by busyMouse » Mon Apr 16, 2012 6:01 pm
I just recently flew to NZ with a two and a half year old and a five year old, without any help - mad I know, but it actually went very well. Perhaps because I was expecting the worst! And we went all the way to Wellington!
I would second the ipad comment, it was a life saver - or perhaps 11 months is too young to really be very interested in an ipad? My husband loaded ours with kid's activities and favourite cartoons and my two year old was very happy to be allowed to sit on it for hours at a time. I also collected loads of little toys and activities, wind up toys etc and handed them out at crucial moments during the flight.
The flights I booked just happened to be more or less night flights which helped a lot I think. By the time we got on the plane and settled in, had some dinner, watched some tv or played on the ipad or whatever it was time to go to sleep, and both of them didn't sleep too terribly (although honestly I barely slept a wink).
Something else that really helped me was stopping in LA for 24 hours or so. It made SUCH a difference being able to get off the plane and go to a hotel nearby (barely five minutes drive). The kids could run around a bit, which they were very happy about, and take a bath, eat some proper food and we all slept together in a king size bed and got a pretty good night's sleep before getting back on the plane the next day. It did eat into our holiday time of course but I think it was well worth it.
We flew Air New Zealand (who were fantastic by the way) and sadly there was no way we could afford business class but by booking three economy seats you can request a 'sky couch' for a couple of hundred pounds extra (to book it for all four flights). It basically means the foot rests of those three seats come up to make the whole three seats and footrests one continuous flat surface - much, much easier to lie down on with your little one.
When I booked it with our three economy seats there was an option to book four seats as part of the sky couch, which didn't cost that much more than paying for three seats, so possibly if you're booking two economy seats you might be able to book a three seat sky couch for not much more? Worth looking into anyway. Even booking yourself three seats might be cheaper than business class - that is if you can afford it of course.
Keep a blanket and change of clothes (for you too!) handy for mishaps.
And finally, I packed extremely light, just a backpack, a buggy and a couple of carry ons and it really made life easier.
Good luck! It probably won't be as bad as you think it's going to be and it's so, so worth it. We had such an amazing time and have memories we'll cherish forever.
I just recently flew to NZ with a two and a half year old and a five year old, without any help - mad I know, but it actually went very well. Perhaps because I was expecting the worst! And we went all the way to Wellington!
I would second the ipad comment, it was a life saver - or perhaps 11 months is too young to really be very interested in an ipad? My husband loaded ours with kid's activities and favourite cartoons and my two year old was very happy to be allowed to sit on it for hours at a time. I also collected loads of little toys and activities, wind up toys etc and handed them out at crucial moments during the flight.
The flights I booked just happened to be more or less night flights which helped a lot I think. By the time we got on the plane and settled in, had some dinner, watched some tv or played on the ipad or whatever it was time to go to sleep, and both of them didn't sleep too terribly (although honestly I barely slept a wink).
Something else that really helped me was stopping in LA for 24 hours or so. It made SUCH a difference being able to get off the plane and go to a hotel nearby (barely five minutes drive). The kids could run around a bit, which they were very happy about, and take a bath, eat some proper food and we all slept together in a king size bed and got a pretty good night's sleep before getting back on the plane the next day. It did eat into our holiday time of course but I think it was well worth it.
We flew Air New Zealand (who were fantastic by the way) and sadly there was no way we could afford business class but by booking three economy seats you can request a 'sky couch' for a couple of hundred pounds extra (to book it for all four flights). It basically means the foot rests of those three seats come up to make the whole three seats and footrests one continuous flat surface - much, much easier to lie down on with your little one.
When I booked it with our three economy seats there was an option to book four seats as part of the sky couch, which didn't cost that much more than paying for three seats, so possibly if you're booking two economy seats you might be able to book a three seat sky couch for not much more? Worth looking into anyway. Even booking yourself three seats might be cheaper than business class - that is if you can afford it of course.
Keep a blanket and change of clothes (for you too!) handy for mishaps.
And finally, I packed extremely light, just a backpack, a buggy and a couple of carry ons and it really made life easier.
Good luck! It probably won't be as bad as you think it's going to be and it's so, so worth it. We had such an amazing time and have memories we'll cherish forever.
