Travelling with toddler on a plane Post Reply

[excitera]

Hello everyone!

We are about to travel for very first time with our very energetic 'can't sit on one place' 1.5y toddler. Please share your travel intelligence & tips how to make a airport waiting/flight survivable with kids!

What toys to keep a toddler occupied to buy? is Trunky a good idea for 1.5year old or too early?
What buggy to use? I have maclaren techno xt, but worried if I need a lighter one?

many thanks!

[supermummy]

We've flown with our techno xt several times and found it absolutely fine.

For entertainment, we buy a couple of those kiddy comics at the airport and find they last a while. Also games on the iPhone/iPad always work if you don't mind gadgets. Sticker books. A couple of new small story books. Plenty of snacks/ treats so you can buy some peace if desperate! We also try and let her walk up and down the aisle when it's not busy, ours is usually quite fascinated by the plane.

[txmum]

One word...iPad. I always download a few new apps just for the flight. And I stuff his face with his favourite snacks. We've now flowin 20 flights with our nearly 2 year old. Lately the short hauls have been more difficult than the long haul flights. Not sure why!
Do relax, it will never be as bad as you're dreading it will be!

[lemonzest]

You'll be absolutely fine. Like the above poster we've done 20+ flights from 3 months-nearly 3 years.

Probably a bit young for the Trunki, in terms of sitting in it, but it's useful for stashing toys (you can probably get changing gear in one side, if desperate) and toys in the other.

Remember to take a couple of changes of clothes for them, plenty of nappies, and a friend recommended to me to always take a large eg t-shirt that would do for you or your partner in case of nappy changing carnage... It happened to them, but has never happened to me!

As previous posters suggest - eg CBeebies mags, stickers, iPad, books, colouring, lots of walking up and down the plane, small toys, especially cheap new stuff - you could for eg do a little lucky dip etc... I've never had any problem flying out of LGW with playdough, either, and it can entertain them for a while. LHR were a bit funny about it last week. Yes, I know it's not really a solid, but I wasn't about to tell the girl at security that!!

LOADS of snacks, especially as you're not really quite sure what you'll get on the plane, and whether you'll get a delay (we had 4.5 hrs once, and I was grateful for a sarnie tucked away for tea...)

RE: buggy - a Maclaren will be perfect. We've taken our Bee+ everywhere, with no protective bag, and it's been fine. So a Maclaren will be no challenge. They usually let you take them to the gate, and at some airports you'll get them back a the bottom of the steps, but most usually on baggage reclaim, so if they'll stick in a sling I'd recommend one...

Enjoy x

[Samalawl]

As said iPad is amazing!!! Kept my son entertained for the whole 10 hour last summer however the summer before we didn't have one yet and I bought him a lunch box style bag, and filled it with lots of new interesting things from pound shop or Tiger, and give them to your child every so often, things like mini finger puppets really kept him entertained for a good half hour you can buy mini etch-a-sketch and all sorts!
Obviously plenty of snacks always helps too
I also used reins to keep my son sat down during "seat belt" calls as I found the plane belt didn't keep him say down and I have a hard time convincing him the last hour when it's time to land.
Good luck

[emsken]

We got back from oman yesterday with. 2 year old and 9 month old! Make sure you have a lot of snacks, an iPad, lots of different toys (cups was popular...put. Raisin under one and she had to guess!) take a stroller if you have one, and download fave tv shows on iPad!

You will be fine. Piriton is good to knock them out if you get desperate but your ant take through security ! Good luck and have a fab time! Just see it as a bad 24 hrs before and after a wonderful holiday! X

[mumoftwoboys]

Hi

I find day time flights are a lot easier than night flights especially when travelling with two kids. My boys love the whole travel experience as we travel a lot; going to the airport, seeing all the planes, passengers, crew etc. so for an overnight flight it is sometimes really difficult to handle all this excitement when it is way past bed time! Plus a lot of airlines keep the lights one for ages after take-off on night flights so it's just another distraction in trying to get kids settled to go to sleep.

My tips are day time flights, I-pad with lots of games, books and TV/films, sticker books, story books, change of clothes for kids and one for you just in case... and lots of snacks and food. I was stuck on a plane for 5 hours due to snow two years ago and the airline didn't give out any food or drinks until there was a near riot by passengers after hour 3!

I have mixed feelings about Trunkis, they are really useful for older kids who can also carry them or scoot on them otherwise it’s just one more piece of luggage to have to deal with. If your child is asleep when you get to your destination and you don’t have your buggy delivered to the plane (most airlines) then you will have to carry your child and the Trunki as well as your other hand luggage.

Have travels!

[Deb]

I remembered quite a while ago seeing an excellent post on a long haul flight 'plan of attack'. If you type 'long haul toys gruffalo' into the Nappy Valley Net search box, you get straight to the post itself by someone called Lacherlie.

My advice is if there will be sleeping, take a sleeping bag, else legs fall off your lap all over the place and the child stirs constantly to rearrange or you have to remain in a position of support which can get painful after a long while! This even held true for my 3 1/2 year old who had a chair to herself but couldn't keep her legs on it while she tried to sleep and got very grumpy. Once she agreed to wear the sleeping bag, we finally all had some peace and she had some kip!

Happy travels! One and a half is not an easy age to travel with, they are on the move, and not yet distractible for more than a few min at a time, so make sure you congratulate yourself when you get to the other side!

[BalhamMumWorkingFT]

A small bag with lots of "littleish" toys as mentioned is great. And make sure they're new toys so something they have don't have already.

iPad is a really good thing, but they are expensive. Not really want you want to buy just for a flight. If you do get one, look for free apps and some TV shows.

There are crayola colouring that uses pens that don't mark. We loved these and you can colour together.. giving attention and praise (usually keeps my still for at least take off and landing!).

At 18months my kids weren't really into those Magazines yet... So that wasn't an option. But they did like matchbox cars (both boy and girl) and those worked as a distraction.

Food which is covered... and I also make a lidded cup up for take off and landings to ensure they're ears didn't pop.

Good Luck.

[emsken]

Ps sticker books are a winner too. -and colouring books

[SFMC]

Just to add let your little one run around the airport as much as possible to tire him/herself out!
Try to get a bulk head seat (if you are day time flying) as there is more room and your little one can stand up and move a bit in that area to play.
But be warned that if you haven't booked a separate seat the arm rests do not come up so you can't have them lie down across seats (though I have seen small children lying on the floor to sleep in the bulk head but they will make you move them is the seat belt light comes on!).

Stay away from seats near the toilet and the galley (too much banging that might wake a sleeping toddler!)

If there is another child sometimes it is fun for them to interact to kill some time.
We bought this little model airplane in the 'British' shop at Heather T5 that makes an engine noise when you press a button. Best 10pounds spent EVER!

Bring more nappies than you need. There is usually a Boots if you need to buy any extras that you can't take through security including Piriton (never tried to use anything as a sleep aid so can't comment on that!)

A dummy or drink on take off and landing is also a good idea.
If you are night flying and someone turns on their reading light (grrr) I use the blanket to form a tent like structure fastened into the tray table over my sleeping son to keep the light out. Looks weird but the darn lights on a plane become sooo annoying when trying to get a little one to sleep!

Good luck with the flight.
We have flown long haul with our son from age 5 months to 2 years... with a whole variety /mixed experiences each time. So if one leg is stressful don't sweat it as the return leg might be totally different. Bon voyage!

[excitera]

Thank you all for great tips! Much appreciated!

in terms of iPad apps for toddlers - can any one recommend any particular?
I have Toddler Seek and Find - Zoo/Farm - but my boy seems to get bored of it in 5 min...

[Deb]

SoundTouch is fab - loads and loads of things to see and hear

Peekaboo HD

(And worth mentioning for a bit later in life Zoo Train is brilliant)

[Mils]

We took our just 2 year old on a long trip a couple of years ago that involved several flights at all times of day. I was absolutely dreading it but it actually wasn't too bad !

As previous posters have said, don't rely on aeroplane food, none of my kids have ever liked it, snacks are the only way forward. Love the sleeping bag idea, definitely nicking that one! If you can fit it one of your pillows is a good idea, smells of home and makes the seat a lot more cosy/comfy. I'm afraid we were also pretty dependent on the iPad, best apps we had were Peppa's Party, Lunchbox, 123 ColourHD, but we also downloaded some of his favourite TV programmes. Might be an idea to get some kids headphones too, the plane ones are too big and just slip off which is frustrating and definitely led to the odd tantrum.

Lastly, almost everyone on the plane will have been in your position at some point, so if your LO does have a meltdown don't worry. I remember the end of our final flight of the trip when, having turned 2, he had to sit in his own seat. Queue the mother of all tantrums! All I remember is having to hold him in his seat, him screaming that he wanted to sit with me, me in floods of tears. I looked up and locked eyes with a woman on the other side of the aisle from us, she smiled at me and mouthed "just breathe, you are so nearly there!". Needless to say, as soon as we landed he fell fast asleep!

Have a fabulous trip wherever you're going!

[mumoftwoboys]

There are loads of really good i-pad and i-phone apps, we have various Thomas apps with colouring, puzzles, video clips, books etc - Thomas Game Pack, Meet Toby and Misty Island), Peppa Pig apps are also good; Peppa Parrot, Peppa's Party, other good apps are Cars 2, Ben and Holly, Story Chimes and Kidtory have good books for kids. My 4 yr old also loves the Cupcakes! app!! I usually ask my 13yr old niece to upload new apps before we go on trips so we find lots of strange and wonderful apps on there which is always very exciting for my kids! If you search the app store you should be able to find a few free apps for kids but you may have to pay for some of the books.