Babies & Airplanes

Ayla

Sorry, I know this topic has been tackled recently from a few different angles, but I'm getting ready to go on a 9 hr flight to the States w/ my 1 yr old and I'm wrecking my head trying to think of ways to entertain her.

She *hates* sitting still/being restrained (I'm really looking forward to the take off/turbulance when they require seat belts). She's a bit young for books (although I'll bring a couple w/ the flaps they play with) and everyone around us would hate me for bringing any toys w/ sounds. Her building blocks are too big & bulky, and she's bored w/ dolls.

So exactly what do people do w/ their one-year olds on flight for that long? I'm hoping she'll sleep for a bit, but beside that and eat, any ideas of how to keep her happy? We can't be walking up & down the aisles...???

silverharp

I don't know if there is an easy answer, will you be allowed have a child seat on the plane so that she might sleep more or stay more passive? I have only had our little one on a plane to Europe and he got pretty bored after an hour, I don't think successive games or toys will work, she will just get more agitated.

Kernel32

Ayla wrote: »

She *hates* sitting still/being restrained (I'm really looking forward to the take off/turbulance when they require seat belts). She's a bit young for books (although I'll bring a couple w/ the flaps they play with) and everyone around us would hate me for bringing any toys w/ sounds. Her building blocks are too big & bulky, and she's bored w/ dolls.

Does she have her own seat or not? If she doesn't have her own seat you will be given a special restraint to attach to your own and seat belts are required to be fastened at all times now when you are in your seat. If she has her own seat then she will have to fastened in there.

I feel your pain though. We have a 5 year old and a 20 month old. We first flew with our 5 year old when he was 3 months old and he has probably been on a dozen flights since then, most trans atlantic. We found that little fiddly things are better than bigger bulky toys. Avoid anything too noisy. Sticker books have saved our sanity. If you think she would like them bring loads. Let her stick them on everything and then break up the flight with hopefully a nap and some walking around. Be prepared to get very little rest on the flight yourself, if you do it's a bonus.

Ayla

Thanks posters -

She won't have her own seat, so I know she'll be in my lap 90% of the time. Only thing is she's now at the age when she's just starting to wobble around, so she wants up, and down, and up, and down. And whatever she's doing, something else is always more desirable...

Anyway, I'm dreading it a bit, but a friend of mine just did a 19 hr flight to the Phillipines w/ her 18 month old, so I suppose I can manage a 9 hr flight.

Quality

HI Ayla,

I know this is no you are probably not going to be looking forward to this but it may not be as bad as you think.

I would suggest bringing lots of treats for baby. If you are giving her crisps break them up really small so that it takes longer for her to finish them. Bring biscuits, Jellys, choclate and if things are getting a bit mad whip them out. It is not an ideal situation but it will hold babys attention for a while.

Also let your fears known to the airhostess while on board and on check in. IF there are spare seats they may allocate you beside them.

Bring flip up books, sing songs, bring little toys like balls and rattles. play peekaboo. Play hide the toy. HIde it behind her, under her top, under your top. put it on your head. And dont be afraid to bring your baby for a walk up and down the cabin.(While it is safe).

Make sure your baby has a drink for landing and take off to ease with the ear pressure (sucking a soother or a lollypop can help this as well.)

And dont be minding anyone else. Your baby is a baby your flesh and blood, think more of her feelings than what other people around you think.


Best of Luck
X X X

shrapnel222

i hope your flight is a night flight as you might get her to sleep. when you check in ask for a skycot seat so that you can lie her down if she's tired. when we fly we always bring a couple of boxes of water crackers because as someone mentioned eating is a great way of keeping them busy, and i'd rather he ate 15 simple sugarless saltless crackers than crisps, biscuits etc...some might not approve but you can always give her a spoon of dozol or similar to calm her (we've never done this but i know plenty of people who do:) )

redfacedbear

Try to pre-book the bulk head seats which have a bit more leg room. BA were very accommodating for this when we brought our then 1yo trans-atlantic. Sticker books also proved to be a great distraction for us too.

damonjewel

Yes try and get the bulkhead seats, I flew to the Philipines too with my the 11month year old daughter, and on the wall in front of you there are brackets which they can sit a basket/cot kind of thing which is good for the child to lie down and sleep in, but the reality of it is that you could be in for a hell of a ride. Try to buy plenty of drinks and snacks too before boarding instead of relying on the in-flight service.

As for toys, maybe chalk and a small board to scribble on, you can get books with magnets on them e.g. dora the explorer. But as you well know yourself the entertainment value for kids with these is limited to moments.

You will probably end up walking the aisles, to their credit the stewards on my flight were sympathethic to us. I hope its the same for you. Good luck

Kernel32

Quality wrote: »

I would suggest bringing lots of treats for baby. If you are giving her crisps break them up really small so that it takes longer for her to finish them. Bring biscuits, Jellys, choclate and if things are getting a bit mad whip them out. It is not an ideal situation but it will hold babys attention for a while.

Do people give crisps, chocolate and sweets to one year olds? I'm not asking that in a judgemental way, we all make choices and compromises but based on my own experience this would be the opposite of what you want to do having seen kids on the downside of a sugar rush.

Quality

In case of emergency I would resort to sweet treats yes.

I think that would be a more sensible than drugging your child with Dozal.

Do you have any children Kernel?

Kernel32

Yes I have two, 5 years and 20 months old.

BanzaiBk

Done a fair few flights with the younger sister (3) and nephew (now 9 but flying a good few years) to Russia and the middle east. Stickers are definitly a great time waster and should occupy any child who understands what to do for a good while. I'm not sure if people would agree with this but when I was small and flying out to Russia our parents would sometimes mess with our sleep patterns so we would generally sleep for a lot of the time. Never really did us any harm and kept us quiet for the trip A good alternative if you are wary of using Dozol or similar, although I know one of my friends used this on a flight to Canada with good success.

Victor

Ayla wrote: »

I'm really looking forward to the take off/turbulance when they require seat belts

Ask an attendant to be authorative and instruct that the belt must be worn. The 'stranger danger' and an authorative voice usually works.

Playing pee-a-boo might be useful, especially if you can rope in someone on a different row.

Ickle Magoo

I have a 19month old & a nearly three yr old - the toddler takes 2 mins to look about & then nods off, wakes up when we land - fantastic traveler, always has been!

The 19month old screams from the minute her belt is done to the minute we get off the plane & then some! She won't take juice, food, read, play, nothing - it's a complete nightmare.

For your sake I hope your DD is more like the former but if no, maybe letting her go for wanders or taking a sling & carrying her up & down the plane would help? Anything to distract & occupy like stickers, flap books, crayons, etc work well for a bit too....best of luck!

Quality

Kernel32 wrote: »

Yes I have two, 5 years and 20 months old.

I have two little rascals myself:):).

I am sure you understand then how difficult it is to keep a baby happy and occupied in such a confined space for such a long time.

Would you have any suggestions for the OP that would be an alternative to sweets and treats that may help? I know sweets arent ideal, but sometimes for an easy ife they are an option.

metrovelvet

Slightly OT- whats the story with liquids? Is vasaline, baby oil etc allowed on board these days?

And formula?

Nevyn

metrovelvet wrote: »

Slightly OT- whats the story with liquids? Is vasaline, baby oil etc allowed on board these days?

And formula?

Too be sure ring and ask for a copy of the current policy to be send out to you.

Ayla

metrovelvet wrote: »

Slightly OT- whats the story with liquids? Is vasaline, baby oil etc allowed on board these days?

And formula?

From what I understand from the Dublin airport site, you're allowed a max of 100ml feeding liquids, contained within a bottle/etc, and bagged in plastic zip-lock type baggy. You may have to drink a bit to prove it's really food/drink.

I'll be bringing 100 ml of soy milk for my DD to (hopefully) drink during takeoff.

A question, though, why would you require vaseline and/or baby oil for a flight? Just wondering

metrovelvet

Ayla wrote: »

From what I understand from the Dublin airport site, you're allowed a max of 100ml feeding liquids, contained within a bottle/etc, and bagged in plastic zip-lock type baggy. You may have to drink a bit to prove it's really food/drink.

I'll be bringing 100 ml of soy milk for my DD to (hopefully) drink during takeoff.

A question, though, why would you require vaseline and/or baby oil for a flight? Just wondering

Diaper chaanges

yossarin

I'll be flying from heathrow to auckland on friday week with my sister, her 5 year old and her 1 year old.

the 5 year old should be allright - i have my laptop full of power rangers and scooby do episodes in case of emergencies, but the 1 year old i am worried about.

Is it safe to give children that age sleeping drugs? We've bought books and will have treats, but it might be a bit of a horrible experience for all.

Kernel32

Quality wrote:

Would you have any suggestions for the OP that would be an alternative to sweets and treats that may help? I know sweets arent ideal, but sometimes for an easy ife they are an option.

Kernel32 wrote:

I feel your pain though. We have a 5 year old and a 20 month old. We first flew with our 5 year old when he was 3 months old and he has probably been on a dozen flights since then, most trans atlantic. We found that little fiddly things are better than bigger bulky toys. Avoid anything too noisy. Sticker books have saved our sanity. If you think she would like them bring loads. Let her stick them on everything and then break up the flight with hopefully a nap and some walking around. Be prepared to get very little rest on the flight yourself, if you do it's a bonus.

.

Victor

yossarin wrote: »

Is it safe to give children that age sleeping drugs?

Probably not for adult ones.

Asj your doctor, nurse of pharmacist for what is suitable to the particular age and size.

shrapnel222

Quality wrote: »

Would you have any suggestions for the OP that would be an alternative to sweets and treats that may help? I know sweets arent ideal, but sometimes for an easy ife they are an option.

as said in my previous post, i give water crackers (the round ones with the blisters), my little one loves them and i'm not too worried of giving him a few, and there's no sugar rush to deal with

killwill

Quality wrote: »

In case of emergency I would resort to sweet treats yes.

I think that would be a more sensible than drugging your child with Dozal.

Do you have any children Kernel?

Well I have a child and the last thing I would give her @ 1 year is choclate and crisps. Snacks don't have to be junk, does your child like fruit? Plenty of fruit, crackers and drinks should keep her quite content. Last thing you need on a 9hr flight is a baby with sugar rush!!!!!!!!!!

Quality

Different folks, different strokes.:):)

hshortt

Colouring books work well for us, my wife got them some special water based magic marker things this year that went down well too. Mine are slightly older though, good luck with your trip.

Cheerio
Howard

embee

I brought my daughter on a 2.5 hour flight to France when she was about 6.5 months old. She was grand - slept through the whole thing. I'd imagine a toddler would be a bit more of a handful. I wouldn't advocate bringing sweets along - a child hyped up on sugar in a confined space could prove even more troublesome. Just bring crackers, fruit, drinks. Encourage them perhaps to drink from a bottle as the sucking will help to alleviate the pressure build-up that can hurt their ears.

Bon voyage!

simu

yossarin wrote: »

Is it safe to give children that age sleeping drugs? We've bought books and will have treats, but it might be a bit of a horrible experience for all.

!

You can't just drug your kids to avoid them acting up - you have to deal with their behaviour!

!!!

killwill

simu wrote: »

!

You can't just drug your kids to avoid them acting up - you have to deal with their behaviour!

!!!

+1

nesf

simu wrote: »

!

You can't just drug your kids to avoid them acting up - you have to deal with their behaviour!

!!!

If they start a jitterin just give them some Ritalin...

Ayla

Just a bit of an update -

We've done our 9 hour flight, and it went quite well. Fortunately the flight left at 11:30am, so between the trip to the airport & the check-in, our DD was quite tired by the time it came time to actually fly. We ran out of soy milk half way through the take off, but topped up w/ water real quick and she was grand. Slept for 10-15 mins and woke quite refreshed.

We entertained ourselves primarily with crawling & wobbling up/down the aisles, and fortunately everyone was quite doting on her.

I also realized that I was terribly unprepared w/o enough food, but the flight attendents were great and gave us a leftover dinner (chicken & veg) for her.

Anyway, thanks for the advises. Everyone does their own thing to make it through such a situation and I can't knock anyone's suggestions.