Any ideas for keeping 16mo occupied on flight to Canada?

[JenniW]

We are visiting my in-laws for Christmas and New Year and will be taking our 16mo dd on her first flight. Any suggestions on how we might keep her occupied during the flight to minimise any stress for us and those who will be sitting around us? (Also, any advice on how we can counteract/minimise the effects of changing time zones would be very welcome!. Thanks.

JenniW
I have just returned from lanzarote with my 16 month old. The flight was only 3 1/2 hours but it felt much longer!
We travelled with Air2000 but I wouldn't like to go with them again while ds is young.
Try to keep DD awake and active in the airport and only let her sleep once you have taken off. Also take lots of snacks for her to munch on.
I think it is also important to for you to stay calm no matter what DD does.
On our flight, DS needed his nappy changed, he really did stink! But as we were landing soon we left him. The smell was awful, you should have heard the other passengers near us, they didn't know what the smell was!!!
As for the time difference it all depends on what time you are travelling. Maybe you could try to adjust her routine gradually leading up to the holiday? When I went Dominian Repulic, we had to keep ourselves awake until 8pm and then we were able to sleep through the whole night and the next day we were fine, no jet lag at all.
Have a lovely time xxx

Hi JenniW, I have flown three times with DS in the past year, the longest flight being 15 hours. The trick is getting them to sleep as much as possible on the flight so let them run around in the airport before takeoff. Take along a small bag of toys (that they don't see before the trip) made up of a few favourite ones and a couple of new things. Airlines are pretty good and will usually provide a small bag of goodies like crayons and paper. I usually take two or three small books, a car, a soft toy, a scarf (for hide the bunny/peepo etc), beads for threading on a string. Anything small. As for the jet lag it's difficult as it depends on the child but get them out and about in the light/sunshine as much as possible during the day so that they adjust quicker. Also get lots of sleep yourself before the trip so you are not tired and can keep going longer. Have a great trip!

Took our 2 dds to Tokyo when they were 3 and 10ms old. With the jet lag, both ways, for the first 2 days we all had an hours nap after lunch. But, for us, it HAd to be just an hour, the temptation to sleep on is enormous but I hauled us all awake again! But it did seem to ease their crankiness. But after that no nap for dd1 who was 3 or me!!

Who are you flying with? You can request bulk head seats usually, so you get that extra bit of space. Also I saw a few people with small kids make up "beds" on the floor in the bulk head bits for their kids to sleep, with airline blankets/pillows etc.

A word on snacks, if your dd is prone to throwing up at the mere mention of the word, like my dd1, go easy on the amount. My big dd chucked up massively all over herself and her seat and me on the way home!! Take more nappies than you anticipate too. My dd2 had a runny bottom on our return flight, 11 nappy changes in 13 hrs!!!!

Have Fun!!

Hi JenniW, My family all live in Canada and I've flown there with my dd (almost 2) 4 times since she was born. I'd echo pretty much what everyone else has said as well. Some other things that my dd has liked on the flights

-playdough
-stickers
-new presents you wrap up
-etch-a-sketcher or a magic drawing pad- better than crayons because with crayons they go all over the place and you will be forever apologising to people when they drop back behind your seat
-use the headphones, she loves putting the headphones on (and off and on and off...)
-small snacks. I used to bring along the meal that she would have missed but she never has been very hungry. Little things like raisins, cheerios, grapes, yogurts, cubes of chicken, crackers. The Canadian authorities are really quite strict about bringing food into the country - I had ticked the box where it says I wasn't bringing anything in.........the sniffer dogs were all over my luggage and I ended up being interrogated about what I had in the bags, threatened with a fine........but all they smelled were the remains of dd's snacks in her coolbag. I was so mad!!

As far as the time difference, it depends on where you are going - the east coast has only a 4 hour time difference, but Vancouver is 8 (maybe 9?) hours. My parents are in Nova Scotia, and we've never really had a big problem with the time difference. The flight usually gets in mid afternoon and it's pretty easy to keep her awake until we get to their place, have a bite to eat and then to bed. It's coming back to England that is more difficut. We've just let her sleep it out once we're home again, and it takes a few days to get back on track.

We usually go to Canada for Christmas but are giving this year a miss - I was 'home' for 8 weeks this summer instead.........Have a fantastic time, enjoy the Boxing Day sales too! They are great
hana
xx