HELP! advice for 11hr DAYTIME flight with 18m

[mamamila]

starting to panic about basically spending the whole day on a plane with a very active 18mo! we usually take night flights without probs as dd sleeps most of way. but this time i'm using miles and the award tickets are through the day.
first flight is at 6am (dd will probably wake up and want breakfast immediately!)
then 2nd flight from amsterdam at 10am

I'm 16 weeks pregnant too so hope dd will sit/ climb on dp mostly.
just wonder what other people have found succesful.
i usually try to stay very boring but i have a feeling we're in for a nightmare, especially as we need to leave home at 3.30 am so will be sleep deprived from outset

bump
Sorry can't offer any decent advice, my children are a a little older and one piece of advice I read was to have little pressies wrapped up and you bring one out every hour, or take a portable dvd player with you.

bump

TV if she is interested in it yet.
Raisins and general snacks.
Sticker books - you will have to take the stickers off yourself, but she will like sticking them down.
Books.
Lots of walking up and down the aisle.
She will sleep for some of it though!
I sympathise, we have often taken 7 hr flights with two children, now 3 and 4. It gets easier! FWIW, I think 12 months is about the worst age to do it, so you are past that!
We also bought those little pull along bags with wheels for children, which they take as carry on. Pack books, sticker books, toys etc in it.

I prefer daytime flights as if they are noisy nobody can really complain!!!

I used to take:
favourite toy/blanket to settle them
milk if still having milk
meals they like (disaster if they won't eat the plane food) and snacks
books and stickers etc as already said
puzzles (one you won't mind if a piece gets lost!)
rescue remedy is also quite good for both of you!!

Sadly though as tired as you will be be prepared for alot of walking up and down the plane.

Good luck

yup ditto alot of walking! On long haul i have used pheneragn but not till they are over two as it can inhibit breathing! so please dont!! dd allways loved flying so was nevere a problem. gave her a window seat once she had her own seat and took a car seat till she was about 2 so i could strap her in and that helped to settle her and make her feel secure! ds will be about 18 months when we fly back to the uk so will have to do it all over again! just let dp take the strain and you get some rest!!!

It'll pass quicker than you think. Divide the flight into manageable chunks: take-off, the bit after take-off when you can't do much, a meal (that'll take up about an hour hopefully!), a nap at some point, a bit of tv etc.

As everyone has said, sticker books are a winner. Usbourne do great ones with literally hundreds of really cute stickers. Lots and lots of snacks which take a while to eat - raisins in little boxes being the obvious ones. Treats for when she starts to kick off (although I can't remember if it works with an 18-month-old, it would with a three-year-old...)

We recently did a 13 hour flight with a 10 month old and three year old and actually it wasn't too bad.

There's two of you and only one of them so you can take it in turns to walk around with your dd while the other rests.

And you'll find other people on the plane are happy to help you entertain her as most of them are bored out of their minds...

We have just done a 23 hour flight (11 hours then a two hour break to go through customs in LA -joy!- then a 12 hour flight to Auckland) with a 23 month old and a four year old. Someone on here suggested Aqua Draw travel packs - they are brilliant. Sticker books as others have said. Toy cars - little figures - snacks. The stewards on our flight were brilliant and other people with kids also understood and we helped each other out.

claraquack we're about to do 13 hour flight with an 8/9 month old - any tips? He's very active already.