Travelling on long flight with toddler

Hi Friends,
I will be travelling to India with my toddler to India on a very long non stop flight. If anyone has experience, please suggest me ways to keep the toddler engaged. He will be travelling on the lap.
Also it is his first time to India. What precautions should I take and what should I carry from here.

Yeah I took my DS to chennai when he was 2. God, he was running around the airport and I had to keep up with him. My suggestions are

1.Please get a carry on bag which you can have it like a school bag and put your diaper bag on the stroller or hang it across your body and please have both your hands free. Thats like rule one 1.

2.Take books, ipod with rhymes,small hot wheels cars. Those actually kept him engaged for a while.

3.Give him cheese, rice and other heavy food and they will be sleepy and not that active.

4.Dont give too much sweets of sugary stuff at all, that will make them too active.

goodluck

Me too travelled alone when my DD was 22 months. You take one of his favourite book and also one more new book(which he has not seen before)..so that they will have some curiosity in that book..

Also take a notebook with pen or crayons so that he can scribble for some time..

Feed plenty of water or juice so that he don't get dehydrated.

will add more later when I remember

Have a good trip

Thanks mlk and redapple for your nice suggestions. Will surely use them.

I am really worried about this long trip because when my son gets tired, he gets really really fussy.

Any other inputs are welcome. I also wanted to know the precautions I should take once in India.

I travelled to india from UK with a twins all alone and they were 16 months then. Both of them had started walking and I had a big time , a experience that I never forget in my lifetime.I had travelled to UK to be with my DH who was on a onsite project then .
When I left India my twins were as small as 8 months and they slept all thru the flight , they also ate well, but while coming back........OMG
They started running around in the airport , all thru the aircraft, pulling others stuffs talking to them and I was like... mad, they din't sleep for a min and I travelled for 12 hrs and I had a break up journey of 5 hrs, so almost 18 hrs....A school back as my hand baggage to have all thier stuffs like nappies, food and water, books and toys of course.
Don't panic dear, mine was a twins and I had travelled alone, I had one adult ticket and one child ticket and one infant tickect, as one adult can go only with one infact and mine was a company sponsered trip.
Rightly said by MLK, both hands free , feed him heavy lil after the flight takes off and put him to sleep.
Best way.

Love,
Kavitha.

Hi

Like everyone said carrying a back pack will be great with a toddler. I too travelled recently with my 1.5 yr old, he s too active and i got totally exhausted, he was running all over in airport and cried to sit in flight initially once we got in, cos inside it was hot and we were sweating! so he got cranky and was crying. Carrying ipod,books, snacks all will be useful. Never leave ur kid hungry bcos that makes them more cranky..
The TV provided in our seat in flight has some games, that also helped me to engage my kid for sometime..
Have a happy journey
Take care

Take care of water, milk and heat in India and do take care when u got out too...

You've gotten great advice here. We've been flying with our kids since my oldest was 2mos...now she's 12

The main thing is DON't PANIC...if your child sees that you are not in control he may act up even more and you'll have more trouble on your hands.

I would like suggest bringing a few "new" toys in your bag (small cars, books, crayons, stickers). You can dish them out at intervals to keep him entertained.

Check air regulations on carrying milk and other liquids - you may not be able to bring any on board. Bring crackers, pretzels, Goldfish, small bite size snacks for him tough.

Also, are u travelling alone? If you have another pair of hands, have DH board first so that your son can run around the waiting room to burn off energy. This way, he won't be stuck in a seat waiting for everyone else to board. If you are travelling alone, ask the stewardess to help you when needed. If you ask nicely, they will be more than happy to help a mother in need.

As for being in India, we've only been to Kerala and my girls were fed from restraunts when outside. I usually brought water from home but all solids were fed and I didn't have any trouble. But you know what is best for your child so just play it safe.

Thanks Kavitha, sanravi and Manaswini for your very useful tips.

Kavitha, I can understand how difficult it would be with twins. I am worrying about just one and my DH is also travelling with me.

Sanravi, yes I has observed that besides being tired if my son is hungry, he would be very fussy. I guess I would just load up on his favorite snacks.

Manaswini, I liked your tip about boarding separately in order to let him play longer. I am travelling with my Dh so it would be possible. And I agree with you, my son acts out more if I am tired or frustrated myself.

I am panicking because when my son was smaller we travelled to New York and he got very tired and was not able to sleep in arms or the stroller. He kept crying and crying and there was no way we could put him to sleep. It was very embarrasing in front of so many people.

All your replies has indeed helped me feel more comfortable about this trip.