Amusing a 2 year old on a 9 hour flight??

kit

My daughter turns 2 next week and we fly to florida 4 weeks later....... so she will be a 'young' 2 when we fly.

I have no idea how to amuse her on a 9 hour day flight! She has a very short attention span (as most 2 years old would have). She loves to read and colour but not for 9 hours!

I could buy her some expensive computer type thing to keep her amused but I dont want to (and we cant afford to!) so what do other people do??

sweetmoneysaver

What time of day are you flying? Will some of that 9 hours cover her night time sleep? Hopefully if it is daytime you may get her to nap for a short while during the day. When we flew with my son for the first time. I made up a 'goody' bag which he was allowed to have something out of during certain points in the flight. There was the obvious like pens, books etc, but I got some cheap little toys and puzzles. He thought that it was great to hvae something new to play with. You needn't spend much money as they will have a novelty factor. Make sure that you have plenty of drinks and snacks and something to suck on for take off to stop her ears popping. Personally I wouldn't buy a computer type toy as that may lose it's appeal quickly and be very expensive for the short period of 'relief' that it will give you.
Does the flight have a TV monitor in the headrest as there are often cjildren's cartoons on which will also help.
Good luck and have a great holiday!

blue_monkey_2

hmmm, we had this with my very hyperactive son. You can more or less get around it with the food coming around, take some colouring books and the like, maybe invest in a small handheld dvd player if you can and that'll keep her occupied but my son fell asleep after lunch for a few hours which was nice. My kids never really had a problem with their ears, I bought some sweets but they chewed them - maybe it worked but they said their ears were fine. Good luck and have fun - more of the stress is worrying about the stress it is going to be. you'll find the time does pass and you'll get there worry free and let them have a wander, they do not have to be tied to their seats after all. My son is toilet training though and he must of made 100 trips to the loo, if he says he wants to go you take him but mainly it is to play with the taps, LOL!! Even if flying Virgin there is not a lot on for a 2 year old so see if you can get a battery operated DVD player (is there one?) to while some extra time away. if going Virgin don't forget to pre-book your kids meal online before you go and if giving snacks and drinks make sure they do not have additives and asugars in, nothing worse than a bonkers 2 year old on a sugar high, LOL!! Have a great time.

moonrakerz

Buy lots of little games, coloured sticky shapes, puzzles etc, etc. When the child has got bored with them, pick them all up and walk around the aircraft and swap them all with another family with games etc for their kids. Repeat as necessary !

ilovemycats

I have the perfect solution;

Rikki

When I first flew with my 2 year old. We had a small hardsided (old fashioned) type case. It doubled as a table to play on both in the airport and the plane. It was easy to find the toys inside. Alot easier than a rucksack.
Inside we had playing cards for playing snap. Crayons and a book for drawing and sticker to make pictures too. Lego to make. Books to read. The essential teddy/doll. Their own drink and sweets especially for the landing.
If I remember correctly he slept most of the way out. He couldn't sleep the night before because he was so excited.

kit

moonrakerz wrote:

Buy lots of little games, coloured sticky shapes, puzzles etc, etc. When the child has got bored with them, pick them all up and walk around the aircraft and swap them all with another family with games etc for their kids. Repeat as necessary !

For some reason your post reminded me of fuzzy felts..... had them as a child and are more cost effective than stickers (her favorite things)..... am searching on ebay right now!!

Great ideas from all - thanks..... keep them coming!

Dustykitten

Number one tip - do not worry about it - 9 hours will pass it always does. We took DS3 to Canada when he was 1, Florida when he was 3 and New England when he was 4 and never was it a problem. Stickers are good, walking is good, books are good, in-flight tv, threading beads, lots of babywipes, small number of lego style bricks, tub of playdough with small cutter. I'd take some snacks yourself. In flight food service may not arrive when your child is hungry or they may not like it. Hope you have a wonderful time. Dusty

kit

Rikki wrote:

Inside we had playing cards for playing snap.
He couldn't sleep the night before because he was so excited.

Those bits suggest your 2 year old was an older 2 year old than mine will be!

She has never played snap (but I will try and see how we get on before we go) and she has no understanding of a holiday or florida etc so there will be no issues with her being excited the night before (damn it!!).

kellyd

Both my girls have been to florida at age 2 they where ok I admit its not the easiest age as they dont like puting seat belts on, we took the portable tv and watched that till the battery died, the best thing we did was wrap 9 little gifts ie colouring bits and gave one every hour.

have a fab time x

jolenejolene

Hi,
we took dd when she was 18 months to Cyprus - so only 4 and a half hours. We did the 'bag of tricks' approach. Books, snacks, small new toys for novelty factor. It was hard I must admit - worth it though!!! The best thing was that coming home there was a lovely young girl sitting behind us. My daughter peeped over the top of the seat to her, and the girl made her laugh and kept giving her little sweets!! Honestly this gave us much relief! We are going to Majorca this year - we have a 1 year old as well now - 2 and a half hours will be enough!! Friends of ours took their daughter to Australia this year - she is 3 and was no trouble apparently.
Have a great time