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?

No, just pragmatic. If you don’t feel you can control their behaviour in that environment, it’s not worth the risk.
I was essentially agreeing with you!

I don’t think anybody can. That’s the point really. It’s not that they will kick off. It’s more that if they do there’s sweet FA you can do!

Then the point still stands. You’re right not to take them on a plane in these circumstances.

Oh I really hope the journey goes well for you and you have a lovely holiday.

Interestingly the Isle of Wight ferry was a real success and that journey was a dream.

Xx

We did a 2 hour flight when he was almost 3. Timed so he would sleep. He didn't sleep a wink! Was fine with snacks, stickers and a screen.
On our way back from holiday last year it was a late flight. A little one kicked off and screamed for an hour. He was asleep and rolled off the chair and scared himself. Parents were beside themselves because he'd never screamed like that in his life. The family in front (who'd been at our hotel and our kids had played together) was amazing and distracted him with her kids toys. The whole plane had a collective sigh of relief when he finally stopped......until another passenger projectile vomited down the aisle hitting DH, Ds, my mum and my niece 🙈

Or indeed anybody - so I’m not totally sure it does!

Honestly they will not be able to run around and start kicking people. You are right - I just wouldn’t fly for a few years.

Last year I was on a flight and the child a few rows behind me decided to get up and stand in the aisle just as we were about to land. The crew couldn’t see and in the end the Mum held onto her child’s t shirt whist she was standing in the aisle!

I’m not sure what you mean? If you’ve got a child who cannot be controlled when they kick off then you’re right not to take them on a plane at the moment. What is controversial about that? I’m agreeing with you! You said you don’t think you should do it yet, I agree!

Hi, nrtft. I'm sure sweets, screens, games, toys etc have been recommended. I'm ex crew and all of these are great but you need something like karvol too. I'm not sure if they still make it but I think they still make Albus oil. Ask the crew to put a paper towel in some hot water with a few drops. Childrens ears are still developing and the change in pressure can cause pain. This helps relieve it and they don't always understand why they are in pain. I used to work in a time when most crew carried them for this reason to make life easier.

You may be able to order something to boots airside too.

Get them to chew or suck something on take off and landing too.

Prevention! Snacks, movies, lots of talks about planes and expectations. Books about planes. Once they’ve actually kicked off I’m not sure how you reign them back in to be honest.

No pandering once you are on there - extremely clear about expectations. Of course - I’m talking about a 2 year old not a 1 year old. Would never travel with a child 9-18 months old. No reasoning with them!!!

Travelled widely with mine from 18 months. Including long haul. Literally never had an issue.

You get on the flight prepared to the gills to give yourself the best chance of it not happening. I used to have a bag packed with the following:

• Calpol (or generic equivalent). Sometimes the pressure or the temperature in the cabin can cause pain or discomfort. A dose of liquid paracetamol just before boarding helps minimise it. If they use a dummy, a bottle or breastfeed attach them for take off and landing. The sucking helps reduce ear pain and popping.
• Toys and games they have never seen before. I took trips to Poundland and stocked up on some activities they might like
• A few favourite picture books
• A food pack in a lunch box. My go to snacks were marmite sandwiches, cucumber and carrot sticks, marshmallows, Pom bears and some other treats they wouldn’t get at home. Extra snacks - strawberries, chopped grapes, some sweets can be presented as needed depending on length of flight. Make sure you buy drinks or get water once you get through security.
• An iPad and headphones with some downloaded programmes they might like.

Importantly, you need to actively engage with them. Talk about the trip, where you’re going, what they might want to do when they get there.

All this sounds like overkill and to a certain extent it is and hopefully most of the time you won’t need half of it, but I remember travelling alone with my two when they were 2.5 and 1.5 years old. We had a 4 hour delay and then we had to go to a different airport - and then we had to go on a 2 hour coach back to the original airport. I used every bit of my arsenal, and to their credit they were as good as gold.

This

What do you do? TBH if it is a full blown tantrum there probably isn't much you can do.

DD had her first ever, and probably worst ever, full-blown toddler tantrum on a plane just before her 2nd birthday. It has gone down in family legend.

It wasn't the first time she had been on a plane. When she was 10 months I flew to Sydney with her single-handed (we were joining DH who was working there for a month.) That flight had a huge delay and we ended up arriving 24 hours late, so it should have been a nightmare. However, DD behaved like an angel and was no trouble at all.

Perhaps because of this I was a bit blasé a year later when we planned to fly to Jersey. The flight was only one hour and at a time of day when she normally had a nap so I assumed she would sleep on the flight. No problem. What a naive fool I was. The difference between flying with a baby and a toddler - oh dear.

It might have been OK if it hadn't been the day of Princess Diana's funeral. We boarded the plane on time only to be told that the flight would be delayed by 40 minutes - something to do with limiting air traffic over London during the funeral procession. Well the trouble started as soon as I tried to put the lap strap seat belt around DD, she really didn't want to be still. Then the screaming started. She screamed and screamed and I simply couldn't calm her. It was so bad that in the end the cabin crew asked for the steps to be brought back and I was allowed to take her off the plane back in to a quiet bit of the terminal building where I managed to walk about with her and get her off to sleep.

However, when I got back on the plane with sleeping DD she unfortunately woke up as I was trying to put the lap strap back on her and the screaming started again. It continued most of the way to Jersey and only finally simmered down when she was offered biscuits.

I am sure I was the most hated person on that plane but there was literally nothing I could do at the time. DH and I were both pretty shell shocked. We did fly again while she was small but it was never that bad as we waited until she was turned 3 and old enough to have her own seat. We also made sure of things to entertain her.

What I mean is that no child can be controlled on a plane if they kick off because they are on a plane. You can’t leave, so what do you do? You just have to trust that they won’t!

I have no idea if mine would or not. I don’t think the older one would, the younger one is less certain. But no child is 100% guaranteed to behave well, not tantrum and not randomly do something stupid. I do know what you mean - I’m not being facetious. I could say I know mine will behave in X setting but what I mean is they always have before and I’ve no reason to think otherwise.

Mine are generally pretty foul together though; it does get you down somewhat.

We did a lot of long flights with little ones, the trick is to have lots of little distractions. We packed a ziplock bag per hr per flight per child so 2 kids, a 13 hr flight we had 26 bags. Little toys, a sweet, a sticker. They look forward to it and anticipate it and it shuts them up 😂

You get creative, somehow!

We were massively delayed the first time we flew with a toddler, who was sleep deprived and cranky by the time we landed and they then kept us on the plane for another 40 minutes! By this point I was down to 1 satsuma, which somehow I made last until the plane doors opened by switching the segments between my hands and letting him prize my fingers open etc. Was so grateful that it kept him quiet!

id chance phenergan

I did long haul a few times when mine was a toddler. No issues at all despite my concerns.

18 months was our worst. Messed up nap timings so DS had a massive nap in the airport and then was wide awake for the flight. It was about 5 hours. He was not remotely interested in any of the books, toys or games we had brought. There was a lot of screaming. Someone from the cabin crew tried to help us by picking him up and he totally freaked out. It is the closest I have come to having a total meltdown in public myself. I actually can't remember how we got through it, except for pacing around a tiny space trying to calm him. He must have fallen asleep at some point, and I think we let him have some of the cake that came with the airline meal.

DS's opinion of the ordeal: "Plane. Off. Bye-bye"

You preempt with non sugary snacks, screens and a New little distraction every 30 mins. We bought mini little motorbike, little pack of stickers etc.

What do you do if they actually kick off?close your eyes, hold them tight and hope for the best !

I guess that’s just where our experience differs. I was fairly confident that if mine kicked off on the plane I would be able to control them, because they’d never kicked off before in a way that I was unable to control them. Does that make sense? So yes, it may have been the case that the plane journey was the first time that they ever had a tantrum where I was completely unable to control their behaviour, but it seemed unlikely as that was never a situation we’d been in before. And thankfully I was right! You’re right, you can’t 100% guarantee it, but it would have been completely out of character as we’d never before been in a situation where they’d kicked off and couldn’t be controlled.

I think this is what stresses me out as she isn’t interested in non sugary or even sugary snacks. Sometimes a few crisps work but she doesn’t even make it through a full bag of Pom bears as a rule so that’s what, a minute!?

Screens maybe. Depends on her mood. I’ve known her sit quietly for the duration of Moana. I’ve also known her be unable to get through an episode of number blocks. And you know when they are in that mood -
you know where it’s just all NO BLUEY NO NUMBERBLOCKS NO MOANA?

I am making her sound like a horror and she’s not. But she can be!!

@Gettingaggy i guess because controlling the behaviour does sort of depend on controlling the environment, and you can’t on a plane. You’re in a confined space with a lot of people and have no way of getting off!

Snacks, colouring, snacks, tablet, snacks, game, snacks, toilet, snack 😅 you get the gist. DD first flew at 2 when facemasks were still a thing. We don't fly often and had an occasional late night where she won't sleep but generally have a bag of stuff. Now she's 6 is loads easier. She likes the airport so keep moving as long as we can, I've just booked a trip in December that's the furthest we've been the 2 of us. She'll be so excited I think it'll be the toughest yet

But you would stop the seat kicking I hope?