I am looking for any tips and suggestions anyone might have regarding flying to Colorado with my 3.5 yr old and 15 month old sons. It will be their first airplane ride (and my first with the children). My biggest concerns are keeping them relatively quiet and occupied for the three hour flight. My older son is your typical rambunctious, active, boisterous, young boy--he hates to sit still! We've been able to keep him seated (but not so quiet) for only about half of church these days by using snacks, coloring books, and stickers. And of course my 15 month old wants to walk around and touch/mouth/look at everything--so being held in one place for three hours will likely be a battle (and a noisy one at that!) I don't want to be "that family" with the crazy kids driving everyone else on the plane nuts.
The portable DVD player is a must-have. It also comes in handy when you're stuck in the airport waiting for a flight. Make sure it has a good, long battery life. We also made a big deal out of getting juice with a straw from the flight attendant, to have with the pretzels we'd brought along. I'd recommend buying one or two books about flying on a plane before you go. That was a big help for us.
When my son was younger we brought the car seat on the plane. There is something about them being in the car seat that makes them realize that I can't get out of this seat. In response to your dilemma of being quiet, if you have a portable cd player that you can bring on the plane that is often a life saver. I would recommend having him use a few days before the trip to get used to the headphones. Also, it may be a little late now but I try to schedule plane rides around nap time so there is a little normalcy to sleep time also a little Benadryll never hurt! Good Luck and the best advice is not to anticipate the worst because your anxiety may become apparent to the boys and make things even more tense.
I know this will sound simple and perhaps you may have tried this but if not, buy a portable DVD player with headphones for your 3 1/2 year old. Bring all of his favorite movies and he will be occupied. This worked for my now 4 1/2 year old and I can't tell you how much it eased our anxiety. I had wished that I had bought it much sooner. We even take it in the car for long rides and no more having to listen to nursery rhymes over and over nonstop. Anyway, I really hope this works for you.
Just flew 4 hours to Cali. with my 4 year old and 1 year old who can't sit still for 5 minutes. The key is all NEW things and lots of treats. For the older one I would suggest investing in a portable DVD player that will keep him busy for at least 2 hours. Get the Crayola molding clay that was great.
But because of the newness of flying they may suprise you by being good just looking out the window.(Give the older one the window seat.) They may not sleep on the way there just out of excitment but I would bet they will sleep on the way home because mine did for 3 hours.
It's usually not as bad as you think. Just NEw and lots to eat.
Good luck
My 3 year old daughter and I are pretty regular flyers as my family live in Toronto. I usually travel with the usual small toys, books, snacks and when all else fails (as a back up plan) I carry a portable dvd player with her favorite dvds. I bought the cheapest one just to be used while travelling. It costed me around $60. Hope this helps and good luck with the flight!!
