Things to Do on an Airplane - 15 Month Old

Sticker books
Small coloring books with triangle-shaped crayons (less likely to roll).
Pop-up or open-flap books.
Silly putty (not normally good for this age, but he'll be right next to you, so it will be easy to supervise.)
Little spiral notebook and an erasable pen that you can tie to the spiral of the notebook.
DVD player or an iPod/iPad with movies/games loaded onto it (not that require the use of the Internet.)

For the airport:
a balloon - inflate after you get thru security

For the airplane:
favorite snacks
dvd player
sippy cup (empty until you get thru security)
sticker book at the dollar store
favorite lovey or blanket
a new toy or toys (wrap them up and let baby unwrap a new one every once in a while)
favorite light-weight books

Hi A., we just did an international airplane flite and local trains. I was nervous, but our 23 month old was great. What we did:

1. Try to plan flite around nap time.
2. Get to the airport early so that you can do everything not under stress. Then once you are checked in, walk around the airport a bit with your little ones. that way they will be tired on the plane. also, try to eat before you board..not a heavy meal tho.

3. onboard, we had some board books, some crayons and paper, and some small stuffed animals for imaginary play. he enjoyed looking around and out the windows.

4. He slept 2/3 time on the long plane ride and 1/4 time on the 4 hour train.

5. bring pillow case and blanket from home as it is more comfortable for them to fall asleep with familiar smells away from their familiar environment.

6. put some moisturizer on their cheeks in case there is excessive air conditioning.

Have fun. Hope this helps. Jilly

Magna Doodle would probably be good! Of course books and things to eat. Maybe some blocks?? I don't know how easy that would be, but maybe you could stack some on the tray table.

I also suggest taking some balloons in your carry on and blowing them up for your kids to play with during the waiting time to board. They are compact and you can just throw them away before boarding the plane. This will keep him occupied for sure!

I'll be glad to see some answers to this. We are going in December to Disney World with our 10 yo DS and 5 yo DD and 17 month old DD. I have no idea how to keep the little one entertained! lol

She will be in a car seat. I am paying for a ticket for her.

I just flew up to Alaska with my 11 month old. It's hard! She was pretty happy but she did not want to stay in her seat. The plane was not full so I was able to take her carseat on at no cost and sit it next to me. This helped to strap her in it during takeoff and landing. I put off giving her her bottle and kept her up so that during takeoff she was very sleepy. She drank a bottle and then slept an hour. Then when she woke up she wanted to play in the seat, walk up and down the aisles, etc. We would go to the bathroom and wash her hands to amuse her. We walked up and down the aisles a LOT. She didn't care for any of the little toys/books I brought. I sat her in her seat and gave her her ziplock of pretzels we had brought she enjoyed spilling them out and trying to put each one back in the bag. I let her make a mess and it amused her for a while. She loved the snack bag they gave out and played with it like a ball for a while, throwing it to me. Good luck. I'm dreading the flight back! It's no picnic!!!

Here are some ideas.
http://www.bigbluetrunk.com/ourcorner/550

We just traveled with our 19 month old daughter and she did great! I recommend goldfish or cheez-its as a snack (the saltiness of them makes the child want to drink and help pop their ears). We also took her DVD player and some books and she did not let out one fuss during the full 3 hour flight.
Good luck to you!

Do you have a portable DVD player? I would bring DVD's you think he would enjoy. Bring tons of snacks. I always tried to hold of naps or bedtime so my kids were always tired and took a nap for part of the trip. He is probably to young to sit and read for a long time, but kids at this age love to look at familiar pictures. Make a photo album of people and animals that he loves. He may enjoy looking at that for a while. Be prepared to take several walks up and down the isle. One other thing that my kids likes was music. Can you put some kids music on your IPOD. I would get some real headphones and not use the ear buds though. Good luck!!

Hi A.,

We have flown a lot with our less than 2 year old and the easiest way to keep him busy is with something with buttons (his favorite toys!) He has a baby laptop, and books that talk. Don't worry about the noise. Once you are in the air the people around you can't really hear it. We also went to McD's a few times before we left but instead of giving him the toy from the happy meal we saved them and let him open them on the flight. We don't have to worry if it gets left on the plane since it's a cheapy and obviously not his favorite. The most surprising thing is that he will probably sleep a lot of the way. Snacks are always a good thing too.
Good luck and stay calm! Most people on a plane have been through what you are going through.