Flying w/ 23 month old

[Trish Thorpe]

Hi all!

I would love to hear how you have kept your young children entertained while flying...I will be going to WDW in November with my DH, DS (11) and DD (23 months)....

The 11 year old will be no problem, he has flown before...he was 8 on his first flight. I want to hear any and all tips for the younger one...this will be her first time in an airplane!

Thank you so much!

 

[shelly3girls]

Can't help much, but......my DD's 3 and 1.5 always sleep from take-off to landing. They have flown numerous times, never with any problems. I think it has something to do with the motion and noise. My youngest never sleeps in the car, but has slept on the plane on 5 flights.

 

[cinmell]

My daughter will be 22 months old when we fly in September. It will be her first trip. We plan on taking a laptop so she can watch "her" dvds. We are also brining the crayola mess free markers, crayons, coloring books, playdoh, travel magna doodle and many people on these boards have suggested stickers. Good luck!

 

[skiptomypooh]

Hi,

My DH and I have taken our DS, now 29 months, on several long plane trips. There are several other posts on this, so look around. Our guy is great, but he DOES NOT sleep. He knows he has to stay in his car seat the whole ride.

One thing I mentioned to another DISer that we found very useful was a product called Quiet Rider. It's a set of speakers set in fabric pockets that attaches to the car seat or stroller and rests behind the child's head. It has a standard headset plug on it and you can use it with a tape recorder or cd player to play his favorite tape/CD. You adjust the volume to a really low level and he can hear it fine, but no one else does, especially not on a noisy plane.

I don't think we're supposed to post web pages for products, so PM me and I'll let you know where I got it if you'd like.

Good Luck, it's only a couple hours and once your there you'll have a great time!

 

[Barb D]

Something to keep in mind... If your child is in a car seat, the lap tray may not be able to go down. We had this problem with our then-23mo last September. Some of the activities I had planned depended on that lap tray.

I second the travel Magna-Doodle. I used ours just this morning to keep my now 2.5yo occupied at her sibs' swim meet.

We also brought some board books and a few Duplos on our plane trip.

She slept the whole way back.

 

[mcnuss]

My DD (now 8) and I have travelled all over together by plane and here are some of my lifesaving tips:

1. Do not bring things that easily fall to the floor, eg: crayons. With the way you are squashed in these days, you will not be able to bend over easily to retrieve. When my daughter was the age of yours, we used the travel Magnadoodle since the "pen" is attached. We also brought Beanie Babies, bc they are littler than regular stuffed toys.

2. Bring healthy snacks and juice boxes. There is nothing worse than those cheesy little plastic cups on the plane in the hands of a little one. If you are on a meal flight, call ahead & ask what the kids meal is. We've gotten pbj, chicken nuggets, and other kid friendly stuff. And do not count on milk. Often they do not have it.

3. I am assuming you have purchased a seat for the baby. Make sure your child rides in the car seat, and don't make exceptions, just like in the car. Also, bc the tray will likely not come down, try to find one of those lap desks. Better yet, they do make one that can attach to the car seat. I think I saw it One Step Ahead catalog. Also, I hated the bulhead seats, and they often offer those to you when you are traveling with a baby. I liked having the space under the seat in front of me to stow gear.

4. Do not check your stroller. You can take it right down the ramp to the plane door, fold it up and then leave it. They then put it in the cargo hold for you, and deliver it as soon as plane lands right back next to the door. (If you are connecting, you will get it at the connection point, then you'll repeat the process.) It's awesome! Also, I am not sure how many helping hands you will have, but I always used a backpack to keep my hands free. Also, re: the car seat: I bought one of those fold-up luggage carts that I would attach the car seat to. Those suckers get heavy after awhile!

5. Since Sept. 11, they are strict about carry-ons. They count your purse! I travel weekly for business, and used to carry a purse, briefcase & wheelie. I got really sick of having to check my wheelie, so now I pack my purse and just throw my wallet into my briefcare or backpack.

I hope you'll find these tips helpful!


ps: Trish -- we summer in Casco, ME - practically neghbors!

 

[trayletha]

OK I went to tech support to try and figure out how to do this - you've prob already found this but in case you haven't there are lots of good ideas here - if the link works

Another flying with toddler post

 

[Barb D]

Yes, yes, yes on the juice packs and snacks. The little snacks they give you on the plane are pretty pitiful, and may not be appropriate for little ones. Bring Cheerios or animal crackers or something that will keep your child occupied and happily snacking for a long time.

Also, like McNuss says, you can stroll your stroller right up to the gate. I used it as a luggage cart, and piled the carseat and our carryons onto the stroller. I either carried the baby in her sling (which she's still using at 2.5, BTW) or kept her on her harness/safety strap so she could move around a bit but not get away from me.

 

[WhispyPixie]

Remembers that when my kids were really small they loved Pipe Cleaners. You can make tons of critters out of them...they dont hurt when they are thrown....they don't roll when they hit the floor and when you lose them...they dont cry!

Have a great trip!

 

[samoyed]

I usually bring a laptop with a DVD in it. But the all time favorite thing she loves doing on the plane is Playdoh. Bring some cookie cutters and a small rolling pin for plenty of fun. Actually I use that crayola modeling clay. Great stuff, not as sticky as playdoh and it doesn't smell. They come in small pouches with I throw out after the flight. Small to pack and disposable.

 

[dougsmom98]

On my son's first flight, we brought a Busy Town lift-the-flap type book. It was awesome. There were so many flaps to lift and so much to see and look at in the book, my son looked at it the entire 3 hour flight.
Here's a word of caution. My son vomited on his first flight. What a nightmare. There was no place to move, and it was all over us and the car seat. It was in the middle of dinner service and no one could help us. After this experience, I will never go on a flight without a change of clothes for me and my husband, as well as all the kids. I will also have a small thin towel and a wet wash cloth in a ziploc to wipe up messes. Changing messy diapers on a full airplane is not an easy task either so just beware.
Good luck
Amy

 

[travelitis]

Bribery! On flights my kids can eat all the M&M's they want as long as they are happy. I pack plenty of toys like travel Magna Doodle, and I take new, inexpensive toys gift wrapped. When the kid gets restless it's time to open a package, but I try not to pull those out unless I really need them. If I don't need them they'll make stocking stuffers at Christmas. On our last flight I wrapped a doll with dog $5, a Barbie treasure chest of candy and stickers $4, and a magnifying glass $1. I had healthy snacks with me too, but of course she didn't want them. My system has worked well, and my 3 kids have flown quite a bit - no disasters. I figure that while you're in an enclosed space with 200 people it's no time to push nutrition.

 

[samoyed]

Caution on the wrapped gifts idea. Since Sept 11, many airlines will make you open wrapped gifts. Check with your airline first to see if you can do it. I know the airline I fly says right on their website "no wrapped gifts".

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

There are alot of great tips here (some of which we have used). We have flown when our older DD was 13 months and 18 months. Both times we tried to tire our DD out before the flight. One of the flights she slept almost the entire time! I like the tip about the laptop w/ DVD. On one of our flights home, we used our video camera and our DD sat quietly and watched our "Disney movie." If at all possible, get a direct flight. Changing planes was no fun, we'll never do that again.

Good luck!

 

[travelitis]

Remember, the X-ray can see through the paper wrap as easily as it sees through briefcases and anything else that goes through. I just took 2 flights with small wrapped gifts in her carry -on, and they never questioned it. Her roller bag of toys was x-rayed and not hand searched. Also, if they do question it and you explain you don't want the child to see what's in them, the security personell will be discreet. I worked at an airline until Feb, so I was there right after 9-11, and we opened coolers or cardboard boxes. Something like that we would've left to the X-rays. Terrorists don't take their kids down with them in planes, which is why prior 9-11 ir you were a random selectee traveling with children you were automatically cleared. In flying since 9-11 I have found that attitude to still prevail. I get treated with less scrutiny if I have any of my kids.

 

[BevS97]

you were a random selectee traveling with children you were automatically cleared

we had to go through all the extra security with our daughter recently - it was a random search. Even my dd had to be checked with the metal dectector, and have her shoes checked. She's 4.
I don't think they trust anyone these days, kids or not - and I'm afraid that's the way it has to be.

Saying all that - we did fly with wrapped presents - we take 1 present per hour which works great - the case containing the presents was put through the x-ray machine and there were no problems with it. Of course, if anything had looked odd on the x-ray, we would have had to unwrap the present - we did have problems with some fudge on the return journey, apparantly fudge looks suspicious on an x-ray!

My dd is 4 and has just returned from Florida having endured 2 10 hour flights with no seat-back tvs or films to watch. We took a small walkman and a lot of story tapes - these worked brilliantly - she listened to a playhouse disney tape over and over on the return flight.
Other useful things are sticker books, playdoh. Crayons are fun, but what a nightmare - they constantly fall on the floor and get lost. I took quite a few small packs of crayons (those kind you get free at restaurants with just 4 crayons in) - so that if we did lose a crayon it didn't matter, I could just pull out another one.

Bev

 

[SueM in MN]

I know people who have had their wrapped items unwrapped. If the bag goes thru the x-ray and nothing looks suspicious, it's OK. But if they want a better look at the item or if you are chosen for random checks, they can open anything at all. Some people I know had packages open more than once because they were chosen for a random check at the security area and also at the gate.

Anyway, I'd suggest you bring presents in small gift bags with tissue paper to hold them in the bag and hide them. If security wants to look inside, they can easily see what's in there without unwrapping anything, just by moving the top paper off. If it stays in the bag, the item will still be hidden from your child. You can get bags in assorted sizes and pictures. The gift bags become another toy that your child can empty and refill or a place to put the small things like crayons that roll away. Bags can be folded flat and stored in a small space if not being used.
Even the tissue paper can be fun. It can become something else during the plane trip - like crumpled up and put on the tray, it can become a house for a small stuffed animal, or a bed, with blankets. You could use it to cover an item and then have the child feel under the paper to tell you what the item is.