Travel Advice needed for 4 month old, please

[Poochuk]

Hello,

Am planning on travelling to India with my 4 month old and would be very grateful for advice on how to travel by air with him.

I am thinking of getting a car seat, which one is the best and the lightest?! and is there anything I need to watch out for. It is an 8 hour flight.

Many thanks

You'd have to book him a proper seat, and pay the child fare, to guarantee you could use a car seat in flight rather than it go in the hold. (You may be lucky and not have a full flight but it would be a complete gamble.) Also it varies from one airline to another as to which, if any, models/dimensions/type of fixing are acceptable for in flight use so make sure you have prior written agreement to use the one you plan to bring or you will have to hold him the whole time. You would probably have to hold him on take off and landing anyway, using an infant extension belt attached to your own. Feeding on take off and landing eases ear pressure anyway.

Good luck

You need to check with the airline you are travelling with to see what they provide. I flew British Airways to Barbados with a 4 month old baby - they sat us in the bulkhead seats - with a shelf for a skycot. He had to be strapped to us for take off and landing with the extension belt.

The flight was no problem for the baby or me - there were loads of caring passengers nearby who wanted a cuddle and as I was breast feeding I just put a blanket over us in the seat.

Definately get the baby to suckle on milk or dummy or whatever during take off or landing because they can suffer - Oh and make sure you have calpol on the plane with you just in case.

Next week I am flying to Dominican Republic with a 2.5 year old toddler and a 11 month old baby - that flight will be a different story I'm sure!!!!!!

Hope it all goes well Mummymojo and thanks for the advice LIZS. I am flying a new airline, so will call and check what their policy is.