[cpw]

We're about to take a tran-continental flight w/ a 3 yr old and are trying to figure out ways to keep her in her seat (bungee cords and duct tape are out).
I'd like a recommendation on a portable DVD player at around $250 cuz I just don't wanna lug my laptop.
Also, most seem to have rechargeable batteries and only last 3-4.5 hrs. Do Boing 767's have power at each seat? if so what'll I need to hook one of these things up. Do any run on regular batteries?
Anyone with any experience on this stuff? Apologies if this should be in another forum.
Thx,
CPW

 

[KYTGuy]

I have experience with only one child, now just graduating from High School, but if memory serves, YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED IN KEEPING HER IN HER SEAT FOR FOUR HOURS, unless you are travelling overnight.

Take her for a walk, play hard with her in the gate area, before boarding. Feed generously just after taking your seat, and hand out favorite snacks whenever she begins to fidget.

If possible (only mom knows), wake her up a little early, keep her active just until you board...maybe she will take a little nap. I've often thought that noise is the hardest thing forthe little ones to handle, as the noise level is really different from their experience, and is what disconcerts them the most. It is also what makes the kids so loud - they are hardwired to make 20db above the noise floor, so they can be heard! With the advent of the cheaper, noise cancelling headphones that happened after my daughter was older, it might be a good thing to try to prevent noise fatigue (and damage) by providing one of the $49 Aiwa or equivalent headphones - they really help me and my family travel, and they fold up pretty small - we found ours at Best Buy. They come with adaptors for the airline jacks.

If she likes to color, take a fresh coloring book, and a small assortment of crayons, but try to account for them all when you debark, as it is a disaster for others' fine suits and dresses to have a melted blob of some non-matching color upon arrival.

Keep a sense of humor, as all humans must pass through this stage, and if others are not a little forgiving, then they must not be human. Don't let some sheisskopf make your trip anything less than a glorious adventure - parenthood/kidhood is a blessing, not a curse. You and your child deserve to be there NO LESS than anyone else, and everyone on the flight has some small imperfection with which we collectively must be forgiving, like being overwide, over-perfumed, overbearing, too old, too young, too tall, etc.

Love your little one, be patient, and defend her against other's complaints.

Best wishes, and good luck.

 

[KYTGuy]

Further to my last - Unless you are needing a justification for a new DVD player, don't bother - there will be enough input without the complications and expense of bringing another damn widget in your pack onboard...just get the headphones.

Just my $.02...


Again, love your little one, and help her have fun.

Regards,

Guy

 

[pspivak]

Hi,

I agree with the other guys (love em a lot, play with them before getting on the plane, wake em up early, take overnight flights, coloring books, no caffeine or sugar on the day of the flight, Benadryl, Ambien, Valium... wait a minute I getting a little carried away. This was a joke, I do not recommend or condone giving drugs to children unless prescribed by a physician).

Background: father of 2 (3 and 7) who have taken long car trips and trans-con plane rides together.

Ok, I got a small DVD player from Mintek and the battery lasts about 2 hours. The kids thought it was just fine. I think you can find one on e-Bay new for about $100.00 or less. I have the 5830 and it has not given me any problems. The screen is very bright, wide screen format and 5.8 inches diagonally. It is just the right size.

We also have the Gameboy advance SP. They have just released cartoons on Gameboy cartridges, mostly nickelodeon stuff (Spongebob, Fairly Odd Parents, Dora). This is a great size, rechargeable battery lasts a long time, no problem with discs getting wrecked and the kid becomes an instant celebrity with all the other kids because they have a Gameboy (you will become a celebrity with your kid too!). Each cart has about 40 minutes of video, really amazing. Be sure to get the Gameboy [size=x-small]SP[/size] if you go this direction (the backlit screen is essential) and get the [size=x-small]headphone adaptor[/size] (the fools at Nintendo did not put a headphone jack in the thing for some reason). The Gameboy is $100.00 and the video carts are $20.00 each. If your 3 year old is anything like mine, they'll watch the same thing over and over again. I think there are 6-12 titles available currently. Another thing, do you like to go to restaurants? The Gameboy can give you about 40 minutes of bliss by occupying a moderately fidgety child and is small enough to take anywhere (picture yourself with a few minutes of the little one just sitting there being quiet and cute completly absorbed in something other than you and your wife. Sounds good, no?).

The Gameboy, a game or two and 3-4 of the videos will set you back about $200.00 and be highly portable. The kids appear to love them.

 

[redshifter]

for a little more, get the toshiba sd-p2500 pdvdp. it plays dvd's, cd's, dvd-a's, etc. the 9" wide screen is one of the best, and it has prog-scan picture. i use mine for long trips, listening to dvd-a, watching movies snuggled in bed with my wife (nice), and ps2. i love it.

 

[gsferrari]

2 or 3 new toys will hold her attention longer than a DVD player showing something she really cant put together...

give her a new toy every couple of hours...

Cheers!

 

[cpw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsferrari 2 or 3 new toys will hold her attention longer than a DVD player showing something she really cant put together... give her a new toy every couple of hours... Cheers!

She seem to put things together pretty well. She already knows all the songs and lines to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and will watch it start to finish about 1/2 the time. The other passengers may get a recital.
I've got a few new dvds she hasn't seen yet as well as some old favorites. Hopefully one or the other will distract her for a few hrs. Fortunately, she should sleep 8 hrs on the flight over by virtue of her internal clock. The flight home will be much more of a challenge. That'll be my wife's and sister-in-law's problem since I return on a different flight.
Thanks for all the advice so far.
CPW