Distractions for 18mth old on flight? And also me who is petrified of flying!

[Chloe55]

Off to Cyprus in less than a week and am a bit nervous about the flight. I hate flying anyway and it normally begins and ends with me gripping onto dh for dear life and shedding a few tears.

Firstly, I am well aware I need to hide this fear from ds and am actually hoping that having him there will make me stay calm but what have people found helps make the journey more pleasant in the past?

He doesn't have his own seat so he will be spending a lot of time swopping from one lap to another but he has started the terrible strops so I need him to try and stay as unstressed as poss.

Am thinking crayons but then my mind has a bit of a blank!

Oh I was panicking like this at the end of last month.

I hate hate flying and react like you, clinging and tears lol.

Tbh, it really wasnt that bad. We had dd who is nearly 4, she sat on her own seat next to the window and then ds who has just turned 1 was sat on dh's knee but we faced him out of the window when we started to move and he loved it!
My time was taken up sorting the kids out so I didnt really get time to think about the flying, plus seeing the kids faces was a treat. They really enjoyed it.

I would suggest if he still has a bottle, take that for take off as it will help with popping ears (same for landing too) or a beaker. Box of raisins or some other snack (not too messy though), aquadraw mats are fab (great suggestion), favourite toy and maybe a little colouring book and few crayons.

Honestly you will be fine.
Enjoy your holiday

Having a similar age dd I found that books with magnets are great. but what kept her happy most was stickers. I got re useble ones and we stuck them on the table, her , the seat and mummy and a few on the book. Also hide a few favourite little toys and bringng them out on the flight.

Hope you have a great holiday.

Sorry and for you try Bachs rescue remedy it might help !

Thanks for your advice, I've never even heard of aquadraw mats, will start googling!

Those magnetic drawing board things are good too, we have a pocket-sized one from elc that was good for travelling. Toy phone was good too. Small books with flaps, moving parts, squeakers etc, we have a good one called Busy Airport that's quite sturdy. Small tub of playdough you can model into various animals, car etc. You can also make use of stuff on the plane - in-flight magazine, small half-full bottle of water - amazing how long they can be amused by one of those! Swap him between you and DH frequently and bring stuff out 1 at a time. You never know, he may actually fall asleep (10 minutes before landing if he's like my DD)