FLYING help ASAP | Imamother

amother

Aubergine

Sun, Jun 26 2016, 10:09 pm

Flying with an active 2.5 year old... What activities do you suggest so I don't go crazy? Will have own seat in a car seat. But likes to run around, music and other stuff you can't do on the plane.
What quiet stuff can you do?
Crayons and paper...
Books (but I don't want to carry too many and will still drive me crazy as I will be asked to read the same ones a dozen times... Eek).

Can I do play dough? Is that allowed on the plane?

sunshine5

Sun, Jun 26 2016, 10:33 pm

Music with earphones, magna doodle, camera with a couplebof sd cards to scroll thru pictures and clips.... Have a safe trip.

little_mage

Mon, Jun 27 2016, 3:31 am

They make headphones designed for kids that are smaller and don't go too loud. I'd recommend investing in a pair. Bring lots of food; I like lolipops for the accent and decent (helps with ears). If you have any sort of tablet, get some new games and let you child play them-ignore any screen time limits you usually have. Also, if all else fails, chances are you will be able to walk up and down the aisle a couple of times. Try to run out energy before you leave, too. A lot of airports these days have little play areas, but even if they don't, just walk up and down the concourse as much as possible to try to tire out a bit.

mom35

Mon, Jun 27 2016, 4:02 am

Get sheets of stickers and bring blank papers. Have your child stick the stickers on the papers, I have found most kids that age love to do that! Also, create some sort of make-shift tzedakah type box with a slit on the top, and bring lots of half-shekels (big enough not to be choking hazard, and let them put one in at a time, and then empty back into his lap, and do again...

amother

Black

Mon, Jun 27 2016, 4:43 am

I just flew with a toddler.
I made a trip to the dollar store and stocked up with:
TONS of stickers and paper.
bandaids to peel and stick
little flashlights
little match box cars.
a travel size kitchen toy set.
little dolls.
lots of chocolate for all else fail moments. (bring whatever will do it for you child)
a couple of my childs favorite fischer price toys and mentchies.

I was carrying tons of accuipment. lol.

in the end on the way in my toddler was so scared and overwhelmed she just slept straight through. on the way back she played with everything but at a certain point she become so cranky and tired of being so cooped up she just cried and cried.

Next time all I will also bring is bucket loads of patients....

amother

Cobalt

Mon, Jun 27 2016, 4:57 am

mom35 wrote:

Snip
Also, create some sort of make-shift tzedakah type box with a slit on the top, and bring lots of half-shekels (big enough not to be choking hazard, and let them put one in at a time, and then empty back into his lap, and do again...

If you do this please don't use real coins as it'll be quite noisy. Cheerios or something similar should work too. Or chocolate coins.

amother

Aubergine

Mon, Jun 27 2016, 7:38 am

Thanks... We have flown a few times before and the last one was pretty bad. It was about 6 months ago and it drained me. Now my kid is bigger, more independent minded/opinionated.... So need a ton of advice.

Thanks all who recommended stickers. Will try the dollar store!!
Any other ideas? Many planes don't have wifi (or super expensive) so how can I get videos on a phone?

And yeah, lots of food. Lots.

amother

Natural

Mon, Jun 27 2016, 7:58 am

you can bring pipe cleaners and make cheerios necklaces or keychains with it. my son can also be kept very busy with magna doodles. I also have something that he keeps busy and not expensive - a puzzle book. the pieces are magnetic and there are a few pages - he takes all out and then tries to figure out which pages they go in. takes a looong time. can you bring a small bag of lego and keep in your lap and let him build with it?

N'sMom

Mon, Jun 27 2016, 11:37 am

I am past that stage but I also was a big fan of the dollar stores. I used to giftwrap the things and doll the "presents" out as needed. Makes them more exciting for the child and the unwrappin in itself takes time. Also, bring lots of snacks and try to make as few as possible sugary ones, as the last thing you want is a kid wired on sugar.

it will probably be better than you are anticipating. Good luck!