keeping 16mos old occupied on plane

[emmababy]

I am flying with my active 16mos old next month by myself, and could use any suggestions on how to occupy her. We have flown by ourselves when she was 4 months and 10 months. This seems like a whole new kid, so any help greatly appreciated. She will be on my lap, and I am concerned on what to do to keep her there. I told my husband this would be the last time I would fly with her by myself. She is just to active and to much stuff to manage with just me.

 

[daisy2]

This is just a thought does she like videos like little einstien or mickey mouse club house you can get one of thoughs dvd players and that would keep her occupied too. It's just an idea and I would bring some of her favorite toys that she can play with. I hope this helps.

 

[emmababy]

She doesn't really watch tv at home. It's on, but she doesn't usually pay attention to it. I thought about asking my neighbor if I could borrow hers. Any other quiet toys suggestions?

 

[DVCsince02]

MagnaDoodle

It helps keep my kids occupied.

 

[Minniemouse07]

1. Use a car seat
2. Magnadoodle
3. Board Book (maybe 2)
4. Small characters (like little people, etc) and a cup (play in and out of the cup)
5. Small New Toy
6. Board last...let her run around the gate area as much as possible.

Dd took her first flight at 17mo and we used all of the above, but she ended up sleeping most of both of the flights, sitting in her car seat!

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Get a bunch of new cheap ($1) things that you can pull out one at a time to occupy her with. I say a bunch because you want something new periodically and things will hit the ground and will be hard to pick up with a baby on your lap. This worked well with our son at that age--when he would start getting fussy, we'd pull out something he'd never seen before and he'd be distracted by that for a while.

THe suggestion of the cup to put the toy in and out of is great.

 

[emmababy]

Thanks for all the suggestions. The carseat is not an option. The tickets were over $300, so I couldn't buy another ticket. Also, being Thanksgiving weekend, I am sure there won't be any seats left.

 

[2dogmom]

My youngest first went to Disney around the same age as your dd. I'm trying to remember the things I brought to keep her occupied. Does she scribble at all? Color wonder books are wonderful, as are the water books where you fill a little pen with water and an image appears and disappears when it dries. Similar to an aquadoodle but as a book. I remember giving her lots of snacks too. I figured if she could spend half of her time eating, it would help.

 

[ducklite]

There's no way you'll have room to hold a 16 month on your lap and use a DVD player.

 

[MandM-Mom]

Her favorite snack When my oldest DD was 17 mths we went to Las Vegas and we kept her occupied with graham crackers and M&M's!!!

 

[Zeebs]

Be prepared to do a LOT of walking up and down the plane.

How long is the flight? Probably a bit late now but we tried to do our flights around bed time for Cullen so he was quite sleepy.

Will be interested to hear how you do as we plan to fly from the UK to NZ total 24 hours when the new baby will be around 15 months so I will be looking for tips as well.

Snacks are always a good idea. Little bags of things that they have to dig their hands into take up a bit of time as well.

See if you can get a bulk head so at least you have space on the floor in front of your feet for her to stand and all your stuff is at easy to reach access.

Have a nice flight

Kirsten

 

[emmababy]

I had a friend fly with her 20 month old on her lap and put the dvd on the tray. Also, the flight is only 1 hour to Chicago and 1 hour to Cedar Rapids. So, hopefully with books, snacks, and toys we should be okay. I am just worried that she will get restless and want to climb around, which you can't when flights are that short.

 

[Stasieki]

I have flown three times alone with my DD21 months. The last time she was 17 months. It was much different than when she was under one. Luckily... short flight - only 1 1/2 hours. I also use stickers! She isn't old enough to stick them all over the place. Only a few will do the trick. She loves to stick them to her hand, then pull off, then stick on my hand, etc. Of course, they are all disney I also do lots of snacks... I pull out ones she hasn't had in a while like the Gerber Puffs.

I also don't try to give her too many sweets, but one this particular flight, she was more antsy. I had some gummy savers for me, and was desperate. I would pull off 1/4 of one and let her feed herself. It was a lifesaver (no pun intended). Since she doesn't get candy a lot, it was a real treat and kept her sitting still for the rest of the flight.

I also use the board books and stacking cups - she liked those too! Again, a toy she used to use a lot but hadn't in a while.

Good luck!

 

[emmababy]

Thanks for all the tips. Do any of your kids bother the people around. Such as invading their space? Last time I flew with her by myself, she was 10 months. She was wanting to climb to the other seat or climb over me and look at the people in the back. Also, she loves throwing things down, so people were constantly picking stuff up for me. I don't think the minded since she wasn't crying!

 

[Stasieki]

Oh yes... she did throw those stacking cups down a few times. Luckily, I had a sweet 17 year old girl in the 3rd seat, but I can see that this would have annoyed others. Also - it is hard for them to understand about not kicking the seat in front of you. I do think the guy in front of us was a little ticked, but again, since it was a short flight we were OK. I was, of course, mortified, and told her to stop 1,000 times. Next time, I hope to get a seat where there is an unoccupied seat in front of us (I know flights are so full now, so this will be tough). It really isn't a lot of room once you have a toddler sitting on your lap, but thank goodness you have short flights. What times are they at?