8 hour flight to in laws

[Mamibaer]

My in laws live an 8 hour flight away. We haven’t seen them since before Covid and our son is now 2.5. They want us to come and visit, but I just can’t bear the thought of flying so far at the moment - there are no night flights, so he’d be awake virtually the whole time, maybe with an hours nap. Airlines aren’t keen on people moving around the planes at the moment so I just think it would be complete torture. Couple of hours TV but then what? The in laws are in good health and could absolutely come to us. AIBU for not wanting to fly there?

Could you compromise and have a holiday with them halfway?

I’ve done several long haul flights (12hrs) with my dd since she was 4 months older and honestly 18 months was the hardest but completely manageable. I completely understand your fears about not being able to walk up and down the isle but if you manage to get a seat by an emergency exit then you will at least have a bit more room. I dreaded every single flight I took, especially as my husband could rarely get time off work to fly with us but in most instances my dd slept the whole way through- the motion and humming of engines along side dimmed lights really helped. There will be other parents on the flight who will have the same anxieties too 🙂