Flying with a 20 month old.. eek

[noodles3]

Help needed in this area..

We've only ever taken our son to Switzerland when he was 9 months old, so he slept all of the way there and back.

This is a whole new ball game!

Does anybody have any good ideas for toys/games to bring to 'try' and keep our little man as least partly engaged during the 12 hours to Singapore and then from Singapore to Auckland??

Any ideas are welcomed!

[JaniceW]

Is he into DVDs like Barney or something? We bought a portable DVD player for our car a while back and it has been a lifesaver for long road trips. Straps onto the back head rest. Will be taking it on the plane most definitely. They're not too expensive and can be hooked up to a normal TV in our little one's bedroom. Just make sure when you purchase - ours is a Panasonic. Otherwise can only think of crayons, books etc. And maybe a drug of some sorts

[KatieBen]

We flew back from our recce trip with an 18 month old, then emigrated here with him aged 3 and his 18 month old brother

Tips for journey survival:
1) Try and get a bassinet seat. He'll be too big to fit into it but there is slightly more legroom at the bulkheads and if he's an exploring type, you can barricade off the ends of the row and give him some space on the floor.
2) Small lap toys - puzzles, board books, colouring, stickers (my mother in law gave us a crayola sticker activity set which was a godsend while waiting for takeoff!) which can be done in rotation so as to avoid boredom.
3) Cartoons if he is into them although ours wasn't. A bit of distraction with the Go Show can help if yours is getting into TV - at 20 months he may well be. You could always try and get him interested in it now! Playing with the seat, the traytable, the lights - all help pass the time.
4) Snack bag. Boxes of raisins, small crackers, chocolate buttons, chopped up bits of apple - you'll be able to bring the bag right through but will have to throw whatever's left on arrival in NZ.
5) Presents! I don't know a single toddler that doesn't like presents. Wrap up lots of little parcels (not buying new here, wrap up little things he already has!) and dribble them out during the flight. If you can, wrap some back up again so you can dribble them out again during the next flight!
6) If there are 2 of you, it helps to have one parent in sole charge of child for a set period of time (say, 3-4h). This gives the other one a break, time to watch a movie, recharge - and then be able to take over completely so the first parent gets some time off.
7) Takeoff and landing - give him a drink of something during both, so he is swallowing during the rapid changes in altitude. Helps equalise the pressures along the ear canal - otherwise it can hurt and then he'll scream.
8) Move around! Walk up and down between rows of seats, play peek-a-boo with the cabin crew in the kitchens, go sit at the back of the plane near the rear emergency door (there's a ledge to sit on and a window to look out of).
9) Try and get him to associate a blanket with snuggling and sleep before you go, then at stages on the flight (when he's exhausted) wrap him in it, cuddle him and try and get him to sleep for a few hours. He should sleep for some of it which gives you both a break.
10) Ignore tuts, loud expressions of disapproval etc from the other passengers if he's irritable. They were kids once and it's a long way for a child to behave. Their irritation isn't going to help you or him and you're not going to be able to get off the plane half way so sod them Don't go out of your way to annoy them but equally that passive aggressive "how dare they travel with children" attitude really annoys me so I ignore it.

There were lots of kids when we came out both times and honestly I think they were all fine. Try and enjoy it! Use the cabin crew as much as you need to, they're there to help and they are generally extra helpful if you're travelling with children.

Oh and during the break between flights, let him run around and exhaust himself as much as possible, then he might sleep on the second one

[kiwidoc]

Hi!

We flew to NZ with our 3 yr old daughter last year - We flew Vienna-Seoul Seoul-Auckland. Our flights left in the evening so she slept right through the first flight (10 of 12 hrs) - then we chased her around in seoul and got her really tired and she slept 8 of the remaining 11...

It is a great age to be fascinated about everything - they ask a thousand questions about planes and everything. It might help to show him pics or a book now and then take him along the acutal plane showing him all the stuff he knows from his book. Our daughter loved that. (Also it spared me the embarrassment of having to say "a big grey thing" when asked about a million "what is that and what does it do" questions)

This time we are flying out of LHR and the flight leaves in the evening also - so if you guys are flying out in the evening you can rely on the bio-clock a little bit ;-)

We were also really lucky because there was this 5 yr old girl right behind us who thought our daughter was the cutest - they played peek-a-boo a lot.

@ KatieBen you are definitely a total professional about flying with children!!


We'll be flying with our now almost 5 yr old and her slightly obese baby brother...

[Mamee & Co]

OUrs were a bit older when we flew (8) but if you are flying Singapore Airlines, through Singapore the staff on the plane and the ground are really good. SIA does really simple things like ensuring the kids have their blankets and pillows and best of all, when it comes to food, they feed the children first...so that children are not seeing food parcelled out to adults rows in front of them and then having to wait. They also get a choice (if child meals have not been booked) before any adult so they definitely get what they want.

On both flights the crew also gave them a small toy/activity set. It wasn't much but took a couple of minutes out of the equation. Even at 8 mine slept a good 7 hours in LHR - SIN (wasn't as lucky on the SIN _CHC leg though a few days later!) Even the seat back entertainment can take a few minutes of play!

[bluesky]

SIA are exceptional with kids, so hope it's them you're flying with. We found it got slightly embarrassing the amount the cabin crew wanted to help us, and we almost got to the stage of making up tasks for them to do for us! Also, all those things that can be potential pitfalls when flying with young kids and often don't seem to go quite right like getting the bassinet you've booked, or being able to take your buggy to the door of the plane etc all worked absolutely flawlessly.

Unless there's a particular DVD your little traveller HAS to have, I'd just rely on the in-flight entertainment. Almost all airlines (certainly SIA and Air NZ) have seat back TVs with tons of channels on-demand including kids stuff. The great thing about flying with kids is that no matter what happens, it definitely won't be nearly as bad as you're imagining! Out of eight long haul flights we've done with kids under 5, we only had one that didn't go well.

[KatieBen]

And maybe a drug of some sorts

Not sure if this comment was meant seriously but I would strongly discourage the use of medication purely to make a child sleep during a flight. Some people recommend an older antihistamine like phenergan as this has sedation as a side effect; however there are other effects which can happen including depression of breathing. Some children have a paradoxical reaction to meds which means instead of sleeping or being very chilled/relaxed, they go absolutely hyper and manic - not what you want at 30.000 feet!

At the end of the day, it's only 28h - every 30 mins that goes by is half an hour less that you've got through. You will get to the other end and the flight will be over eventually!

[sophiedb]

Some children have a paradoxical reaction to meds which means instead of sleeping or being very chilled/relaxed, they go absolutely hyper and manic - not what you want at 30.000 feet!

Yes, I recently heard of a family who belatedly discovered that their 3yo became absolutely hyper when given phenergan(sp?) - bit of a nightmare considering that they were banking on it making him dozy, and didn't have many back-up pressies etc.

We're going to try many of the tactics on this thread too, whenever we go. Thank you!

[noodles3]

Thank you all so very much for your input into this thread.

It is very helpful to read your experiences/advice because, as you can imagine, my wife and I are both wondering what an earth we are going to do with him for 13 hrs + 12 hrs.

We are flying with SIN and are fortunate to be stopping in Singapore for a few days to break-up the journey a bit, and both of the flights are in the evening and so getting towards his usual bedtime, which I hope will help.

Whilst there will be a million and one things to keep him awake I am hoping that once in the air and after the initial rush of excitement he will wear himself out and sleep for a few hours (the keyword here is 'hoping').

We've brought him a little DVD player off Amazon and a few DVD's like Rory the Racing Car etc, together with a few sticker books, so we hope that will keep him amused for some of the time, although his attention span is that of a nat, so we'll see how that goes

In terms of Meds, I've read conflicting views on this and your points are very well made KatieBen.

We too have read horror stories of kids going into hyperdrive on long haul flights after taking Antihistamine solutions. A situation we certainly don't want to get into, especially as he's so active anyway!

Thanks again for your help with this and a thread which I am going to print for reference

[tigerlily]

Don't worry too much about it! The flight attendants are usually very attentive to children and it helps to have them on your side.

We did a lot of travel with our twins before we moved here (they were 4 when we came) and I found that kids are excited at first by the plane, but then they tend to sleep.

My favorite distraction toy was one I made out of pieces of colored felt- I just cut out lots of shapes and put them in a zip lock baggie. Then I put a piece of black felt (with a sticky backing- from the craft store) on the back of an old picture book. Felt can't be thrown far and won't roll away under seats. Lots of people suggest having new toys- I agree. But an old comforting toy is also needed.

AirNZ has little kid friendly inflight entertainment- Wiggles, etc.

This site has some good tips:
http://www.twinslist.org/flyAir.htm

Saline nasal spray can help with the dry air that tends to make little noses stuffy. Drugs weren't something we ever tried.

Do you have a backpack carrier? I swore by them for hands-free passage through the airport and right onto the plane. But by 20 months you might be too big for that. I guess you'll be getting them tired by running!

In general kids are more comfortable on the flight because they can wiggle around in their seat and get into different positions that we can't because we are too big. You'll be excited about this move, so kids naturally pick up on that excitement too. Take photos and celebrate your success!!