Flying alone with 3yr old & baby - Am I nuts?

[discoinferno70]

I am planning to travel from London to Perth in Jan with my two children who will be aged 3-1/2 and 6 months. My hubby can't fly with us due to work cmm'mts but will joining us on return leg.
Has anyone done a long haul of this sort with two young children? Will it be too much for me and the children? My 3 year old is a go go boy so i worry about keeping him entertained on the flight, lest my own sanity if he really plays up. The young one is breastfeeding but also takes bottles. Any survival tips, including child friendly airlines, best routes from london to perth and flying times would be much appreciated. I have the option of leaving my 3 year old to fly out with his dad two weeks after me but would prefer to keep kids together. Am i nuts or is this doable?

nuts

hm, will watch this with interesst - thinking of doing this in Feb/March with a (just) 4 year old and an 8 motn old who by the looks of things may well be crawling by then!

I've just done 2.5 hours with my 12 month old it was barely manageable, WITH DH. Babies in confined spaces is a NIGHTMARE.

(My 4 year old was fine once plugged into stories on the ipod)

have flown many times with 2 children starting from 6 months old as my dad lives in kuala Lumpar
it really isnt a problem at all if your prepared for all the stares from passengers when the kids cry a little...you can allways tell(the passengers!) them to sod off...that takes them back a little but they wont bother you again..

advice

dont give your 6 month old a drink for an hour before take off and as the plane is (and not before!!)going up in the air...literally at that point ,give the drink
this isnt cruel it makes them swallow and will help keep their little ears normal
same again on landing
no drink in final hour
an when pilot tells you youll be landing in half an hour(or ask cabin staff to tell you when)
give the drink!
Your 3.5 yearold will probebly get by with a lolly....stick a few in your pocket,as he/she will prob gobble the first one down too quick!

you can do this.. thousands do...just ask also to be boarded first... ask at check in and again when you get to the gate
charge to the front to be boarded first if any other passenger moans ask them if they would like to sit next to you!!!that should do it!!
enjoy!!

have flown many times with 2 children starting from 6 months old as my dad lives in kuala Lumpar
it really isnt a problem at all if your prepared for all the stares from passengers when the kids cry a little...you can allways tell(the passengers!) them to sod off...that takes them back a little but they wont bother you again..

advice

dont give your 6 month old a drink for an hour before take off and as the plane is (and not before!!)going up in the air...literally at that point ,give the drink
this isnt cruel it makes them swallow and will help keep their little ears normal
same again on landing
no drink in final hour
an when pilot tells you youll be landing in half an hour(or ask cabin staff to tell you when)
give the drink!
Your 3.5 yearold will probebly get by with a lolly....stick a few in your pocket,as he/she will prob gobble the first one down too quick!

you can do this.. thousands do...just ask also to be boarded first... ask at check in and again when you get to the gate
charge to the front to be boarded first if any other passenger moans ask them if they would like to sit next to you!!!that should do it!!
enjoy!!

ooppss sorry hit twice!

I flew home from Edinburgh alone with 3, 5 and under, due to unforeseen circumstances, it was hell and only one hour, my eldest was able to help but don't over look stuff like landing at the other end and having to carry both children and hand luggage from the plane to the luggage reclaim and then actually having to reclaim your luggage whilst holding the children and hand luggage.

So sorry but having doen it with one,just wouldn't contemplate 24hrs on my own with two...I admire you.

thanks for your messages.i know this seems crazy as i remember seeing a mum in the transit lounge at singapore airport and she was on her own with three under fours. she looked like she was about to throttle them all then herself! i know it will be a long hard haul but i am prepared to do it for 24 hours so my family can see the kids for as long as possible. if i waited to travel with husband, we would have a 3 week holiday instead of 6 so you can see why i am keen to bear the pain for a day or so. my initial thoughts were to travel arly afternoon, by emirates to dubai. these flights are not so popular as the fare is not the cheapest so hopefully plane won't be packed.
the first leg is is a 6 hour flight and i hope that - not being so tired - i will be able to keep the 3 year old entertained while baby is in bassinet. we have a 2 hour stopover at dubai before taking off for perth. by the time we set off again, it will be toddler's bedtime and he will hopefully sleep for the 12 hour leg to perth. that's the plan, anyhow. i plan to use a sling for the baby to keep my handsfree for passports and documents etc. as much as i hate to do it, i will prolly put a harness on the 3 year old when we are in the airport as he is a 'runner'. how does this plan sound? does anyone have any other suggestions? cheers

Message withdrawn

Message withdrawn

Hmm. I think it's doable. It might not be relaxing but I think 3.5 isn't as bad as 2. I think your 3 year old is the challenge here.

Singapore Airlines are supposed to be the absolute best with children. When I flew to Oz I did a 3 day stopover to start dealing with the jetlag too. Singapore also excellent for stopovers with children.

My flight tips are to take plenty of food, wrap lots of little toys to open every hour, things like stickers, wikki-stix, books with magnets, crayons, toddler comics. If you can stretch to it a portable DVD player regularly saves my life on flights (all tv rules thrown out of the window for flights). Helpful on the stopover too.

I always pack more clothes/nappies/milk etc than I think I'll need, lots of spare dummies, blankies and so on.

I'm not sure about this, but I think the cribs you can get are provided for the bulkhead seats and on my last flight I couldn't move the armrests on the bulkhead seats so DD couldn't lie down. This caused a BIG problem. It might only be virgin, but it's worth checking. I suppose it's better to have the skycot but worth knowing in advance to pack a support pillow if your DS can't lie down.

DD always managed to develop exploding both ends every flight I took at under a year, so I always over pack now. Another reason for slightly overpacking your hand luggage is in case your bags go missing - I once arrived in a arse-end-of-nowhere in Thailand at 9pm and my bags remained in Bangkok. Luckily I had spare EVERYTHING in my handluggage so we survived the night until my bags arrived.

I also used to carry DD in a sling where possible, it really helped on the flights and the whole baggage/customs thing. Interesting in toilets with a backpack and sling, but do-able.

I can't help with Perth stuff, but Suzywong should be able to, she's based there.

Oh, also agree with cowmad. Lollipop for takeoff for DS and bottle for DD. I've always done this, and more often than not DD would fall asleep.

Good luck. Will you have somebody at the other end to help you deal with the jetlag? I found that the worst to be honest.

Talk to your GP about the drugs. Some children can have a bad reaction and become hyper-active, so mine advised testing a few days beforehand. Unfortunately I didn't have time, but I think I would use them next time I do a night flight - DD and I were up for about 30 hours last time and it was awful.

My friend did exactly the same thing in jan. She flew from Aus (she's in Queensland so not sure what airport) to London alone.

She said it was ok ish. They all slept for some of it.

My friend did exactly the same thing in jan. She flew from Aus (she's in Queensland so not sure what airport) to London alone.

She said it was ok ish. They all slept for some of it.

will defo speak to the docs about sedatives as this is sensible if the toddler can't sleep. as for sleeping options for baby, i only know about the bassinet which is clipped onto the partition next to bulkhead seats. as far as i know the armrests on these bulkheads don't move so you can't flip them back to have toddler stretch out. this was the case with emirates/singapore who we flew with with DS1.
do all airlines provide the same? My worry is that the plane will be full and toddler will have to sleep upright.

HAve you booked your tickets yet?

Reason I ask is I *think" Emirates have "sky nannies" which I reckon would be a great help with the three year old.

When I travelled with dd-8mts last Xmas-instead of the bassinette they had a reclining car type seat which went on the flip down tray thing on the bulkhead-this was BA.

Sounds like you have planned it very well-of course it is doable-and at least you have 6wks of fun to look forward to/recover!

Better Perth than QLD!

no i haven't booked yet. wanted some positive opinions before i went ahead and confirmed. i've never heard of the "sky nannies", but they sound heaven sent (wasn't going to be too shy of asking for help while flying though. you can't take all the kids to the loo with you can you!) as for bassinettes, i know that the armrests on the bulkheads don't flip up on emirates so a comfortable/ish sleep may be elusive. will have to hope that the flight isn't too busy. will let you all know about sky nannies if i can confirm with the airline. cheers.

I would definitley take someone with you to the airport though. DP took DS to america this week, and the check-in queue was 1.5 hours long due to all the extra security, and then another great wait to get through security because of all the people who didn't understand that 'one hand luggage bag' means you can't take two, and that no 'liquid, gels or pastes' means you can't take your carry-on bag with all your make-up in it!

DS asked to go to the toilet twice while they were in the cheque-in queue, and if I hadn't been with them, dp would have had to come out of the queue with all the luggage...

It's not so bad once you have got rid of your big bags, and iof you can keep the pushchair until the gate.

I think it would be an ordeal having two kids on the plane...but you know it will only last 24 hours. I'd do that rather than leave the 3 year old for two weeks.

according to Grazia magazine, all you need is a toy for each child and some big sunnies for you. all there is to it, apparently

oh, another question. will my toddler have his own hand luggage allowance?
also, will there be a problem taking medicines through security? I am thinking of taking calpol in the sachets and probably some sedatives.

I think you will have to talk to the airline and airport you are flying from. DS has had a luggage allowance when he has had a set, BUT if it has been a reduced price seat, he has sometimes had a reduced luggage allowance too.

And they have special conditions atm about baby foods and baby drinks, and also about things you buy INSIDE security. So it might be possible to take calpol if you buy it from Boots once you have been thorugh security. DP wasn't allowed to take DS's anti-histamine, we had to pack it in the checked case. Better ask in advance.

Oh sorry - hand luggage allowance: yes. he will be able to take a little bag!

My mum did this with me and my brother at those ages in 1970! It took 48 hours and 6 stops in those days and she survived! (fortunately I was adopted by three Hare Krishnas in the row in front of her and they taught me songs and how to play the tambourine and fed me mars bars ) My brother was on her lap too

sky nannies

Unfortunately it's Gulf Air but maybe you could do the first leg to one of their destinations and then on to Perth?

They fly to Sydney-which I know is a fair way from Perth but maybe have an overnight there and travel onto Perth the next day.That way you would only have a 4 hr flight without a sky nanny....