To take a 4 month old baby on an 8 hour flight?

[Honey2018]

First time posting in AIBU so please be nice...

We are planning a trip to visit some family members in a couple of months time who live outside of the UK. My daughter will be 4 months old by then and can sometimes be a bit unsettled.

So, do I just go for it? I obviously don’t want to be the one with a screaming baby disrupting a flight but it’s been a difficult year and we would really like to go away.

Any tips on travelling with a little one?

Thanks Nadia! I’ll remember that whenever I get funny looks in public (hasn’t happened yet). Babies are stressful enough without other people judging.

Nadia, that’s me, I’m the arsehole that got edgy when i travelled to NZ last year and an 18 mth old screamed constantly throughout the flight and I paid £1100 for the pleasure, there was a lot of us Arseholes on the plane including my 7 y o nieces who got no rest just agitation throughout.
Op your 4 mth old should be fine, people are sympathetic to a level but call your fellow passengers Arseholes then your gonna get grief.

Fellow passengers are only ar5eholes if they get eggy about crying child. They fail to understand the immutable human fact that children/Babies sometimes cry...

Most people are fine.

Tbh with a choice I would book a day flight. On a night flight people expect to sleep and are less tolerant of crying babies, day time flight - so what. As a parent I try to be as helpful/sympathetic as possible to parents of small children and will happily put my book down and hold your baby while you eat your lunch but people walking babies up and down the aisle to try and settle them on night flights piss everyone off. 8 hours really isn't that long a flight anyway.

Rather easier at 4 months than a year or so later. From necessity I did several 8+ hour flights when my 2 were that sort of age, and later, with a toddler, too, often on my own.
You'll be fine, OP, please don't worry about it.

We went to Florida a few years back a mum sitting behind us with a young baby, and older teenage children, and DH/DP baby cried for the entire flight, I felt so sorry for the mum, she didn’t know what to do, her DH/DP, was absolutely no help at all, he moved to a spare seat to sleep!

Baby fell asleep half an hour or so before we were due to land, and then the cabin crew said the baby needed to be secure for landing, so moving him woke him up, he wasn’t happy at all!

You know your baby the best OP and whilst others have had a positive experience, 8hrs plus time hanging around the airport etc is a very long time with a baby. I hope if you decide to make the journey it’s hassle free, good luck.

Being willing and able to breastfeed on demand will help A LOT.

I also highly recommend taking a baby carrier/sling of some kind (I had an Ergo); much easier on your arms if you need/want to spend some time waking up and down the aisle/around the bulkhead areas, to soothe them/get them to sleep/while away some time.

The other good thing about having them strapped onto you is that, once they're asleep, you can sit down and try to sleep too, without worrying about dropping them!

The bassinet seats tend to get booked up as soon as the flights are released, but it's still worth a phone-call; just don't make all your plans contingent upon having one.

I'm sure it'll be fine. Good luck!

Go for it OP. At 4 months it’s probably one of the better times to do it. Baby won’t want to be on the move and won’t make that much noise. And ultimately if your baby did scream for 8 hours straight (which I’m sure it won’t) then it’s just tough luck on everyone else. Nothing that can be helped and I’m sure the other passengers will forget all about it. Don’t stress about other people, just do what you’ve got to do.

Flying with a baby is very easy - particularly if you are bf

They love being close to you and if they get upset then just feed to comfort

The younger the baby the easier flying with them is. Go for it!

It’s a perfect time to fly. We’ve flown with both of our dd’s from 4 months and has never been a problem. Especially as they can’t move around yet! The engines may well lull her to sleep more than she usually would. Take lots of extra milk if you’re not bf.

Second what pp have said about nappy supplies in a separate bag and also a change of clothes or 2 in a separate bag. Flying is always the time when they tend to leak through a nappy for us!

Also, and it depends on cost of flight but we have booked an extra seat for our under 2 year olds a few times. You can then take your dd’s car seat with you and this pretty much guarantees they will be more settled and sleep more. Also more comfortable for you. If a bassinet is available though this would def be a cheaper option.

Baby music/videos also a great idea if this calms her. On flights, I think anything goes of it helps you all to have a peaceful and stress free flight. We don’t let our kids use iPads at all at home but on flights they use them with no restrictions! Have a great holiday!

Please don’t play music on your phone-much more annoying than crying-unless you can get a 4 month old to wear headphones. It’s also really inconsiderate and rude.

I took my son to Australia at 4 months to visit my mum, he was so good slept for a lot of it, woke for a feed then dozen off again -he had a sky cot so great for him to sleep in. Was just he and I so am glad he wasn’t unsettled. We went again when he was 7 months same again he coped really well, he wasn’t a baby who cried etc much anyway but you never know on a flight. That was 17 years ago he’s now 6ft 3

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

We are considerate people and will always try to calm her down if she’s unsettled. I remember flying to Thailand with twin toddlers sat behind us- I felt bad for the Mum and everyone else! But soon forgot when we got to the destination.

With the music etc. I just meant it can help her to calm down if played for a minute- probably preferable to crying and she likes watching the shapes so I can turn the volume down anyway.