Flight with headstrong 22 month old - help!

[itsnotyouitsmee]

I know this topic is done to death but we are flying to Gran Canaria with our headstrong 22 month old next month and I’m starting to panic slightly.

His big sister has always been easy to handle/distract/placate on planes but he is a completely different beast 🥴

We’re going to load up an iPad with his favourite cartoons, take a bag full of snacks, but does anyone have any other specific recommendations for handling a strong-willed 22 month old, that is going through a throwing phase (which makes me think I should leave his toy cars at home!) and doesn’t really take no for an answer?!

Honestly, I don’t know why parents subject their kids and fellow passengers to these flights. I had a very difficult toddler, so we only went on UK holidays until he was old enough to behave and really understand what was going on. I appreciate you and the rest of your family really want a nice holiday but that’s a really long flight for a restless toddler, who will probably churn through all of the snacks in an hour.

Thanks for your advice. Really helpful 🙏🏼🤣

Any chance of his own seat? That would obviously be the best way to ensure more comfort. As an Aussie I certainly don’t consider that a long flight 😂 If he is a thrower then stick to soft toys he can’t hurt himself and others with. Don’t rely on airline food. Make sure you have a change of clothes for the adults not just the kids (bitter experience). Keep saying to yourself “this too shall pass”!

Flatandhappy has pretty much nailed it.

I would add, DO NOT take up the airlines offer of getting on first. It's just more time sat on the plane. If you have loads of hand lugage, consider one parent boarding early to nab overhead space for the most important bit. Take minimal hand lugage - but make sure you pack spare clothes for everyone.

Find the airport kids zone. Wear them out before you board. Or just find an empty gate, and do touch your toes, star jumps, run on spot style Simon says games.

I am sorry, but totally agree with @PotatoPudding

why do it ?

just drive to your nearest Butlins or Centre park and the only people your little one will annoy will be his own family

Thank god I’m not going to Gran Canaria any time soon.

Don’t pack anything that he can throw and hurt someone with. Pay for his own seat so you can stick him near the window and he can’t run off.

Also he’s not headstrong, he’s badly behaved. He’s almost 2, you can absolutely have boundaries and expectations of behaviour at this age. Might do you some good to practice before the holiday.

My advice:

Take sweets for take off and landing to help his ears adjust

Plan activities and buy new small toys for him to use

Swop around between the adults - helps keep his interest up

Take him for walks up and down the plane

If you can afford another seat then do as it’s a game changer having the space. If not lift up the arm rests when you are able to and utilise that space.
Try to relax, they will feed off of your tension.
Stickers were great for us. You need to have them on your lap for take off and landing so I let the toddler put them on my face for the fun factor, don’t buckle them in until the last minute incase they decide it’s not fun and you end up with a fighting octopus!
play doh was good, I just threw it away afterwards because of germs and I antibac wiped the trays beforehand.
colouring was good, I got triangular crayons, I think made by bic.
Pop it toys also worked for a while.
Snacks so many snacks, cheerios and the like so they are small to waste time.
Hope you have a great time, we’ve always travelled with ours other than covid and they are really good.

in addition to above, consider a night time flight so he can sleep for most of it.

Travel Aquadoodle
Snacks - loads of non-sugary snacks
A few small items that he’s never seen before so they are a novelty - this was suggested to me when I took DS, then aged 3, on a long train journey.

Perhaps ramp up enforcing the behaviour boundaries for the next month, although the throwing could be a Schema if he’s doing it all the time.

Get through security with plenty of time to spare and tire him out walking around.

-Tire him out in the airport with lots of walking, and if there’s a kids play area definitely find it
-Get toddler headphones for the ipad, practice with these at home before you go so you know they’ll be accepted (it took quite a lot of practice the first time), have some games as well as the cartoons for a change- the crayola and duplo ones are good for that age
-If you can afford it pay for them to have their own seat, 22 months is too big to be comfortably on a lap and that’s not a short flight then put him in the window so he can’t go anywhere
-Colouring books and crayons are good aa an alternative to the ipad, they make triangle shaped ones that don’t roll

It’ll be fine honestly, bet there will be loads of kids his age on the plane! Gran Canaria is classic family holiday territory.

I think this is bad advice. It’s only a 4-5 hour flight. If you fly at 7pm, you’ll be waking a tired toddler at midnight.

I was just on a flight that left at 2am….thats the sort of night time flight I was thinking of.

Seconding the poster who says get him used to headphones if he isn't already. Whenever I see toddlers tantruming or restless or behaving like perfectly normal toddlers I feel nothing but sympathy with the parents. If they are blaring out tinny cartoons on transport, in restaurants, outdoors - anywhere! - I feel furious. Kids are kids, try not to worry about it. But get headphones!

I am sorry, but totally agree with @PotatoPudding

Me too.

We went on holidays in the U.K. or drove to Europe when the kids were little. You can take as much as you like and stop as often as you like.

From which country? Are you from a country where kids will usually sleep a while in the day and then stay up later? I couldn’t imagine disrupting a small child at that time of night with the rigmarole of airport security and boarding a plane.

That reminds me of one trip through La Guardia where DD fell asleep in the cab, then I got her into the stroller, through the airport, out to be carried through security, back into the stroller to the gate, out again to get onto the plane and she didn’t wake until we were at cruising altitude 🤣 It was nap time though. I find night flights incredibly stressful as you’re tired, you don’t know if they’ll even sleep in an unfamiliar environment, the plane will be dead quiet so no tolerance for even talking and unless the flight is 12+ hours there’s zero chance of them getting enough sleep and you know they’ll be tired and grumpy the next day. If there’s a day flight option I’ll take it every time.

How long until you fly? It's exactly the same skill set as managing a toddler on a bus, so if you've got time you can start by taking him on bus journeys (not with buggy) and teach him how to sit nicely, follow your instructions etc, and find the little tricks that work well with your particular toddler.

Nobody should tolerate any throwing behaviour from him from now on. Take thrown objects away for the rest of the day and tell him a firm no.

Why are people always so negative about taking children on a flight. We are currently in South Africa after travelling here with 22 month old twins who sound similar to your child. I had planned for the worse but the flight was actually one of the least stressful parts of the holiday (stopping them jumping off table mountain was more stressful!).

The twins slept for a lot of the flight as it was a night flight but we still managed to entertain them whilst awake for around 4 hours or so. Things that worked-

• Sugar free snacks (cereal bars, raisons, crisps)
• Watching things on TV (they didn't get the hang of headphones but were content to watch with no sound)
• Watching the other passengers walking up and down
• A couple of trips to the toliet to have a walk around
• A couple of new toys to include colouring and stickers. Quite a few books (brought new paperback books). I actually had more toys but didn't need use them.

I hope the lovely posters that suggest my children stay in the UK until they learn to behave are sat next to drunk, loud adults on every flight they ever fly on; as I would be willing to bet that flights are more often ruined by adults behaving like children, rather than children acting like children.

If I didn’t care about other passengers on the flight then I wouldn’t be posting for advice, but my children have just as much right as to be on a plane and go on holiday as anyone else. I’ve been on flights with upset children before, and always felt nothing but sympathy for the parents rather than selfishly ‘why didn’t they take them to Centre Parcs?’

Anyway, thanks to all of those who have taken the time to post their advice. I’ve also watched some very good YouTube videos which provide great plane activities for young children so will also be trying them out.

We flew with our crazy DS when he was a similar age. It was chaos!!! BUT the plane was jam packed full of toddlers and everyone was really accommodating including the crew .

it’ll be fine.

You'll be fine OP. Get some cheap new toys and wrap them. It'll take some time to open them. There are some posts on instagram on how to entertain toddlers etc.

Honestly op you'll just get through it

I flew with ds around that age and he was just constantly up wandering around- just go with it. If you're extremely lucky he'll sleep

Rude much?! A very sweeping assumption to say he is badly behaved. He's not even 2! How people expect a not even 2 year old to obey every order and sit quietly have a warped understanding of young kids. Yes some kids are very placid and happy to sit nice and quietly, and lucky you if you had those kind of kids, but some kids are wired the opposite, with extremely different levels of energy. And unfortunately you don't get to choose and it doesn't mean they are badly behaved.

Good luck on the flight OP. I recommend things that are new and he hasn't seen before. Those galt water magic books are great, they were useful in restaurants etc for us too. 101 animals book by Campbell kept him entertained for ages, asking him to find certain animals. Download some apps/games on your phone or tablet. Defo get headphones for watching netflix, otherwise he won't be able to hear much or if any of his cartoon.

My sister did this with twins. I assume a second adult is going? Unless airlines have rules about which lap the kid can sit on, let your son decide. If he wants to swap, let him swap.

The more autonomy you can give him, the better it will be. Choose very carefully which battles to have.

In addition to sweets for air pressure, a drink specifically for takeoff and landing will help.

Some kids hate the window seat. If your son doesn't like it, and it's possible, pop him in the middle.