Flying to Melbourne with just-turned 2yo, what to take, where to stay etc etc

[whiteshirtandkhakipants]

will be visiting beloved cousin and her dh and ds, but i think id rather stay separately so that i don't get on anyones wick with my mess or anything. maybe only for part of the time? really need to work all this out. open to ideas. there are other parts of Oz/people i could go and visit within the 4 weeks or so to break the time up too.

flying alone i think the tip I've taken from interwebs browsing is to take a car seat on board.
other than that, I'm pretty ok with that part.

is melbourne quite flat? cycle friendly? i reckon hiring a bike with child seat might be a nice way to get about day to do.

re accommodation, I've used air bnb a few times. with kids and to rent the whole place, rather than rooms in peoples homes. i guess a studio flat as close as possible to my cousins house would be pretty ideal... but what about a nice friendly hotel instead? (no housework ! lol) ideas?? I'm not skint at all but id rather not blow loads of money needlessly iyswim.
Cousins house is in coburg.

any tips/ideas?? I've got no0ne to bash ideas about with in person.
cheers !

duh. didn't mention this is just after xmas.

Sounds like a lively trip! Can't work out what car seat you'd take though? Over the age of 2 they need their own seat on the plane. You could take a CARES harness restraint thingy. There are loads of blogs about travelling with kids - have a Google. Best thing I bought for travelling was a travel Aquadoodle - £8 well spent!!

Lovely, not lively!

Just realised you probably meant that you'd take a car seat with you in the hold rather than rent one there, which is probably a good idea, particularly if you're "picky" (entirely reasonably!) about that kind of thing, as rental companies aren't that bothered about car seat safety, IMO.

hi! and thanks :-)
no, i meant take the car seat on board and strap it to her seat so that i can strap her into it if she's sleeping (or freaking out maybe)

i expect ill rent a car there but i don't want to for all of it. id love to rent a bakfiets or something ideally ! if its a flat sort of place.

I'm not 100% sure but I think you can only take an infant carrier onboard to strap to an adult seat - not a car seat for an older child. You can put the latter in the hold, of course. I could be wrong on all this so don't quote me!

We just went to Melbourne in March with a 3yo and a baby. We stayed in quest docklands. A service apartment in the docklands opposite the ethitad stadium. Tram in the inner city area is free and the docklands within the zone. The zoo is a short train ride away. The aquarium is within the inner city. Lovely to get around even without a car, which we didn't hire.

Can't help with car seat but I wouldn't want one in the cabin. I would check it in.

I mean I have enough luggage to carry to flight without a toddler seat. Pushchair, 24 hours of nappies, multiple changes of clothes for us and the children, a bag of toys. You will have your hands full.

I would go for a serviced apartment in the city, or Southbank, or air BnB (we stayed in one which was essentially a holiday let, not their actual home, in Southbank, it was great and cheaper than a serviced apartment). Or try stayz.com.au for holiday lets. Just after Christmas there's a lot of sport on (eg Australian open, cricket) so I would book soon so you can get what you want. Public transport is pretty good in Melbourne, get a myki card which is a bit like a London Oyster card, for the trams and trains. The other good place to stay is St Kilda, near the bay, but it's further from the centre. The other thing is that even though it's summer, it can surprisingly cold in Melbourne at Christmas time, and then all of a sudden seriously hot. So pack your entire wardrobe

Or , even !,

Your car seat won't be legal here unfortunately. I use UK car seats myself but they are not legal.

I can't think of anything worse than being jammed in next to a car seat for 26 hours! You will be much more comfortable with just the seats. You can put the armrest up, as long as you don't have the bulkhead and snuggle up.

I've done the flight a few times on my own with my two, and it's not that bad. Get childrens headphones and let her watch as much TV as she wants. That's my top tip! And don't take more stuff than you can handle. I still marvel at what the hell I was thinking taking a buggy and a pull along case! How did I think I would manage that!

Whereabouts does your friend live?

You need to hire a car seat in Oz if you are renting a car as UK seats aren't legal. As for taking one on the plane - you need to check your seat is airline approved and permitted by the airline you are flying with as they all have different lists. We had an seat provided by the airline but to be honest it was a pain the the butt., you can't move it, use the drop down tray, DD couldn't change the way she sat on the seat or snuggle down and play.

We stayed in a device apartment in Melbourne but they were quite expensive, as for getting about we used the car or walked in the city centre.

As others have said, I wouldn't take a car seat on board. It wouldn't be legal over here anyway, and I think you'd find it would just get in the way. Last time I flew with my 2 y/o I just put the arm rest up between us, gave her lots of toys, and let her spread out.

We took some food with us that we knew she liked, in case she refused plane food or needed food outside of meal times (wrapped up peanut butter sandwich, biscuits, etc). Plenty of nappies and spare changes of clothes. Painkillers in case of bad ears (fed and gave water to her on take off and landing to try and minimise this). Some new little toys she hadn't seen before for the novelty. That travel aquadoodle Laquila mentioned looks fabulous and now I think I'll buy one. For a long haul flight I'd look into children's headphones or something for blocking noise, if you're flying overnight. I also think I'd do a long haul in two distinct stages next time, and have a night in a Singapore/Bangkok/wherever airport hotel half way through, to try and help with jetlag and have a break from the plane.

That's a long rant and I haven't even mentioned Melbourne! I'm Australian and have visited Melbourne plenty of times. It is fairly flat and the cbd is set out on a grid, so really easy to navigate. Have not tried to cycle around it but I think I'd find that a bit intimidating, with the cars and trams. The public transport system is excellent. Weather can be wet and temperatures can be very up and down! I think if I were you I'd stay in a serviced apartment fairly locally. The aquarium is definitely worth a visit, particularly the penguin section.

Hope you have a great time!

As others have said, rent a car seat while you're here - it's not expensive and renting capsules is actually pretty standard. Not that you want a capsule, just saying it's commonplace so sensibly priced.

Quest apartments are all over Melbourne and not bad. Stayz website is also good. If you're staying after Christmas, sort out your accommodation now. It's peak time and places get booked out quickly.

Winter can be hot, think it was pushing mid 30s in early Jan this year so check your rental has a/c.

Very cycle friendly - you can rent bikes and there are extensive cycle paths along the coast. Helmets are the law though.

Lots to do with kids - look at littlemelbourne, tothotornot and heybambimi for recommendations.

oh lots of messages, thank you.

right, so no to the car seat then. gotcha.

cousins house is in coburg. is that far from st kills? st kills is the nice beachy bit, no?

stupid autocorrect. st kildas. not kills

st Kilda is by the bay, so there is a beach of sorts. It's also got lots of restaurants, cafes etc, and is about ten minutes from the city via tram. It's a little "red light" at night but not too bad.