Flying with Baby

[mats01_99]

Hi all. Am off to Portugal in a fortnight with my wife and our 4month old for a week. I'm a little worried about how we'll cope with the flight and all that comes with it. (We will need to take the pram (wheels & carrycot)). What happens in this instance?, do we keep the pram until the last moment and is it then put in the hold?, also being in two pieces I'm a little concerned about them wrecking it!
Then to the flight itself!, when we were childless I was always of the 'why would you ever take a small child abroad?' school of thought. But we just couldn't resist i'm afraid! She doesn't like keeping still for long so i'm worried she'll scream blue murder until the fasten seat belts light goes out! Could anybody give a few tips please?!

[boobesque]

not sure about the buggy thing, but a good tip i was told is to try and feed the baby when you are taking off and landing as it should stop her little ears popping and hurting.
hope someone can help with the rest, good luck x

[Bohne]

When we still thought that we would have to take our then two month-old to the States, I asked my midwive, who said flying with little babies is usually really easy.
We don't have to move, quite yet, so this early trip fell through, but we will be visiting the family for christmas when our munchkin will be just over five months old.
I asked friends who took their baby to the States at five or six months old, and they told me, flying with him then was a lot easier than now (he's two years old).

When you come back, I would be interested in your experiences, maybe you'll get in touch, that would be great:
[email protected]

[Loosehead]

The only advice I can give is: Don't. It is not a holiday it is a punishment. It's nothing but hassle from start to finish, you'll need a holiday to get ober the holiday!

[mats01_99]

Cheers Loosehead, very constructive!

[Pam29]

Dont worry - flying with a baby is easy if you plan well. We recently took our 6 mnth old to the usa which involved 5 flights (from NE england to london to LA to Seattle and back). We went 2 days after the terror scare too!!

The new liquid in your hand luggage regs are a bit tricky so check the exact rules with your airline, because I found that airlines had different interpretations of the baby milk/food exceptions. I found sealed cartons of milk were the best and jars of food, some juice for landing and take-off to help baby's ears. If you take a couple of fave toys and a blanket it also helps. Dont forget nappies etc (one of the toilets on board will have a changing table) and a change of clothes in case baby is sick - I also took a spare t-shirt for myself in case she was sick on me.

My baby slept most of the time - on the transatlantic flights you can book a sky-cot - something else you could ask your airline about. But on a short flight its probably not essential. You'll probably find that your baby will be happy on your knee or having a cuddle. The staff on board were fantastic with us and so were other passengers, most stopping to say hello to baby.

As for your buggy - you keep it until you are about to board, then they take it off you and put it in the hold. You usually get it back as soon as you get off - sometimes right in the tunnel from the plane. Most airlines let people with under 5s board first too so that makes it easier to get on an settled.
So there you go - easy! Enjoy your holiday!

[CeceW]

I flew with my son (one and half at time) to Spain
but had to travel most of the day to Stanstead by train.
My son will also not keep still and easily gets bored so
I was not looking forward to the journey one bit.
The train journey was worse than the flight as my son was tired and grumpy so we had lots of dirty looks from fellow
travellers.
The flight itself was fine and I really was stressed out about nothing.
The only advice I can give is write a list with everything you need, be prepared, take everything in your stride (its a holiday not a test of endurance)and share the workload with your wife.
With my son we tried to keep him awake as long as possible till we got on the plane then he just conked out.
Have you looked at the option of buying a cheaper pram/stroller that is easier to fold up and down? I have one of those bugaboos prams that detach in two which is just no practical for an airport.
So thats it really treat it like an adventure for your family and you have every right to travel with your baby along with everyone else . ooh and dont worry about running out of things as my partner reminded me, they do have supermarkets abroad!

[mats01_99]

Thanks cecew, I'll bear that all in mind! We too have a bugaboo and I think we have to take it as I think she's too small for a stroller. Or is she?

[sunny30]

Hi, you can take the pram up to the plane yourself, they are usually really good, also its the best time to take them on holiday, all they do is sit in there pram and sleepand eat, also cause so young you dont have to have eyes int he back of your head, its a nightmare when they start to walk, and you are constently having to play with them. happy holidays.