Long flights with baby (1 Viewer)

[coraline]

So, baby and I are going to the States in two weeks, we have a flight to JFK and then a shorter one on to Florida.

I know some of you have done long flights with babies, Pete didnt you go to Australia ?

Does anyone have any advice or tips ?
I'm getting a teeny bit freaked about keeping him occupied and happy for the flight.
Help

Did you all hold the baby on your lap ?
I didn't book a seperate seat for baby
but now I keep reading how dangerous it can be to have them on your lap.

It seems that some people bring the car seat onboard
and use that if there's a spare seat available.

 

[dudley]

mark was saying to get to the airport as early as possible and request the seat with the bassinet. would make life a whole lot easier.
also remember hearing david coleman saying on the radio to try and get to the airport at least a couple of hours beforehand and walk around with the baby as much as possible, so you tire them out and they're more likely to sleep through the flight.

 

[Anthony]

yep, as much as it may annoy other people waiting for the flight, let them go crazy while waiting for the plane. They'll be more annoyed if they're going mad on the plane.

 

[pete]

don't wait until you're at the airport to request the bulkhead / bassinet seats - ring the airline a few days in advance to warn them / request it, then get to the airport as early as possible on the day of your flight and confirm it at customer service if possible & when you actually check in.

we flew dublin - london - tokyo - cairns - sydney - melbourne - singapore - london - dublin when she was 6 months old and 90% of the time in the air she slept (like a baby). By far the worst part of the trip was dealing with some total pricks in heathrow security. we had 6 sterilised bottles prepared for the flight to tokyo and they made us open all of them & drink from them.

remember you can gate-check the buggy so you get to bring it to the door of the plane, and you'll probably be fast tracked through security at Dublin airport. And you get on the plane before everyone else which is nice. The nipper has to be on your lap for takeoff & landing - they supply a seatbelt extension so it's grand.

And if the child cries - so what? You just do your best to calm them down. if it works it works, and if it doesn't, well, planes are loud and everyone has headphones anyway...

 

[Goodbye]

best thing to do is not to worry about it - its a lot easier than it seems - plus you get treated very nicely (in my experience) by the flight attendants

 

[shower another shower]

Give your baby a dodo/bottle/nipple during takeoff and landing to help equalise the pressure in the little one's ears during cabin pressurisation.

 

[mark]

best thing to do is not to worry about it - its a lot easier than it seems - plus you get treated very nicely (in my experience) by the flight attendants

this is true. everybody seems to want to help you when you fly with a baby, that goes for airport staff and the flight attendants.

recently flew to toronto with a 4 month old. flight back was fine, 6 hours, he slept all the way. flight out was delayed by the ash cloud and baggage issues. we were on the plane for over 11 hours, in the air for 9. the boy was grand becuase at that age babies like to look at people, get smiles and smile back. and thats pretty much what he did for the whole flight out. he didn't sleep that much, but he had loads to look at. there were plenty of walks around the plane too, and chatting to other passengers. i think travelling with babies at that age is actually fine.

on the bassinet thing (or SKYCOT!!!! as air transat called it), yeah, make sure you get to the airport early and ask for one, as when baby does want to sleep its far more comfortable for both of you and baby if there's one there. some airlines won't commit to giving you one before you get to the airport. don't worry too much about that, most airlines will move other passengers to ensure you and the baby have the bulkhead.

so don't fret, there'll be loads of help for you.

 

[mark]

Give your baby a dodo/bottle/nipple during takeoff and landing to help equalise the pressure in the little one's ears during cabin pressurisation.

YES! our little fella had zero problems with cabin pressure and i pretty sure it was becuase we did this.

 

[The septic]

No matter how many times I've asked for a bassinet, no matter what I've done on line, on the phone, in person, etc. it's always a total crap shoot as to whether you get one. It's like some sort of demented lottery. That being said, a few spare seats are way handier. If the bassinet is booked, ask if the flight is full and if its not ask to be put next to an empty seat. Last trip home from California, the four of us (two adults, a toddler and an infant) had 5 seats. It was the easiest 1o hours of flying we've had so far and we've done a good few long flights.

The bassinet is a pain in the hole anyways. Last time it was a cardboard box you strapped to a tray. Plus it usually means you have to look straight up to watch the movie and people are constantly banging into you on the way to the jax.

The other suggestion would be to buy some new toys for the kids and bring tons of food for 'em. Keep them busy, keep them full, then get them to sleep so you can watch Marley and Me AGAIN.

 

[coraline]

Brilliant advice , thanks everyone

 

[nlgbbbblth]

got shafted by AA when ordering bassinet.

Dublin - Chicago - Austin.

no bassinet.

AA staff member allocates us seats at opposite ends of plane.

You'd think that father, mother and six month old son would wanna sit together.

Goodwill of other passengers helped us swap.

Hell flying over. Son slept on the two trays.

Easier coming back.

Dunkin' Donuts.

 

[shower another shower]

Xanax is the only job for long-haul flight.

 

[The septic]

Shafted by United a few years back. They broke the wheel off the buggy on the first flight. Told us we had to file a report online. Complete lie, once you leave the claims desk at the airport, your claim is void. Claim's desk was outside of security so had to queue up AGAIN to get onto our connecting flight, WITH NO BUGGY. Actually, with a buggy that we couldn't use which was even more of a pain in the hole. No matter what they say, you have to file a report on the spot or they'll say that whatever happened could have happened somewhere else.

The problem is you can't get all uppity in an airport anymore without finding yourself being accused of terrorism, being strip searched and/or having a can of mace for lunch.

 

[coraline]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I was feeling much more calm and now I'm freaking out again.

More happy stories please

It doesnt help that we're flying next week and baby has a bad cold so is super cranky and not feeding or sleeping

HALP

 

[The septic]

Sorry about that. No need to freak out. You probably won't be maced.

The child's cold will be better by next week.

People are generally good and will help- no one wants to sit next to an unhappy baby.

The flight won't last forever.

They were giving out free drink on the transatlantic flights last time- Gripe water never did the rest of us any harm.

 

[Unicron]

Shafted by United a few years back. They broke the wheel off the buggy on the first flight. Told us we had to file a report online. Complete lie, once you leave the claims desk at the airport, your claim is void. Claim's desk was outside of security so had to queue up AGAIN to get onto our connecting flight, WITH NO BUGGY. Actually, with a buggy that we couldn't use which was even more of a pain in the hole. No matter what they say, you have to file a report on the spot or they'll say that whatever happened could have happened somewhere else.

The problem is you can't get all uppity in an airport anymore without finding yourself being accused of terrorism, being strip searched and/or having a can of mace for lunch.

Dude, didn't you know? United breaks guitars

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http://www.davecarrollmusic.com/ubg/

Edit: To explain. This dude spent a year fighting with United and their claims people over them breaking his guitar on a flight and basically running into the same roadblocks you did. It's all explained in the link above.

 

[dudley]

you'll be fine, i reckon, just don't let people be dicks if they show any signs

or

 

[egg_]

We've given up on holidays with kids for a little while. Too exhausting. This year I'm taking a week off in August and we're staying at home - will probably visit the zoo and shit

 

[P. Littbarski]

its way easier traveling/flying with kids when they are younger ie. 6 months old. It's relatively easy at this stage as they sleep etc.

...it's when they are mobile and don't nap anymore that it gets tricky...we recently got plane, train, ferry and bus to the dutch island of texel (7 hours straight travel) with our two boys (one just turned 3 and the other 1.75) ....getting there was OK..getting back was hell...they didnt want to do it and neither did we..but it was a free holiday so what are you gonna do.

as we are expecting our third at end of September I won't be holidaying again until 2036 however...

 

[coraline]

So. We're home.

Delta staff were eiher unhelpful pigs or else just indifferent, none made much effort to be helpful.
No sign of the mythical bassinet, I was laughed at when I asked for it.

On the way out the 2nd flight was delayed cos there were no pilots (!), so we had to sit in an oven hot plane with no air conditioning for 2 hours.

On the way home there were storms in Atlanta so our 1st flight was delayed by 4 hours and then the flight to Dublin went without us, we had to then queue for 4 hours to rebook and then next flight home was 2 days later. Then I had to beg for them to assign me and my Mum seats together so she could help with baby.

Considering all this baby coped really well and slept ok on the plane but I found it all exhausting.

In future I will only go places I can get to on one direct flight, book a seat for baby, board last, and never go with Delta.