Traveling with 3 and Half Son and Just Turned 2 This Month

When my son was 3.5 he was wonderful with a portable DVD player with headphones. For the 2 yo, a portable dvd player might work- hard to say. Coloring is always good, as is snack food.

Stickers are great!! They will keep our 2-1/2 year old busy for a long time and they are very easy to take along. We have used sticker books, reusable stickers, and even all of the free address labels we get in the mail. I usually will buy a new book or small toy and wrap it for our daughter to open on the plane. I find a lot of little things in the dollar section at Target.

You will probably find that your baby will sleep most of the trip. Be sure to have a bottle or paci or plan on nursing her at takeoff and landing to help with her ears popping.

I usually use visual sensory toys..like the ones that are contained and have floating objects in them..They are quiet and may keep them occupied for awhile. Tractors/cars-I wouldn't use because my son would throw them when he got bored. Video games are good and I would keep a new one or his favorite one in a safe place and pull it out as a last sort emergency. How about a little mini-dvd player...that always works. Good Luck.

portable DVD player with a video or two that they have never seen.

Sticker books.

T. how long is your flight? The only reason I ask that is take into consideration the excitement of getting everything ready for takeoff. Talk about what's going on, what the flight attendants are doing before the plane takes off etc. I agree with all the responses so far. In September I travelled with my 3 year-old and my other son was 11 months old. I also got great comments on how well- behaved they were. Well, when you are prepared you have no worries. A portable DVD is a lifesaver. Snacks most definitely. Don't bring crayons or anything small that once dropped..well, it's gone. Sticker books a fabulous idea!!!

We just got home from Florida with our 4 year old daughter and 2 year old son. I packed them each a backpack of their own with some stuff. Worked great for my kids. We got a few compliments on how well behaved and quiet they were!

4 year old girl:
-blanket
-small pillow
-littlest pet shops (in a gallon zip lock. Small pieces but GREAT in the airport when they had room to play together!)
-fuzzy poster travel coloring set
-notebook, crayons, markers, pencils
-small stuffed animal
-she picked out a toy from the dollar store 2 weeks ahead that I packed and she hadn't seen for the 2 weeks!
-mini books
-snacks
-juice box

2 year old boy
-small pillow
-blanket
-ziplock bag of cars, trucks, tractors, skid loader (HE LOVED THIS!) Played with a car almost the whole flight!
-his baby jaguar stuffed animal (his luvey sort of thing for him....)
-coloring book, crayons, markers
-new toy from dollar store (a mini 4-wheeler)
-mini books (small hand size)
-snacks
-juice box

I actually packed both bags about 2 weeks ahead of time so they hadn't seen those toys for a little while. That way they wouldn't get bored with them as easily. On the trip home we got up at 4 am so they were both pretty tired on the 7:40am flight. They played very little and just sat quietly for the most part!

when we flew two years ago with my daughter she was 2 and 1/2 we brought along a little portable dvd player and that helped out alot

Get the kind of crayons/markers that are square or triangles in the barrel--otherwise, they just roll off those tray tables.

I have found that stickers and blank paper makes for a super activity, especially if the kids have never seen the stickers before. There are also those huge sticker activity books at the bookstores...true lifesavers.

Post-it notes are also fun. They can turn into little books that they can create, or they stick to all parts of the seat. Seems entertaining, eh?

We usually bring our portable DVD player with movies, Color Wonder books/markers, lift the flap books or any book that doesn't make too much noise, small magnetic tins with Nemo, Mermaid magnets inside (can find at WalMart) and last time we had a shape puzzle from Qrcetti that's made out of rubber that had big shapes and then 3 smaller shapes to go inside & came with a shoelace to string all the pieces together. The last item was very lightweight and you could do a lot of different things with it. Good Luck!

We travel when our son was a little shy of 2. I would have to say that our laptop for movies was a life saver!!! Portable DVD player would do the trick: ) You may want to get headphones so that others don't have to listen to the movie too. Snacks were probably next on the list! I had also bought a few inexpensive toys and hid them until we were in the air... nothing like something new to keep them busy. He did end up sleeping for a good chunk of the ride so that was also very helpful. Put everything in there own ziplocks, it will keep your bag organized. I hope everything goes smoothly and enjoy!