aircraft tantrum has been avoided with the rapid deployment of a bag of wotsits I can tell you!

Of course, the bag of toys works well, especially if your child has predicatable tastes! For example, I know anything with Princesses involved will be a hit with the 4 year old! My son was hard to buy for as he has limited interest in anything, but the surprise hit of the trip was something from Mothercare's Baby Einstein range - travel discovery cards. Basically it was just a big stack of round cards with the alphabet, numbers and colours on it held together by a big green Frog! My son adored this and learnt the whole lot during the flight - very educational and passed the time nicely!

Dont worry - however badly behaved your toddler is, the cabin crew will always have seen worse. Just be the best parent you can (apologsing to nearby fellow passengers if you do get a meltdown for example!!).

The good news is, that being such a unique environment, the novelty factor makes even the most troublesome toddler a bit easier to manage! Sleep is a welcome respite, but not guaranteed! My eldest has never slept on the outbound trip apart from when she was a small baby.

Good luck, have a great trip!

Allie

 

[Tron[ADS]]

Well, we flew with our eldest when she was 13 months, and then the next time we went she was 3 1/2, and the youngest was 1 1/2.
Like the other say, it wasnt a barrell of laughs, and we were helped tremendously by having my in-laws (mother, father and sister) with us, so they could be passed around.
Each time, both ways, I was dreading it beforehand, and each time I have always ended up saying it wasnt as bad as I thought it would be.
You've already had some good advice that I don't need to repeat, but theres a few things you can do to make things better.
For us, the worst times were during the "please fasten seat belt" periods, where it is very difficult to explain to an infant that they can't be passed around for a while. I also didnt enjoy meal times, there is little enough room, but you really need to ask the stewerdess' if you can (a) stagger you and your partner's (i hate to use that term, I have a real issue with it) meals, ie they dont bring the other till ones finished, and (b) ask that they take away the "empties" as soon as is possible, even if that means walking up with it yourself - they are a nightmare to have around a small child.
Walking around does indeed help a great deal, so do so if you can, you wont bother anyone. Probably too late now, but try booking a flight with one or both the journeys in the night, then they will sleep (hopefuly) for most of the flight.
The journey there will be easier as you can focus on what awaits....the return journey is always just plain depressing.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Our 8 year old boy is Autistic and has been on several holidays with us to Florida.
It has been difficult at times because he doesn't to a degree understand what is going on, although the more we go the more familiar he gets to the surroundings.
He cannot talk although can communicate in other ways, having his seat belt on can be hard work sometimes.
To be honest each flight we have been on there have been children who have created more and we are proud of the way he comes through it each time.

I think you sometimes have to create a shield around yourselves and try and ignore what goes on around you - to be honest I couldn't care less if someone has a problem with him getting upset, we just concentrate on his needs. I am sure you will do the same. Just relax the best you can, chances are your child will sleep most of the flight home so just count down the hours on the flight there - remember there are loads of us in the same situation, as parents you will just cope ;-)

 

[lilyjosh]

We first flew longhaul with our 2 children when my son was 2 and my daughter was only 1 and we have flown every year with them since.

The best piece of advice I can give is to have in your hand luggage a sachet of Calpol. My son always gets a terrible ear ache on take-off and landing and I have needed the Calpol on more than one occasion (also something for him to suck on during landing might help).

I'm sure the flight will be fine and that other passengers will understand and sympathise if your little one plays up.

 

[buzz for boys]

Firstly.. resign yourself that for the whole 9 hours your job is to entertain your son

Rest assured... you will be fine. How often does your son have your undivided attention for 9 hours? Our son behaves better on the plane than he does at home!!!!

Hi great advice but i also have a 3 yr old and a 6 yr old who r not going to be that impressed with not having any of moms attention especially my 3 yr old as he is quite poorly at the mo and has turned into a real mommys boy.I told my DH what you said and he started to look worried - reckons he will be able to look after him for the first couple of hours but will then need a rest !!(MEN )

I have bought 2 yr old some of that magic maize stuff from ELC only need a bit of water and I reckon he will sit for ages making stuff. Also got him some paper, crayons and fuzzy felt. Love the advice about the reins !!!

Thanks a million !!

 

[buzz for boys]

Its a difficult question to answer as all 2 year olds are different.


My 4 year old has always been easy to entertain on the plane, happy with crayons, sticker books and watching the movies. My 2 year old however, is a totally different kettle of fish! He has an attention span of about 30 seconds (and thats on a good day) and wants to be on the go the whole time. As you can imagine, 9 hours on a plane wasnt something I was looking forward to at all!
Good luck, have a great trip!

Allie

Hi Allie,
Well i would just like to say SNAP !! My other two are easy to entertain but my 2yr old is a nightmare if he is not running at full speed or climbing he is not interested. Ive bought him some magic maize but not really convinced he will sit for long with it or how practical it might be on a flight but decided the other two will love it anyway !!
I also know there is little to no chance of him sleeping on the way there because it is a 1200 midday flight and he just will not be doing any napping . The worst thing is that the other 2 wind him up get him all excited about mickey mouse and then he is so difficult to calm down just keeps shouting "mouse mouse mouse" . We are having the worst tantrums ever at the moment and I just think one on the plane is inevitable especially as thats the biggest audience he will ever have !!
Can you tell im really worried about this flight ???

 

[SammieG]

sorry.. you didnt mention that you had other children!!

I would go down the route of drowsy medicine!! (ONLY JOKING!!)

My son was very difficult to entertain at that age.. with no attention span at all... but I only have the one...

3... whoooo that just scares me!!!

 

[alisonbestford]

I have flown with DD (now 6) since she was about 6 months old. She was 3 the first time we did WDW though.
I'd go along with filling your hand luggage with as many interesting things that you can (that won't totally annoy the other passengers ) and being prepared to walk a fair distance around the plane during the flight!
Above all don't forget that this is a flight to Florida - there will be literally dozens of kids on the plane with most parents being as worried as you are.....
Have fun.
Alison

 

[buzz for boys]

sorry.. you didnt mention that you had other children!!

I would go down the route of drowsy medicine!! (ONLY JOKING!!)

My son was very difficult to entertain at that age.. with no attention span at all... but I only have the one...

3... whoooo that just scares me!!!

We have actually thought about taking him to doctors and asking for some sleepy medicine but thought that knowing our luck it will prob make him hyper !! (Not to mention the ethics involved )

As for having 3 its not as bad as you first think they usually entertain each other , although that can work against you as well as the little one picks up all the wrong things from the bigger kids. That said I love it it is a challenge and tiring but its well worth it !!! Not sure if ill be posting that sentiment after a long haul flight with the 3 of them though !!

We have took on board all the things that have been posted here and think the best thing for us to do is not to expect him to sit and then if he does its a bonus !! Nobody has posted any real horror stories so it cant be that bad , Can it ???
6 days to go !!!

 

[alisonbestford]

We have actually thought about taking him to doctors and asking for some sleepy medicine but thought that knowing our luck it will prob make him hyper !! (Not to mention the ethics involved )

Ethics aside, I'd stay clear of the drowzy meds. My DD (now 21) was a horror at night when she was small. Off I went to the docs to get something to make her sleep - as I remember she was still bouncing on the bed at 4 am
I was dreading our first Orlando flight but honestly, it was fine and, as I said in a previous post, most of the parents on the flight were equally as worried .
Have a great time.

 

[buzz for boys]

Hi alison,
We had some medicine for my four yr old when he was a baby - at wits end after nearly a yr without a decent nights sleep and we too had him up all night and then asleep all day it was like the medicine took all night to kick in!! I would not really go and get something like that for a flight after all he is just going to behave like a normal 2 yr old. Im sure your right about him not been as bad as I think he will be , but this is the one thing which is keeping me awake at night. Sad I know !!!

 

[alisonbestford]

LOL Hardly sad, more like normal I'd say Doubt I'd settle until we'd been and come back home
I'd have tried anything to get my eldest to sleep! When people talk about their babies sleeping from day 5 or whatever I'm convinced they're lying - I have 3 too, none of whom slept through until they were two!

 

[London Calling]

Hi

WE too have travelled with our young kids (18 months and 3.5 years) every year since they were born on both long haul and short haul flights. Travelling long haul we always tried to book night flights so they could sleep which usually worked, although there arent any nightflights (with Virgin anyhow) to Orlando.

I found the kids to be fine until this time last year when we took a 14 hour flight to malaysia when my daughter was 2.5. My daughter had at least two tantrums and i vowed we'd never fly again until she was much older, however after a few months we risked it to Tuniisa and are now flying to Orlando.

Travelled to India with Virgin and they were the best with kids.
There will be lots of other kids on the flight
Most other parents have been there, so although embarassing try not to get too stressed.
Take toys and calpol - drug em up!!

• 
  and finally , hey it happens, so dont let it wreck ur holiday !!
  
  

 

[alisonbestford]

How could I have forgotten the Calpol?!
Whatever it takes, go for it
You'll have a fantastic time and, a little like childbirth, the memories fade if you have a couple of 'episodes' on the flight

 

[alisonbestford]

Wow, you've 'done' India with kids, London Calling?
I went to India years ago alone and absolutely loved it . I've always thought twice about taking any of the kids as I wasn't sure whether it would be too relaxed a pace for them. Hope that doesn't sound too silly!
Would you recommend it then?

 

[London Calling]

HI Alison,

We travelled to India in Feb 2003 when my daughter was one and a half. We'd already booked our tickets etc and then found out that my wife was pregnant with our second child but decided to go anyway.

To be honest we took it easy but that didnt stop us doing what we wanted to do. The highlight was a 8 day trip around Rajasthan which included a day in Agra on the way back to Delhi. We did this by hiring a car and driver through friends in India which meant we could do what we wanted when we wanted.

India is one of my favourite places but u need to keep a very open mind about the place as it has great pverty couple with reat wealth side by side.

I wouldnt hesitate to take kids whikst they are young, however, I realised that as kids get older we need to take them on trips which they too can enjoy. We had a toght time in malaysia last year as it was too hot for the kids to do anything bar a few hours of the say. The far east is our favourite and as long as my son is okon this trip tpo Florida then we will go back to Thailand in 2006.

With regards to India well go for it as it will be an experience that you will never forget !

 

[buzz for boys]

You'll have a fantastic time and, a little like childbirth, the memories fade if you have a couple of 'episodes' on the flight

Wow if you can compare it too childbirth Im really scared !!! (Joke )
We were at the nursery today and my little man decided to show his best side and everyone in the room was just laughing at the prospect of him on a plane for 9 hours. It was even suggested that some passengers might bail out !! Calpol is defo going in hand luggage. !!!