Needing constant attention.

[Tink]

Okay, we can't be the only family in this situation.
I tend to ALWAYS sleep on a plane, or pretty much be useless, partly because of anti nausea patch.
Andy likes to read on the plane.
Alex won't sleep on the plane. Even worse, he has to have constant attention. Just having the Heffalump movie on for him was not enough.
Because I was sleeping, Andy ended up holding the crayon case so Alex could put them in and take them out over and over. Constantly getting out new toys, most of them having some sort of crayon. So, while Alex has fun, he won't do it by himself.
Poor Andy never gets any rest, and is involved with Alex the whole flight, as I happily sleep.
And don't get me wrong, Andy is a great Dad, and loves to play with Alex, but is is nice to relax, expecially on your way home.
How many of you have the same problem? How do you handle it?
Leanne

[disneydreamer]

So the plane situation is a bit different then when at home.....but I have had a number of foster children who expected me to entertain them from the time they got up until they went to bed...... they soon found out that I wasn't going to do that. Occassionally Anthony will do this. I set out 3 choices of things to do, trying to offer new things (by rotating the thousands of toys & books around) I let them know they can either, look at books, play with..... or color at the table. Anthony went thru a period where he threw tantrums, but you need to stop this now before it's too late. We had one foster child who was 6 & he could not play alone. He didn't know how to. It was very sad.....he had no imagination, no idea of how to make up games when playing, etc.
We used this theory in the car trip down too. We gave Anthony a few choices but with me sitting next to him the whole trip, I was not going to play with him the whole time..... I was getting car sick by looking down at books, etc. He wasn't always happy, but I reminded him that I could put everything away & then he'd have nothing to play with & usually that worked.
Hope this helps a little....... <img src='images/emotions/hehe.gif' height='20' width='20' border='0' title='HeHe' align='absmiddle'>

[Arielfan]

Sarah - who is 5 was pretty easy for the most part - I had bought lots of little things for her to play with, colour, etc. When she was bored of that, Jim passed her the DVD player with a movie. It was cute to see her with her little earphones laughing out loud at the funny parts.

Phillip sat with us (my parents and Sarah were across the eisle from us) both ways and I had packed him with a little backpack as well. He enjoyed snacking and playing with various items. One thing he really liked was colouring with the markers we got. I had picked up some little 5 x 7 colouring kits with Pooh bear and the Princesses at Michaels for $1.50 each and stuck them on a clip board. They enjoyed that a lot! I also packed a magnetic kit of construction stuff I found at Walmart.. he really liked playing with that! Thankfully his little legs were just short of being able to reach the seat in front of him. and I think the fact we strapped them both into their car seats was helpful - they are used to being in those for a while.

I don't expect them to be independent on the plane. My kids have always been very independent play kids. It is a different place they aren't used to, lots of people around, someone bringing drinks, etc. Sitting beside mom and dad rather then behind them (as in a car ride), excitment about the trip, etc. I think whatever keeps everyone quiet, calm and in their seats on a plane is a great thing. If that means playing with a child for 3 - 5 hours, that's what it means. I know it gets tiring and when Jim and I tried to switch places - Phil was at the window because of his car seat, he didn't like that I moved away from him much, but we just switched up the activity again, offered a snack, a new book or whatever.


I know that I get resetless in the plane as well... never really watch the movie, have had a hard time sleeping before ( even the night flights from Maui) - but maybe that is because I have always had a sleeping infant in my arms. I usually bring a book, but never actually get to read it. Pretty much I never carry anything for myself other then my medication and my wallet in my carryon. It is too jammed full with a change of clothes for the kids, diapers and wipes, snacks, etc. <img src='images/emotions/smile.gif' height='20' width='20' border='0' title='Smile' align='absmiddle'>

So long message to say yes, I think it is perfectly normal.

[Tink]

Thanks both of you for your answers. Alex plays so well by himself at home that it is tough to see on the plane. He also loves to watch videos, and really is into Pooh right now. We were on Frontier, and they were showing the Heffalump movie, so we bought that for him. He would look up occasionally, but not all the time.
You may be right. It is probably because we are right next to him.
Leanne

[Dumbo]

I know that my 2 yr old son has a much shorter attention span than my daughter at that same age. On plane rides, I definitely have to keep him constantly entertained. Usually, in addition to various table activities, we would walk up and down the aisle often or at least just stand up and stretch every 10 minutes. Of course, I'm hoping that as he gets older, he'll have more interests and better concentration on one activity at hand. I remember being 4 yrs old and never feeling completely comfortable while travelling whether in planes, trains or automobiles. Part of it may just be motion sickness.

[Tink]

Hey is motion sickness inherited? I can't believe I never thought of that, and since I have pretty severe motion sickness, I should have thought of that with Alex.
Heck, I can't even take him on the swing at the park without getting sick to my stomach. And watching someone swing? Not from the side or the same thing happens.
Now, Alex just recently gained a love of swinging so maybe it isn't motion sickness, but I will keep an eye on it. Thanks for the tip Dumbo.
Leanne