18 hr flight with toddler

[momma]

I'm flying to NY this week with my 2.5 year old. Please give me your best tips to keep her happy. I am terrified!

[toddlerflyer]

We recently flew from Spore to Portland OR.  The greatest aid was a portable DVD player.  We packed lots of Barney videos, and that kept him quite occupied during the flight.

[barneyno]

most expat kids watch, decent kids dvd like thomas the tank engine....not americans...make there kids watch barney and then we wonder why the everage american is stupid

[variety]

My toddler will not sleep on flights so I always have a loooooooonnnnnggg time to fill!  Things that I do.......
- Kids channels on flight will help for a little while.
- Take same favourite snacks as meals are not always at times they want to snack and don't always like what they get.
- Airline activity packs not always good )or available) so I take a notebook/exercise book and crayons and stickers or a sticker book (always amazed how many hours we can fill by sticking small stickers on things.
- Also buy a couple of new books that will entertain for a while - for our trip next week I have a new Maisy lift-flap book and a book with a variety of animal magnets that stick to the pages & make your own pictures etc (both from Bookaburra - magnet book was on sale)
- Take a favourite story book (light one!)
- Don't forget to take on board whatever they sleep with - teddy etc & a change of clothes in case of accidents (food/drink/vomit) and a light top for yourself.  We learnt the hard way when our toddler threw up on both of us and we had nothing to change into (she had never been sick on a flight before but we will be prepared if it happens again!)
- Plenty of nappies/undies and wipes
- For the previous sickness reason I also take some panadol on board with me in case she gets sick & if she has been snuffly I take a cold medicine in case it flares up so her nose can clear for takeoff/landing.  Other people I know swear by phenergen or other drowsy-type medications but I don't like to dose her with stuff unless she is actually showing some symptoms.
- All the above sounds like a lot but fits in a small roll-on case.  

Don't worry too much as the worst part is usually the worry leading-up to the flight!  At least being over 2 you will have a seat for them which helps enormously & if the worst happens well it is only 18 hours out of your life and you will probably never see any of the other people on the flight again!  

Good luck!

[beg]

borrow, buy or steal a portable dvd player and take along some of her fave dvds. get an extra battery so you should have approx 8 hours of viewing time. unlikely you'd need that much but useful to have if you have delays on route. was a godsend for us. inflight entertainment wasn't suitable for our 2.5 yr old.

when he wasn't watching a dvd, my son was sleeping/eating/walking up and down the plane/reading/drawing. it was a remarkably pleasant flight although i had been dreading it!

but we only had 14 hours to contend with! All the best...

[momma]

thanks so much for the quick replies. We've got the portable DVD and some surprises wrapped up as gifts. Now i'm working on the new books and stickers...

[Beware Complainers]

Have also done Sing to NY several times with toddler - not too bad - we take his car seat & he usually sleeps most of the time!

Will say, however, that when we used the DVD player somebody complained & we were asked to turn it off!!!!  Headphones in use everything - apparently Elmo was too bright & disturbing them!!!!!!

How they think a screaming 18 month old is any less disturbing, I don't know.

Good luck - I'm sure you will be fine!

[Don't worry]

I have done this flight several times too.  Don't worry, you will be fine.  Personally, I wouldn't take the advice of 'variety'.  No wonder the 2 year old doesn't sleep with all that to entertain her.  The kids channels on the long haul flights have plenty to entertain, and hopefully they get so bored, they sleep.  Afterall, your 2 year old wouldn't be awake for 18 hours if at home.  The secret is to try to make it as normal as possible as to what they would be doing at that time if they were at home.  Good luck, but it is less than a day in your life.  Don't worry so much.