10 hour flight with 2 month old - any tips/suggestions?

[wishwales]

I am taking my DD to Florida for two weeks in early October. Unfortunately, DH can not make it due to visa issues. Instead, I am bringing our 16 yo niece to help me out. Morgan will be 4 months old but as she is a preemie, her adjusted age will be only 2 months. We are renting a car with an infant seat and I have purchased a used folding Obaby stroller off Gumtree for £15! We have reserved seats on the plane where the cots go. I am also paying for an extra bag so I can bring her milk with us (preemie formula in tetra packs).

Any advice/tips at all for this kind of holiday with an infant that I have not covered?? Cheers in advance!

Which airline are you using; I only ask as am wondering about having to pay for an extra bag so you can bring her milk with you (again a medical letter showing why this is required would be helpful re going through the security checkpoint particularly if tetra packs hold over 100ml).

Do not be afraid to ask for help from the aircrew or ground staff. You can take the stroller to the aircraft gate whereupon it will be placed in the hold for you to collect at the other end. Sometimes the strollers are put to one side upon departing the aircraft.

I would obtain a notarised (solicitor's) letter from your niece's parents and signed by both of them giving her permission to travel with you.

The ESTA (US mandatory authorisation for travel) for you, your child and your niece will need to be completed online prior to travel. Only use the official US government based website for this (the Americans charge $14 per application).

BTW if you plan to use credit cards on holiday, do tell the credit card company before your travel otherwise your cards could have a stop marker placed on them.

Thank you for the quick and thorough response!!

We are flying British Airways and they do allow baby to have her own checked bag but I thought we would need another because the milk alone weighs over 10 kg. Do you think the paper prescription would be sufficient or should I get the GP letter? The tetra packs are 200ml.

I hadn't thought about needing permission to have my niece with us! I need to look into that more I guess.

My niece has her ESTA but baby and I are US citizens so we don't need it. Thanks for the reminder on this.

Presumably your DDs milk cartons will be taken onto the aircraft as hand luggage. I would take enough for the flight itself and pack the rest into a suitcase. I would also obtain a doctor's letter (take the prescription as well) re the milk, security may well query the 200ml cartons (the 100ml liquids rule is still in effect) and may even ask you to taste some of it.

BTW if you are flying from T5 at Heathrow, security there now has a couple of security lines specifically for families.

I haven't decided how I will transport the cases of milk for her. I might just check it in a smaller hard side suitcase. We will have so much to bring as carry-on as it is. I am definitely going to get the gp letter and prescription. I need a scissor to open the tetra packs which will prove to be another exciting thing to worry about, lol.

Yes, we are flying T5!