Experience travelling long-haul?

[Lauren2809]

By long haul I mean Caribbean/Mexico!
Wanting to go back to Mexico in September/October and my little boy will be 9/10months old. Does anyone have any experience travelling a long distance with a baby? How did you keep them entertained? How did they deal with the time difference? Thank you :)

check what your airline has to say (there is a list at the bottom here) but some will let you use a bassinet until the baby is 2 years old. I flew at night, and put my baby down in the bassinet once we had taken off etc, then covered the top with a thin towel and tape to block out the light. obviously i was there with him in case the towel fell over him etc. sleeping helped him adjust to the time zones as he slept through the night, and when it was morning i woke him up, fed him etc.

as for entertainment, i would download lots of episodes of his favorite show. there are lots of tips about keeping them entertained online though!

all the best x

As 9 month olds have the attention span of fleas, you'll be lucky to get 5-15 minutes of sustained attention out of a TV show or movie but it's still worth taking an iPad as a quick distraction tool if he gets grizzly! I’d also take:
1 pot of Play doh
A smallish square of bubble wrap to pop
A set of stacking beakers. Great for playing hiding games with small items of food like raisins and Cheerios
3 or 4 finger puppets
A set of nesting eggs (available from ELC)
Teething rings
Lamaze Freddie Firefly high hair toy
Vtech on the move activity bar (without batteries, so it doesn't disturb fellow travellers)
Several small envelopes that you can put a few raisins in for DC to tear open. My kids loved this.
Rusks for sucking
Don't forget a dummy clip and a few spare dummies if any go missing/fall on the floor.
A snug fitting hat to pull down over eyes and ears for sleep and to help if the air con gets too chilly for them.
Pack some extra clothes in your carry-on, for both DS and yourself
Another top tip is to make use of other travellers to help entertain and to give you a rest. When we flew with DD, two young lads played peekaboo with her for absolutely ages. I think it was a way of keeping themselves occupied too! We didn't ask them to, they just started doing it. When the lady next-but-one to me was cooing over DD, I asked if she wanted to hold her, which she did for a good half an hour! Same with a teenage girl. So basically, if anyone shows an interest in your DC, take advantage and give yourself a break!
Lastly, don't worry if he cries. Even though you may have eye rolls from travellers around you, just remember that you will probably never see them again and you are not the only one in this situation!