Going to Houston!

[smidge1717]

Hello all!

I am pregnant with my first baby and although I won't be travelling with a baby for a while I want to get as much info as poss.

My baby is due end of July and in an ideal world I would like to visit my parents in Houston around Christmas/January time. Obviously this is all subject to Having a healthy little baby.

I have already ordered the forms for their first passport, I live in Manchester so would have to travel to London about a 45 min flight then fly direct to Houston from London about a ten hour flight.

I have read already about things that can help. I was just wondering if anyone had done a similar journey with a baby? Most flights are morning flights so definitely can't rely on taking a night flight x

Hi Smidge, can't really help on the small baby aspects of flying I'm afraid, I was a complete coward and mine never flew until 18 months.

However, I came on to say that the worst part of the London-Houston flight is actually after you've landed! All the transatlantic flights arrive within a short time of each other, so you have BA, AirFrance, Lufthansa and Continental jumbo jets full of people trying to get through immigration. And the lovely staff all concentrate on getting the US passport holders through quickly while all the rest of us aliens are corralled into a long snaking line for about 4 desks.

So make sure baby is changed & fed just before they switch on the seatbelt signs for landing - ask the crew to give you plenty of warning before they make that last announcement and there's suddenly a stampede for the loos. And make sure all your paperwork is filled in correctly - take a pen in your carryon.

Good luck!

Thanks CQ. I am
All too familiar with immigration at Houston----maybe a screaming baby will help me
Get through quicker haha!

If you can't get a bassinet seat a baby carrier is going to be your best friend on the flight. It might also come in handy for the immigration queue!

I have just returned from a long haul with a seven month old. The flight to orlando should have been 9 hours but turned into ten.
One thing I would say is that I wouldn't even bother thinking about it until a few weeks before. If your baby is like mine, she has hated routine since day one, and making any sort of vague plans for our holiday were futile!
I had hoped to be breast feeding but that didn't work out, so using the boots airside pick up for ready made baby milk was a real life saver! So much easier than making up powder on the plane. I would order enough for your trip if you have the space in hand luggage.
Will you have started weaning? If so I wouldn't worry about baby having a proper meal, as long as baby is having her milk it'll be fine. I just took mostly hand held snacks id ordered in boots and fruit after security. I thought one day won't hurt.
I flew with Virgin and booked a sky cot..... Ha! My baby was 1 lb 4 oz over the weight limit by the time we flew. (She's a bit of a chunk!) They won't tell you if the sky cot is suitable until you're actually sitting on the plane, as each plane had different types of sky cot (if my research was correct!) thankfully the air hostess switched our seats so we didn't have to keep her on our laps.
Virgin were fantastic with the baby, don't know if they flight to Houston, but I would recommend them.
I didn't take real clothes just baby grows, I'd take a few spare, incase you have a poosplosion. I took a spare teeshirt for myself, I only changed it cos I'd spilt coffee on myself, not cos of my baby!
Plenty of toys rattles and books, but the best toy for my daughter was the flight safety card!
Teething powders and gels were a big help for us too.

But I really wouldn't worry About all this yet! Your baby will change what they like on a fortnightly basis. little buggers
Have a lovely trip!

Oh and baby carriers... I didn't miss mine. My girl is getting too heavy at 20lb for me to carry her for a long time in the sling, I am quite unfit tho. Our flight on the way home was empty, they let us take the buggy on and stow it in the hand luggage bins. If you've got someone travelling with you to take turns in holding the baby then I dunno if I'd bother. Yes it's a faff to fold the buggy, but it's a faff to get baby out of sling for security. I dunno.