travelling with a baby

Don't worry :) I've heard a lot of stories of toddlers traveling well!! My son just isn't one of those kids. Bring new toys that she hasn't seen before and snacks. I've also heard from other moms that a portable video player keeps kids entertained for a good while :)
 
Hi, Babyphat,

I just flied with my 7 months old daughter alone on a 6 hours flight. It's her first flight and I was extremely nervous beforehand. But everything turned out fine. On the return flight, she slept through the whole time. She is at the stage that she gets distracted very easily during nursing. I was worried that she might not nurse well on the flight and I packed all the formula and bottles etc. Yet, she nursed well while taking off and landing without any problems with her ears. I also packed a lot of toys to entertain her and it worked very well.

I understand how nerveracking that is to fly with a baby for the first time. ( I just experienced it myself about a week ago. :P) But it might be easier that we all think. Enjoy this little adventure with your little one. Have a safe trip!
 
BTW, passing through security check point is pretty strict in the U.S. Be prepared to remove all the toys from the stroller, fold it up and put it on X-ray machine. And you'll have to hold your baby to pass through the security check.

I am not sure if you will rent a car in the U.S. FYI, your baby will need to be in a carseat if you plan to travel with cars in the U.S.

If you need more information, let me know or just PM me.
 
We last travelled long haul when our son was 16 months and it was pretty awful!

I know children under 2 yrs don't need a seat....but if you can afford it I would suggest buying a seat for a 20 month old....we fly standby and there was no spare seat for our son and so I had him on my lap the whole 11 hrs. No fun, espec. as was 3 mnths pregnant at the time.

I took lots of toys, but at 16 mnths they soon get bored...espec. in the confines of an economy class cabin!

If you can get them to sleep, that's the best....but you need that extra seat for them to lie across.
I know of people who give their children sleeping tablets on long haul flights....but it's not something I'm willing to do!!
 
fairy godmother, a lot of it comes down to attitude. if you worry about the small stuff, you'll drive yourself crazy.

i flew by myself with my then 2 yr old and my 5 week old, and i was still recovering from a c-section.

9 hours? my trip was 36 hours door-to-door, this included a stint where we were diverted because of a snowstorm and sat on the runway IN the plane for over 4 hours!

ANY trip would be better than that!

and in all honesty, the kids were fantastic! they held up better than i did! but i didn't worry about the small stuff. i took a big tube of m&m's. it was my bribery tool. i would tell my 2 year old that if he was very good on the flight, that he would get some when we got off the plane (we flew: hong kong-tokyo-portland-vancouver-calgary-regina~where we circled for an hour then were diverted to ~saskatoon-regina) my son and his amazing memory would ask for the m&m's immediately when we got off the plane, even when the flight lasted for 10 hours!

the long flight that we were on had private tv's in the back of the seat in front of you, that kept him occupied for most of the flight. half of the new toys that i bought, we didn't use, we kept for the flight back.
 
sorry, after re-reading that, i don't want to diminish your worries...they are perfectly normal. but i'm sure you will manage beautifully!
 
Thanks for all your postings here. I'm going to be flying alone with my one month old London-HK in the Autumn. I've been a bit nervous about it, too. Glad to hear all the advice of what to bring and that you've done it and survived it!!

Carang, your story fills me with confidence that I can do it! Thanks!
 
a one month old is....child's play! you'll do great!

one thing i did do was i paid for a seat for each of us. i did NOT want a bassinet. those armrests don't raise up.

i was very glad to have the extra seat/space.
i wouldn't have been able to relax as much as i did without the space. also, i wouldn't have been able to hold the little one for so long.

good luck and remember the most important bit....

HAVE FUN!
 
Hello,

Thank you so much for all your fantastic advice. We have another mth left before our trip. I am worried but looking forward to it too.

Thankfully our flight is around 6pm, so hopefully we can feed him & he'll go to sleep.

Jeanmom - thanks for the advice about US security. My main concern is bringing solids onto the flight. will check with the airline.

Good luck to all the mummys, who will be flying with your little ones
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

About this archive

This is an archive of over 20 years of GeoBaby and GeoSchools knowledge and discussions, kept online as a read-only reference.

Back
Top