We leave in less than a week for Boston and then a week from today we will be in France!!! I'm so excited but also slightly nervous about the long flights, which thankfully we are breaking up a little. Jos is a great flyer when we go to San Jose but that is an hour flight and these are 6+ hours flights. How do you keep a toddler seated and entertained for 6+ hours?! But the thought of a toddler tantrum mid-flight will not deter me from traveling! My hope is our mostly overnight flights will encourage sleep but I had to come up with a game plan if she refused to sleep. Like anything in life, flying with a toddler just requires a survival kit!
I picked up 4 of these little zipper pouches in the Target $1 aisle. They are perfect to store smaller items and Jos loves anything with a zipper. I'm sure just taking things in and out of the pouches will keep her occupied for at least 30 minutes. All of the pouches are labeled with the cute tags my friend Carm designed for Jos's party.
My old iPhone (loaded with her favorite apps and videos), glasses, chapstick (she loves it) and a Hello Kitty brush/mirror I picked up in the $1 aisle.
Art Supplies: stickers, crayons, small coloring books and markers to go with her mess free coloring book.
Toys: a memory card game I found online, a popsicle stick photo puzzle, play-doh (I might regret this one), magnets to use with the tray, a car and a train (she has 2 Thomas trains now so I'm not worried about losing it).
The last bag is filled with a first aid kit. I have included a medicine dropper, thermometer, children and adult ibuprofen, antibacterial hand lotion, antibiotic ointment, band-aids, tweezers, sunscreen and insect repellent.
I'm also going to pack about 10 of the flat books we have because Jos loves flipping through books.
Last but certainly not least I'm bringing all the amazing busy bags from the exchange plus a couple more I made, a pipe cleaner sorter and shapes that she can race her car on or use play-do. I saw an idea to include a tray to put toys and activities on. Jos has this tray in her play kitchen and it's the perfect portable size.
All of it is going in either Jos's turtle backpack (the lunchbox will eventually hold snacks) or my carry on Vera Bradley bag (an early birthday present from the in-laws!).
We also would never leave home without the iPad! John is going to add her favorite movies, TV shows and some new apps. I'm also editing together all the random videos we take of her and adding those to her iPad and iPhone because the thing Jos loves watching the most is herself :)
So what do you think? Am I prepared?! I know things come up and you kind of have to go with the flow when flying with a toddler but I hope my bag of tricks works!
It sounds like a pretty good bag of tricks to me! I guess when you travel with a toddler, your carry on gets filled with items for them, and you don't need to worry so much about entertainment for yourself... but don't forget to pack a good book or something for you in case she does fall asleep!
ReplyDeleteAlso - double check that tweezers are an acceptable carry on item, they probably are now since most knitting needles and crochet hooks are allowed now... but might be worth confirming!
PS - those turtle bags are adorable!
ReplyDeleteThat is one big survival kit! :) 6 hours is a long time. Last Xmas we drove 24 hours to No. Ca, broken down into 2 12-hour days. We would stop along the way every 3 hours or so. Jefferson did okay. Slept a lot, flipped through books, snacked, drank. He had a magnet book and, as a last resource, I'd put a movie. I tried to only do a movie when we had about a movie lenght time left. So I could tell them that when the movie was over, we would be there.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you had been married for 6 years. So have I! Scary how I have 3 kids already, tho. :S