flying air new zealand

[Vornsta]

does anyone know how this airline is with Kids?
we are travelling with a 3 year old and a 9 monther on New years eve to Auckland, stopping for 2 hours in LA. They say on their website they don't give the skycots to such old babies unless noone else needs them. ANyone know if they are worth having? I have read negative stuff about them for BA, dunno if they are different on air NZ.
What did people find is the best way to help kids sleep?

• I have seen a sling recommended on another thread for baby, tho I don't know if DS2 will be too big - already a hefty 20 pounds.

Do neck supports work for 3 year olds?
How is the stop over in LA?
and which sedative is good -piriton or vallergan.
ANy thoughts much appreciated. I have looked at similar recent threads, so am aware of that info.

Being a kiwi (living in London), I have travelled on Air NZ a number of times. I have never used the cots but I would think that they would be better to have than not. If you don't use them - at least you have the extra room for your children to move about. The two hours in LA is nothing. You can not go in to the airport. After clearing security, you go into a transit lounge to wait to board your aircraft. It is a good excuse for a stretch on such a long flight. My daughter has been travelling since aged two. One thing we have found really useful are stories on tape (or cd nowadays?). Another thing which has worked for us is planning our departure around bed time. Then a lot of the journey is spent sleeping! Don't stress about having children on board. Most passengers are sympathetic towards them.

I can comment on the transit lounge at LAX. I would have to say that the transit lounge used by Air NZ in LAX is pretty grim. You are all basically stuck in there till the flight is called and you cannot leave this lounge.

You may be fortunate enough to obtain bulkhead seats; these are often allocated to families with very small children. Do check with the airline beforehand though.

LAX is crap full stop. For a country which has so much retail therapy available in the towns, the US is missing a captive audience in its airports. There is always so little to do, not even window shopping.

I haven't flown Air NZ with kids, only without but I do remember one of the cabin crew got a child to go around with the sweets before take off, and another to help in collect the headsets near the end of the flight!

Good luck. IME (have flown to NZ and Oz and back with DD three times at 11mo, 3yo and 3y11mo) one leg of the trip will be fine, the other will be a complete nightmare. You can't fly round the clock with children on flights which generally expect people to sleep and not have some difficulties.

I haven't been through LA with our dd, but have found the Asian airports great when changing planes on our way to Australia. Bulkhead seats are great for the extra leg room and not having other passengers' seats coming down on you. You generally can't prebook them though so you need to be at check in very early to ensure you get first choice. Make sure you have snacks for both ages, and a few toys but not loads as you will forever be looking for them under seats .
Our dd is 3 and a seasoned traveller, and we've found it's always been a lot easier than we had imagined (I tend to imagine the worst so I can be pleasantly surprised lately )
Should you take any medication on board in case they don't settle, just make sure you have tested it on them at home first. Phenergen in particular can have the opposite effect in a small % of children, i.e. hyper not sleepy......
Good luck!