ideas to keep 16 month old occupied on plane?

[tiggerstail]

We are taking DD for the first time in Sept, she will be 16 months old. Does anyone have any ideas on how to keep her occupied on the plane? We are travelling from Seattle, so will be in the air a long time!

 

[JennyLuvsPooh]

here are somethings my mom did with my little sister...(we are 15 years apart)

She brought a long a bag of small (cheap) dollor store toys that we new to Kara. Because they werent the same ole toys she was more interested.

Also I believe she skipped her morning nap when we flew so she would be extra tired. However this may not work well with every kid. You would be the best judge on using that strategy.

Another thing Kara liked was stories.. And guess who got to read them to her?! Yup.... ME!... but thats ok....My mom needed a vacation too. right?!

Have fun. I hope this helps!


Jenne

 

[SandraC]

We took our 15 month old ds to WDW April 2001. This is what we did:

Pre-booked our seats to get the bulkhead (more leg room and a wall in front to you)

Requested a bassinette that attached to the wall in front of us for the baby to rest (he's too big to sleep in it but I got to eat an entire meal while he played in it on the way to WDW)

Brought his favourite snacks ~ he eat 11 digestive cookies on the way to WDW. I'm bad, but it made EVERYONE happy!

Brought NEW toys for him to play with.

He was GREAT on the way to WDW, he was a bit restless on the way home.

On the way home, we spent a little more time playing on the floor (again the bulkhead) and walked the aisles a couple times. Again, I am bad, but when the bathroom wasn't busy, we played in with the sink for about 5 minutes a couple times.

 

[Alexsmommy]

Hi! If you have a video camera with a screen to show the playback, maybe you'd like to try this. I video taped my 19 moth old's favorite tape (happened to be a Disney Singalong tape) and she watched it on the plane. It kept her VERY quiet and happy.

Hope that helps!

Maria

 

[beattyfamily]

Alexsmommy,

That is a GREAT idea! Thanks for sharing. I may try that for my 2 year old!

 

[Pooh93]

Sticker books are good also. Even if you buy stickers that are on a roll and let her put them on plain white paper or construction paper. Fruit snacks are good also. Our first trip to Disney w/kids was when my youngest was about 17 mos old. The flight was about 2 1/2 hours and that was about the max for her tolerance of being enclosed in a small area. I was greatful to land when we did (and I'm sure the other passengers were too, LOL). We went last Dec and she was not quite 3 and did real well on the plane, so it does get easier. You may even have to walk her up and down the aisle a few times, since you're on a much longer flight.
Good luck and keep a sense of humor!

 

[kecall]

Maybe someone else can come up with the name of them, but Crayola has a great marker set that only writes on special paper...anotherword, your child can scribble to his hearts content and you don't have to worry about ruining his clothes... Also, would she wear earphones? If so, bring a portable tape player and earphones for her to listen to her favorite music, stories (get some from the library too! -- especially Disney ones!!) or even tapes of your voice reading stories...that might be fun.....

 

[tiggerstail]

thanks everyone! Lots of great ideas!

 

[t2simon]

We travelled to FL when DS was 14 months old, and we used several of the ideas here:

We had flights (departing and returning) that were right around his normal nap time (he is very scheduled, so we knew exactly when they were). We just kept him awake until flight time and as soon as we started taxiing, he dropped right off - does the same in the car. Woke up halfway through the flight on the way down (2 1/2 hr flight from PHL) and slept through the entire flight on the way back (had to actually WAKE him when we pulled up to the gate!). Which brings up what I thought was a godsend for us. We purchased his seat (under a certain age, most airlines only charge half-fare. I don't remember the age ceiling, though). It was a little bit of a hassle to bring on his car seat and all, but absolutely worth it, I think. Safety and all, but I won't get on my soapbox!

Also, we copied his favorite videos on to 8MM tapes and played them on the flight down when he woke up. People around us thought this was a great idea - and it worked like a charm. One couple who was sort of groaning when they saw DS getting on the plane commented as we were disembarking that they barely noticed he was on the plane!

Hopefully, we will be going again this October (Disney Cruise, I hope!) so we will see how it goes now that he is 2!!!!

Hope this helps!

 

[Cameo]

Don't know what airline you are flying on. We are going on Northwest in September. They have a video rental booth at the Minneapolis airport. We are planning to rent Toy Story 2, hoping our 19-month-old will watch it. I know our 4-y-o will!

 

[ABCMom]

You might want to call the airline and check before planning on doing the video thing. On our flight to Florida in June (Midway Airlines) we were asked to put our digital camera away. We were told that there is federal regulation against using cameras onboard to prevent terrorism. We had never heard this before and don't know if it is true or if the attendant was just being difficult, but just wanted to warn you that some airlines may not allow you to operate a video camera onboard.

 

[wdwnutze]

I took my dd at 14mos. and we are taking her again in a few days (now 2 1/2). I found the car seat to be a must on the plane. She is very active bu knows that when she is in the carseat she has to stay there. We brought crayons, paper, books,and some playdoh. They sell the mini containers of it and it really keeps her busy. I also find the playdoh helpful in restaurants while we are waiting to be served.