Quick Fix on Airplane

Don't even worry about it. I just travelled last week with my 19 month old son and packed a ton of toys - none of which he looked at. Rather, he was obsessed with the seatbelt (opening and closing it) and the people in the row behind us (who happened to be really nice). He also got a kick out of the ice when they brought around drinks. That and looking out the window and eating snacks and us talking and singing when he got a little cranky really did the trick.
Good luck and have fun!

Try letting each one pack a small backpack, now they are big girls with their own carry-on! Have them each pick 1-2 favorite story books, maybe a favorite stuffed animal and their "blanky", do they have a small, hand held, but non-noise making toy they favor? See if this helps!

Portable DVD player was a life saver for my son on the plane - Also, small farm animals were a hit also - different food items/beverages also make the flight easier - cheerios, gold fish, crackers, apples, etc.

Good luck - it will be fine

My 20 month old loves her "doodle pro" its one of those magnetic drawing boards with a stylus (No Mess or lossable parts!). Small versions are available in the checkout line at target.

I regularly fly from NY to ATL alone with my daughter and I bring her this and a few books.

Best of luck!

Hi, I have been flying with my 2 1/2 yr old son since he was 4 months old from western NY to Alt. Try not to panic with keeping them busy. I usually bring a handful of books, stickers (if I have them), a small doodle board (where the pen is attached), his favorite blanket, and lots of lower sugar snacks (Cheerios, rasins, goldfish, etc. whatever is small and keeps their fingers busy). I also buy water and juice in the airport for him to drink as it may take a while to get your flight service. We always look out the window and talk a lot about what we see (May be hard to do w/ two). Also, going against the usual advice, when he was younger, I liked to fly during nap time. He was more likely to fall asleep (but you already have your tickets). If you haven't picked your seats, try to get further back...it's louder from the engines and likely to drown out more noises from your kids and perhaps sooth them to sleep some. I think you'll be suprised that your kids will entertain themselves pretty good as long as you keep calm and have a few of these things. Good luck and enjoy your trip!

just bring some small toys.. like legos, a cup or two, a spoon, some uncooked pasta... they can play with the cups and spoons and pasta like they are cooking.. and the legos are great. good luck

I ditto the scotch tape. We also wrapped up whatever toys we were bringing in wrapping paper so my daughter had to unwrap something to get her toys. Good luck!

Lots of snacks, sippy cups, stickers, mini Magna doodle, books and anything else your don't mind maybe loosing...

I know at 23 months and a 11 hr drive coming up, the portable dvd player is going to be my only saving grace:-) My daughter loves to listen to music, so if they'll keep head phones on for awhile try a cd player as well. The library is a great way to try out dvds and cds for free, just double check return dates incase you'll be out of town for awhile.

GOOD LUCK!
Love the idea of wrapping the stuff you bring!

Hi P.,

I always bring along with me a few Band-aids (fun to stick on the window, tray, little arms and legs, etc. but they aren't permanent), dental floss (great fun to pull out of the box and easy to throw away), a travel Magna-Doodle for scribbling without the mess, a bandanna or lightweight piece of fabric for quick games of peekaboo or making into a hand puppet, and a flashlight (my son loves to turn it on and off and shine it on the ceiling and seats). I also bring plenty of snacks because food is always a great distraction. If I have time I get a new little toy or book, but my list of goodies has always served me well. Don't forget that your girls may be lulled to sleep by the airplane and honestly, the time on the plane will go very fast. I flew with my son to Las Vegas last year (4+ hour flight) and I was terribly concerned about keeping him busy for the flight. We played, he ate lunch, he was entertained by another passenger sitting behind him (God bless her!) and then he took a solid nap. It was quite painless!

Good luck to you, and have a great trip!

Target has a "dollar" section when you walk in now. They have a ton of small board books so I got those and figured I'd be ok if we lost them. There were also little paper notebooks - I use that and give her a crayon and let her scribble away. And the DVD player also helped.

At that age, and even still at 3, I drag the portable dvd player with some new dvds. This always did the trick for a good amount of time. I also bring playdo, stickers,a nd other craft things. Bring lots of snacks. Have fun.

Hey, P.,
Not sure if you're not going to have a chance to get to a store or not before you go, but when we flew with our twin daughters when they were around this age, we used stickers and new lift-a-flap books. Also, if you have a little bag or purse to put small toys in that they can take out and put back in, it might not matter if the toys aren't new. You could search at the bottom of the toy chest for some old favorites they haven't played with in a while. We also found that having a lot of snacks helped.

good luck!
A.

p.s. Are you flying with another adult? If so, I don't know if the girls will be sitting in your laps or have their own seats, but if they are in your laps, know in advance that the airline is unlikely to let all four of you sit in the same group of seats. That's because there are usually only four oxygen masks above each group of three seats. So if there's you and your partner, each with a toddler, and another adult in the third seat, that's five people and only four masks. We always had to sit across the aisle from each other (and sometimes it mattered which aisle, too, because on some airlines, only certain aisles have infant life vests).

This is something to keep in mind if you decide to bring a portable DVD player, since the girls may not be sitting together and able to both watch at the same time.

Just traveled with my son when he was 18 months old... Stickers!!! they were the best, and coloring books with the crayons that don't roll. Also a life saver was my portable DVD player(they rent them at the airport as well). Good luck!

my daughter is 16 mos and loves the magnadoodle - they have little ones that you can bring with you... Or flashcards or some new books.. or I think someone already mentioned a portable dvd player.. Snacks that will take a while to eat :) good luck!

Stickers just saved us on a 7.5 hour trip with my 19 month old daughter... a plastic placemat and stickers she could place and replace!

May I suggest stickers and scotch tape. At that age my daughter could be easily amused by scotch tape for quite a while. At 27 months old, she's more into the stickers now as they have colorful pictures and such but both are still equally fun. Bring some paper and let them stick away. Stick on each other stick on the seats. My daughter especially likes a piece of scotch tape put on her nose so she can blow and pretend she's an elephant. They clean up easily and don't leave stained fingers and such. enjoy!

get a portable dvd player

My grand daughter loves her tiny etch a sketch. She has since she is a year old. I'm talking about the on with the stylus attached, not the one with knobs to draw with. I dont remember what its called. They also might like sticker books. They will have fun putting stickers all over. A big box of band aids will be fun too. Good luck

Will these work?
A few board books
Some Mardi Gras beads
Puppets (or an old glove with a face on each finger for you to play with - each finger pops up with a new sound)
A small photo album with pics of the girls, some familiar faces and where you are traveling to (even cut out of a magazine)
All packaged in a clear zipper bag (or 2 - I have twin girls too!) like those that pillow cases come in (though Ziploc will work too, but aren't as strong).

And I always have a few balloons or a deflated beach ball to use in the airport while waiting or during those much needed stops while driving (you need some play time and a bit of private space).

Good luck - I'm interested in the ideas that people will give you since my girls are nearly 2 1/2 now.

Get them each a new sticker book - one of those D&H super dooper with 150 stickers. My kids travelled with me all the time at that age and I always bought them one sticker book each that I gave to them ON THE PLANE. They got to the point where they would wait for that moment and then would be engrossed for the entire flight. Good luck

My 18 month old was fascinated by the seat belts on the plane. She spent 2 hours of a 4 hour flight buckling and unbuckling her seat belt. She also liked putting the window shade up and down and playing with the eating trays and buttons on her armrest. We had no need for toys. It may be easier than you think.

Little people, favorite dolls. Those little rewritable pads they can scribble on that I can't think of what they are called. Do you have a portable DVD?

Bring a travel dvd player and bring their favorite dvds. Also bring their favorite snacks on the plane. That will keep them occupied on the whole flight.

hi P., you got lots of good suggestions here, i wont repeat. the only thing i would say is that whatever you bring should be attached somehow, and not all little pieces and parts. lego sounds like a nightmare. unless you want to spend the whole trip squishing down between the seats to retrieve things, in between kids, carseats, luggage, etc, i would strongly recommend you find things to attach, or at least that arent many parts. use those plastic rings or a strap or something to attach them to the kids' straps. i just got one of those twist up crayons and attached it to a spiral notebook with a ribbon, they may be able to hold that or a fat crayon at 18 mos. what i also did was got a couple of decks of flash cards/animal pictures cards and punched holes in the corners of the cards and put them on a ring. the kids still love those, at all ages. try it with photos, they will love that. my kids have their own photo albums, those little 4 x 6 ones, full of pics of friends and family and fun things weve done, they look at them endlessly. those snack trapper things are a life saver for me, put in some peas or cereal or something, will probably buy you at least an hour. have a good trip :)

also, a good alternative to crayons and whatnot is a small magna-doodle... they usually have them in the check out aisle at Target- they can draw and the pen doesn't make a mess or come detached!