Another toddler travel amusement question

[Anonymous]

DD is 2.5 and we are travelling overseas with her late this week. We’ve made the trip several times, but I’m concerned this time as she is very a physically “busy” person and going through the normal age 2 preferences, etc.

Our trip involves a regional flight and the overseas flight, as well as car travel on one end. While on the trip, we do have some longer stretches in the car. There are also days when we are visiting that are not necessarily child friendly, so I need some stuff to pull out if she starts to get edgy. We will also be having a lot of meals out. We know that a few have playgrounds, but there are a few family events out she’s going to have to sit through.

In general, she’s a pretty good traveller, but we’ve had delays and other things happen that are on my radar. We’ve tried to head off some of it by booking the one overseas flight late at night, so she should sleep a good chunk of it. Unfortunately, coming home we weren’t as lucky.

So far, for amusement, I’ve packed:

5 water wow books
Wikki Stix and Printed shape pages
Melissa and Doug resusable sticker book
Pipe cleaners with “beads” cut from colourful straws
Set of finger puppets
2 sets of small character figurines she can open daily
Some lightweight books
Crayons
Crayola colour wonder book with her favourite character
Floam
Bubbles
Ballons
Snacks

And, in case of emergency an iPad loaded with kids songs, Daniel Tiger, Wiggles, e books, and child friendly apps. (Oh, and child’s headphones)

Does anyone have any other suggestions? DH is thinking this is too much, but he also isn’t the one amusing her for hours on end. We’ll take every opportunity to “run” her, but there are still going to be long days for her.

I do have some other M&D sticker pads, but they’re big and not really size friendly.

[Anonymous]

I just traveled with a very active 2.5 year old. One thing that helped was having him out of the stroller as much as possible in the airport and during car stops. I walked him through the airport and kept him busy so he would get some energy out. For toys, I initially split them and all the snacks into two equal backpacks for me and DH but it ended up dH did nothing but sleep and tell DS he needed to be quiet.

So for the trip back I packed little series of toys in separate pouches from the Dollar Store (like zipped cosmetic pouches) that I could hand to DS and he had fun just unpacking and repacking the toys at first. Also keep separate bags of different snacks. During the actual plane ride, we had DS in the car seat, but he liked standing up on the ground between the seat and row in front of us (sort of wedged in the leg space). He spent a lot of time standing there to stretch his legs and he LOvED clipping and unclipping my airplane seatbelt from that position.

Oh! He also loved those tiny fake plastic gemstone stickers. They come in sheets of like 200 at the Dollar Store and it took forever for him to unstick them one by one and put them in a notebook. That kept him quiet for a long time. And a set of fake cooking tools he loved, bizarrely. He mixed and mashed and cut his Teddy for a good while. So... basically just check out the Dollar Store if you haven’t!

[Anonymous]

we get a lot of mileage from the melissa and doug puffy sticker reusable activity books

i also have had good luck with rolls of washi tape for putting on the tray table on a plane (it's like masking tape and comes off cleanly and easily at the end).

My dd also likes endlessly feeding and putting to bed whichever stuffed animal is the favorite that day, so we bring a small blanket along for that purpose (we actually use a lightweight baby swaddle).

[Anonymous]

Your DH is right, that's a bit over the top. Half that stuff would still be plenty. At that age there was a lot of walking around to the back of the plane to look at stuff and distract them (9 hr flights). And iPad / learning pad with age appropriate games always pack melatonin to help them fall asleep at nap time. It's tiring, have your DH take turns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your DH is right, that's a bit over the top. Half that stuff would still be plenty. At that age there was a lot of walking around to the back of the plane to look at stuff and distract them (9 hr flights). And iPad / learning pad with age appropriate games always pack melatonin to help them fall asleep at nap time. It's tiring, have your DH take turns.

You advise drugs more than you advise activities? Really?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your DH is right, that's a bit over the top. Half that stuff would still be plenty. At that age there was a lot of walking around to the back of the plane to look at stuff and distract them (9 hr flights). And iPad / learning pad with age appropriate games always pack melatonin to help them fall asleep at nap time. It's tiring, have your DH take turns.

You advise drugs more than you advise activities? Really?

Yes, I am a terrible mother who drugs my kids instead of doing play dough and pipe cleaners.
Honestly now, melatonin is totally fine occasionally. It does NOT put them to sleep, just helps them a bit. What's your problem with it?

[Anonymous]

Here's the honest answer:

Use the iPad and headphones, and don't engage vocally with him too much. It's not the kid that's annoying to the other passengers, it's the grinding constant "mom voice" that pisses everyone off.

Don't feel that you have to be overly interactive with him to impress the other parents. Nobody gives a crap if he is on the iPad all flight as long as they don't have to hear you. Noise from the kid is expected...you, on the other hand, shouldn't be heard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your DH is right, that's a bit over the top. Half that stuff would still be plenty. At that age there was a lot of walking around to the back of the plane to look at stuff and distract them (9 hr flights). And iPad / learning pad with age appropriate games always pack melatonin to help them fall asleep at nap time. It's tiring, have your DH take turns.

You advise drugs more than you advise activities? Really?

Yes, I am a terrible mother who drugs my kids instead of doing play dough and pipe cleaners.
Honestly now, melatonin is totally fine occasionally. It does NOT put them to sleep, just helps them a bit. What's your problem with it?

I've never used melatonin for my kid on a flight (not against it though) but I'm also mindful of the other passengers. Activities can be loud and annoying. Passengers don't need to hear my voice while he's doing activities. Just pull out the iPad and call it a day!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your DH is right, that's a bit over the top. Half that stuff would still be plenty. At that age there was a lot of walking around to the back of the plane to look at stuff and distract them (9 hr flights). And iPad / learning pad with age appropriate games always pack melatonin to help them fall asleep at nap time. It's tiring, have your DH take turns.

You advise drugs more than you advise activities? Really?

Yes, I am a terrible mother who drugs my kids instead of doing play dough and pipe cleaners.
Honestly now, melatonin is totally fine occasionally. It does NOT put them to sleep, just helps them a bit. What's your problem with it?

Nothing at all wrong with some melatonin to help them calm down. It's not like you're giving it to them every day.

We've traveled a lot with DD and relied a lot on sticker books. We also relaxed all screen time restrictions (except when we wanted her to go to sleep, since it kept her up). We also gave almost constant snacks. Being on a plane with a toddler is all about surviving.

[Anonymous]

Uggg. I hate it when parents book overnight flights with kids. How selfish...you know the kid isn't going to sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uggg. I hate it when parents book overnight flights with kids. How selfish...you know the kid isn't going to sleep.

Depends on the kid. My kid was either asleep or semi-asleep for 95% of our overnight flight to London.

[Anonymous]

I hate the title of this thread. "Amusement" isn't the goal when travelling with a toddler on a long flight. The goal is peace and quiet and an iPad with headphones is the best solution. Turning your row into a playroom is a horrible idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uggg. I hate it when parents book overnight flights with kids. How selfish...you know the kid isn't going to sleep.

OP here.. actually, the MANY times we’ve done this exact same flight, she’s actually slept all but the first hour or two. I have no doubt she will sleep again, as we start our travel day at 9 in the morning and have a full day in the airport to tire her out. But hey, way to help me feel less stressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your DH is right, that's a bit over the top. Half that stuff would still be plenty. At that age there was a lot of walking around to the back of the plane to look at stuff and distract them (9 hr flights). And iPad / learning pad with age appropriate games always pack melatonin to help them fall asleep at nap time. It's tiring, have your DH take turns.

You advise drugs more than you advise activities? Really?

Yes, I am a terrible mother who drugs my kids instead of doing play dough and pipe cleaners.
Honestly now, melatonin is totally fine occasionally. It does NOT put them to sleep, just helps them a bit. What's your problem with it?

Nothing at all wrong with some melatonin to help them calm down. It's not like you're giving it to them every day.

We've traveled a lot with DD and relied a lot on sticker books. We also relaxed all screen time restrictions (except when we wanted her to go to sleep, since it kept her up). We also gave almost constant snacks. Being on a plane with a toddler is all about surviving.

I'm the melatonin poster. I agree it's about surviving. My kids can go into full tantrums as they get tired and are fighting sleep. It's a nightmare situation on a plane as nothing will sooth them (overtired). The high point was when I was flying back alone with a baby and a toddler. All was well until I had to go change the baby poop diaper and my 2 year old was having the worst tantrum. I literally had to drag him on the floor to walk down the aile to the bathroom. Most embarrassing moment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uggg. I hate it when parents book overnight flights with kids. How selfish...you know the kid isn't going to sleep.

Do you have kids? I mean, are you speaking from experience? Once the kids are sleep they usually get a nice long stretch.