Occupying Young Kids on a Long Flight

K.,
we moved to south korea 2 months ago! happy moving preparations...
our babe was almost 8 month then and we took the red eye, which was very helpful as he was able to sleep for 1/2 the flight.
i am looking for ideas for my trip to france next week with him --now 10 month and came across your post. thanks!
if he could draw, i would a mini set of coloring supplies, notecards to make postcards for the family back home could be one activity for the big ones.
my personal email is ____@____.com if you want to correspond privately and get to know each other in seoul.
kimchi,
a.

Hi K., Your kids should be fine, we traveled to Japan witrh a 22 month old a 4 year old and a 7 year, it was a 17 and a half hour flight then a 2 hour van ride, we didn't take toys on the plane, we took snacks for them, but that was it, our 22 month old daughter had her blanket, they all did really well. J.

When you get to the airport see if there is any grandma types or young college students who might want to make a little money by sitting with you and being your extra grown-up. My parents used to find someone in the waiting area and ask them and paid them a small something, to be my friend when I was an unaccompanied minor going to visit my grandparents. It may add an expense to the trip, but 2 more hands and a willing engaging voice might be worth it.

I just sat on a 6 hour flight with a charming and very squirmy almost 2 year old and this mom had all she could do with her one. At the end of flight she kept thanking me and told me that she would have paid good money to have someone like me sit near her on her original flight. Sometimes you get lucky and you have a nice person in the seats near you. Sometimes you have to make your luck.

Good luck!

Hi K.! well I hope congrats! I took a cross country trip and what I did was take their toys (not noise ones!) also coloring books and crayons. I also took a small radio with headphones and bought some kids songs for them. I also had some no-sugar candy so that they could have if their ears pressure got bad. good luck and if you want to have a e-mail pal email me at ____@____.com

I've never done a flight this long, but here's what I've done on shorter ones . . .
1) bring new quiet toys - hand puppets, books, coloring, etc. that can be brought out one at a time as surprises.
2) bring familiar food
3) take advantage of any layovers to let those little legs stretch. We used a foam ball and had our 3 and 1-year-olds chasing after it in a corner of the airport.
4) mini chocolates for those sitting next to you - I found it helped to break the ice.

Good luck to you!

Start collecting a bunch of new, dollar toys that they've never played with before, and space them out on the trip. Playdoh lasts for a while too. Also, invest in some portable DVD players with headphones and bring along a lot of kid DVD's.

I did that flight with a six month old. You should def. take a red eye...so they'll sleep most of the flight. Also I would get a portable dvd player. Make sure it has long hrs tham most. Good Luck!

Little wax sticks...(you can look on the internet), I think they were called wikisticks or something. I've taken many many long trips with my children and all the other suggestions are good....but the thing that kept them occupied the longest and the quietest were the wiki sticks...they could build dolls and buildings and names and whatever, forever.

i had very long flights (over 30 hrs totally0 with my kid when he was 7 months old, 1.5 years old and then at 2. Then we had an 8 hrr trip when we had hsi baby brother. The easiet was when he was youngest. So for the baby you don't need to worry about anything.She should be sleeping or otherwise fine in your arms (just don't forget to pack many nimple for her bottles if she is drinkign formula-as things tend to fall on the floor). For the 1 year old and 3 years old, I had selected toys that are not too small for the 1 year old to play with. For instace, i brought soem of those tiny legos BUT I have the younder one only the figurines-not th esmall parts. Puzzles for the older one may help and they do not take much space. I found portable DVD useful for keeping both of them entertained liek for half an hour. So you decide if it worhts carrying. At oen tiem, i found little trains that has the tracks and the like in a samll box. that was a hit again without taking up much space. Books are ok if they are not laready mad by the time you take them out, but otherwise i find them useless, instead make stories out of the magazines stokced in the plane in your front pocket. THe coloring things are not sueful either, and besides in long flights they are simply given to you by the flight attendents. I would go for movable parts, colorful things, and toys that allows for pretend play. I also packed many snakcs, and alternated btw toys and snacks. and i also had cholcote chips that I spared for the craziest times-towards the very end of landing. If they are not allergic to nuts or seeds, pumkin seeds can keep them occupied for a long while. Even the food youa re packing should be fun. For instace if you will out soem raisins you can find those small boxes which as removable cards on them. So once they eat it, they can play with the cards. Stuff liek that. Oh, and don't rely on the packaing to hold up until the end of such a long flight. Instead put them in zipper bags. Cereal bars are good too. I think for such a long flight food are important as toys. Spare cloths fro all of them you will need becasue something spills over or at the very least they may get too swaety. Toys like stacking toys may keep both of them occupied and they can play with them in different ways (parts of a lego or blocks). Also you can take the opportunity when you are just into a plane or in trasfer areas. Kids tend to like look around and see what is around during those times (meaing spare your toys during those times).
and if it is to your relief, in a 13 hrs flight at least soem of the kids may sleep-though don't make your plans according to it. In one of my 30 hr flight my 2 year old slept for only about 2 hrs and that was terribel fro me because I planned for snakcs and toys to last about 20 hrs:).
Another things: if you can, pretend that they are not allowed to walk within the plane-only flight attendants can walk, you can walk only for potty. Once they discover that it is ok to walk wihtin the plane, it gets hectic, and you woudl ideally liek to spare this walking opportunity towards the last 2-3 hrs. If they start walikng right awya, they will get very frustrated when they need to sit with toys and snacks. You can say soomething liek "in the first flight we are not allwaoed to walk unless for potty. Btu in the second (or third flight youc an walk as much as you want becasue we will be in a differenrt coutnry, and it is allwoed over there" type of stuff:).
And for the tiems that youa re going insane, and when even the choloate is not working fro them, remeber: it is for 13 hrs, and then you will all be fine.
Once you are in that destination, they may take about a week to adjust to the time difference. That may mean slepeeing 2 hrs her eand 3 hrs there at starnge tiems. So if possible try to sleep when they can.
It is a lot to plan but once you ar eon th eplane it tends to go better

A box of bandaids is very entertaining and quiet. Won't last for 13 hours, but will keep them occupied for a little while!

K., I made the flight twice. Once with a 6 mo old and the second time coming back with a 3 yr old and a 6 mo old. Whatever you do, make sure you have a seat for the baby and an airline approved carseat to put in it. Snacks and toys without small pieces. You don't want to spend a lot of time with your head between the seats looking for dropped items. Something for them to chew or suck on while the flight is ascending and descending will help with the ear pressure problem. Good luck and have a great time. Make sure you travel the country when you can, it's got a lot of history and there's some great shopping.

I made activity backpacks for each of my kids filled with coloring books, crayons, travel games, etc. Anything that I thought they would like.

We just flew from Okinawa to San Diego with a 4.5 yr old and a 3 yr old so I feel for you:-) I packed a kids suitcase with crayons, ColorWonder markers and some new coloring books. I also had a Leapster for each kid. We had snacks in there as well. We wouldn't let them take everything out all at once but gave them something a bit at at time. I also had a few books that we could read if they wanted. Each child was also allowed to bring two items to play with - my son brought a couple of cars and my daughter brought a doll. I know it sounds like a lot, but it all fit in their kidsize suitcase and counted as one carry-on. Good luck with your flight and good luck in Korea. I have a friend there and she really enjoys it!

Hi K.,
A portable DVD player is the best thing or get two if you think it will help. Make sure it's charged and you take along an extra battery/batteries (also charged). Bring 2 sets of ear phones and a splitter that allows 2 people to watch/listen at once. Also lots of snacks, books, activity books.. Hopefully the baby will sleep a lot.

Good luck!

wow my longest flight was only 7 1/2 hours with my (at the time) 15 month old daughter. we brought lots of snacks and a bag full of quiet toys. also what helped was that my daughter would wear headphones and we let her watch a movie on a portable dvd player.
im assuming all your children will be in their own seat but will the baby? it will be helpful for you to keep your hands free.
since you and your husband will be flying together (i hope lol) then you can arrange to have 1 or even 2 of the kids sit by him. or at least the oldest and you can tend to the baby and your son.
i agree with the other mom. take the advantage of layovers so your kids can run around and get some energy out. even have your little one stretch out on a little blanket.
another big thing is only pack what you need for the flight in the diaper bag for your son and baby. this will help from carring too much on board. another great thing is to preboard!!! get the kids situated before everyone is pushing past you.
oh and dont worry if your kids get fussy they are kids and if the other passengers cant understand that then TOOOOOOO bad lol.. and have your baby and even your youngest son drink on they take off and landing this will helop their ears.
i hope this helps good luck!

For your 4 year old, I would try the Leapster gaming system. My daughter got hers, a month before she turned 4 year. She still loves it 2 years later. I hear that perhaps, your 2 year old would like it too.

I would definately coloring books. Maybe even take your own computer or DVD on the plane, so they can watch movies.

Some things we do-
Playdough (bring small containers and they can play on the tray tables)
Have your childs pillow and blankets from home
DVD player and headphones
Flights are always challenging. One other thing that has helped me is have the attendant put chipped ice from the drinks in a closed sippy cup and when the plane descends, give your kids ice to chew on. it helps their ears and no sugar after effects. They can't let you have an open cup while landing so you have to get it a bit earlier and set aside for the landing.

Hi K.-

The longest flight that I have been on with my kid's is probably 6 hours but what I did was get a new backpack with tons of pockets. I would buy new cheapy toys, sweets, games, books, stuff like that and put it in the pockets. Then let them pick a pocket periodically. It worked every time! I also like the idea of the DVD player. I also would ask if they had a extra seat and I would bring the car seats. That way they were already used to their seat and were strapped in.

Good Luck!