To think flying with a baby will be a breeze?

[NotAllIndividuals]

Seriously, what can possibly go wrong flying with a 6 month old?

Alright, I want tips and tricks but gussied it up as an AIBU to garner interest and hopefully some worst case stories so I can feel better if we have minor hiccups.

If you feed on take off and landing, don’t start too early if you have a refluxy baby, or you may find yourself covered in vomit with no spare clothes for yourself and a five hour flight in front of you. Oh how we laughed. 🤮😂

How longs the flight?
Ifs it’s long haul take a snooze shade or the like for the bassinet.
I second a sling too. My daughter was teething at the time of our last flight and I had calpol and teether on hand. You can get calpol in sachets which are really easy for when you’re flying.

Thanks for all the positivity! This is a short haul trial run for a possible long haul to visit family abroad within next 6 months. Wanted to see the mechanics before committing to a long journey. Flying with Ryanair, with minimal cabin baggage but it looks like nippers get their own wee allowance. Buggy and car seat will be checked in, sling for airport. Excellent.

I didn't know Calpol came in sachets, that's handy. LO is teething so will grab some of those. Poonami is a constant threat, like the 'all you need' baggy tip for a quick change, and yes I always forget my own clothes so will pack some specially.

Following as we are taking our 3 month old
On his first flight in 2 weeks. Dreading it but he does go to sleep with white noise so I'm hoping the rumble of the plane will lull him a bit!

Yeh it’s easy but the baby changing table is tiny, and faces sideways so really awkward. No tips as nothing you can really do about it, but that’s the only bit that’s been hard.

The upside is the more they travel the more and more chilled they get. DS now 11 has flown at least three times a year since 3 months. He packs his flight bag and sorts himself out the minute he boards and you don’t hear a peep out of him until landing.

He was very cross age 6 that the stewards didn’t demo the slide as printed on the safety card though

No yanbu it just takes a bit of preparation. If you start them young they are more used to it when they can move around a bit. Theres so much to see and lots of people to smile at etc.
After many many fights we've only had one bad one as DD was unwell and cried. I just did my best to soothe her and sheepishly apologised to everyone around us.
Now she just plugs herself in and asks the crew if she needs anything

TSSDNCOP that's hilarious. DD still always reads the emergency card in full and points out our nearest exits which ends up making me irrationally nervous.

We’ve flown loads with ours. As babies it was fine. 10 months- 23 months was harder (mine just wanted to crawl/walk up and down the aisle). 2 onwards absolutely fine.

Oh god OP. I;m flying next week from Australia to the UK with my 6 month old. Dreading it!

Yeah Saturn that’s going to be an endurance test.

On the upside, long haul = free gin

Another one advising feeding at take off and landing - keeps them from getting ear probs and helps them sleep :)

It'll be fine!

Don’t worry about the noise. The white noise on a plane is perfect for drowning out everything else. My super light sleepers always slept well on the plane as babies.

Will Zoflora work??!

god OP. I;m flying next week from Australia to the UK with my 6 month old. Dreading it!

Good luck but I'm sure they will be fine! Family members from NZ have flown to the UK numerous times with their 2 year old toddler since 4 months old and it was never a problem, she was as good as gold.

Overall good experiences here, flew when dd about 10 mths and again at 18 mths.

One journey I got hemmed into my window seat with her by a man with a broken leg, decided to do a sneaky nappy change on my lap before take off. Naturally she did a massive wee on my lap and I had to sit in soggy trousers throughout the flight and a few hours the other end.

Easyjet kept us waiting SEVEN HOURS last time we came home - and the staff were quite rude. Luckily dd thought it was excellent fun and wanted to charge around the airport shouting hello at people (not sure if they liked that but hey). Take extra snacks/formula if you use it just in case, especially if it's a smallish airport with limited selection in the shops or shops close after a certain time.

One thing I would do is leave a spare day to recover/get your bearings when you get home before going back to work, childcare etc. That way if it is a hairy experience you have time to settle back into things, rushing can lead to dc being unsettled, sleep going wonky etc.

I'd also take a little bag of small new toys to keep in reserve for unexpected delays, grumpy spells etc. I get little dinosaurs and dolls and that for 10p each from a charity shop so I don't care if they get lost.

It's also worth thinking through your transport at the other end fairly carefully - if you're taking a car seat will it fit hire car, or will the taxi have one, that sort of thing. We turned up in one place and the taxi company dug out this car seat that looked like it was for a doll then wanted to just rest it on the back seat without strapping it in or anything... The driver said he would 'go careful and slow'...

Also double check that there will be a travel cot/high chair etc in your accommodation, we turned up somewhere at 11pm to be told they'd forgotten and couldn't find them until the morning. We were used to co-sleeping but could have been a bad night otherwise!

You'll be ok. PP said she wasn't able to but mostly you can take your buggy to the gate and it gets put in the hold last. Obviously very helpful if you're hanging around in the airport for a bit. Ok arrival you then need to carry your child to baggage reclaim.
On all planes I've been on (incl. ryanair) there is at least one toilet with a pull down baby change table.

Where do you have to be that necessitates taking a baby on a flight?

Gromanec you're being slightly ridiculous. I'm guessing somewhere within Europe where it would take a day or two to either drive or take the train.

Where do you have to be that necessitates taking a baby on a flight?

I don’t know about the OP but we flew loads when ours were babies as

A) Our in laws live abroad. Developing a relationship with them is/was worth 3 hours on a flight.
B) We have many friends who live abroad.
C) We enjoy travelling/holidays/visiting places.

Oh and it would have taken 3 days to drive.

I flew short-haul with my DD regularly (as in every 6-8 weeks) from 8 weeks. Often just me and her, sometimes DH too. We would generally use sling in airport, check in car seat (and buggy if bringing it). Roll along small hand luggage case- Ryanair usually happy to check it in at the car seat drop off rather than gate. Backpack with nappies, wipes, toy, change of clothes for both of us. Feed at take off, landing and any other time she seemed upset. Nappy change immediately before boarding. She was never especially difficult, maybe as we did it so often.

I breastfed which made security easier but they are fine with bottles of milk. I usually just got her something to eat after security once weaned and brought some dry snack type foods for plane (you don't want messy food when you've got a toddler on your lap with no room to let down the table!).

I did 2x 12 hour flights alone with a 6 month old from new Zealand to the UK. It was ok. The middle aged man in the next seat was unfazed by a lot of breastfeeding and being hit by the occasional toy being bashed around. If it's a long haul flight then one of those little cot things might be helpful.

Have just done a 30 hour journey with a 4 month old. He was a gem. Ditch the pram at checkin and just use the sling form there (didn't even have to take it off through security in two airports). Baby slept very well.

Only thing is having to remove them from the bassinet when the seatbelt sign goes- poor bub kept being woken up!

Note if you're formula feeding that Dubai airport remove all liquids you buy at the airport (there's a second security check at your gate and they take all your precious water away). So if you changeover there make sure to feed bub before you go through your gate! Then Ask the Stewards to fill up your bottles with boiling water as soon as you get on the plane. It should cool before the next feed.

Either feed or give the dummy on take off and landing.

One thing is the screen above the bassinet totally tripped my baby out! He went psychotic with excitement then had a meltdown. Pretty easily soothed and then he slept, flashing screen and all.