How to entertain lap baby?
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Anonymous
| We're going to hold our 10 month old on our lap during our upcoming flight to portland (Maine). Any tips on how to entertain our very antsy and active kid? It's just a 90 minute flight...but that might seem like an eternity if he gets difficult during the flight... We'll bring his favorite books, toys and snacks. We're looking for other tips as to what we can do for him? Are there apps that we can download on an iPad for him? Any gear we should buy? We'll of course try to help him take a nap - but that may or may not happen.... Also please spare us the safety talk. We considered buying him his own seat but for various reasons decided not to. |
Anonymous
| iPad app? Seriously? You can figure out to take care of your kid for 90 minutes without having to out a screen in front of him. |
Anonymous
| Read books to him. Sing songs, softly. Snacks -- especially novel foods he's never tried before. Also, a snack trap, if you think he can manage that. Point to things out the window. And yes, there are a bunch of baby apps you can get. Things with dancing animals and the like. |
Anonymous
| I wrapped my kid's toys in different colors of tissue paper. It was cheap, it took up time, and she loved seeing things she loved. We don't give the kids an iPad on planes. |
Anonymous
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f OP wants to give her kid an iPad, then she has every right to. I think on airplanes, iPads are fair game and we limit screen time to 15-20 minutes on weekends only for my two year old.
OP, these might be too old for your child, but here are some apps we've used in the past: Peekaboo Barn, Endless ABC, Elmo ABC, Fisher Price learning apps (they have a variety of apps for different age ranges), and episodes of Daniel Tiger, Sesame Street, and Elmo's World. Also try stickers and lots of books. |
Anonymous
| Op here - thanks for the quick and useful tips! The tissue paper trick sounds good to try. And thank you to the PP who listed the apps. I totally agree that on flights it's all fair game. We also don't give our kid any tv or iPad time at home - but I think you do whatever you need to on a flight - even a short one! |
Anonymous
At that age, flipping through photos on the phone/ipad is almost as good as any app 
Also, the plastic airline drink cups are a great toy, and puff/cheerio type snacks can take up a lot of time when picked up one by one. Also, ripping pages out of the inflight magazines. Babies are quite fascinated by the crinkling, ripping, and 'i did that' moment! |
Anonymous
And why not? As far as I am concerned, as long as they are happy and not screaming its the lesser of all evils. |
Anonymous
| My 7 m/o was pretty entertained by all the people around us, but I also had a few toys, plastic cups, her favorite book of baby faces and boobs at the ready to nurse. |
Anonymous
Agree. Loud Crow has Boynton and Beatrix Potter books. There are apps for spin art that would probably entertain your kid too. |
Anonymous
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I thought entertainment on planes at that age was pretty easy. We once entertained DD for 30 minutes with the barf bag by making it into a puppet. Hotel shower caps also can be quite entertaining. In general, I'd recommend books, Post-It notes/tape flags (you can peel them off of things), and another two or three small, noiseless toys that they like. You can wrap things, put them in boxes, or put them in Ziplock bags. Any of those things make for their own fun treat.
At 12 months, we got DD a special monkey backpack that is only for airplanes and only can be opened once we're on the plane. It is full of "surprises," by whoh I mean cheap, rand things that we can lose and not worry about (stickers, post-it notes, pipe cleaners, cheap sticker books, a notepad, paperback picture books, crayons from restaurants, etc.). DD is three now and sees planes mostly as a way to watch more TV than we ever allow (30-60 minutes/week unless she does something to lose the privilege, which she often does,), but she still loves the backpack and usually uses it for some portion of the flight. |
Anonymous
| I posted this before but at around that age I bought my kid some cheapo glasses at TJ Maxx and he spent a lot of time folding and unfolding them. Bonus with this activity is that it is quiet and doesn't take up much space. |
Anonymous
| Talk to him/her, play peek a boo and this little piggy, read books |
Anonymous
| Buy the seat. You won't regret it, and it is much safer. He will likely sleep allowing you to indulge in a book or movie. |
Anonymous
| snacks |