Travelling to NZ with a 5 or 6 month old - does it matter which?

[jellyspoons]

Hi,

I'm due on Sept 18th and currently planning to visit family in NZ in Feb / March 2014 for about 4 weeks. The baby would be between 5 and 6.5 months old depending on whether it arrives on time, and when we choose to go - we have a friend's wedding on 1st March my husband's keen to go to though I'm not that bothered (the groom is a friend of my DH though he hasn't seen him for 3 years as the friend has been living abroad, and he's not the kind of friend DH would ring for a chat IYSWIM).

Whilst we would be mostly staying with family, if we can manage to I'd love to do some touring / sightseeing as well.

I've read up on MN that travelling long distance is easier the smaller the baby, and it makes sense to me to try and go prior to weaning. I'm planning on breastfeeding though I have enough friends who have had trouble doing this that I know I can't rely on it!

So my question is, do you think it will matter much going with a 5 month -> 6 month baby vs going with a 6.5 month -> 7.5month baby?? How much of a pain is it trying to weaning when not at home? And getting them to sleep well, any difference in these ages?

Anyone have any experience out there on long distance travel with babies this age?

I'm currently thinking we should try and go as early as possible and ditch going to the wedding, but my husband would prefer to wait until after the wedding and he doesn't think the age / weaning would matter.

Thoughts?? Thanks!

In my experience it is easier to travel with a baby who hasn't started solids yet as there is less paraphernalia that you need to travel with and you don't need to worry about high chairs etc when you are out and about. Breast-feeding definitely makes travelling easier as you don't have to pack food or bottles for your baby. I would suggest travelling when baby is a bit younger rather than older as they can also be more flexible in terms of bedtime routines etc. Both my babies had a more structured routine from six months onwards.

Not travelled with a young baby but have weaned two children.

If you go with a 5-6mth baby you may end up weaning while you are here using jars ect as cooking baby mush will be tricky when travelling. On the other hand 6.5 to 7.5 you will have started weaning so will be a bit more confident on what you are doing. you will have been able to access advice from people you know.
My dc1 was due the 18 sep and arrived early oct (failed induction) so your baby might be younger than you think.

I not had a summer here yet but March and April were really nice not really hot you will need sunshade for pushchair.