Keeping 2 year old happy

[LORNA ANN]

Can anyone offer any advice on how to keep a 2 yr old happy on the 9 hr Flight. We have done it twice before with DS and he was fantastic but he was not mobile at time, have been to DLP and he was great on that flight but only 1 1/2 hrs. Please do not say we should not take him as he is to young we love WDW & it is our favourite place to holiday but if any Mums out there or Dads have done it with little ones any tips would be much appreciated.TIA.

 

[jackieleanne]

I know that when i went when i was around 5 my little sister was just about to turn 2 and mum both prepared us with little disney activity packs with sticker books, colouring books etc the planes usually provide little activity packs to keep them going as well.

 

[LORNA ANN]

Thank you got stickers & colouring books do you know if you are allowed to take portable DVD players on ?????

 

[Shazzie B]

Thank you got stickers & colouring books do you know if you are allowed to take portable DVD players on ?????

Yes you can take DVD players. We had to declare at security though - take out of bag and show them - not a problem - I'm used to it - they always want to check my lap-top too when I travel for business.

Your Son will love Disney, you're never too young (or old!). Have a great time.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Hi Lorna
1st post in 5 years from me!! just re - registered. No 1. Dont listen to anyone who says he is too young. My DD's now 13 and 11 were his age 1st time and the best bit is that the 'MAGIC' is real at that age. The joy on their faces was price less. Saying that just booked for DEC WHEEEEE!! DS will be 2 also. I say lots of surprises to unrap along the way e.g different books/cars/activity stuff. Pray that they sleep !!! All in all its only 9 hours eeeeekkkk !!

 

[wifey]

We have been taking our DS since just before his first birthday he's now eight and loves going to Florida
Pack lots of little things like character key rings [which you can clip to clothing] and stickers, colouring books, maybe a couple of family games cards like snap (usually found in the party favours in supermarkets), have a mini plush of his favourite character and don't forget teddy just in case your child wants something familiar to fall asleep with. They easily get through the xray machines as long as they don't have a noise box inside them. Fuzzy felts are a good idea too you can still get them up here. Most of the seat back tv's have channels for the younger kids to watch and the kids films are usually pretty funny too so there should be something appropriate to watch for an hour or two.We usually buy a multipack of haribo and split it we put 4 mini packs in Ds's bag of stuff and a couple in ours the rest in a suitcase. Keeps him quiet and gives him something to snack on when waiting in line in the parks.Don't forget the wetwipes and anit-bacterial gel they really do come in handy with young children at meal times and "restroom breaks". If your child is a messy eater/ accident prone perhaps consider a change of top and bottoms in your bag just in case something gets spilled

 

[tyke]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but this will also be our first time travelling to WDW with a (very active) toddler, so I too would love to hear all your advice and tips to make the flight experience smoother (and less stressful) than I imagine !!!

 

[LORNA ANN]

Thank you for tips & advice,I'm off to buy some fuzzy felts forgot you got these. Can I ask one more question. Do you take a packed meals or are the kids meals pretty good my 2yr old is pretty fussy, although I am working on this but would like him to eat something on plane maybe I would be best making some sandwhiches just in case!!! What does everyone else do ?

 

[goober069]

Hi
We are not long back our youngest was 2 in april got to admit i was dreading the flight as i dont like flying but he was great.We were up early for the flight so he slept for about 3 hours on the way there.The rest of the time he ate starburst sweeties think he enjoyed takeing the wrapers of ,we put him at the window seat and it gave him more room he really enjoyed it.On the way back he slept most of the flight even take of again we got him up early.My daughter was more bored and she is 6 hope you have a great time.
Claire

 

[razster]

We too are taking DD 2.5yrs she was always a good flyer she has many airmiles under her belt now but this is the fist time as a very "active" toddler on such a long flight, I am very keen to know what ideas others have too, I hope you guys don't mind me joining in?

Does anyone know what BA offer kids on board in terms of activity packs and maybe food offerings?

Where do you get fuzzy felt from these days i've been searching all over? And while i'm asking stickle bricks remember them any ideas where they are now?

sorry lorna ann not meaning to hijack

thank you all,

Raz

 

[MandyJ72]

Sticle Bricks & Fuzzy Felts - Ebay!! Just had a look and lots of them on there quite cheap - Im sure Early Learning Centre used to do them but that was a few years ago!!

My youngest was 4 on our first trip and he's normally very active so was dreading it but he stayed up really late the night before and then ended up sleeping most of the flight (missed the take off bless him - asked are we going yet 4hrs into the flight!!)

 

[T16GEM]

We took dd who was 26 months and ds who was 11 months last January, dd is a very active toddler and she was ok as long as we kept producing little gifts from our bags. I took things like fuzzy felts, colouring books, the 99p bags of farm animals from Woolies, a mini magna doodle thingy, memory cards, small books and some play doh. Don't wrap them up though, we travelled out on xmas day and I had to unwrap the presents that I had taken for her.

We had 6 adults on the flight so we passed the kids around between us all, dd slept for about 1 hour and would only sleep on my mom, she was exhausted by the time we arrived at our villa!

DS slept for most of the flight, when he wasn't sleeping he was eating! He just wanted to snuggle all the way which suited me!

The cheapo stuff we left behind in the villa and then when we were coming back she slept all the way so we didn't need to worry about visiting the dollar store while we were there to get more presents for the flight home!

As for food I took jars for DS and we had some packs of wotsits, skips, mini rice cakes, dairlyleas, small snacky things for them and then she ate the veggies from her meal and the bread roll. Both like to drink formula so I think they filled up on that too.

blimey I went on a bit there didn't i!

 

[EllieJ]

Hi ,
We flew in May , our son was 22 months . I was dreading the flight - hoping he'd have a long sleep but he only had an hour just after we took off !!!

I was worried , but I had taken a small toy case with new toys he hadn't seen before , just cheap things like wind up dinosaurs & bugs , new comics , play dough , small aqua draw kits , crayons etc.

We also take on a dvd player with a couple of his favourite programmes on dvd & this year I bought him a Jay Jay The Jet Plane dvd which he thought was fantastic as he was actually flying on one - he must have watched it about 5 times,

We took him for 'laps' around the cabin to get drinks and I can honestly say he was no bother.

Look forward to it - he'll have a fantastic time !!

I also took plenty of snacks & juice which I bought airside at Manchester .

 

[T16GEM]

Hi ,
small aqua draw kits ,

I forgot those, we took them too! Great as no messy pens! The adults enjoys these too!

 

[disneyholic family]

when my kids were that age i carried an additional carryon bag just with stuff to keep them busy...plus various snack foods of every kind...

pretzls, cheerios, crackers, etc....plus boxes of their favorite juice, just in case there wasn't anything on board - plus in between when drinks are served..

to play with - stickers, coloring books, crayons, paper, brand new little toys that they'd never seen (the cheap little toys that you don't mind losing)...
for my daughter, the peelable nail polish was a big hit on the flight....

for several years, my son's favorite plaything was the little hot towel the flight crew handed out...he would keep it and 'clean' everything around....he wiped down the windows, chairs, trays etc etc....kept him busy for a while..

by the way, be sure to bring several changes of clothes for the plane, just in case of spills, accidents, etc.

 

[paulh]

by the way, be sure to bring several changes of clothes for the plane, just in case of spills, accidents, etc.

DW do`s the same for me
Paulh

 

[disneyholic family]

DW do`s the same for me
Paulh

 

[AlanUK]

Taking down all these tips DS will be 2 years 10 m when we travel this year.

 

[barnaby1]

for several years, my son's favorite plaything was the little hot towel the flight crew handed out...he would keep it and 'clean' everything around....he wiped down the windows, chairs, trays etc etc....kept him busy for a while..

I have a "cleaner" as well!!! Baby wipes keep her going for ages.

We flew with my dd to Australia at 3 and 26 months and to Florida at 8, 17 and 22 months (we are off to WDW in 4 weeks where she will be almost 2.5).
Kids do amazingly well on long flights.

I used to take heaps of stuff to keep her going but would find she wouldn't play with most of it and would find other things to occupy her (i.e. the baby wipes). I take the basics like crayons and paper and books. For this next trip I have bought a new bracelet, a pack of "in the night garden" picture cards and a new book. I am still looking for other treats but it is always small inexpensive things. Those little library series of all the popular kids shows are great for planes.

Try to get a bulkhead seat too. The can play infront of you on the floor which has always worked for us.

 

[Zeebs]

All very helpful thanks, we have to get through the flight in October, and then in April next year off to New Zealand so all this will be put to good use.

One thing I would say, I don't know what the meals are like on Virgin and the like but when we went with Air NZ when Cullen was 10 months, they gave him an infant meal (yeah right) it was totally unsuitable for him and he was eating just about anything at that point, and quite unhealthy.

Luckily I had some jars in my carry on. Although he probably would have preferred the chocolate bar that arrived on his tray.

Kirsten