How to entertain a 13 month old on a plane!

[NotLad]

Don't do stickers! The flight attendants I'll give you death stares!

BANDAIDS!! They don't leave a residue and are easy to clean up!

Nurse during take off and landing. That will help with the ears. Or suckers help too, but 13 months may be on the young side.

[KelseyH]

Originally Posted by theonenonlymrssmith Does anyone know If nursing helps ears pop?

Yes, definitely! Nursing was a godsend. DS was strapped in his seat and I just leaned over him for ascent/descent to nurse.

[Van1300]

Originally Posted by theonenonlymrssmith Great suggestions ladies! Especially about the ear popping and the noise level. Does anyone know If nursing helps ears pop?

Yes it does!!

[danner]

I suggest that the snacks you bring should come in single serve packs. They crinkle (the sound is a great distraction), it keeps things neat, and its something that can be started and finished, rather than a big bag of something that can be spilled everywhere.

Definitely nurse on ascent and descent. Save nursing until you taxi though, because you might be empty otherwise.

If you are bringing "medically necessary" liquids (I bring yogurt and water and call them baby food) I suggest you pull them out and put them in the tray on the belt. And I'm sure you know this, but you can gate check a stroller.

Take a walk on the plane once you're stable. Don't wait until you have a fussy kid.

[Chibirsd]

I just did this in October with My then 12 month old! I'm still nursing so was able to get him to sleep most of the flights. I would pack plenty of snacks and maybe put some games/baby apps on your phone or tablet if you have one. I also brought some pipe cleaners and Cheerios ( to play with eat and put Cheerios on the pipe cleaners) also a few new toys to open very 1/2 hour or so.

As far as the lay over goes we had a 5 hour one and my life saver was the people movers they had.( like the horizontal escalator) we went around and around and around on that for hours and it wore him out for our second flight.

Lindsey - RN wishing to be a SAHM. mom to the cutest DS born 10/3/11.

[Josiekitty]

We just did a 3 flights 24 hours trip .

Bring snacks, favorite books, blanket, change of clothes, etc.

Most important, a portable DVD player with her favorite DVDs. We also get personal tv on flights(economic class) so those Mickey mouse shows help too

4 hours should not be too bad . Good luck.

[jam's mum]

It's not so bad, honest! we did an 8 our flight each way this summerwhen she was 13 months.

Don't rely on him falling asleep! That way madness lies .

Breast feeding works a treat, and run around the airport before you get on the plane to tucker him out. That was counter intuitive for me, I'm usually so stressed before I get on a plane, I just want to park at the gate and not move, but I think it really helps to let them run and crawl and look at planes going up and coming down.

I sang lots of songs to my little girl, with hand motions (softly, so as not to annoy other passengers.)

I don't feel comfortable walking down the aisles because of getting in the stewards' way. But I think it's ok to hang out at the - don't know what they're called? Vestibules? - in between the cabins.

[theonenonlymrssmith]

Oh no! My ipad was going to me my saving grace for my older ds (4) and the baby threw it in the bath tub last night!!! :-( my laptop batter is completely toast and I've never bothered to replace it because I used my ipad. :-( *sigh* people DID survive planes before electronics right?!

[Done at 3]

Originally Posted by theonenonlymrssmith Oh no! My ipad was going to me my saving grace for my older ds (4) and the baby threw it in the bath tub last night!!! :-( my laptop batter is completely toast and I've never bothered to replace it because I used my ipad. :-( *sigh* people DID survive planes before electronics right?!

Did you put the iPad in rice to absorb the moisture? I've seen that trick save many an iPhone!! Try it!!

[Leiiki]

Originally Posted by theonenonlymrssmith Oh no! My ipad was going to me my saving grace for my older ds (4) and the baby threw it in the bath tub last night!!! :-( my laptop batter is completely toast and I've never bothered to replace it because I used my ipad. :-( *sigh* people DID survive planes before electronics right?!

Definitely fill a plastic bin with rice and any silica dessicant packs you have lying around. Put the iPad on top and seal the bin as well as you can! Don't try to restart it by plugging it into a power source until it's TOTALLY dry.