tips for traveling long haul with a 1 year old

[Rinnyx]

I will be off to HK again in december
I have done the trip many times with DD tho she was 4 the first time we went so at a age where she could entertain herself and be happy watching the films

Its a 13 hour flight and I have never travled on a plane with a LO so young before, same for DP
He's not walking yet but I know that could all change within the bext 3 months.

A friend of mine did say about giving him a bottle to suck on during take off anf landing to help with the cabin pressure.

Any advice, tips would be fab :)

No tips sorry just a bump from me because I'm taking DD to NZ in early Dec and she'll be the same age!

Bump from me too! Have 13 hour flight to Asia next week eek although it's DS (2.6) not DD (11mo) I'm bricking it about....

I met an experienced traveller who told me to take water or juice in sippy cups for take off and landing. I also read a great tip on here a while back to take a pillow to put on your lap so if you didn't get the bassinet cot your baby could still sleep comfortably on you without you getting a dead arm!

Hi Rinnyx, when we took N to Canada a couple of weeks ago I did the following (in no particular order)

A cute baby is always a flight attendant magnet so use that power wisely :)
Everything in one bag for child
Nappies and wipes in the outside of the bag so easy to get hold of even if bag is in overhead locker
Don't forget food and eating/drinking utensils
Pillow - either you get lucky and get a free seat, in which case you can put the pillow in it and child can nap/sleep on it, or you can use it to save your elbows/biceps when child falls asleep on you
Lots of non noisy toys to be produced one by one over the duration of the flight
Blanket in case it gets a bit chilly
Don't bring too much as it's easy for stuff to get lost. Try to have a one toy out/one toy in policy

I also boarded last so as to minimise the amount of time queueing and sitting on the aircraft with a wriggly baby. That worked quite well but make sure you don't have too many bags if you try that!

Hope my ideas help! We're off again on Saturday to Singapore and Malaysia so hoping for more smooth few flights.

Don't do it!!!!!

We did London-Perth with 3 girls and DD3 was 13 months.

Luckily she was teeny so fitted (just) in the bassinet. Unfortunately I was woken to take her out every time we had some turbulence. And DH was 40 rows back with DDs 1 and 2...

My advice is:

Board as late as possible. The less time spent on board the better.

Be prepared for the trip to be absolutely hideous and that you will have no rest. Then anything better is a bonus.

Be prepared to do laps of the aisles with a crawling/toddling baby.

Take a spare top for you to change into. You will get drinks and food spilled on you, or milk puked on you etc. Especially if baby doesn't have their own seat, the flight is full and you have it on your lap for 13 hours!

Good luck

What chickydoo said.

If you really really really have to:

Try and book a bulkhead seat. Even if baby is too big for cot, the extra leg room will come in very handy as you can sit / stand him on the floor in front of you.

If you can't get a bulkhead seat, ask very very very nicely at check-in whether there are any seats next to spares that you could swap into so that you can have a bit more space. The worst that they can say is no. One of our flights we were given two rows of three at the back of the plane - amazing!

Bottles etc - take more than you need, you will be made to taste a couple of random pots / bottles at security, you can then bin these / use them first. Smile and ask very nicely for extra water, juice, rolls etc - your stewards will be more than happy to assist you in keeping your baby quiet IF YOU ARE POLITE. Definitely give a bottle or cup on takeoff.

Calpol comes in individual sachets - useful if your baby has a cold / to help with painful pressure in ears.

Remember a change of clothes for baby.

Remember a change of clothes for you (a jersey dress or similar that rolls up tiny - hopefully you'll not need it, but having spent the last five hours in transit covered in shit coming back from Oz I would never travel without one again...)

ELC do a magnetic drawing pad with the stylus attached on a piece of string. Other winners included - a couple of favourite books and a couple of new pop-up / flap books. Don't bother with anything that can drop and then roll off towards the other end of the plane.

Can you practice watching TV / listening to music with headphones? This was a real issue for my DS (1.5 at the time) as he had never used them before - he would watch the telly for a few minutes, push them off his head, then wonder why Barney the Dinosaur had stopped talking to him and start whimpering... VERY ANNOYING.

If your DS IS walking by then, try everything you can to stop him wandering up and down the aisle annoying people. You will need their tolerance later when he vomits / poos / screams.

If it's a night flight, try and go swimming or something the afternoon before, to ensure he is properly knackered when you get on the plane. Better chance of sleep!

Good luck. And remember - 13 hours is not actually that bad. Is only one long, awful day / night.

I've done the flight London- Singapore with dh and the ds when he was 6 months then again at 18 months and then alone with ds nearly 3 and a dd at 4 months.

I'd suggest getting a bassinet if possible and if baby would fit in. Enough nappies (suggested 1 nappy per hour - just in case of delays and other problems) One bag with some toys, books, cartons of milk, sippy cup and bottle. Food and the usual snacks. A change of clothes for you. Be prepared to do a lot of walking and chasing.

Which airline are you flying? The crew tend to be enthralled by kids. If they offer to help, take them up!

A box of tissues is a great, quiet source of entertainment (or at least DD at 11 months felt this on our various flights to and from Australia) - we flew with Malaysian Airways (via Penang and KL so quite a few flights) and they always gave us a box on departure.

Our DD hated the bassinet on the journey going out, so on the way back DH strapped her into the Wilkinet baby carrier and she slept there quite contentedly and we didn't have to move her if the seatbelt sign came on. DH, on the other hand, didn't sleep that well given that he had a sweaty, wriggly baby on him but you can't have everything!

We also worked with going on board as late as possible, but DH would take all our bags etc during the pre-boarding and I would hang around the departure gate with DD and be one of the last to board the plane.

I almost forgot I posted this til I realised the other day we now have less than 30 days to go.
On the matter of not going I cant really do that as its not just a trip/holiday but a chance for all of DP's family minus his sisters and parents to meet our son for the first time as they all live in HK

I'm not dreading the flight to much right now as LDSmost of the time is laid back but I will make sure I have his fav blanket and a sippy cup on hand, we are going with cathay pacific which is a plus.

Sleep wise for me anyway I am not fussed as unless Im in a bed I know I can not sleep

DS is still not walking and both DP and I dont think he will be even by the time we come back which i am kind of glad of.

Thanks for all your advice it has been noted :)

We've just put up a post on this online - written by myself and my colleague who both had a baby this year: blog.i-escape.com/2011/11/30/baby-travel-packing-list/

It's a full on checklist for what to pack when you're flying with a baby. Hope it helps!

Am doing this at the end of the month - watching w interest!

Just phoned airline and bulkhead seats are reserved. Fear chunky baby will be too big for bassinet, but at least we get more space and fewer people to annoy in front!
Highly recommend EVA Air for customer service, btw.