To wonder what you do if your toddler kicks off on a plane?

[cucumberandlime]

Just thinking about this as had a horrible cinema trip with my toddler. And wondered how on earth you’d manage with running around, screaming etc on a plane?

Between the ages of 3 and 7 things have worsened with his temper and tantrums.

We are getting support with how best to manage his outbursts etc so in our case I really am not sure that a flight would be in anyone's best interest.

Uuurgh. Nothing's easy is it ?
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Don’t forget other people are just perfect parents who “just wouldn’t accept” difficult behaviour! 🙄

My DD2 is neurodiverse and finds sitting still really difficult. She’s nearly 6 and very excited to go on a plane in the summer. We’ll make sure to sit her in the row behind so she’s kicking our seats instead of anyone else’s. She’ll have a bag of toys to keep her going and plenty of sweets when she needs a reset.

You have to parent the child you’ve got and it sounds like you are and are doing a great job!

Euro star or else a short flight? Somewhere like Spain is literally up, have a drink and a game in something and down. It can be quite exciting.

It is inconsiderate if the parent doesn't try to calm their child, and especially inconsiderate if they don't stop their child from kicking my seat.

Having my seat back kicked gives me the rage.

Distractions on rotation. At that age (3-ish) my kid was facilitated by water. We were on a 9hr flight and that’s what worked:

• buy colour tablets from Amazon (the ones when you put in water turn certain color)
• ask the crew for few plastic cups and a bit of wayer

we had fun making different colours from the primary colour and then he loved poring water from one cup to another. Was easily half an hour exercise the some colouring or water colour books some cars or small simple legos and then repeat over and over with snacks breaks here and there it was tiring but my kid did t make a peep being so busy

Frankly I just wouldn’t travel if I had a child like that. Mine never tantrummed and was easy with these sorts of things, but if he was that type of kid I wouldn’t put anyone through that- including him! I don’t like making my life stressful, I’d just wait a couple of years.

I would not judge how she will be on a plane compared to how she was at the cinema. At the cinema there is only one form of entertainment, watching the film. On a plane you have a tonne of options to keep her entertained.

It just means you may have to be in full on entertainment mode the entire flight. If she won’t watch screens for long you need to come prepared with lots of other forms of entertainment and lower your expectations.

If she doesn’t want to watch a screen read a book. If she doesn’t want the book sing songs together, draw together, take sticker books, small toys etc.

If she doesn’t like screens for long, a cinema trip was never going to be successful. But a flight with a child who loves books toys and full on mummy attention is totally different.

You bring ALL the snacks
You have bluey on your phone.
You pray.

Our flight was boarded and pulled to taxi then sat around for over an hour .by the tike they.decided we cpuld tale off... My 2 yr old had eaten everything... he would not wear a seat belt so was forced and screamed to high heaven.
I got filthy looks from the 20somethings in front of us...

It was hideous but we survived

I do agree but if you’re trying everything and it just isn’t working it’s really difficult on a plane.

I’ve been to five theatre performances with dd this year and she’s sat beautifully through them so I couldn’t have predicted this afternoons fiasco. But on a plane there would be nothing I could do!

I was just hypothetically wondering as I’ve no plans to go on a plane with them any time soon.

The PP was talking about taking children on a plane at all though.

I just can’t comprehend not being able to control a child kicking a seat in front of them (consistently, after being told not to). If my child’s behaviour is really that uncontrollable, we wouldn’t be on a plane. I’m sure you have a good gauge of your child’s temperament.

DS is just 2 and we’ve flown with him a few times (one return trip was just me and him on connecting flights there and back) without issue. Lots of little toys and snacks, lots of engaging, reading, talking about what we can see, he LOVES aeroplanes so that’s definitely helpful. I have an ‘emergency’ Kids Kindle but have never had to use it on a flight. We did have to crack it out on a ferry trip recently though! He won’t really sit and watch anything on it because he doesn’t like headphones but also doesn’t understand not being able to hear it, but we have some age-appropriate apps (colouring with Hey Duggee, Duplo Trains etc) that we play with him, kept him quiet for a good while.

I think the problem would be that if you have warned them and they are ignoring you then you have very limited options with how to deal with that behaviour on a plane. I would hope that they would not but I also know mine can be very unpredictable, hyper and overstimulated when together and together somewhere unfamiliar and excited for a holiday and overtired and forced to sit down for a longish period is a bad combo.

That’s why the OP is saying she won’t be flying with her kids I think! Because she does have a gauge of her child’s temperament and knows she wouldn’t be able to control her.
Thankfully I have kids who know that no means no!

As I say I can’t comprehend that, my children weren’t like that (just lucky I guess!) But then maybe it never got to that because we didn’t put ourselves in those kinds of situations. My eldest was a fuss pot who couldn’t sit still so we didn’t go near an aeroplane, we avoided restaurants like the plague until he was 3 also. If I had toddlers that tandrummed and were erratic, I would absolutely not be on a plane for even stronger reasons!

So yes OP as the PP says I think we’re in agreement!!

Distract with snacks as much as possible and just pray people aren't dicks about it.

Well, we haven’t either but it’s more because of circumstances. They’d probably be OK alone but that’s not hugely practical of course!

I must admit though I don’t understand what you don’t understand … you say you didn’t put yourself in those situations do you can’t know what they’d have been like. I couldn’t have known my toddler would have been so wild at the cinema!

To be honest based on this it is probably a good decision not to take them on a plane any time soon.

I can’t lie to you. Our first trip abroad was 11 years and a half years after giving birth to the youngest. Many more capable parents than me manage holidays abroad with little ones. I wouldn’t have found it a ‘holiday’ in any way. We are all different!

I’m unsure if that was a criticism, or not!

We went to Lanzarote when DD2 was age 15 months. She screamed the whole way there. She was matched scream for scream by a boy of the same age in the row behind us. It was horrible but we all survived. I have no idea what the other passengers thought. We were too busy trying to deal with the situation in hand. She is a perfectly well behaved 28 year old now!

We went to Lanzarote when DD2 was age 15 months. She screamed the whole way there. She was matched scream for scream by a boy of the same age in the row behind us. It was horrible but we all survived. I have no idea what the other passengers thought. We were too busy trying to deal with the situation in hand. She is a perfectly well behaved 28 year old now!

Im not sure it matters whether the poster is criticising you or not. They are just suggesting to you that the family dynamic probably won’t allow for a good holiday abroad. Mine didn’t and I was fine with it. I was very aware of my kids’ limits - and my own limits as a parent! When they started to travel, they appreciated it and it was unstressful.

None of it matters really; I’m asking though.