any ideas on how to keep a 1 year old (14 months) occupied on a 9.30 hour flight?

[Wills]

Its actually putting a downer on my excitment about going on holiday.

Bag with lots of tat in that DC has never seen before. Eg, cheap plastic toy mobile phone, a few little cars etc. Then just get them out to distract one at a time when you want to. Also pot of bubbles to blow. plenty of boxes of raisins, cheerios, other snacks (not too high in sugar) that take a while to eat. Etcher scetcher. Let him run up and down the plane a bit. People won't mind, they'll think it's cute. And lots of stories.

My dd went on same lenghth of journey at 20 months and loved it! She was good as gold. Also, if there's priority boarding ignore it! Get on last so you're not sitting around too long before take off.

Good luck!

Phenagen

Go to the pound shop and wrap everything up. Keep a couple back for absolute emergencies to avert meltdown in case you see one brewing. Suspend normal rules and pick your battles but keep the golden rule of 'no annoying other people', otherwise you'll drive yourself crazy trying to do 'normal' in a strange and exciting place. Do you have a phone that plays videos? If so load up some cartoons or take an ipod or similar with kids stories on and invest in some suitable headphones for her.

Make nappy packs with a nappy, a few wipes and a nappy sack in a freezer bag, and keep one in your pocket all the time. It makes emergency nappy changes so much less stressful than lugging the whole bag to the plane loo.

Pack lots of little snack pots and let her snack little and often. Better for digestive system while travelling and also can be produced as a distraction.

Pack a hand towel in your hand luggage. Serves as a pillow, shade from the light, cover for a secret den, blanket, peekaboo, hide and guess game, and if all else fails you can mop up things with it :o

Drink lots from the trolley :)

Have a lovely trip

Watching with interest as we are going on a similar trip soon with a 1.5 year old and a 3.2 year old, eeeeek.

Wow, that's great Thankyou!

Have just returned from a trip to the US (9 hours Brussels-Chicago, 4 hours Chicago-Seattle and back again) and I, too, was DREADING the trip.

But DS (19 months) was an absolute star - so you may be pleasantly surprised.

All of the suggestions here are great. Totally agree on lots of little snacks, and on forgetting everything except not annoying people. If she likes scribbling already, Crayola make a great product - Wonder Paper and Pens. The pens are clear, and the colours only show up on the paper - so no worries about ink stains all over your travelling clothes!

I actually bought a portable DVD player with the thought that it would give me at least 2 hours of peace before the battery ran out - and I didn't even take it out of my bag. The runaway success of the trip? Two plastic cups and a bag of pretzels from the drinks cart - he spent HOURS carefully transferring pretzels from one cup to the other and giggling as I counted out the pretzels as he did it.

Also - have no idea if it did anything or just acted as a placebo for mummy, but I did give him Bach's Rescue Remedy just before boarding - four drops mixed into a bit of water.

Good luck!

Don't let him run up and down the plane unless you can cope withthe tutting and death stares!

One of those magnetic scribble pad things much easier than paper and crayons, get one with the pen attached to the board with string!

Lots of snacks

Lots of water

Nappy bags are a great idea.

Several changes of clothes ( a couple of sleepsuits at least) for them and one for you (oh how I wish I had had a changefor me on the way back from Oz...)

Be receptive to kind strangers! Lady on second flight of 3 to Oz took DS for a carry up and down the plane for ten minutes, I will never forget her kindness! Enabled me to go for a wee, wash my face, give myself a sterntalking to and not burst into tears of rage and exhaustion!

We've just come back from visiting relatives with DS (20mo) on the plane. We've travelled quite often on planes with him since he was born because we live abroad. He was actually much better behaved than I thought he would be this time because he's usually so full of energy and wants to run around! If you expect the worst, then if they're well behaved it seems like a miracle!!!

Here are my tips for the flight:

1. Apologise in advance (before take off) to the people sitting in front of you! - it's inevitable that they will get their seat kicked from time to time and it will make you feel slightly less stressed knowing that they know you're sorry about it!! (Well, works for me...).

2. Like others have said, lots of little cheap toys e.g. cars, keyrings etc. Airlines often give kids a goody bag of bits and bobs too,so ration them out over the course of the journey.

3. Something I found amazing that took up at least 30 mins was one of those books that has large busy pictures where you have to find certain objects e.g. "can you see a cat?" "can you find the car?"

4. If possible, let your lo run/crawl around as much as you can while waiting for the flight - going up and down steps is a great one for tiring them out and giving them an energy release.

5. Avoid sugary foods on the flight - it just gives them more energy! I usually take things like oatcakes, crackers and little bags of cereal.

6. Don't worry what other people think if your lo has a meltdown on the flight!! - I've been in this position as have most parents while travelling, so the majority of people will be feeling sympathetic. Just stay calm and take some deep breaths - it'll be over soon and you can laugh about it later (honestly!!).

hth