Flying with two year old - what to bring for entertainment?

[Mamabear12]

The flight is an international flight, 7.5 hours. What should I bring to entertain her??

[KatOD]

Books and a portable DVD player with headphones (you can get good cheap ones on Amazon for £20-30 which you can also use to plug into TVs in hotel rooms if you need a distraction tactic at certain points, you can also buy toddler volume limited headphones). Good luck!

[KatOD]

And/or tablet with games?

[Longdistance]

I second what KatOD said. My dd1 liked kids magazines like Peppa Pig et al that had stickers in them. Kept her entertained for a good hour.

[ShoeSmacking]

A bag if small cheap new toys, for whipping out one at a time when boredom starts to set in (and the tablet/DVD ROTC suggested by others).

Also treats for bribery.

[Sharaluck]

A good pillow

An ipad

[Mamabear12]

Yes, IPad is top of my list. I also thought, stickers, crayons, papers, baby doll that she loves.

[jkklpu]

books, transfers?

[AuntieBrenda]

Stickers
iPad
Those aqua doodle travel thingies
Little presents wrapped out to be given out at staggered intervals
Chocolate buttons

[SavoyCabbage]

I took loads of stuff but mine pretty much just watched the in flight entertainment the whole way.

Take some non sweet snacks. Like fruit, mini chedders and take a sippy cup or water bottle with a sports top.

[Mikkii]

I was also going to say travel aqua doodle. If you do, buy a sport cap bottle of water (or take an empty water bottle and fill it after security) so you can refill the tiny pen! You don't want to keep queuing for the loo just to fill the pen.

Rather than comics with stickers, you can buy some books with stickers, if you look at the book people they can be very reasonably priced.

[Khimaira]

An old favourite toy and book (in case she is unsettled by the plane etc) a new toy/book. I had great success with stickers and a book of blank paper. But what she played with most was the bag I'd bought to take her stuff in, she spent ages taking everything out and putting it all back in again!

Also snacks because the food is always served at the wrong time. Something to drink at take off and landing.

[KatOD]

Oh yes fruity snacks. I'd advise against crayons/colouring pencils just because they may end up going everywhere!

[Doitnicelyplease]

Get them a little backpack so they can keep their things in there.
Definitely a stickerbook (you can get the Usbourne themed ones: eg airport, holidays etc to make it relevant).

A couple of small wind up toys, some little pocket books, ones with lift the flaps in are good. Magic wiggly worm (from poundshop/joke shop) has kept mine distracted/happy.

A good treat is lollipops such as chuppa chups, they are good for ears popping and last quite a long time (keeping them quiet!).

Some new apps/tv that they like for the ipad.

My top tip though is to order the children's meal for them, this ensures they get their food first and you can help them/sort them out before your own meal arrives.

Bring spare clothes for them and a spare top for you too.

[cheeseandcrackers]

Cbeebies magazines, loads of snacks, empty water bottle that you can fill up after security & a new book. Don't forget to save something new for the return journey too.

I always make sure I am wearing a soft cardigan/coat that doubles as a pillow

[whatsagoodusername]

Definitely headphones. My DC spent most of the time playing with the iPad or in flight entertainment and you need child-size headphones (get her used to them ahead of time).

Sports bottle. Snacks. If you can find them, rubbery squishy toys went down well with my DC. Once I managed to find some that lit up in Poundland - they loved those.

We have had trouble on some flights with the airplanes running out of milk, so possibly bring a thermos that will keep drinks cool and fill it with milk after you get through security (usually I get it from Starbucks or Costa or whatever coffee shop is around) if your DD expects milk.

[sharond101]

We are doing this too. Just booked for May with DS who will be 2 weeks away from turning 2 years old. All ideas welcomed.

[JassyRadlett]

I see you've got stickers - our saviour on 24-hour flights.

Also - I swear to god - novelty shaped post-its. My DS basically decorates our 3 seats and then moves them all around, takes them off, starts again. A good hour out of half a pack of star-shaped post-its.

[imip]

We got tiny little notebooks from paperchase and tiny glitter pens. They drew such lovely pics (then 4 and 2 yo) that I have kept the notebooks in the memory box!

I think lots of different little activities to stop them getting bored.

[Locketjuice]

Valium

[happydutchmummy]

Go to your local pound store and hit the toy aisle and the art aisle. Get stickers, colouring book, £1 etchasketch, just random stuff that will be new and exciting to her. Bring some over the ear headphones rather than buds that sit in the ear. Chewy sweets. Mini cheddar.

[Mamabear12]

Thanks for all the tips and great advice! Esp the headphones! Never thought about that! I will buy some for her :) and ill check out the pound shop near by for some cheap new toys!

[Lovemylulu]

I have just returned from New York with my 2 and 6 year old, and I bought the JVC tiny phones chldrens headphones, they were great and come with stickers for them to decorate them... I also bought little presents, one for every hour - sticker books, purse with play money, little cars, all from the pound shop and wrapped them up so it was more of a novelty opening them. The most popular toy was this little mouse thing that comes with a little brush and mirror, they spent ages wrapping it in napkins to go to bed, feeding it etc etc. I packed it all in a Trunki which was invaluable in the airport, they had one each and we just pulled them along, worked brilliantly, stopped them running off, plus they had something to sit on when queueing for immigration etc.. a godsend! I was dreading the flight but was pleasantly surprised that the children were great and spent most of the time watching the inflight entertainment. I did bring their favoutite blankets and a pillow pet for the overnight flight which really helped too.

[rrreow]

We're flying transatlantic next week and we've put together a little goodybag for DS1 with an assortment of cheap toys. We'll space them out over the flight to keep the novelty factor. We've got:
-toddler headphones (to use in flight entertainment - they usually have a channel with just kids films)
-a small car with opening doors
-lacing shapes
-binoculars
-a new book
-sticker book
-rubiks cube (not that I think he's some genius lol, but he's a fiddler so I think he'll love twisting it)

I found these links helpful:

joannagoddard.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/motherhood-mondays-traveling-with-baby.html

joannagoddard.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/10-ways-to-entertain-toddler-on-plane.html

[Gemdar]

We didn't bother with headphones. We just had volume v low so dd could hear but with the hum of the plane anyone in surrounding seats couldn't.

From the 99p shop I bought a small/travel 'megasketcher'. Was great for flight and I still carry it in my bag, best 99p I've ever spent!

[OpposableThumbs]

I got one of these to keep all DD's bits and pieces in and to stop things rolling on the floor. It sits on top of the fold down table.