Advice/tips on flying for 4 hours with a VERY active 14 month old

[burtie2u]

Hi, were are off on holiday on the 16th for 2 weeks and I am panicking about the 4 hour+ flight with our 14 month old DS.
Does anyone have any words of wisdom to make it go as smoothly as possible?
Any advice would be very appreciated.

We did an 8 hour flight when DD was 15 months. I was dreading it, but actually she was brilliant. Get your DS one or two new books/toys, also get these Aquadraw mini mats - perfect for the plane, something new for him that won't make a mess. Take some things for him to nibble on - breadsticks, raisins, the Ella's smoothies, etc. Do lots of walking up & down the aisle with him. And most of all, smile and make friends with your fellow passengers - they can be your saviours by playing peek-a-boo, etc with him!

Good luck & have a lovely holiday.

For take off and landing, get a sippy cup with juice and chewy snack to distract them.

While on the flight, distract with wrapped up toys (can be existing ones or new ones) produced every so often for distraction, magazines they can destroy, aquadraw and snacks. Once the trolleys have been past, take them to the back of the plane where they can hopefully have a little crawl/toddle around for half an hour or so. If you can get them to nap on you, do so. If they like tv, mini-dvd players are a godsend - Pingu kept our then 18 month old son distracted for a good hour or so. And remember - its just 4 hours and will be worth it when you get there. Good luck.

We took a 4 hour flight with our 15 month old last month and it went much better than I thought would. Our DD is super wriggly as well and I thought there was no way she'd be happy sitting on our laps.

I opted for buying a few new toys and a set of 6 little books. The novelty of bringing something different out kept her amused. The little books were a big hit and are still her favourites a month later.

I also took quite a lot of snacks on the plane (little sandwiches, dried fruit etc) which went down well.

All in all, nowhere near as bad as I imagined!

I always found offering bottled drinks as plane ascended and descended helped with air pressure/ear pain. Laptop computer with a good children's film (download some 'Nightgarden' or whatever!) helps distract for some considerable time. Walking up and down plane with toddler when there's no turbulence helps keep down boredom and gives your legs a stretch too.

Also, try and get a bulkhead seat - will just give your DS a little bit of room to sit/play on the floor.

I was still b/fing DD at that age and feeding her just as plane was taking off and landing helped hugely.

I did a 10 hour flight with an 18 month old last year, and I can honestly say the thought of it was much worse than doing it. My ds is a huge Thomas the Tank Engine fan, so I bought him a carry on bag with thomas on it, aquadraw mats, some new thomas engines, bought him a magazine at the terminal and lots of snacks. Walked him up and down plane, watched some cartoony cbeebies things on laptop and he was fine. Best thing of all was we asked nicely at check in if we could be put by an empty seat which they happily did for us, so it meant ds had a free seat going out and on way back although we didn't have a seat for him, the plane was so full we ended up being upgraded for free. Doing it all over again his Summer so it must have been ok!

Thank you all so much, I feel alot happier about the flight now. I have ordered aquadraw to help keep little one entertained and the other ideas I will buy at the airport.
Sorry to be a pain, but what did everyone do about taking milk on board? Will they take it off us?

If on formula, take powder and get water once airside - or buy formula in cartons from the airside Boots.

If on cows milk, I think they'll take it off you if more than 100 ml of it. Maybe worth checking if airside WHSmith sells cows milk you can buy.

Also try to tire DS out as much as poss before the flight, and then maybe, if you are really lucky, he may sleep. Or not. A friend of mine did a long flight with 4 DCs and gave them medised beforehand!

I dreaded this, we have done some long flights, but is better than you think.
they have never taken milk off me. they make you taste it. they are usually quite understanding, they did take jars of babyfood though. you can get formula airside and they have always given me fresh milk on the plane
Is the flight booked already, was going to suggest you book it for bedtime or naptime, always worked with mine.
new toys is a must, I found little packs of cards, jungle animals or farm animals were good. and we took a couple of small animals.
And could have his own backpack, with his toys in? DS loves this now, but is a bit older.
We did buy a dvd player too!! but some airlines have good kids tv, might be worth checking.
good luck

I bought the ready made cartons of formula once I was through security from Boots. They also allowed me to take his water through although I had to drink a bit first. Not sure if things will be tighter now in view of recent security incident.
Forgot to say, I also took a favourite blanket and his 'blankie' for comfort on flight and that seemed to really help settle him down and he did a couple of short naps.

I had to fly from Canada with a 2 and 4 yr old. I made up a series of presents , gift wrapped and we opened one every 30 minutes. I had packed some fuzzy felt, note pads, and a variety of games, snacks etc. The kids thought this was great. What was funnier was as soon as the other passengers saw how organised I was there was an audible collective sigh of relief.
Kids are great at adapting to their circumstances, what upsets them is our anxiety.