12 hours flight with a 17 month old - any tips from BTDT?

[Anonymous]

It is pretty much a spin off the other thread (airplane with a 2.5y old), but although the tips there are good I don't think they apply much to a 17m old. It is almost 1y of difference and my toddler doesn't color for instance (he puts everything in his mouth, so crayons are out of question for now...).

Anyhow, any tips to dealing with a rambunctious, "talkative", loud, very social and easy going toddler? Very easy going, but CAN NOT STOP QUIET... It is an overnight flight and last year when he was 5m old he slept during the whole flight, and although he is a great sleeper I am afraid this time because he is aware of his surroundings and can get overexcited. Should I give some benadryl? Or tylenol? Which one works better?

[Anonymous]

When my son was 16 months we took him on a trip to Asia that included in one day a 5 hour flight, then a 14 hour flight and another 2 hour flight...what a trip! Benedryl will work better for sleeping. Give it a dry run at home before you use it on the flight because it makes some children wired instead of sleepy and you don't want to discover that on the flight. I believe Dr. Sears has a guide to dosage for that age. We brought a lot of food, a lot of board books, some play dough, and some little toys like cars, etc, that he hadn't seen before. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I just did 7 and then 8.5 hours two weeks later with a 16 mo old. Do you have a seat for DC? We did and that makes a huge difference. iPad also kept him busy for short periods, but make sure you have a padded case, as it will get flung around just like all other toys. We just kept handing him new things to look at - magazines to shred, giant plastic easter eggs to open and hide small toys in, dad's watch, etc. We tried the seat-back video screen but DS doesn't really watch videos yet. When the seatbelt light was off, we sometimes let him stand in his seat and look over the seatbacks.
I wasn't comfortable with drugging DS to knock him out, but I was glad I had ibuprofen on board - DS has been teething and he woke up halfway through the return flight very, very uncomfortable.

[Anonymous]

Stickers, books (especially lift the flap and touch the feel books). Small toys. Bring a couple DVDs and a DVD player or laptop as a backup (bring something like Elmo's World and Signing Time).

Have him run and play before the flight. Bring his carseat - he'll be more comfortable sitting and sleeping in it, plus it will be more familiar. Bring any loveys/pacifiers that he normally sleeps with, snacks, and drinks.

I'm not comfortable with drugging kids either - but you could bring it as a backup. If you do, test it first to make sure there are no adverse reactions (like hyperactivity).

[Anonymous]

Agree w/ pp. Bring his carseat! Worked great for my ds...eliminated a lot of fidgeting w/ the seatbelt buckles.

Not sure if this was mentioned previously, but we bought
a cute (little) backpack and stuffed it with a TON of little wrapped presents (dollar store cars/trucks/etc...). We didn't show him the backpack we were desperate for a new activity. It took a lot of preparation, but my son LOVED opening the wrapping paper to find little mini gifts...we even re-wrapped some old toys, but those weren't as much of a hit as the new stuff.

Also, sticker books are great...my son loved putting them on the tray table (we let him and cleaned it up later), and also loved lifting the window shade up and down -- over and over, so that was a good distraction. Just bring some wipes and hand sanitizer to clean it before he starts touching everything.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

is it serious???? DR Sears encourages drugging children for trips???

[Anonymous]

I believe bringing a car seat depends on your child. Our child disliked his and rarely slept in it, even in the car. It takes up a lot of space on the plane, he needed to wiggle and move and since he wouldn't sleep in it anyway there was little point of feeling confined to an even smaller space for such a long flight. It also allowed our DS to lay down in our laps to sleep. Move around, switch seats to occupy the time.

There will be some sleep but it is a long flight. Benedryl didn't work well for our son - try it before you leave. He disliked the taste that if we wanted to give it on the plane it would have taken two of us to administer it. Movies - we loaded up the iphone and used headphones. My husband also brought his laptop with an extended battery. We had plenty of tv shows, movies, educational stuff for him to do. Of course that only worked in short blocks of time. Basically we discovered you needed a lot of things for a short attention span. I had such a heavy backpack full of sticker books etc that he never touched. I did not bring those on the return flight. Our son was into trains and construction equipement - we purchased a lot of little cheap toys and brought those with us. They were a live saver for the airports and tray tables. We had books to read, snacks to eat, movies to watch and some sleeping. To be honest the excitement of the trip carried us over to our destination. It was the return trip you really have to plan for. I didn't have as much time to prepare, couldn't hide away things to surprise him and since it was a daytime flight for the 12 hour leg he was up most of it. When we reached LA he was just getting sleepy but was SO wired that he was almost bouncing off the walls. I had no time to prep snacks for the trip. No special toys to pull out and we all just wanted to get home. In hindsight, I would consider spending the night at a hotel near the airport and then take the final leg home the next day. We generally like just getting home and pushing through. But that 5 hours from LA was AWFUL. I was exhauted, DS was a nightmare.

Strangly things like post it notes and rolls of colored tape really captured his attention. It was easy to clean up. He actually enjoyed a lot of the aspects of traveling - seeing the planes, bagage carts, gas trucks etc. That kept him interested in the airports. We walked the aisles as much as we could. Taking turns. If he has a favorite stuffed animal or blanket bring it along. Ours was really into puppets at the time so we brought finger puppets and a few larger one. Putting on silly puppet shows was entertaining for everyone! He was also into stacking cups and blocks. We even had a few inflatable balls. Not for the ball but in the airports, and at our destination. Quick and easy way to help him get the wiggles out. Don't forget back up clothes for you and him. DS spill apple juice on me and him in the first hour of the trip. With 13 hours to go I was glad I could wear something clean for the rest of the trip.

I would observe what he likes at home and think about bring smaller or travel size versions. DS also really liked those plastic alphabet attachable chains. Hours of fun, connecting, pulling apart, putting it together again. No big deal if you lost a few along the way.

[Anonymous]

We downloaded DS's favorite videos to our iPad (the Wiggles, Sesame street stuff). It was less bulky than the laptop we previously used and DS loved being able to hold it himself, and start/stop the different videos with the touch screen.

[Anonymous]

I did a 30 hour itinerary with my kid at 13 months and a 8 hour trans-Atlantic with him at 17 months.

If it's overnight, try to do as much of your bedtime routine as possible at the normal times/on the flight. Our flight took off at 6pm, so we had dinner on the plane then changed into jammies and did a diaper change (I think we skipped brushing teeth that night tho!). Then we read books and he fell asleep. Then he spent all night cutting a tooth . Fun times.

The trip back was a daytime trip, and I think we got at least one nap in (maybe two?). I find that he naps a little longer and more easily on the plane, what with the white noise and the gentle rocking. I load books on to my iphone to read while he's napping--make sure you have something for yourself to do if you get stuck with a napping kid in your lap.

I love the "wrapped" toys idea! We brought a ton of snacks, including new snacks he had not had before. Books are a big hit with him, and on this flight he was able to use the headphones for the first time to listen to music. I let him walk the aisles a lot, and we also hung out in the galley at the back of the plane--and found another toddler doing the same thing.

If you are worried about noise, I find the noise of the plane drowns out just general chatter (screaming not so much tho). If he went into full meltdown mode, we'd take him off for a walk.

The other thing that's been very helpful for us is to book seats where nobody else is sitting next to us--try to find a row with only 2 seats in it.

[Anonymous]

Benadryl. Obviously, try it before to see how he responds, but if it works, do not feel bad drugging your kid. You will start your trip with everyone in the family refreshed and not frazzled/irritated from being stuck on a plane with your screaming/rambunctious DC.

[Anonymous]

I suggest going to the dollar store and a small toy store (they carry travel toys)
We've done MANY 20+ hour plane trips (2-3 legs each way) with our son who cannot sit still. At 4 yrs old, it's much better but he has an unusually short attention span so it's still tough.

What I do is make up large ziploc bags for each leg. Nobody may tough a bag that is meant for the next leg or I will pummel them. We use things from previous legs but never for future legs. I put foam shapes (with the peel off back. You'll have to peel it but kids like the ones with the large shapes) We now do glue sticks and shapes we precut before the flight but that might not work for you yet. Play do in the tiny containers works well too. Another good item is a slinky (not the plastic ones though). They have mini slinkies that are easy to travel with.
Stamps also work well so you might want to find a mini stamp set. Glow sticks have small parts but if that isn't a concern, kids love them when it gets dark. I really bought a lot of stuff for $15 and it was well worth it. I spent another $15 at a toy boutique but new toys are key (no peeking before the flight)