Flying with baby things but no baby

[Zack1uk]

Hi
My partner and I are expecting twins at the end of June. Although we are both in our fourties we will both be first time parents. We both live in the UK, she is Italian (I am English). She will be returning to Italy in April for the birth in June. I will be joining her late June for the birth, with a view to us returning to the UK 4 to 5 weeks after the birth.
Although I'm worried I might miss the birth and its going to be tough not sharing the last 3 months of our pregnancy, the benefits of her giving birth in Italy are well worth this risk. She has a great support network in Italy (massive family with loads of baby experience), a brother in law who is a very well regarded gynecologist (who will manage the whole process and ensure that we get the best medical supervision and treatment), and 24/7 care before and after the birth.

I've done a lot of reading regarding traveling with newborns, but still have some worries (amongst the million other worries of being a new father), that I'm hoping someone here can advise me on.

Needless to say we are going to need stuff (pushchair, car seats etc) for traveling with the babes. We have kind of spurged in the sales and bought most of this already. However, its all in the UK. I know airlines provide extra allowances for buggies and travel seats etc when you are traveling with a new born, but do they do the same when you are expecting and traveling to a birth. When she goes in April she will be 6 1/2 months pregnant and is going to be taking around 3 months worth of clothes etc, so I don't want her to have to take all this as well (even if they allow it). Ideally I'll take them with me when I go in June. Will airlines allow this? I've emailed easyjet, BA and Al Italia, but not had a response.

If not, what can we do, what can I expect for the return journey? We can get the lightweight baby carriers, but I thought that it wasn't good to keep newborns upright for any longer than 30 mins. #confused!

Ideally I would like to have our car seats in Italy even just for the journey from the in-laws villa to the airport, and having the push chair available at the airport when we land back here will be a godsend as we will also be carrying loads of luggage.

Any help or advise to allay my worries gratefully received.

I think it would be considered as baggage and you'd have to pay if it exceeds the allowance (easyjet you are charged for any hold luggage). Do you really need to take it all out? It might be cheaper to have a second set there and just take some clothing then add to it when you visit. Alternatively as you have time contact a few international removers in case you can send it as a part load by road, filling up a truck of someone else's contents.

The ergobaby sling(s) would be perfect - I’ve never heard the bit about newborns not being upright for more than 30 mins, my son practically lived in his sling for the first few weeks. Just google ‘benefits of baby wearing’ to put your mind at ease.

Babies travel on your lap unless you book a seat for their carrier and it meets airline requirements, even then you hold them for take off/landing with an infant belt.

Not sure about the car seats, but Buggies are hold luggage, and I have never had to produce a child's boarding card to be able to take one!! so I imagine that would be fine.

Car seats more tricky though. How would you even carry them? Is there any possibility of borrowing first stage ones whilst you are abroad, and keeping yours in the UK.

The 30 minutes rule is for car seats as far as I understand - newborns shouldn't be in car seats for more than 30 minutes at a time as it compresses their airways.

Slings are fine for a long time (so long as baby is well-positionned)

Have you looked into how long it takes to get a passport?

If her parents are out there, I assume you are bound to be going for regular visits over the baby's first few years? So I'd be tempted to have a baby car seat and some sort of buggy that can go from newborn to 3/4yo ish that you keep out there if they are willing to store them for you? She might even have friends out their with second hand stuff she can buy? Then you won't need to take it with you - she can sort when she gets there.

I have done similar - I keep a McLaren buggy in Portugal which goes flat and is suitable from 0+ - we travel through the airport with a sling but then have the buggy available while we're there, my sister also uses it for her little one. Never had to think about the car seat though I'm afraid as we've only travelled with baby/toddler.

Buy two seats out there to keep there.
One sling each one per baby.
You can take whatever you like within your luggage allowance..if over it you pay. Buggies would be linked to a child ticket. So you might need to pay as you would if it were skies.better get a cheaper one there to keep there.

Skis not skies

I've flown with a baby several times. Dd was born overseas. I seriously wouldn't bother taking all that stuff. Look into buying second hand/hiring/borrowing when you are there. For the short time they will be there it will be a lot of hassle transporting all that stuff.

Also, you haven't mentioned if you're sorted on passports yet, but if not, I would suggest getting the paperwork started now so you can start gathering your evidence. If you intend on applying for UK passports you may need a lot of documents you may not have thought about.

Thank you so much for all your helpful replies.

I think a second set out there is the way to go. Her father has offered to pay for our flights, but as we have declined this, I might ask him to get the seats and a double buggy. I've bought a side by side buggy (Bumbleride twin), which will be very restrictive in Palermo, a tandem would probably be much better. If there is a gap of more than 4 inches (pavement, road, up a tree etc), there will be a Fiat parked in it!!!!

Although the medical system out there is fantastic, the attitude to H&S is more "relaxed" than it is here. eg when I showed my partner the rear facing maxi cosi car seats I had bought, she was shocked....."that's terrible for their development, how do they see us in the front" (she is a psychologist)...when I explained the safety issues of front facing car seats, she admitted it made a lot of sense but had never seen them before!!!! I think I'll have to specify the seats...probably get some 0+ all the way to 3 or 4 ones.

re passport, I've already looked into it. They will get an Italian birth certificate and identity card and can then travel on that (assuming we are still in the EU). Then we can sort out UK birth certificate and passport when we get back. The only other option is several trips to the embassy in Naples with the Italian birth certificate and then to get a UK birth certificate and then a UK passport.

The only negative is that although they will be British Citizens it will mean that unless their children are born in the UK, their children won't automatically get UK citizenship.

We just got Dds birth certificate translated. No embassy visits. (Also in the EU). Had no problem with getting the passport. We had to provide our birth certificates and birth certificate of paternal grandmother for some reason! Both British though so maybe that is the difference. I didn't know that about citizenship of her future children. Interesting!

I've got the single bumbleride indie with the carrycot/pram - it's a fantastic buggy, great choice! The carrycot part was so useful for travelling as it made a great Moses basket but folded flat in the car! Total pain for flights though, so you're right not to take it there - id imagine with those wheels the double is pretty wide too?

@Maccapacca88, would you mind sending me a PM (or posting on this thread) how you got the birth certificate and passport, what I need etc. If I can get these documents sorted sooner before we come back, that would be a weight of the mind. I was under the impression that a British embassy had to do it all. The gov.uk website really isn't that helpful.
Regarding the issue of future children, the following link explains it (although its not the easiest to read):
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/461318/children_born_outside_the_uk_sept_2015.pdf
Basically if you are a "British Citizen otherwise than by descent" (generally born here to at least one British parent....depends upon when birth took place) you can pass your citizenship onto your children regardless of where they are born. However, they become "British Citizens by descent" and can not do the same to their future children. Of course if their kids are born here they will get full citizenship and it resets (unless the law changes).

@Purplepoppyseed, yes its superb, and, yes, its a bit wide, although not quite as wide as many side by sides. We got a great deal on a secondhand one with bassinets and other extras. A third of the price of equivalent Bugaboo, and similar to Mountain Buggys. They are both slimmer, but I read loads of reviews saying that by the age of 3 or 4 the toddlers were squashed in the Bugaboo or MB.
My partner was adamant that she wanted a side by side for their development (she is quite into developmental psychology), so the babes could look out on the world and interact with each other. Many tandems (but not all) seemed to compromise one seat in this respect.

Think I might be a little bit bonkers spending all this money so far away from the birth, but the bargains in the sales have been astonishing.....wish I could get a new TV with the level of discounting that baby gear seems to get.

@cestlavielife and @atlanticwaves and @kintan. We picked up a Moby Aria and a Moby comfort so hopefully they will do to get us back to the uk and we can find our feet. I'm glad to know that I misunderstood the 30 min rule.

My partner and I are both very keen to use a wrap sling (s), but we felt we would need time to practice with those, whereas the conventional carriers seem a little easier at the start.

Hi there,

We did the online application. They then sent a form out to us in France with everything filled in for us to check and sign. We got the French birth certificate translated using an online company that do certified translations. We later found out that the issuing town hall did multilingual birth certificates on request for free, so maybe check that out.

If you want to apply for the passports as the father, you need your birth certificate, your mother's birth certificate and your passport.

Now the difficult bit... A British person who knows you to sign the photos of the babies. We lived in a big expat community, so this wasn't difficult for us. This may be a sticking point for you depending on your situation.

It took us 3 weeks total and that was with us forgetting a piece of evidence initially. They send all of your evidence back within days via FedEx. Then passports follow a couple of weeks later.

Thankyou Maccapacca88. That is really helpful. Serena does know an English chap in Palermo, so its certainly doable.

No problem. Best of luck with everything