Suggestions for 8-10 Hour Flight

Make sure you bring blankets or warm clothing for the kids. It can get cold on those flights. Also bring lot's of snacks. It is a very personal choice but on a flight that long, I would give my older child a small amount of benedryl before their usual bedtime. Ask agent at check in if you can be seated next to an open seat. If available they usually will. Also wear your 20 month old out before the flight. It is very hard for them to sit for that long. Let him run around at the airport, ect. Good luck an have fun.

Please read here. Somebody suggested it here right before I took my 22 month old on Transatlantic flight

http://flyingwithchildren.blogspot.com/

I was going to suggest the DVD player. A couple other suggestions for that age - playdough, an etch and sketch, a magna doodle, coloring book and crayons. Whatever you get, I'd keep it hidden until the plane so it will be new. When we flew last summer, I got my boys slinkies - the junior ones that were only $1 a piece. Surprisingly, that kept them busy for quite a while! Snacks were also very helpful since we didn't get them on the plane. A 20 month old is probably too young for gum, but a lollipop will work for take off and landing to keep that sucking relflex to avoid the ears popping. You can also check and see what the in flight entertainment is. We only had a 3 hour flight, but there was a TV going and a radio station, so we just had to bring our headphones. They even played Kung Fu Panda on the plane.

If you have an iPod, I would scrap the DVD player and bring the iPod loaded with kids movies and songs. When we are traveling with out kids (now 4 and 2) we find that it is a lot easier to pull out the iPod and find a movie than it is to drag around our DVD player and a bunch of DVDs. Good luck!

My two year old nephew loves the movie Cars. He has loved it now for the past 6 months. It is the one movie that can keep him occupied the entire length of the movie. My other nephews love The Incredibles. I figure anything with bright lights and lots of action are great for little boys. Also, benadryl works wonders. Try getting a flight later in the day and no naps during the day. This way he is tired when he gets on the plane. My sister also gave her kids a new toy or new snack food for the plane ride so they had something to be excited about and it was a great distraction.

When I flew with my daughter around that age I got a back pack and loaded it with random things that I pulled out one at a time. One of the biggest hits was a small book of window clings. I think it was actually in the teacher supply area of walmart, but she was quite entertained sticking and re-sticking them on the window, the tray table, etc. Small books with lift-the-flap, texture, etc. Mini Mr potato heads. Maybe silly putty. The school supply section may hold interesting things (I found a plastic, foldable ruler that kept mine occipied for a while). If he's not quite coloring yet, a small notebook with blank pages (check the Target dollar spot) and a few sheets of stickers. Color wonder marker playsets...
And definintely plenty of snacks.

You might want to try the benadryl prior to the flight. It makes one of my kids HYPER!