Travelling long haul with near 1 year old!!

Juicy_Tube

Hi All,

We are off to Oz for 4 weeks on the 25th December. We were aiming to go last year and I found out I was pregnant, luckily before we booked flights etc.

Anyway, we are off this year to visit relatives, new born niece too.

I need your help though with my LO who will be almost one when we go. Any tips and advice? How do you cope with time zones etc? keep him occupied?

I am nervous already about the trip for him(and me) although I am sure he will be ok and it is just us who are worrying!

I would welcome your advice..

Thanks in advance,

JT x

Motherof1

Hi, when my daughter was almost 4 months old we flew via Paris to South Africa (14 hours in total). I know going to Aus is longer but if your little one is still sleeps then chances are he should sleep almost all the way only waking up to eat. The noise from the planes engines helps them to sleep. The airline should give you an entertainment pack that he can play with. Taking a few of his favourite small toys would be an idea. He still very much a baby and when my daughter now 3 was that age she slept a alot and amused herself with a few toys.

I'm sure everything will be okay.

newmum1

Youll be fine my daughter is now nearly 17 months, when she was 5 months we went to tunisia, and we were abroad again in sept, because she was mobile second time around i just tried to occupy her by letting her look out the window and play with her toys on the fold out table, when she did get fed up caused she wanted to run around i just took her for a little walk to stretch her little legs and she was fine, if anything she humoured the other passengers with the rude noises she makes with her bum and then laughs but youll be ok dont fret

sarahlouise210

At the end of the day every child is different - I took my 1 year old to Turkey and it was a nightmare from beginning to end- she is not and has never been a sleeper-is really active and all the way back she cried - the person in front got so frustrated that THEY cried!!!(we were flying through the night!)
On a lighter note..I took my eldest to America when she was 18 months old and it was a completely different story - I took lots to amuse her and she has always been good so just sat there! No 2 children are the same and you will know your child best.I will say ..make sure that you remember the bottle/cup etc-when we went to America I stupidly left it under the pushchair and they would not get it for me-a haul to america with no bottle was no fun I can tell you!!! It is a good idea for them to have a bottle for take off so their ears do not hurt so much .Have a lovely time!

Motherof1

Forget to say if you don't usually carry Calpol with you it would be a good idea to pack some. Some children tend to start burning up and as far as I know airlines don't have paracetamol for kids in there first aid kits.

researcher

If your little one suffers with her ears on take off and landing - try this trick.

Place a paper/plastic cup over each ear and hold it to her head - it helps equalise the air pressure - and hey presto no more pain!

swizzle_2

We flew to Nz with a 17 month old- it was a long treak, and hard work at times but it was worth it! He had a sky cot- a little cot that attaches to the bulk head,he was too big for it really but handy to have somewhere for him to sit and put his stuff! make sure you request 1 from the airline, we also got a spare seat on the way back.

All I would say is ask and ask the crew for stuff you need, extra blankets, toys etc, snacks, also ask the airline for a sky cot and req child meals, they have yougarts, bread rolls, choc and stuff in and sometimes a small toy it all helps!

Walk up and down the asile with him, people who like children will stop and chat, those who don`t will look the other way!

If you are travelling with someone else a partner, get them to get on first with the bags- get stuff sortted-bags in overhead lockers, drink ready for take off etc, go get on first yourself and leave other half to chase little one up and down, then get on plane last.

Has anyone used `earplanes` earplugs for children when flying? we are going to Nz in 2 weeks and not sure if to get any, thanksi

Counting_Pennies_2

The best bet is to give them food and drink on take off and land, that way their ears stand a better chance with the different air pressures.

Although, don't give the food and drink until you are moving fast along the run way, the time spent going from standing still to up in the air is quite long.

Take a variety of toys. Don't show your little one those toys for a few weeks before you go, so they are really exciting. Take more bottles than you think you will need, we ran out mid air and I had to cold water sterilise half way between HongKong and Cairns.

If baby is moving take a walk to the part of the plane that has the most open space, by the stairs if there are two layers and just let them do their best to work off the energy.

Best of all, ignore any stares and comments, you will no doubt get many. Settle your little one as you would normally and don't let yourself get stressed as baby will sense it.

I gave mine Calpol just before each flight. If you give medised or similar and know it has the desired effect of sedation, you might want to take a supply with you just in case things get a little bit crazy. If you haven't used it before I would advise caution. My doctor told me when I was asking for tips, that she used Medised on her child when they did a long haul, and it had the opposite effect for her child!

See if you can take your buggy with you up to the gate. Be aware though that you will not likely see it again until the baggage when it is on the belt, so plan only essential hand baggage as that isn't fun dragging a child on your hips with hand luggage and feeling shattered!

Have fun, enjoy oz it is fantastic.

clarew

We did england to tokyo with an 11 month old-had skycot as previously mentioned-managed to squash him in it to sleep (was always on the small side of length and weight luckily!).

Similar experience regarding buggy, had it up to the aircraft then not seen again-had asked for it to be brought back to us when off the aircraft (as some gates are a long walk from the plane)-this happened at 1 end but not at the other.

We took loads a nappies,snacks,and had undiluted juice in a 500ml bottle so we could refill babys bottle en route) We found with airlines they don't tend to have fresh milk, so you have to make sure the milk aspect is well covered/use follow on type formulas for the journey.

We did the calpol before leaving and generally it was much better than we had thought, apart from trying to manage mealtimes with child on your lap.

-check with airline about priority boarding with kids etc, this saved us loads of time queing (we had a transfer in between) to board the plane.

Have fun

gingin_2

I am an ex Flight Attendant and have done the Oz route with a 15 month old and a fair bit of long haul with 2 littlies.

Firstly book a sky cot or baby seat. Some Airlines stop this at 10 months, some don't, BA have strap in baby seats as an alternatives for under 2's. Even if he doesn't like the skycot there is still more room in those rows for a small child to play at your feet.

Take a change of clothes for him and for you. Take pyjama's/teddy/ bottle for nightime just so he understands that it is the same routine as at home. Take plenty of food/snacks/ nibbles that he likes. I would buy some small cheap toys for amusement. Now my children are older we have a "magic bag" with a wrapped up treat allowed to be pulled out every 1/2 hour to an hour for good behaviour but the concept of that might be a little difficult for an 11 month old to understand, my kids love flights thanks to the "magic bag!". You could also order a kids meal, they tend to be very soft foods with plenty of naughty treats that he can chomp on (if he is allowed!)

Take something for him to suck on for take off and landing to clear his ears. Lavender oil is supposed to be good as a relaxer for children on flights. Make sure you take enough blankets to keep him warm, aircraft ones tend to be not very nice at all, that is if you are lucky enough to get one in the first place.

Who are you flying with? My brother just came over from Oz with Gulf Air with an 11 month old who have sky nannies on board and they said she was a real help to them.

Juicy_Tube

Thank you all for your helpful tips so far!

FYI we are travelling with virgin.

JT x