9 hour night flight with baby

hoxtonbabe

Hello all,

For the life of me I can not remember if the old post I am looking for that had the helpful info was here or on Tripadvisor, I have searched but cant find it so here goes.

I am travelling in December to Kenya with my little rat who is 19 months and it was suggested for the flights that I try and request a seat near the bulkhead (or something like that) and also to find out if I can get a cot, I just wanted to clairfy I am asking for the right things before I call, so any suggestions for a "easy" journey would be appriciated.

Thanks.

HB

Mumto2

From memory, the cots which are in the front are for young babies (would guess up to approx 6 mths). Certainly not for older (more mobile) young ones.

I travelled by myself to China with a 3 1/2 & 2 1/2. Fortunately they both got seats which meant we had a little bit more room.

Good luck with your journey - don't underestimate the value of little things to occupy them during the journey. A box of raisins can bring great entertainment!!

Incapuppy

I think a bassinet is what you are after - but as Mumto2 says I'm not sure if your child is too old/big for one of those?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=25108289&highlight=bassinet#post25108289

Incapuppy

There may be some useful info here too:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1432409&highlight=flying+with+infant

hoxtonbabe

Thanks for that

moppet_217

We have just got back from australia with our very active 2 year old. Door to door we travelled for about 30 hours. I had a trunki filled with small toys, books (toys and books from chairty shops) and stickers all wrapped up in old wrapping paper, so when he was getting wrestless he got a present.

The sky cots are for babies I think the max length of them is 70cm. Depends on who you are flying with but most airlines let you take your car seat on and you strap it into the seat. You will have to pay for the extra seat. We found this handy for the first leg of the trip which left the UK at 10pm. Would not worry to much about bulk heads if you can not get them as thier is not alot of extra room for them to get down and play etc.

Make sure you have requested childrens meals as sevral people on our flight had assumed with a childs booking it was automatic but apparently not.

Our son ended up sleeping for nearly 24 hours of our travelling time both outbound and inbound. As did every other child on the flight. They must put something in the juice.

hoxtonbabe

moppet_217 wrote: »

Our son ended up sleeping for nearly 24 hours of our travelling time both outbound and inbound. As did every other child on the flight. They must put something in the juice.

That sounds good to me!

Murphy_The_Cat

These are my thoughts, but you may not appreciate them.
For a trip of that duration, I wouldn't even consider doing it without the young'un having their own seat, plus, I'd be taking the little'uns usual car seat with me on the plane to travel in.

If it was me, no seperate seat for my child, I wouldn't be flying.

Good luck, you may need it !

jkmum

For children too big for the cot style bassinet seat, there is usually a car seat style bassinet instead. These go on special tables that fold down from the bulkhead wall. You can only take your car seat on the flight if you pay for a seat for them. Also bear in mind the style of seat you would have for a 19 months old - will it fit in an airline seat, does it secure using only a lap belt and how would you transport it through the airport? I certainly couldn't do it with mine. I have done a few long hauls just using the bassinet and it's fine. You can't have them in for take off or landing or any time the seat belt signs are on, but it's enough to give you a bit of a break and eat your meal in peace. Contact the airline for advice, but it is the bassinet you're asking for.

laurel7172

I took both my children to Australia as toddlers. It's not actually all that hard, because what children want at that age is you. The screaming kids on planes and trains are generally the ones whose parents seem to think they're entitled to have a child of that age entertain themselves.

So...books (and don't be surprised if you're reading a story and look up to find you're running an impromptu creche) and anything your child will be happy doing for as long as you're there to tell him how clever he is. Mine were a bit younger, and I collected lots of jar tops for stacking and nesting, and cut out about a hundred 10p sized pieces of card for him to post into a slot in the top of a cottage cheese tub. It's best to take things that are a little bit disposable-you don't want to have to wait for everybody else to get off the aircraft because you're grubbing on the floor for bits of an expensive toy. And talk to them. Play finger games. As long as they have your attention, they're happy. They'll be monosyllabic teenagers soon enough

In_debt_5

I would definitely recommend a separate seat and use a car seat if funds allow.

Also lots of snack are good, when we went to Florida we took breadsticks, rasins, organix crisps etc kept her amused for hours.