How to entertain toddler on long flight

Last time we flew with 17-month old Baby Girl we did a nine-hour flight, and I’m not sure Daddy T was fully prepared for what this meant in terms of being on call to provide non-stop entertainment.

But I had been in charge of packing – and shopping for the trip – and we had a pretty extensive list of activities to keep us going.

Here are some of the items I wouldn’t have been without:

A fully charged iPad: We had downloaded more than 40 new episodes of Peppa Pig from iTunes, and Baby Girl loved watching some of them despite having the sound on very low to avoid disturbing other passengers

Sticker books: I had bought five new Usborne First Sticker Books (Usborne, £4.99) for Baby Girl for the trip, with one being about going on holiday, which was great for telling her about what we were up to

Crayons: Baby Girl loves colouring and I had packed a small bag of crayons for her, which we used several times during the trip

Activity books: I had bought Baby Girl the Peppa Pig Happy Holiday Sticker Activity Book (Ladybird, £3.99) for the trip too, and although she’s a little bit young for some of the activities, this was fun since it had her favourite pig in it, some sticking to do, and some areas she could colour in

Paperback books: I had bought several new paperback books, which didn’t take up much space, for the trip to read out to Baby Girl before bedtime. I particularly like the small Peppa Pig paperback books by Ladybird, which are £4.99 each, and the Elmer book (Andersen Press, £6.99) we had brought was also a big hit.

Teddy and Baby Doll: Baby Girl is now very attached to her teddy and doll, and it would have been a disaster to travel without them!

Tags: Activity book, Airtravel, Bedtime book, Books, Doll, Elmer, Flying with toddler, Holiday, iPad, Onboard entertainment, Packing, Peppa Pig, Sticker book, Teddy bear, Travel with toddler