How To Keep 1 Year Old Busy On Plane

Having flown with babies and toddlers, I tin can say without a uncertainty the age between 12 months to xviii months is the most difficult. Flying with a toddler takes patience and setting the right expectations.

This post volition give yous the tools to not only survive a flight with a toddler only have you saying "that was so much better than I expected".

This is a question I run into pop upwards over and over and over nigh how to entertain a toddler on a plane, in all unlike forms:

"How tin I keep my 1 year old entertained on a flight."

"Anyone have advice to continue an agile 14 month old busy during a flight."

"Aid! Long haul flight with a busy toddler… please transport me all your tips."

Sound familiar? Who has planned a trip with a toddler and not gone out seeking advice on flying with toddlers.

I usually reply by sharing our best airplane activities for babies & toddlers. But it has finally occurred to me that this is not enough. Why?

Considering a few suggestions for activities aren't going to give an anxious parent the comfort they demand that they will in fact survive that long flight with a toddler…That they can actually come up out on the other side [only partially] unscathed.

Then let'south just get that out of the way, this is not a post about toddler airplane activities!

If you are looking for suggestions on specific activities to keep your toddler busy on a flying, you can find them all in the plane travel toys for toddlers post mentioned above or in these toddler travel toys lists:

• Screen Free Toddler Travel Toys
• 1 Twelvemonth Old Travel Toys
• 2 Year Old Travel Toys
• 3 Year Old Travel Toys

This post is more about toddler beliefs: what to expect on a flight with a toddler and how to survive air travel with toddlers.

Flight with Toddlers

• Our Experience Flying with a Toddler
• Preparing for a Long Booty Flying with Toddlers
• A Typical Flight with a Toddler
• Tips for Flying with Toddlers
  • 1. Save the best distractions for when you really need them!
  • 2. Plan for those inevitable toddler tantrums.
  • 3. Have fun toddler airplane activities to bike through.
  • 4. Let your toddler play first.
  • 5. Try different ways to get your toddler to sleep on the plane.
  • six. Bring a travel automobile seat or inflatable airplane toddler bed.
  • 7. Talk to your toddler virtually the flying.
  • 8. Know when to enquire for assistance.
• Fifty-fifty More Tips for Flying with Toddlers
  • • What is the 1 thing that is e'er on your "Flying with Toddlers" checklist?
    • What are your best tips to get toddlers to sleep on a airplane?
    • What practise you wish you did differently or knew before your flying with a toddler?
• More than Toddler Travel Resource
• Pin It For Later!

This post contains compensated links.

So why am I specifically addressing flying tips for toddlers? Babies and toddlers take completely different needs when information technology comes to flight.

Babies aren't on the movement. They aren't climbing over the seats and throwing tantrums. Babies can more easily be lulled into sleep by some warm milk (run into more of our tips for flying with a baby).

Toddlers, on the other hand, are completely dissimilar. They desire to move. They want to explore. They know what they want and they aren't agape to tell y'all (or scream information technology at the top of their lungs).

Equally a parent, having to keep said toddler contained in 1 seat for the duration of a flight can exist frightening.

Our Experience Flight with a Toddler

I can speak from experience that my kids had very little attention span for movies or games on the iPad until about 2.5 years old. I limited TV at home and it even so wasn't exciting enough to continue our toddler entertained on the flight for very long.

I never thought I'd wish for my kids to be addicted to the screen, but when it comes to long haul flights with toddlers, this is exactly what I find myself hoping for.

Now every kid is different in this attribute. My daughter was eyes glued at 2.5 years old only my son notwithstanding isn't there. In that location are some shows, like Little Baby Bum, that work better than others only overall he has an attending span of nearly 20 minutes (and it was much less at 12-xviii months).

What does that mean for the flight with our toddler? It means I spend a lot more than time trying to keep our toddler entertained on the plane, but still content in his seat.

Preparing for a Long Haul Flying with Toddlers

So with screen time offer up but an intermittent distraction, how exactly practice you survive a flight with a toddler?

Hither'due south the surreptitious to plane travel with toddlers:

The key to getting through this depends on ii things: (one) your expectations and (ii) repeatedly cycling through all your toddlers plane activities.

Let'due south start with your expectations. You should go into this with the notion that while traveling with a toddler on a plane, you volition be entertaining your toddler THE ENTIRE Fourth dimension.

If you plan on getting on that airplane, setting your toddler up with an iPad and then starting your ain pic, you will exist disappointed. If you get on that flight with the correct expectations, then annihilation better than this is a bonus. Your toddler may only surprise you.

I won't prevarication, this next part will be exhausting and I promise y'all either have someone to share it with or you tin become your toddler to sleep on the flight, but if not but retrieve thatthe flight is such a VERY Small office of your trip.

And just to evidence that I know what I'thou talking about, nosotros took our 14 calendar month former on a 12 hour flight. He did NOT like being held and was in a stage where he loved to scream.

On that entire flight, we managed to become a whopping 1 60 minutes and 45 minutes of sleep.

Sound like your worst nightmare? It really wasn't that bad. We spent a lot of time trying to get him to sleep, I got to know the flying attendants and some other parents pretty well at the back of the plane and we arrived in Japan tired only ready to explore.

So here is how this next part works…

Some people swear by bringing wrapped gifts for your child. I accept never washed this. I probably won't e'er do it. I don't think it'due south a bad idea, I'm merely not that organized. Besides, in the end thatcomes downward to just having a lot of little distractions to switch between.

Bring multiple activities (don't over do it, just programme to have a lot of little activities similar iPad games, movies, toddler airplane snacks, stickers, coloring, etc.), then repeat that along with any other entertainment you lot can create along the way.

Play with a plastic bottle/lid (this is a winner with my little guy), give your trivial one the remote (on super old airplanes), find a willing participant to peek-a-boo or let them play with the carte/condom card.

The cardinal here is to become creative and keep your energy up.Yous will become through this.

A Typical Flying with a Toddler

This is what a typical flight with our toddler looks like:

Nosotros get on the flight and he'due south excited!He wants to touch and play with everything. I allow him (at least inside the confines of our seat). Seat belt light goes on and I use the iPad or a snack in a spill proof snack cup to entertain him while we take off.

So we basically rotate through the activities until the food arrives (which provides another lark). After the nutrient has been cleared, nosotros exercise our best to get him to sleep.

Getting a toddler to sleep on an airplane isn't always easy and not ever successful, but we only keep trying to go him to lay downwards. This tin can accept up to an hour even when mimicking our usual bed time routine, only eventually he will slumber.

Sometimes we fifty-fifty pack a portable white noise machine just to help block out noise and keep him asleep! And so once he'southward awake, information technology's dorsum to rotating through activities until we land.

There is some crying and some tantrums in at that place. Getting the seat chugalug on and having him not continually unbuckle information technology is sometimes an issue, particularly if the flight has a lot of turbulence.

Don't forget to read our posts on the All-time Toddler Travel Bed and Toddler Travel Essentials!

Tips for Flying with Toddlers

If I had to give some tips on flight with toddlers, here is what has worked (or not worked) for u.s.a.:

1. Salve the best distractions for when you really need them!

Am I the simply ane that avoids letting my toddler know we can walk up and downward the aisle? Seriously, aside from taking my newly potty trained toddler to the airplane toilet, I never let on that we can walk upwards and down the alley.

Why do I do this? Ane – then I don't have to spend the entire flight doing information technology. Two – so I have one really special lark in case I demand information technology.

2. Programme for those inevitable toddler tantrums.

I try to recollect what volition cause a tantrum and plan for managing toddler tantrums on the become. Equally an example, I know take off and landing will be the hardest parts so I make sure to take a fun snack and an activity prepare to go for when that seat belt light goes on.

3. Have fun toddler aeroplane activities to wheel through.

In our toddler travel toys post (mentioned higher up), we requite sample activities that our kids take enjoyed at each stage. This is our starting point then we adjust depending on what our kids are interested in most at the moment.

If they love Paw Patrol, we will get a Manus Patrol Colour Wonder volume. We likewise try games and movies out at habitation. Our kids honey reading, and so the Epic! digital library app is an great alternative to cartoons – simply download some Read To Me books onto your iPad prior to the flying.

Our ii twelvemonth loves trucks, so we got the Trucks & Diggers app and he loves information technology. Test things out before yous go. Give them a hazard to try the apps.

Don't accept time to put together toddler plane activities? Order one of these activeness packs for toddlers from KeepEmQuiet, which include amusement and snacks!

4. Allow your toddler play get-go.

Trying to stick to our schedule, I've tried to get him to sleep too shortly and failed miserably. I've learned that it's best to wait at least an hour (unless he's tired enough and falls asleep on his own. I call up this happened once?).

Let the nutrient and drinkable service finish so everyone is settled and there are far less distractions effectually. This has been our best chance for getting him to sleep.

Check out these inflatable plane beds for toddlers to give your toddler all the room to play, eat and slumber.

5. Try dissimilar means to get your toddler to sleep on the plane.

Make sure your toddler has time to burn off some energy in the airport and to explore his new environs on the plane. Yous want him tired, only non over tired, and gear up for sleep.

When it is time to sleep (on an overnight flight), nosotros have tried to get him to lay down past repeatedly telling him "head down, time to sleep" and non engaging with him otherwise. This has worked pretty consistently simply usually takes a while and involves some crying.

On our last flying, I positioned the iPad and so he had to lay down, which helped him to calm down on his own and somewhen autumn asleep.If it'due south not an overnight flying, I don't stress near naps.

Check out these family friendly airports! Perfect for getting your toddler to fire off some free energy before the flight!

6. Bring a travel motorcar seat or inflatable airplane toddler bed.

Whether bringing a automobile seat on the plane will work best or simply an inflatable airplane bed for toddlers, exist prepared with the all-time choice to keep your toddler content and help him slumber.

We always had success getting our kids to sleep on an inflatable airplane toddler bed – it'southward one of our best favorite toddler travel hacks. Nosotros've used the Flyaway Kids Bed and the Fly Tot, both of which we were quite happy with. If those aren't in your budget, check out these budget airplane travel beds.

Yous can buy the Flyaway Kids Bed straight from their website. If you find it to be out of stock, we recommend signing up to be notified when it's back in stock and so you don't miss out.

seven. Talk to your toddler about the flying.

Before a flight we spent a lot of time talking with our toddler well-nigh being on the aeroplane. We talked to him nigh what would happen, what to expect and what he needed to do. We connected these conversations with our toddler on the plane.

For example, we talked about the seat belt lights over and over and over. Pointing it out each time it went on or off. Asking him if it was on. Asking him what it meant. This made putting the seat belt on less of a fight.

When he went to take his seatbelt off, I'd inquire if the light was on or off then explain again what information technology meant. He was almost two years erstwhile when we did this, but it worked. On our most recent flying, he got into his seat and immediately asked for his seatbelt (he even did this on a bus!).

8. Know when to ask for help.

When I've had plenty, my husband jumps in. We have an older daughter, so we switch kids. This helps us both go along our positive energy up.

Even More Tips for Flight with Toddlers

We also went to other experienced parents from our Instagram audience to get their tips for traveling with toddlers by plane. Here are their best tips for flight with toddlers:

What is the one thing that is always on your "Flying with Toddlers" checklist?

Of all the answers we received, thenumber ane answer was plenty of airplane snacks for toddlers, followed by iPad, toy cars, toddler headphones & favourite stuffy or blanket.

"Not just for the toddler, but for my husband and me. We strapped our car seat (Diono Radian RXT) to a Magna Cart, put the kiddo (16 months) in the travel auto seat, and wheeled her around the aerodrome that style. She didn't have to walk, and nosotros could accept it down the aisle of the airplane." – @solmiano

What are your best tips to get toddlers to sleep on a plane?

Flying with a toddler car seat looks like a huge hurting to acquit around, but traveling with a car seat contains the toddler meliorate and also easier for them to fall asleep in. Having a auto seat trolley makes information technology pretty manageable! @hychan1

Nosotros create a mini bedtime routine that we do every time. About twenty-xxx minutes before we are ready for them to be asleep we start to wind them downward, change into jammies have a bottle of milk, start talking nearly how it's nap/bed time. Nosotros close off any screens we have going and turn on our white noise app pretty quiet. We read 1-2 stories (normally from memory) and snuggle them in with fav stuffy. It has worked 100% of the time since I discovered this piece of cake trivial routine. @howwetravel4

Security blanket and pillow from home. Patience!! @Burgessadventures

Take them in comfy article of clothing, bring a blanket simply in case, and stay equally calm as possible. We also sit on or behind the fly (it'south the loudest) which mimics a sound auto. @apietry

It's tough to get our son to sleep before the lights are out, so we endeavour to have realistic expectations of him. Once the lights are out, we nurse him to slumber. @Mamatravelpants

A toddler carrier for travel (still magic!) Sarah from www.exploreasafamily.com or @exploreasafamily

A warm blanket from habitation, keeping our toddler busy before the flying and tiring them out by getting them to walk from the gate to the plane if possible. @rupeat

For short haul accept that sleep will be a bonus rather than relying on it. Exercise a concrete activeness at the airport… let them run as much as possible. Besides eat at the airport, napping on a full belly is always easier. On larger planes try to observe a infinite without distractions (particularly the Boob tube screens). Observe a mode to be able to lay them down to keep them comatose. @Katief_bubsandus

Just fashion to go her to slumber is taking a red heart flight and non letting her sleep all twenty-four hours before taking that flight. During the twenty-four hour period time flights she's way too excited and won't sleep, no matter how long the flying is @lara_on_the_move

What do you wish you did differently or knew before your flight with a toddler?

Earlier the outset time I flew I wish I had merely accustomed that babies cry sometimes and that'due south ok. I call back panicking the showtime fourth dimension we flew every little whimper and I would stress and it wasn't what anyone needed. Now I just accept that sometimes there are tears only if I go on a positive attitude it keeps everyone at-home and happy. @howwetravel4

Don't board get-go (unless information technology's Southwest and the seats will make full upward). If you have assigned seats wait to board last with your toddler and let them run their energy out in the aerodrome. Waiting for everyone to lath can have 30+ minutes. That's thirty minutes your baby isn't trying to climb over everything and go off your lap. @irishtwintravels

This time I had everything. A blanket, toys, an inflatable leg rest pillow and I ordered in advanced the kids menu. @Ticamominhh

Toddlers will lose their heed for no reason, its best to but roll with information technology. I try not to ever let myself get worked up. I effort and bring her downwards to my level, not ascension to hers. @Burgessadventures

I wish I would have been wearing layers because I got so hot holding her and was stuck in a hoodie @apietry

Endeavor to program a user-friendly flight for their awake times (knowing that for international you will need to get in at the airport several hours early). @Myfamilyfeliz

We were lucky for all our flights. For the 4 times we did Paris to LA, we always had spare seats, the baby bed, and staff that was awesome on the aeroplane. Maybe I volitionpack less as I had planned too much stuff to keep her decorated. @Fifi_babyselena

Eating meals in a cramped space with a toddler tin be a disaster. We enquire the flight attendants to bring one meal offset so that we can take turns keeping our toddler entertained while the other eats. @Mamatravelpants

Don't lath with the family unit boarding announcement – the earlier yous board, the longer yous have to keep a toddler entertained on the plane! @finelinetravels

Small toys sometimes just cease up being actress weight. I carried well-nigh of her favorite toys but ended upwardly useless because she was more interested with other stuff (play fix souvenir from the airline, seat entertainment controller, mag and etc) @vidiatoffany

You Got This Mama!!

More Toddler Travel Resources

• All-time Places to Travel with Toddlers
• All-time Toddler Travel Strollers
• Travel with Baby Carrier vs Stroller
• 5 Things You Must Know Before a Road Trip with Babe or Toddler
• Dealing with Toddler and Babe Jet Lag
• How One Couple Travels the Globe With Their two Yr Old

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Source: https://www.babycantravel.com/flying-with-toddler/

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