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Original poster

To take a 1.5 hour flight alone with a toddler and 5 month old?

38 replies

farmertom · 20/07/2020 08:55

Considering going it alone and taking a short flight to see parents with toddler and baby.

Terrible idea?

Has anyone done this and managed ok?
Any tips?

OP posts:
SoPanny · 20/07/2020 13:41

Good luck OP!

And if you can, get your toddler a tablet to watch Twirlywoos etc on.

Will save your sanity on the flight.

BlueJava · 20/07/2020 13:50

Yes it'll be fine. My DP regularly used to fly London to Hong Kong with our twins when they were tiny by himself.

ParisianLady · 20/07/2020 20:24

At 1.5hrs it will be over before you knew it. I've done a fair amount of solo travelling. My tips would be:

  • pack light. Absolute essentials only, be completely ruthless eg no sippy cup for toddler they can drink from your bottle or with a straw, no sudocreme, change of clothes etc, so you have one carry on handbag/change bag only. Everything else gets checked in.
  • baby in a sling but take the pram with you to the gate if you can.
  • be prepared to be asked to fold your pram at security...I just handed the baby to the sour faced security lady whilst i did it.
  • the airport is really exciting, kids love it. Buy the toddler a magazine or book at the airport as a treat for good behaviour.
  • stickers and/or iPad
  • and weird but true...dress your kids in particularly nice outfits...we've always noticed that you get much better treatment if the kids look extra cute . Eg we've skipped queues, had a check in gate opened for us, put in an empty row of seats etc. And much less help when toddler was in old leggings.
ParisianLady · 20/07/2020 20:24

At 1.5hrs it will be over before you knew it. I've done a fair amount of solo travelling. My tips would be:

  • pack light. Absolute essentials only, be completely ruthless eg no sippy cup for toddler they can drink from your bottle or with a straw, no sudocreme, change of clothes etc, so you have one carry on handbag/change bag only. Everything else gets checked in.
  • baby in a sling but take the pram with you to the gate if you can.
  • be prepared to be asked to fold your pram at security...I just handed the baby to the sour faced security lady whilst i did it.
  • the airport is really exciting, kids love it. Buy the toddler a magazine or book at the airport as a treat for good behaviour.
  • stickers and/or iPad
  • and weird but true...dress your kids in particularly nice outfits...we've always noticed that you get much better treatment if the kids look extra cute . Eg we've skipped queues, had a check in gate opened for us, put in an empty row of seats etc. And much less help when toddler was in old leggings.
ParisianLady · 20/07/2020 20:24

At 1.5hrs it will be over before you knew it. I've done a fair amount of solo travelling. My tips would be:

  • pack light. Absolute essentials only, be completely ruthless eg no sippy cup for toddler they can drink from your bottle or with a straw, no sudocreme, change of clothes etc, so you have one carry on handbag/change bag only. Everything else gets checked in.
  • baby in a sling but take the pram with you to the gate if you can.
  • be prepared to be asked to fold your pram at security...I just handed the baby to the sour faced security lady whilst i did it.
  • the airport is really exciting, kids love it. Buy the toddler a magazine or book at the airport as a treat for good behaviour.
  • stickers and/or iPad
  • and weird but true...dress your kids in particularly nice outfits...we've always noticed that you get much better treatment if the kids look extra cute . Eg we've skipped queues, had a check in gate opened for us, put in an empty row of seats etc. And much less help when toddler was in old leggings.
ParisianLady · 20/07/2020 20:25

Tips so good they posted three times! Apologies

BarbedBloom · 20/07/2020 21:11

Be prepared to do almost everything youself. A friend of mine just flew, had to fold her pram and the security person refused to take the baby. They have to avoid close contact as much as possible. The airline hostess wouldn't hold her baby when she was trying to get her toddler to sit down and was very sharp with her when the toddler tried to wander around the plane. She may have just been unlucky and it was otherwise completely fine, but she was a little bit stressed by the end. In her case, her toddler can be a bit difficult, which really didn't help the whole situation and hated being told to go back to his seat all the time.

Skigal86 · 20/07/2020 22:16

I don’t have any advice on travelling with a toddler, as my daughter is only 1, but we have flown numerous times since she was born, and my top tip is to dress them in very simple, easy to remove clothes and no vest. The first time she and I flew alone I dressed her in a cute little vest and dungarees, you really don’t want to be wrestling with clothes like that in a aeroplane toilet when there’s poo running everywhere! Confused landing in particular played havoc with her delicate little tummy! And as someone else said, take spare clothes for you, mine threw up all over me at security and I had to spend the rest of the day in a grotty stinky cardigan! People were brilliant though and so helpful, a lady made her husband collapse and bag my pram for me at the gate and then he dragged me to the front of the queue and told the ground crew to let me on first Grin the same lady also entertained my baby while we were delayed for an hour on the aircraft. I guess people might not be quite so willing to get up close at the moment but hopefully it’ll all be fine! It’s only a short flight and I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time!

Original poster
farmertom · 22/07/2020 12:53

Flight was a success, thanks to all the helpful tips! Both kids were so good. Went with the carrier and stroller and light back pack.
Just got the way back to go now!
Also the airport was fine, really quiet and other than the mask was ok.
People were really helpful and helped on several occasions.
Thanks again

OP posts:
HowFastIsTooFast · 22/07/2020 12:54

A friend of mine flew from South Africa to Australia on her own with kids about the same age; it was tough but she managed it!

OnceUponACat · 22/07/2020 12:56

Done it lots of times when dc were little. Absolutely fine. Of course you can travel. Never heard of airlines not allowing you. What’s that all about!

OnceUponACat · 22/07/2020 12:57

Ups sorry I should have read the thread. Well done you and have fun.

Laserbird16 · 22/07/2020 13:13

Do it. If it all goes tits up it's only 90mins.

I flew Australia to the UK approx 26 hours by myself with a 4 month old and a almost 3. It was fine!

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