joolsnbump
I am taking my 20 month old daughter on holiday to USA next month and it will be a 7 hour flight from London Heathrow to Boston Logan Airport. Obviously since she is under 2 she will be sitting on my knee the whole time. Does anybody have any ideas on things to keep her occupied for the flight as it is a long time for her to be sat still. Also, we have to be at the airport at 4.30 am so what is the best thing to do? Put her in bed in light clothing and try keep her alseep for the journey to airport or still put her pjs on and get her up as normal?
Answer
Traveling will exhausting enough even w/o baby, so by all means let her sleep through as much of it as possible.
I'm not psychic, but I'll bet I can speak collectively for all passengers on board that they'd prefer sleeping child in comfy P.J.'s to a well dressed crying & fussy child.
When ever she wakes up, you can keep her BZ by pointing out new things around her at airport & while on jet. Show her the light, the air flow nozzle, the window. Describe how you are up in the sky where the birds fly. Lots of new & learning conversation.
Meal service will be another distraction and time to keep her BZ.
Bring favorite books & a new brightly colored book. Read with expression & animation. This may be a bit intrusive to other's ears, but again, much better than crying. After mel & stories, take her for a walk to bathroom. Hold her hand & let this be a slow process. She should be interested in every person she passes. Let her be. It's more exciting for her & walk gives her some activity. If aisle is crowded, pick her up & step back into seat area to let others pass. Do not shorten walk. the purpose is for her activity. Go to bathroom. Show her all the features. Be amazed that water comes from faucet. Let her see toilet flush. Give her a tissue to hold. Proceed back to seat just as slowly. (If you're close to bathroom, make trip to other end of jet & then back to bathroom and seat.)
When returned to seat. Can play, "Where's Mommy's nose? Where's your nose? Touch my ear, touch your ear. Touch something pink. Show me a bunny (if on her PJ's)..." Then feign tired with some yawns. Ask her to help put you to sleep. (Rub Mommy's face. Pat my neck...) Maybe you can get her into one more nap B4 landing. If she fidgets, talk about each person she saw on her "walk." Inform how everyone was quiet. (He was reading his book very quiet. She was playing on her computer very quiet. No one was mad at the lady who was knitting very quietly. You are being very quiet & everybody likes your good behavior...)
Have a doll that she can dress & undress, tie shoe, put barrette in hair. Help her get dolly ready for deplaning.
Other toys without noise as back up.
Keep talking to her while awake. If she fusses to do something not appropriate, explain why it's not a good idea now and quickly distract with what she CAN do. ("No we can not take another walk b/c it's somebody else's turn, but you can help dolly get her new dress on for when we get off of the plane. Where did mommy put her dress?" -- Let her look through travel bag.)
If awake for landing, get her excited to watch & feel things as plane comes down from sky like a bird does, "Let's see how it's different on a plane!" Talk her through it. Talk about things you will get to do when off of the plane. ("We will have to find our luggage. There is a big circle that moves. Will you help mommy find our bags on the moving circle?") Again, step by step. All details. Keeps her expectations up. She'll know what to expect. She may have her own questions that will add to keeping her entertained.
Ask her questions to keep her mind working on solution instead of her restricted movement. ("What was the color of our bags? How many did we bring? Do you think it will be cold when we get off of the plane? What else does dolly need to be ready to go?") Note: She does not need to know answer to the questions. It's all about keeping her mind BZ. Wears you out, but worth it to keep child happy & other passengers comfortable for such a long trip.
I did this ONCE with 10 month old. Even though she could not speak, she could understand words & they seemed to keep her mind BZ. But that was one, mentally exhausting trip for me.
Traveling will exhausting enough even w/o baby, so by all means let her sleep through as much of it as possible.
I'm not psychic, but I'll bet I can speak collectively for all passengers on board that they'd prefer sleeping child in comfy P.J.'s to a well dressed crying & fussy child.
When ever she wakes up, you can keep her BZ by pointing out new things around her at airport & while on jet. Show her the light, the air flow nozzle, the window. Describe how you are up in the sky where the birds fly. Lots of new & learning conversation.
Meal service will be another distraction and time to keep her BZ.
Bring favorite books & a new brightly colored book. Read with expression & animation. This may be a bit intrusive to other's ears, but again, much better than crying. After mel & stories, take her for a walk to bathroom. Hold her hand & let this be a slow process. She should be interested in every person she passes. Let her be. It's more exciting for her & walk gives her some activity. If aisle is crowded, pick her up & step back into seat area to let others pass. Do not shorten walk. the purpose is for her activity. Go to bathroom. Show her all the features. Be amazed that water comes from faucet. Let her see toilet flush. Give her a tissue to hold. Proceed back to seat just as slowly. (If you're close to bathroom, make trip to other end of jet & then back to bathroom and seat.)
When returned to seat. Can play, "Where's Mommy's nose? Where's your nose? Touch my ear, touch your ear. Touch something pink. Show me a bunny (if on her PJ's)..." Then feign tired with some yawns. Ask her to help put you to sleep. (Rub Mommy's face. Pat my neck...) Maybe you can get her into one more nap B4 landing. If she fidgets, talk about each person she saw on her "walk." Inform how everyone was quiet. (He was reading his book very quiet. She was playing on her computer very quiet. No one was mad at the lady who was knitting very quietly. You are being very quiet & everybody likes your good behavior...)
Have a doll that she can dress & undress, tie shoe, put barrette in hair. Help her get dolly ready for deplaning.
Other toys without noise as back up.
Keep talking to her while awake. If she fusses to do something not appropriate, explain why it's not a good idea now and quickly distract with what she CAN do. ("No we can not take another walk b/c it's somebody else's turn, but you can help dolly get her new dress on for when we get off of the plane. Where did mommy put her dress?" -- Let her look through travel bag.)
If awake for landing, get her excited to watch & feel things as plane comes down from sky like a bird does, "Let's see how it's different on a plane!" Talk her through it. Talk about things you will get to do when off of the plane. ("We will have to find our luggage. There is a big circle that moves. Will you help mommy find our bags on the moving circle?") Again, step by step. All details. Keeps her expectations up. She'll know what to expect. She may have her own questions that will add to keeping her entertained.
Ask her questions to keep her mind working on solution instead of her restricted movement. ("What was the color of our bags? How many did we bring? Do you think it will be cold when we get off of the plane? What else does dolly need to be ready to go?") Note: She does not need to know answer to the questions. It's all about keeping her mind BZ. Wears you out, but worth it to keep child happy & other passengers comfortable for such a long trip.
I did this ONCE with 10 month old. Even though she could not speak, she could understand words & they seemed to keep her mind BZ. But that was one, mentally exhausting trip for me.
Has anyone got any advice on travelling with a baby(4 mths) and a toddler(2 yrs)?
rae
I am due to fly from Australia to the U.k soon. Does anyone know of any websites or have any hints how to make this flight as painless as possible, Very worried about flying too.
Answer
Toddler:
-get her in a good hype about the journey. make sure that she is informed of all the things which will happen on the way, so that she is not frightened by anyhting unexpected.
-let her take her own little bag with her favorite toy, her pacifiers, her books, her crayons etc
-do not change her sleep schedule to fit around the journey. it is mor elikely to backfire and leave you with a cranky, irritable child.
-take - separately -
*a sippy cup for water. juice may give her a sugar high and causes terribly sticky spills
*spare pacifiers
*2 security blankets or whatever she uses, if any
*little notebook for scribbling
*spare clothes
*wipes for hands and faces
* sugar and stick free snacks - carrot sticks, pretzels, cucumbers. make sure you take some of the favorites for comfort and some new ones to relieve boredom
*diapers (if she is toilet trained, you might want to put herin diapaers for the journey)
-let her run around the terminal as much as possible so that she is not fed up of sitting. board the plane last, even thought the stewards will encourage you to board first.
-use a stroller to get around and for luggage etc
baby
-keep to her sleep schedule
-request and confrim a basinet and dont let them make you board the plane if you dont have one. we once were told that they could not give us one even though we confirmed it and we refused to board. believe me, they found us one fast
-take a blanket for the bassinet. the ones they give are rough and too large. it will come in handy for the cold airport terminal
-take bottles of sterile water (if bottle feeding) and small bags with pre-measured formula. take at least 2 more than you reckon you will need
-take a sling or baby pouch for the airport so you can keep your hands free. it is also useful for the plane if the baby wont settle in the bassinet
-you can always ask for hot water on the plane to heat the bottle. just pour it into the bottle before you add formula, shake and test, and then add formula
-remember to take diapers and wipes
general
-pack hand luggage in a bag with a lot of pockets so you can keep it all neat and handy. if you find the time every so often, neaten the bag so that it is all handy for those times when both kids need something fast
-take your money and passports in a small fanny pack for ease of use and to avoid you needing to take all the luggage into the toilets...
-take a bottle of water for yourself so that you dont need to go find drinks. make sure that you are well rested and hydrated before the flight
-ignore other passengers when they stare at you when you kids is crying or whatever - you will never see them again :)
good luck!
Toddler:
-get her in a good hype about the journey. make sure that she is informed of all the things which will happen on the way, so that she is not frightened by anyhting unexpected.
-let her take her own little bag with her favorite toy, her pacifiers, her books, her crayons etc
-do not change her sleep schedule to fit around the journey. it is mor elikely to backfire and leave you with a cranky, irritable child.
-take - separately -
*a sippy cup for water. juice may give her a sugar high and causes terribly sticky spills
*spare pacifiers
*2 security blankets or whatever she uses, if any
*little notebook for scribbling
*spare clothes
*wipes for hands and faces
* sugar and stick free snacks - carrot sticks, pretzels, cucumbers. make sure you take some of the favorites for comfort and some new ones to relieve boredom
*diapers (if she is toilet trained, you might want to put herin diapaers for the journey)
-let her run around the terminal as much as possible so that she is not fed up of sitting. board the plane last, even thought the stewards will encourage you to board first.
-use a stroller to get around and for luggage etc
baby
-keep to her sleep schedule
-request and confrim a basinet and dont let them make you board the plane if you dont have one. we once were told that they could not give us one even though we confirmed it and we refused to board. believe me, they found us one fast
-take a blanket for the bassinet. the ones they give are rough and too large. it will come in handy for the cold airport terminal
-take bottles of sterile water (if bottle feeding) and small bags with pre-measured formula. take at least 2 more than you reckon you will need
-take a sling or baby pouch for the airport so you can keep your hands free. it is also useful for the plane if the baby wont settle in the bassinet
-you can always ask for hot water on the plane to heat the bottle. just pour it into the bottle before you add formula, shake and test, and then add formula
-remember to take diapers and wipes
general
-pack hand luggage in a bag with a lot of pockets so you can keep it all neat and handy. if you find the time every so often, neaten the bag so that it is all handy for those times when both kids need something fast
-take your money and passports in a small fanny pack for ease of use and to avoid you needing to take all the luggage into the toilets...
-take a bottle of water for yourself so that you dont need to go find drinks. make sure that you are well rested and hydrated before the flight
-ignore other passengers when they stare at you when you kids is crying or whatever - you will never see them again :)
good luck!
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