Help me introduce screen time

[Hyperquiet]

Hi

I am going on a 4.5 hour flight and i have an 18 month old. Doesnt really watch TV as such but very occasionally have put something on for him for about 30 mins max.

Sometimes he glances at the TV when we are watching something age appropriate.

Because im not planning on giving him an iPad or anything to use at home just yet what should I buy for the flight?

I am not fussed about lots of screen time as a one off - anything for a peaceful flight.

Do I buy a tablet if so which one? Do people download things on their phone. Not to be dim but how do I do that and do you pay to download?

Do I have to buy headphones too or will the plane noise and very low volume be ok (very empty flight).

Thanks!

Forgot to add we went on 2 other holidays and havent used screen time but I want to have it as an option on this flight. Previous flight we managed to entertain without but that was only 3 hours.

One of the flights wont be nap time this time on the way there so will need to entertain throughout.

I would just download some shows like ms Rachel etc onto your phone. I downloaded ms Rachel from Netflix onto mine for a recent flight and just had volume low. Worked a treat. If you don’t have Netflix just download stuff from the bbc iplayer that’s free. You literally just click download and it’ll save in the app for you.

We had family in row in front and they couldn’t hear her show. The plane noise just drowns it out as long as you don’t have volume too high

The child needs headphones as you'll need the volume up high for them to hear it over plane noise. I would recommend a kids kindle, they're pretty cheap on prime days. It took us a while to get our little one used to wearing headphones.

I don't ever put anything on my phone as I want that separation between a phone and a kindle to watch stuff and play games for when they get older and start asking for a phone 🤦

Thank you. I didn't realise netflix had ms Rachel so I have just downloaded those!

How much is TOO much screen time for an 18 month old on a flight? E.g. will a certain amount make him go haywire?

Great thank you

You will need headphones. With the background noise of the plane most kids headphones will be too quiet so you will need noise canceling headphones.

I would download some ceebies programmes but I would allow him to watch some at home first otherwise he may not be interested in them.

At 18 months he may not watch much. How much is too much will depend on the child which isn’t helpful. Have you booked him a seat on the plane?

To be honest on a flight I don’t personally think anything is too much. Like pp said it will depend on how much your child is interested in it. I wouldn’t limit it though if it works for a one off situation.

I really wouldn't, just get them lots of interactive things to do and they're likely to sleep alot anyway.

We paid for the extra seat so she had space to play with toys etc for a good chunk of it. I know that’s not an option for everyone but if you can afford it it was well worth it. I wasn’t having to keep her on my knee for the whole time and had space to play.

We havent but it is a really empty flight so really hoping we get one!

Thank you

I dont think he will sleep honestly especially on the eay there as it wont be nap time

What kind of interactive toys would you recommend

Really hoping for the extra seat lots of rows are empty!

I don't think you need headphones. Especially as your DC isn't used to watching shows they won't mind not being able to hear it. I just narrate quietly or comment on what's happening for him.

We took DS on a similar length flight aged 18mo and 2.5y. He's anxious about flying, so seeing a favourite show or something exciting and new at takeoff and landing really helps distract him from feeling scared, especially now he's too old to snuggle on my lap and has to have his own seat.

Is the flight long enough that you get an airline meal? DS loves this and it really helps to break up the flight - there's usually something like a bread roll and butter, salad, a juice and something sweet. Obviously not great for every day, but as a novelty on a long, boring and stressful flight it's another great distraction.

We recently went on a flight and took the boys mini Yoto players with headphones and plenty of story cards.
a little girl sat next to us had an electric drawing pad which also seemed good

Just do whatever. He might get bored, he might start going mad, so have other activities on hand. Play it by ear. It’s not a very long flight so you should be fine rotating a few activities or doing solid screen time, either should be no big deal. 12 hours of solid screen time then yes, maybe that’s a different story!

Busy books, some puzzles, maybe some magnetic type puzzles or blocks . 18 months is quite young so I cant really remember what my DC played with, but just take the things your DC enjoys. When mine was two I took a few things that I wrapped and kept giving such as colouring books, sticker books but I'm not sure if that might be too old for an 18m. If you do end up using a screen, just make sure you keep it to the plane, it's hard to stop once you start

Is the plane empty or have people just not selected seats? On some airlines, like Ryanair, where you need to pay for seat selection, seats will be empty if no one paid for them but it will still be a full flight. It just means you could still switch to that seat because no one has yet claimed it. Will be different if, say, Virgin Atlantic, where everyone chooses a seat at booking.

I would definitely just download things to your phone on Netflix or Prime. Get normal noise cancelling headphones. I would also double check what you’ve downloaded for the flight back. Not all shows ares available in all countries and I’ve had the situation where i downloaded like 10 hours of something, got to the other country, and couldn’t access it because the licence didn’t cover streaming in that country (it was Spain, so nowhere particularly wild). So we couldn’t watch those shows on the way back (I had to download something different).

Please for the love of god, get some headphones. So rude when we have to listen to kids games/shows etc

If you can download Hey Duggee and Numberblocks/colourblocks from the BBC they work well. Dibdab and ticktack too, and you don't need sound for those.

What about magic painting? We had some great sets where you just needed a little water in a pen type (avoided spills) the designs were bright and fun. I think we got them from Tiger.

Snacks in little boxes or a box with lots of little compartments. My daughter loved chosing which one to open next!

Thats a really good point about the seats and thanks for the tip about checking 4he downloads on return

Thank you. Will look into those!

Magic painting where you just add water is great and you can also get mess free colouring books. Mine also loves stacking cups.