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.
flying with toddlers
jennifer m
has anybody travelled with under 2 child on a lap seat?
Answer
We've done three plane trips, one at 4 months, one at 12 months, and just got back from one at 21 months. They were all relatively short, and they all went really well, but I think after this we're going to have to get her her own seat (I know we're required to at 2 years). The earliest flight was by far the easiest, she just slept the whole way both ways, but they've all gone much easier than I feared.
I think you have to judge based on your kid. If your kid is a very restless one who loves to run around, it can be very difficult, because those plane seats don't give you a lot of room. But if you know your kid will sit with you and read books or watch movies or play with small toys on your lap, you're golden. We tried to schedule our flights for times when our daughter was naturally quieter.
Also make sure you have a bottle or sippy cup with you for your child to drink from during take off and landing, that will help their ears. And then make sure you've packed snacks, and extra changes of clothes and toys. Basically, you end up using your one carry-on item for all of your kid's stuff. We did take a fold-up stroller, and they'll let you gate check that at the plane's side, so it's a little easier getting around the airport.
We've done three plane trips, one at 4 months, one at 12 months, and just got back from one at 21 months. They were all relatively short, and they all went really well, but I think after this we're going to have to get her her own seat (I know we're required to at 2 years). The earliest flight was by far the easiest, she just slept the whole way both ways, but they've all gone much easier than I feared.
I think you have to judge based on your kid. If your kid is a very restless one who loves to run around, it can be very difficult, because those plane seats don't give you a lot of room. But if you know your kid will sit with you and read books or watch movies or play with small toys on your lap, you're golden. We tried to schedule our flights for times when our daughter was naturally quieter.
Also make sure you have a bottle or sippy cup with you for your child to drink from during take off and landing, that will help their ears. And then make sure you've packed snacks, and extra changes of clothes and toys. Basically, you end up using your one carry-on item for all of your kid's stuff. We did take a fold-up stroller, and they'll let you gate check that at the plane's side, so it's a little easier getting around the airport.
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