Bf on a plane

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This may sound ridiculous but we are going on holiday next month to visit family. Ds2 will be be just past 6.5 months so although I will have started weaning I imagine he is still going to be bf a quite a lot unless he takes after his brother who found solids & thought milk was pointless. The flight is a 4 hour flight at around the time he likes to have a bigish feed followed by a big nap on me where he intermittently feeds. I'm getting really nervous about the logistics of feeding him on the flight for several reasons -

1.He is quite a big baby for his age & is quite long & plane seats are not the biggest at the best of times. Yesterday we struggled a bit in the front passenger seat of the car & at 1 point I resorted to him lying vertically with his legs kind of dangling between my legs.

1. I have massive boobs so discretion at times can be something of a challenge
2. Ds is hideously nosey & tends to pull off to have a good look around then come back to feed when he's decided that's more interesting
3. I have quite the letdown & ds can usually be relied on to pull off to be nosey or get sprayed in the face (which he finds hilarious) just when it's in its full soaking force
4. As ds1 & 2 are both under 2 they have to sit on mine & dh's knee. This also means we'll be separated onto different rows for the flight as the additional oxygen mask is fitted in the middle seat of each row so I'll be sandwiched between 2 strangers for the duration

I don't have any problem feeding in public but I normally don't have to in such close proximity to a complete stranger.

Any advice / tips or experiences would be welcome.

In some ways feeding on a plane is discreet as you've got a seat back right in front of you. And if you spurt you'll just hit the seat back! The space is challenging though - I found this with 4 mo on recent flight and had to put her feet in DH's lap, essentially. An aisle or window seat would help - then you can dangle feet in aisle or bit between seat and window. In some ways it's ideal it's napping/feeding time during flight as you'll not be needing ways to keep LO entertained!

Thanks Citydweller - the problem is the airline have already confirmed that I'll have to sit on my own in a middle seat for health & safety & dh will be on his own with ds1 on another row as both are under 2. If I could sit with them I wouldn't be so bother but with a stranger either side it's going to be a bit awkward.

I fed my 18 month old on a plane recently. She sits on my knee facing me, with one leg either side to feed anyway. Maybe try that?

i've never heard of having to sit in a special seat for health and safety?! and I've flown a lot with babies! who are you flying with?
I've never found feeding on a plane an issue - you're really well sheltered front and back and people are nice about babies - if they mind having little baby feet in their lap they tend to go for a long walk! only time I had an "issue" was on a 12 hour flight the first time I travelled with pfb ds1 when he was 9 weeks and was seated next to a rabbi who excused himself politely every time i fumbled messily with my bra strap (i was new at this bf'ing lark!) - it must have been a long flight for the poor man but he was ever so nice!

it's only 4 hours of your life and you'll manage (and everyone else will be happy baby is feeding quietly and not screaming the place down!)

Thanks for the suggestion Dance - will have a practice at home to see if we can get the hang of it as at least that allows us to be a bit more contained!
Soapnuts we fly with Monarch. The reason we found this out is because we were looking at booking extra leg room seats in advance to give us more room. Ds1 will be 21.5 months when we go but because both our boys are under 2yrs they don't get there own seat & have to sit on our laps - hence wanting extra leg room particularly dh who is taking charge of & having ds1 sit on him. When we tried to book them online it showed a seat plan of the plane showing where extra leg room seats were & also seats for people with infants (any child under 2). These were all the middle seats on each row. I called the airline as hoped it was just a quirk of trying to do this myself but they explained that the middle seats of each row are designated for people that will have a child under 2 with them as immediately above those seats 2 oxygen masks are fitted so that there is 1 for the adult & child. All other seats only have 1 mask. Therefore we will have to sit on seperate rows in order to ensure we each have access to the additional mask in case of an emergency (lovely thought to get on the flight with!)
We flew with ds1 a couple of times but it wasn't an issue as there was only him so no matter which of us sat in the middle we still had access to the additional mask & he wasn't as much of a boob monster as ds2.

I never had to sit in a special seat for h&s either. Some policies are strange.
If the flight isn't fully booked perhaps the seats beside you can be empty if you ask up front. Tell them you intend BF for much of the flight. BF is a great way of keeping baby nice and relaxed during a flight and it stops their ears from popping.
If you can't have empty seats next to you could you ask to be seated between two ladies? Still not ideal but perhaps a bit less awkward than being next to men.
A scarf may afford you some privacy.

I've flown 10 times with DD under 2yo and never heard of this rule before. We've always sat by the window to have a tad more room.

On the plus side I've bfed DD every time and it makes travelling a lot easier, they just bf and sleep!

I have flown with monarch and twins under two. We were seated on different rows as there is only one spare mask per row, but there was no restriction on which seat in the bank of three.

Might be worth another call to customer services to check whether it really needs to be the middle seat.

For what it's worth, we had aisle seats, one in front of the other. That meant we were close enough that helping each other/ swapping children was possible.

There is normally a crew seat at the back of the plane near the galley. You could try and book seats near the back, and then if it is awkward with your neighbouring passengers or there is not enough room you could ask to sit there for 10 mins while you feed. Most flight crew are accommodating if they can be :)

Have a lovely holiday. The sunshine will be worth every minute of the flight!

if it has to be the middle seat, I would suggest that you get the middle and the aisle seat where possible (because of moving around at ease)
also, definitely get the extra leg room seats - I think you can choose the ones by the emergency exit (I did once, but it was 2001, so might have changed since then - it was Monarch), which is roomy enough that your DCs can play on the floor in front of the seats once the seat belt light is off.
It'll also feel more private, as they're usually in front of a big wall

also, BFing will help the littlest with the air pressure, because of the sucking :)

can you book an extra seat for room?
I assume the under-2 rule is so that when the seatbelts are on, you are their safety net.
I can't see how they would have a problem with you booking an extra seat for room during the flight itself as long as you agree to keep the child on your lap during take off and landing.

No infants in exit rows for sure, but the masks stretch to other seats so should not have to sit in the middle. Def worth another call/plea.
Good luck!

Thanks for all the replies,sounds like it's definitely worth a call to customer services to see if I can maybe have 2 aisle seats next to each other that way we are sort of next to each other. The thing that is bothering me the most is definitely being in the middle of 2 strangers as you are practically rubbing shoulders for the duration & doesn't leave much room for personal space iykwim. I'm going the flight might not be completely full due to it being October or if we book the extra leg room seats the rest of the row might be empty as last time we flew with monarch they were pretty much empty as you have to pay extra for them.