Long haul with a baby - stupid idea?

[Mississippilessly]

DS is 15 weeks old. I have until September off work. DH and I always said that when we had children we wouldn't go abroad for a good few years. However I'm starting to wonder if that was a hasty decision. I would love a proper holiday. I am a teacher too so it would be nice to have a cheaper, off-peak holiday too!
Is this a daft idea? We were thinking the Caribbean or the Maldives. Would there be a better time to go?

Go while he can't crawl, walk or express an opinion about anything other than food or sleep!
I had no choice but to travel long haul with my DC when they were babies and toddlers. Baby = easy. They can doze in sling or bassinet and have milk and cuddles and that'll do.
1-2= literal nightmare. A lot of will but no sense of reason and unable to sit still.
3+ = easy again. They will watch the in flight entertainment, sleep at some point and feed themselves snacks.

So I say go

I have flown long haul twice in the last year with very little ones on board and must say they were no trouble! I had much admiration for their parents!

We emigrated to Australia when DS was 6 months. Apart from the massive stress of emigrating and moving house, the trip itself was fine! We stayed 2 months at an Airbnb beside the ocean and it was lovely. Lots of time with extra play, without the distractions of home (although plenty of new stresses, so slightly different for us clearly)
Depends if you want to replicate pre-baby holidays or not. No you can't do big nights out or water sports, but you can get a break from the home routine and challenge what you think you need.

I would say my son did an explosive poo on every flight that required a full clothing change for us both. So bring clothes! And extra nappies. We also had a refluxy baby so he vomited many times. And yet I still remember it as a reasonably ok trip. Lots of sleep between bodily functions.

Flying with babies is fine, go for it!

I travelled with my baby at 3 months short haul and it was so easy. Slept through both flights. He was sleeping in a sleepyhead and I crammed that in the suitcase which was a godsend as we were moving around and meant I could sleep him anywhere. He was so easy to transport around in a sling, also a nice age where he was happy and interested in new surroundings.

Have booked a holiday with a 4hour flight for when he is 11months and wondering how foolish this may be...

What about the Canary Islands for winter sun?

Get the baby an E111 card.

Would definitely go on holiday abroad, we did and loved it. Would do shorthaul as its awful with screaming babies on a flight for other passengers or parents. So wouldn't go on flight which does overnight at all. Also would check vaccines and healthcare especially for baby.

AI are super easy though apartments work well with babies too especially if pool, shop and food on site. What doesn't work so well is a room in a non-family hotel. We did apartment in Maderia at 4 months that was lovely, large so didn't need to worry about noise from baby bothering others, pools and restaurant on site but could also have takeaways. Carribean is lovely, I wouldn't do in hurricane season, been to a few places there, very pleasant. I would get all food and some activities on site. Not been but Azores looks nice.

We went UK to Florida with a seven month old and it was easy, couldn’t do it now though, she’s nearly two and we struggled with her on our lap just on the 2 hour Eurostar to Disney! Go while you can!!

Sleepyhead is a good call. You remind me that when we travelled short haul at 4 months we took the cocoonababy with us. Used it on the plane and my son could sleep in his normal 'bed'. Plus it was very useful at the other end. Actually we did the same at 6 months but he was still only about 10pounds I'd guess, so it depends how big your baby is.

Use Paspic website for baby passport photos. That's what we did, instant acceptance, easy. DH did it with his phone. It's not the most flattering photo of DS2 ever but who cares? And in fact you could have multiple attempts anyway.

We did 10 hours when our daughter was 2 years and 10 months to Florida. She was a delight. Watched tv and slept. Been on loads of flights when babieshave cried the entire way and so what? I hate people who frown and judge parents. It’s stressful enough. Don’t let it bother you! It’s hardly live changing

I’d recommend Mauritius for the lack of jetlag and family friendly hotels. 6-8 months is a good time to go, if you can get round the weaning issue (ie find somewhere that will do baby friendly food).

Maldives may be difficult due to lack of shade, and if your baby gets ill you’re a long way from any clinics. Do consider medical facilities just in case.

Absolutely do it! And don’t be put off by anyone telling you not to travel once your DD is older and more mobile either. The younger they get used to travelling and sitting on planes, the easier it is as they get older.

As for travelling with a young baby - number one tip - make individual bags of the things you need for a nappy change. Then you can just whip the tiny bag out , rather than lugging your whole changing bag into an aeroplane toilet. I used to put one disposable changing mat, one nappy, some tissue and a nappy bag into each small bag. Not particularly environmentally friendly but you’d only need a few for a flight.

Take a rucksack as hand luggage so you have your hands free at the airport.

Some countries will have websites where you can order stuff like baby food or formula from the UK and have it delivered to your hotel. That’s something to consider if you need it too.

If you're going to the Caribbean Grand Cayman (where I live) has fabulous medical facilities, every kind of baby food, nappy etc and is heaving with expats with small children. Incredible beaches, snorkeling, Camana Bay waterfront town full of shaded landscaping and cafes, shops, fountains...you can even buy Waitrose food (at three times the UK price). Direct BA flight too. Babies are snoozy and portable - toddlers are a nightmare - do it!

Timing of the flight is important too - we did a trip to Stockholm when DS was 9mo and he was fine, BFed and napped for most of the flight. Then we flew UK to Canada when DS was 15mo and he was also fine (wanted to do a bit of exploring, but mostly happy to sit in the seat and play with his toys, eat then sleep).

Then we did a nightmare one hour flight from Montreal to Toronto when he was 19mo when he was a bit overtired (had napped but not for long enough) and he writhed and screamed through the whole flight from getting on to getting off. It was a budget airline so no bassinet, and not much space between us and the poor person in front.

So I’d recommend an afternoon/evening long haul flight to maximise the likelihood of getting some sleep. Book a bassinet for them (you’ll probably have to phone up to do that, you can’t book them through airline websites) so at least they aren’t on your knee the whole way. Go premium economy/business class if you can possibly afford it, the more space you have the less pissed off your child will be.

Little babies are very easy to fly with.

Before 6 months old would be fine. My son is nearly 14 months and a car journey to the shopping centre can be a trauma!

We did lots of long haul including Maldives when our kids were tiny (also S Africa, Dubai, Jamaica, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand at various stages of under 2 years old) and it was fine - travel now before they cost full fare on flights and you need extra beds / hotel rooms! Before weaning is perfect, so easy (esp if you bf) ... I would be more concerned about rainy season in the Maldives and not being able to leave your hotel room....

Literally back from Australia this afternoon with my 15 week old.
Left here just before 12 weeks. I was sooo worried about the flight before we left and wanted to cancel but it was great. We had the sky bassinet things but he didn’t sleep well in them so slept on us.
The wrap (instead of a sling.. comfier to sit down in) would be the most invaluable thing we took. Put him in ever time he was due a sleep, walked up the aisles once or twice then sat down and was hands free.

The earlier you can go the better I think!
I will say jet lag is awful with a baby (not for the baby again a day or two and he was fine) but I struggled! Before I would take to bed as soon as I got there and slept as long as I wanted hand naps when I wanted but can’t really do that with a baby my best advice would be to tag team it if you can. If getting exhausted one take the baby one sleep.

Oh goodness yes, the jet lag. My 14-month old once took two full weeks to adjust to a five-hour time difference when we moved abroad. It was a nightmare.

For babies old enough to have something close to a decent night’s sleep routine, I actually find travelling long-haul during day is better. If you get unlucky and your child can’t sleep on the flight, at least during daytime they aren’t an overtired inconsolable mess. Any daytime sleep is a bonus, but you don’t want to be in a position where the baby absolutely needs sleep and can’t drop off. It’s hellish.

An another thing, be really careful of your own risk of deep vein thrombosis if the baby is on your lap for a long duration. It’s easy to end up cramped and immobile just so the baby will sleep but on a long flight, that can risk blood clots in your legs, so definitely flight socks and be as mobile as possible and ensure your legs are in a healthy position where you can move your feet about/stretch legs/twirl your ankles before the baby drifts off if she’s sleeping on you.

We regularly travel long haul with ds who's now 5.

It's really not that big of a deal some people are making it out to be.

Just make sure you are fully prepared.

Crawling to be interested in tv stage is the hardest. We would choose a bulkhead seat in the middle so you have more room in front of you and little one has room to play on the floor with toys or stand but you're blocking them in either side. I've noticed some airlines are charging more for bulkheads now though the grabby bastards.

Thanks everyone, you've given us lots to think about!

Do it! We took dd to Bali for 6 weeks when she was 5 months old. She has travelled a lot since and she is now an old hand at the grand old age of 8. Night flights are your friend, dd slept from a Singapore to Amsterdam with only one wake up when she was 11 months old!

I did it with first born... much easier than when they're running all over the place