Babies on planes (a question, not a rant!)

burnoutbabe

both me and my other half get very bad earache when the plane starts descending. Its excrutiating and no amount of nose blowing/sucking sweets/yawning will make it go away. Not until we get below the clouds. So thats usually around 20-30 mins of pain.

Now I know its happening, and why and that it will stop in 20 mins. Loads of people i know have the same issue.

Translate that to a baby who doesn't know that it will stop. I'm not sure I would subject them to that level of pain until older.

duchy

LABMAN wrote: »

Detroit for one? Phoenix maybe?

Car fans to Detroit (plus it's a hub -so people use it to gateway but connect onto another flight)

Phoenix -Plenty of people use it to start touring the west- Start Phoenix end San Francisco makes a lot of sense for a fly drive. I've actually flown into Phoenix on holiday myself. Some of the scenery in that part of Arizona is stunning.

balletshoes

VT82 wrote: »

Not exactly money saving (please move it is necessary), but...

My partner and I have a 6 month old baby. One of us wants to take him with us on a long-haul flight to America to see an elderly relative in April when he will be 9 months old. One of us thinks this is far too young to take a baby on a long haul flight. We wouldn’t go without him obviously.

I’m deliberately trying not to put in too much detail which could sway you either way, but who do you agree with? Would it be fine? Is an 11 hour flight too long? Is 9 months too young for air travel? And if so, at what age should we be thinking about it?

Thanks.

I haven't read the rest of your replies yet OP, but to be honest, after their innoculations, the earlier the better, and before they are mobile, in my experience is far easier to cope with than when they're on their feet and fidgeting about!

I don't think 9 months is too young.

DKLS

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Hmmmm... I have noise cancelling headphones and they struggle to cancel out a nearby baby in full-on PITA mode. The only remedy is to turn the volume up to drown the little beggars out. Not ideal if you are trying to sleep.

To answer the OP's question though, I see very young babies on flights lasting longer than 11 hours. They seem to survive well enough.

The Bose ones albeit pricey are excellent. I sat next to a mother and baby on a flight to PA, I never heard a thing, despite it crying on a few occasions.

catoutthebag

Haven't read whole thread but I'm guessing 'elderly relative' Is Ill. In which case it would be prudent to pack 9 month into hand luggage.

sandsy

We used to live in South Africa when our kids were born and did a number of long haul flights with them back to the UK at various ages. By far the easiest flights are the ones when each of them was about 5mths old. They fitted into the bassinets and had a far better night's sleep than anyone else in economy! It becomes harder once they're mobile and want to explore.

jackieblack

burnoutbabe wrote: »

both me and my other half get very bad earache when the plane starts descending. Its excrutiating and no amount of nose blowing/sucking sweets/yawning will make it go away. Not until we get below the clouds. So thats usually around 20-30 mins of pain.

Have you tried Earplanes? http://www.boots.com/en/EarPlanes-Flight-Ear-Protection-One-Pair_4613/
My daughter and husband both get terrible ear pain on descent, but both swear by these

GwylimT

Our daughter has done long haul from twelve days old, book them a seat (they are often discounted) that way you can put them in their car seat while you eat. I'm yet to see a baby on a plane who wasn't placed infront of the divides giving extra legroom and the option of the basket. The baskets are generally very small, our daughter had outgrown them by five months, due to how low the sides are they aren't very safe for babies who can sit up.

enthusiasticsaver

I get bad ear pain sometimes from air travel and on our trip back from Crete last year there was a family desperately trying to pacify a young baby who was distressed which made it a very unpleasant journey for them, not sure if that was ear pain or not though. Some babies however are fine so I guess it depends on how badly you want to go on this trip and if you are prepared for a bad journey then you will be pleasantly surprised if it all goes well.


Personally unless this is a very close relative and there is a critical need for you to go at this point (ie relative very ill and not likely to get another chance to see baby) I would not do it. The first time we travelled with our daughters they were 3 and 4 so we could explain what was going on. It was long haul and in those days you could have family seats near the emergency exit with room to sit on the cabin floor and I was sat there with a book and puppets amusing our two and before we knew it there were about 5 other kids all came down to sit and be amused. LOL. My daughter has decided they will not take their 4 month old baby girl on any flight until she is around 3 as well. We are therefore opting for Centre Parcs this year.

sheramber

When we travelled to Canada many years ago there was a baby on the flight, about nine months old, who was good as gold the whole time. We never heard him.
His mum walked round the plane with him several times to keep him amused. He enjoyed the attention form other passengers.

Last year we flew 9 hours to Vancouver. A baby about nine months old screamed for over three hours solid. Not crying or moaning but loud ,prolonged screaming, Both parents tried to pacify him with no success. To different hostesses tried their hand but nothing worked. He would drop off to sleep from exhaustion for five minutes at a time then start again. They tried feeding him, then giving him a bottle of water.
They even asked a passenger to swop seats with one of the parents to let the baby lie down on the empty seat next to him but that made no difference.

On our flight from Paris to Edinburgh there was toddler who cried all the way. Again they tried getting her to eat or drink some water but she wouldn't.

Her mother was quite frazzled by the time we arrived in Edinburgh.