Long haul help! Post Reply

[georgina1975]

We are soon going to be flying long haul with our 1yr old. Having never flown with our baby before...anyone got any advice & top tips?

Also...he'll be coming off formula for cows milk soon...and I don't know if this is going to be a problem taking it onto the aircraft? Anyone know the regs at heathrow with baby food & liquids?

thanks!

[mommyg]

Heathrow allows you to fly with anything you need for your baby, but you may be asked to taste your baby liquids!! It's actually easier to fly with formula (especially powdered) because you don't have to worry about refrigeration etc. Pre-measure the water into bottles ready for use. The alternative to taking the liquids through security is buying what you need in duty free. Brands like aptimel will always have small cartons of formula for sale. I think Boots even allows you to pre-order for pickup in duty free. You can buy 1 pint bottles of cows milk in WHSmith type shops, but I don't know whether air hostesses will let you refrigerate this. Also take as many bottles as you need, you can't really wash them on the flight.

As for the flight, my best tip is to take lots of new small toys along. Finger puppets, sticker books, aquadoodle. Take them out one at a time as your little one gets bored. Also take their favourite teddy / blankie / snuggly thing along.

Comfy clothing is a must and take a spare change or two in case of accidents (for yourself too!).

Calpol, teething powder, tissues, snacks. Most airlines do an infant meal which you have to pre-order. The meal is usually stage 1 or 2 bottles of baby food. If you know your baby doesn't eat this, take enough to feed them during the flight.

I found the biggest challenge on flight was getting my little one to sleep. Our flight only departed at 9pm and by the time she was ready to settle down, it was midnight. She was so overtired by then, she really struggled to fall asleep!! I've seen other parents taking their little one's night time sleeping bag - anything familiar from the usual routine might help.

Remember to check the baggage allowance for your flight. Some airlines only allow 10kg checked luggage + standard hand luggage + folding mclaren type buggy. Others allow standard luggage allowance + carseat for free.

Last tip - if you're travelling to a time zone that's more than 2 hours away, be prepared for jetlag. Flying west is more easy that flying east (because you loose time going east). There isn't much you can do to avoid it, some people suggest changing your baby's routine ahead of time, but this isn't always practical.

Good luck!

[irap]

Hello there,

I have been traveling with my children for 12-14 hour flights since they were 4 month old and my last trip two weeks ago was with my 3 year old and my 11 month old for 14 hours! SO reccomendation:

Take a lot of finger food.

Calpol

Change of clothes for him and you

Enough Diapers and wipes

Toys ( my son loves paper: he loves to tear)

Baby food

A comfy blanket were he can sleep on or be covered by.

Ipad?? useful to have.

Baby cookies... sadly you need to stuff them and let them be happy anyway you can!

AND be patient.. if you are travelling during the day it's really bad other else he should sleep at some point!

Good luck!

[georgina1975]

thanks for all the great advice! x

[hworsley]

Hi there,

I've just flown to Thailand and back with my nine month old - I was dreading it at first but it went a lot smoother than I thought! I would try reserving the bulkhead seats if you haven't done so already as they at least give you a little extra leg room and there will at least be no one in front of you putting their seats down.

We took the ready made cartons of milk on board through Heathrow - they only made me try one of the cartons and once it was opened, I was allowed to pour it into a bottle so that it wouldn't be wasted. WE also took my daughters favourite food on board as well in case the infant meals weren't great.

Ours was a day / half night flight so a bit more entertaining needed but there happened to be quite a few small children on our flight so we took our daughter down to the back of the aircraft where there was quite a bit of space and she played with her toys down there. Also took one hour shifts with my husband so one of us could rest whilst the other was on "duty"! This worked really well in passing the time away.

Before we knew it we had done twelve hours! And its all worth it once you get there.

Oh before I forget, my daughter didn't sleep long - only three hours but it meant she slept amazingly once we got there and straight onto Thai time so no jet lag!! So don't panic if they don't sleep as much as they would at home

Have an amazing trip!

[fionapm]

We've done a couple of long haul flights, including Australia.

* book seats with the bassinet. a 1 year old will be too big to go in it, but the airline staff usually try to keep a few empty seats in those rows, so it means you have extra space. We put the blanket they give you on the floor and she played on that happily for ages.

* use your full hand luggage allowance. We put everything for our daughter in a hand-luggage size wheelie bag, then we have all of the nappy changing stuff in a plastic bag inside that, so you're not bringing the big bag to the loo for nappy changes.

* just bring one bottle or sippy cup, with a brush and washing up liquid in a disposable / refillable bottle. Bringing multiple bottles takes up loads of space.

* bring a mix of favourite toys and a few new small things, wrapped up individually, then ration the toys so you don't give them all at the beginning. Ripping off the wrapping adds a bit of time to the fun.

* bring spare plastic bags for dirty clothes, spoons, etc.

* as well as nappy wipes, bring a small packet of Dettol / Milton wipes to give toys a rub when they get dropped on the filthy floor (and don't land on the handy blanket)

[georgina1975]

thanks so much for the great advice!!

[Lanme]

After travelling to NZ a couple of times solo with my LO I wouldn't have survived without a baby carrier - really helpful especially the two times that I was promised the pram would be at the gate and it had been sent to the luggage carousel. Calpol definitely handy (I used the single dose packets you can buy). A sleep sack was also really useful and I got a bag of cheap new toys that I gave her periodically through out the flight.

There were some great advice in a previous post:

http://www.nappyvalleynet.com/mums/view ... on+a+plane