travelling with an 18 month old.....Help...what do I need to know?

[peanut1967]

We are foster parents and 2 weeks ago we had a little 10 month baby boy come into our family....I havent done babies for 16 years ....loving it. Anyway there is a big possibilty that this little one will be with us when we go....So what do I need to know...and dont tell me its hard because I am already expecting that...but things like what to take on the plane journey, because hes not into a ds or psp....DOH!
Any tips welcome

Ta

 

[BRobson]

When we travelled with my kids at that age I filled a bribe bag full of new things that might grab their attention. A new teddy, stickers, colouring book, magna doodle type thing, story books. I collected all the little toys of the front of the kids magazines and shopped in poundland as most of the things were a hit for a short time

Lots of little snacks and hopefully the little one will sleep. Remember and carry sachets of Calpol or similar as sometimes their ears will get sore !

Have a great time

 

[Cyrano]

Can't help with travelling with a little one to WDW. But wanted to say for fostering.
My folks used to foster little girls as they already had four boys. We had some great family holidays with our extended family

 

[buzz for boys]

We took ds when he was 20 months old and found it so much easier than we had expected - he slept for the vast majority of the time on the plane !!
He loved to draw and we took a little colouring book and crayons which was a hit. The worst bit of the flight was when he needed to be strapped to us for take off and landing - the rest a doddle!!
Actually in the parks was fab there was never a second when it felt hard work if he needed changing there was always somewhere close by and we found everyone so helpful !!
I would say though if he has fav foods or drinks take them with you as we found tha ds would not drink the cordial it took us ages to talk him into it !
Hope that helps

 

[DisneyHomesFlorida]

When we went with our 2 year old we took colouring books and a massive bag of duplo which she played with in the airport and on the plane! Flying Virgin atlantic is great (not sure if you are) as they are really child friendly and have children's tv and goody bag that entertained for ages too!

 

[scottish mum]

My one piece of advise would be to buy a seat for him if you can. We took our dd when she was 22 months and it would have been awful having her on my knee the whole way. Virgin provided a car seat type harness for her and she loved having her own little table. Apart from that just take lots of small toys and books etc. Also you get small magnetic books that are like sticker books but you are able to place them down over and over again.

 

[london75]

We took our eldest when she was 18 months and agree with others, it's not that hard at all. Flight is the worst bit but not terrible by any means. We didn't have a seat for her and I regret that.

We bought loads of the kids comics you get now, most have a free toy and some stickers and because they inevitably get chewed and ripped you just chuck them as you get off the 'plane (buy enough for the way back too as it seems only Britain really sell them for pre-schoolers). The stickers peel off and the crayons on the BBC comics are usually washable.

Other thing I'd suggest is if you get the opportunity to sit with family behind you take it, it means you don't need to stress when the toddler inevitably peers, smiles, shouts, throws things and loses dummy/toy over the back of the seat you're in. They will stand up unless strapped in and they will want to know what is going on back there!

Enjoy it though, it's a great age to go and good on you for fostering, we might do the same in a few years as we wanted more children but after the trouble of having the last two don't think we dare risk having more of our own.

 

[PoppyAnna]

You get massive respect from too me for fostering
We travelled to WDW in 2007 when my youngest daughter was 19months. We did buy a seat for her on the flight and this was the best thing we did I know it's an extra expense but I really thought it was worth it. If you're flying with Virgin you can get a special seat that straps on the seat to "boost" your toddler, we used this going out (you request it once onboard) but didn't bother coming home.
I took her favourite bear that she sleeps with, a blanket, loads of toys (her sister was just 4 at the time) and colouring books for both of them, healthy snacks as well as naughty ones and sugar free lollipops to suck on take off and landing (helps the ears to "pop"). We took them for regular walks up and and down the plane but with DH and I taking the outer of the four seats they were happy to have the armrest up between them and have their own little play space. They also watched the childrens TV and films which passed a couple of the hours.
We were very lucky our girls were very behaved despite only each sleeping for about an hour. It really wasn't that bed and the time went quickly.
Another tip that worked for us, if the aircraft you're flying on has the small economy cabin between premium and the main economy cabin, try to get seats in there. The main cabin get noisy and loud and my girls are easily distracted by children that, lets say, aren't being so well behaved
Good luck, enjoy your trip.
I'm sure I've missed loads out but if you want to know more, just PM me.