Travelling from London to Australia with a 4 mth old

[TTT]

I will be travelling from London to Australia via SIngapore with my 4mth old. Will be there for 6weeks in total. Nervous abt the time difference and the long plane journey . Does any one have any advice in dealing with the jetlag , weather changes and plane journey ?

[TTT]

All- Thanks vm for all the advice, & links - lots of things I wouldn't have thought of! This is my first time chatting on Mumsnet and its truly great!

[eidsvold]

there are a number of threads on this...Singapore airlines are brilliant if you are flying them. We did this in April with dd when she was 8 mths old. We had night flights and simply put dd into her sleeping bag and off she went.

Pack layers so that you can add or take off as needed. Temperature can be quite warm still during the middle of the day but cold evening and morning - but that depends on where you are. Still take sunscreen - handy wipes pack to have if you need them. We found them very helpful with dd.

Singapore airlines provided us with a couple of nappies, bib, wipes etc. I simply took a days worth of formula ( in premix cartons), steri bottles - jettison on the way, nappies, wipes etc. But she basically slept the whole way. We only had an hour and a half on the ground.

try to prebook and have the sky cot confirmed - the only thing is during turbulence you have to take them out of the cot.

The flight crew were very good in helping if you needed help with the baby. The even took someone else's baby for a wander round the cabin as they were having trouble settling.

Our dd adjusted quite quickly to the change of time and although she had some jetlag she was fine. We spent three weeks there. You just have to go with the flow on this we found.

On take off we just had a bottle of water for her to drink. Gave it to her as we left the ground.

There are a number of threads on long haul flights with babies - I am sure I did a search via google and got lots of handy hints too.

here

here

here

here

here

hope that helps

[WedgiesMum]

Did it with a six month old - the exact same journey, but we only stayed for about two weeks. The journey to and from was fine as it coincided with bed times on lots of the flights and so DS slept really well. But have to say that we paid for a seat for him and 'pre booked' a three seat row so that we would have plently of room. One of those flight cradle things wouldn't have given us the same amount of room - or privacy for breastfeeding either. We travelled with Singapore Airlines and they were fantastic with him. Gave him toys, took him for little trips up and down to give us a break, and made sure that we were comfy and had everything we needed (including extra food and drinks). Once we got there it took a couple of days for him to settle into the day/night thing, but he did it on his own really, and was better than us. For the first few nights he fed quite a lot during the night, but seemed to really understand that it was nightime and went straight back off to sleep. and as for the weather, we just kept in him as few clothes as possible but completely protected from the sun (umbrella, beach tent etc etc), if you're going at this time of year though it won't be that much hotter than here though as it is the winter there and depending on where you go it can be quite like our spring. If you need any more help just contact me through the Mumsnet link and I can give you some more tips!! Hope you have a fab time!!

[lalaa]

good luck!
took my 4 month old to Greece by car in april this year. took 4.5 days! however, more in control than aeroplane because could stop when needed - that's why it took so long!
don't know if you use a dummy - mine was invaluable in stressful moments (getting lost, reversing onto ferry, etc). my dd fell asleep quite a lot which was handy. keep a few favourite toys to hand, lots of nappies, take small cartons of milk and use the disposable system (less bulk to carry on) if you're bottle feeding.
weather: i suppose it will be colder there at this time of year, so just take appropriate clothing. my dd was brilliant when we got to greece (it was freezing then suddenly very warm) - totally took it in her stride. if singapore will be warm, make sure you have water too, if bottle feeding. talk to hv about bottled water - mine had a leaflet so I knew which ones were OK for dd.
journey: friends of mine used a 'skycot'- ask the airline what's available. also bulk head seats will give you more room.
time difference - can't help you there, but do know people who've been to the US and haven't had a problem at all with jetlagged babies. they settled into the new time zone within a couple of days (takes me longer than that!)
top tip: take more food, nappies, milk, etc than you think you'll need so you don't get completely stressed out if you're delayed and so that you don't have to immediately start looking for baby stuff when you get to oz.
also, if you know anyone there, speak to them direct if you've got queries about, for eg, availablity of your type of formula. i got great advice from GRMUM before I went which was invaluable and put my mind at ease.

hope this helps a little
have a great time.