ideas to help entertain a 2 1/2 yo on a 7hr flight please!

[olivo]

I have already got colouring, some fuzzy felt and some sticker books, but not sure what else to put in dd's bag to keep her occupied.
any ideas would be welcome!

new stories, lots of snacks, you could wrap things for her if you could be bothered, take her dummy/blanket if you have one to see if she'll sleep, travel CD player might be worth trying (reckon my 2.5 year old would like on), let her play with your digital camera, balloons and bubbles are good though not in the plane!

good luck! rather you than me!

DVD player, small books (the ones that come in sets so you can giver them one at a time) crayola magic pens, the ones that don't mark anything but the paper, the inflight entertainment thing kept DD happy for a while. Snack food as the plane food she found awful.

snacks

food

snacks

food

(or maybe that just worked for my DS )

medised

thanks for these ideas.
am strangely drawn towards medised...
have got a dvd player, but she wont put headphones on but might watch the pictures i suppose. just remembered some of those mini books that i forgot to put in her stocking at christmas.
she doesnt have a blanket or dummy but her thumb is always there - am hoping she may sleep for a bit, despite the fact she's not really a daytime sleeper. i will be desperate for a nap at 22 weeks pg!

a brilliant idea my mum gave me which has been invaluable is to get a fabulously exciting looking velvet (or somesuch) bag, and then lots of cheapo crappy toys, like the things you get in party bags.

The key is to wrap them up like presents. But with LOTS of sellotape. Time yourself, so she can only have one every half hour. Or 10 minutes. Or 5 minutes.

Anyhow, it is brilliant for passing time. And keeping little hands busy.

Hm. Thought not sure what current security regs are and whether this would be OK these days.

I tried the 'bag of gifts' thing many times (we have rellies in the US and abroad elsewhere). Doesn't work because they soon learn that the bag has gifts in it and beg like hell to have more, NOW. It's not like they just wait patiently for the next half hour to arrive. As if.

Medised. Decant it into smaller empty bottle (Boots). It will at least dull the worst of it.

Trust me!

that's a great idea about wrapping them up, tassis and wilf. I think it'd be ok; we often travel back from the UK with christmas presents and things, have never been asked about wrapping. must add snacks to my shopping list.....

This was the best 25p we ever spent! DS has got through a fair few of these but they kept him quiet for ages (not sure if your DD might be a bit too young??)

Take a look in their shop though as they have lots of fun bits and bobs,wind-up toys etc

Second willselfs idea - haven't done it in the last two years ito security regs though. But worked a complete charm for ours on a flight to the US. Any small random bit of plastic becomes thrilling when it was A Present.
Also, don't forget to keep stuff in reserve for the homewards journey...
Also pack more snacks than you can imagine you would need - we went for a mix of the safe and loved & some more new & exciting options (eg dried bananas/mango strips).

And keep a few small bags of choc buttons in a separate pocket for emergancy tantrums whilst landing ;-)

ah, waiting, good point, she's pretty clued up!
now, where did i put that medised.....

We did medised on the flight back (night one), DD also didn't like headphones but to be honest if you put it on quiet enough it doesn't bother anyone else.

Tomy aquadraw minimats! I got them in ELC and they are brilliant at keeping my DS quiet for a fairly long time. Also my mum bought him a teeny one of those wooden boards with metal wiggly shapes and beads on them (what are those things called?!) and that is great for amusing. Your DD will have her own in flight bag allowance so fill it to the brim. New cuddlies? Does she have any characters obsessions that you could get her a new thing of (like jigsaws etc)

ooh, jigsaws. I have some dora ones i also forgot to put in her stocking . good idea.
will also charge up the dvd player if you think we can get away with it on low. have a new cinderella dvd somehwere..( no, not one i forgot to put in her stocking olivo...)

People won't hear teh DVD once they have their headphones on.

good point five.
am off to town to look for some things this morning!

You've just reminded me that I need to get a new charger for our portable DVD player and stupidly managed to leave it in Spain after our last holiday! Doh!

It has been excellent when we've travelled with 2.5y.o. DD. We didn't use headphones, just had the volume fairly low. With all the other noise on the plane, it didn't disturb any of the other passengers.

I am planning on using a dvd player without headphones on our flight to Australia this summer ()

imo, if the sound is not blaring out, it is only the same level as having a conversation, and no-one would think twice about that...

I would second using your dd's cabin baggage allowance and cram a bag with toys/books etc.

we got through an 11 hour flight with the dds last year (then 3 and 1) using the following:

food/snacks - always a winner
books - a mix of old favourites to reassure, and new exciting ones
those magnetic doodle screens - drawing without mess!
LOTS of talking and singing songs

but dd1 (autistic) was not interested in drawing or tv or jigsaws, so that was a big drawback for us.

will do similar this year, but with the added bonus of Mr Tumble on the dvd player

would your dd like those small wind up toys? you could spend a while racing them across the table? (and they come in all shapes and sizes, so could pack a few to keep it interesting)

I did an 8hr with ds (2) a few weeks ago and took some little cars, lots of snacks, a few books and most importantly a dvd player (again no earphones, just had it on fairly low). We only took bob the builder and thomas the tank dvds and tbh ds got a bit bored of these very quickly so this time (on hols next week to US) I have bought a couple of dvds off amazon with a selection of cbeebies episodes so there is more variety!

My tips would be

• hold out on the different distractions as long as you can, so go as long as you can on the plane before you introduce the dvd player, maybe wait until after the food comes around so to stagger something new every hour and always have your trump card of chocolate ready for the inevitable melt down but not a minute before!

-let them run round at the airport before you get on the plane to tire them out a bit

-You will probably do plenty of walking up and down the aisles but just smile and remember, the flight is not indefinate, it will come to an end!!

-Pray for a good night flight on way back, we had just over 8hrs on the return and ds slept all the way, only waking just as we landed

Even though most airines call families with small children to board first, I would suggest not boarding the plane until as late as possible. Let LO run about in the airport for a bit longer, you've got long enough sat in those seats!

Obviously this doesn't work if seats aren't allocated and there's a Ryanair-style scrum to board.

you can now get an ipod for about £40 from toys r us and it has just enough space for their favourite film/ cartoon charater/ music and will last in those awkward times when there is nothing else to do, or allowed. medised is a help, but it has to be timed right or you will have a sleepy toddler just when you don't need one! snacks are a must as the food on the planes are not great and last approximately 5 nano seconds...... !! Plus some colouring pens and books are a must! My children will put on their special headphones which are specially for children and have a sound cut off point which I like. If you are travelling with a child under 2, I think its better to get them a seat and take your travel seat, especially if it fits onto your buggy ( quinny zapp is great as you can also take the wheels on as hand luggage for most airlines). That way, they can have a little more space to play and I think the extra money is well worth it!! I have travelled many times with two young children and it is hard - but I always feel like I've acheived something at the end!! ( after a few days.......!!) www.childrentraveleasy.co.uk

I live in Australia and frequently do the long-haul back home to the UK, by myself with my toddler. It's a 7 hour, then 14 hour trip. We stopover a night in Asia. But I agree with jojosmaman: let them run riot at the airport. And on the plane after meals are served, let him go up and down the gangway. He doesn't touch anyone or annoy them; just wants to stretch his legs. Then hopefully he sleeps in my arms. I have heard mixed reviews of sedatives. Anti-histamine didn't work for my kiddie. All I say, it's a draining time. Have a glass of wine!