Gran Canaria with 7mo: what to take and how to survive flight?

[Sandrine1982]

Hi there. So we're off to Gran Canaria at the end of March with our 7 month old for her first ever holiday. I'm a nervous flyer and I'm dreading the flight with a baby as I can't even resort to copious amounts of g&t like I used to on flights when I was child-free.
Could you please offer tips on how to survive the flight and what to take on holiday? She is combination fed (50% BF 50% formula) and we will be staying in an all-inclusive hotel on the beach.
Thanks a lot x

Well for a start get out of negative frame of mind of how to “survive” the holiday, otherwise what’s the point of going?!

Feed on take off and landing to help with ears popping. Bring calpol. If she’s suffered with ear infections then I would give a calpol dose 30 mins before actual takeoff and again before landing.
Being iPad and little easy toys. Hopefully she will sleep.
March will probably be mild and windy
I always try to keep to sleeping routine as much as possible. Doesn’t make for the most exciting evenings but sitting out on balcony with glass of wine.
Enjoy!

Haha I meant "survive flight" not "survive holiday" - I'm in a very positive frame of mind about the holiday ;)

Thank you so much @changeembrace - very good points :)

Are you flying Jet2? If so their flights are usually full of kids making noise and trying to run about, no one will bat an eye at a baby grizzling.

Oh, have you already booked seats? If so try and be right at the front or back near the toilets, and do you can get on and off easily without having to battle everyone down the middle of the plane.

The problem is me, not people complaining. I'm usually very nervous and I hate people around me fidgeting or making noise, so having a baby on my lap is ..er ... my idea of hell.

But I'm trying to ditch that negative frame of mind. Maybe it will be different.

PS: Yes flying with Jet2. I quite like them.

Yes booked seats at the front.

I'm wondering if flying with a baby will actually help your fear of flying … you'll be so busy with her that you'll have less time to focus on how you're feeling. Hopefully anyway

Plus a couple of GnTs will be fine …. large

YES

I get you OP. Does baby have its own seat or on your lap for the whole thing?

Maybe you could scope out the friendly granny types on the plane to see if anyone fancies a cuddle while you have a nice gin

Haha @HalfBiscuit! Well daddy will be on that mission, he's agreed to look after the baby and let me go sit somewhere else if I can't take it

Be prepared to walk around lots during the flight.

Take muslins and a change of top for you as well as the baby in your bag in case she's sick on the flight.

Be thankful you're taking a baby not a toddler

That's good! I'm a terrible flyer and suffer from panic attacks. I'm getting much better these days, but my strategy when I was super anxious was

Aisle seat so I'm not "trapped"
Silencing headphones with white noise
Eye mask in case I need to shut down a bit
Sick bags
Some guided meditations on my iPod
Diazepam!

I once spent 2 hours of a flight stood in the aisle bouncing my 5 mo in my arms because he was very grizzly and would not let me sit with him without screaming his lungs out, got lots of sympathy from other passengers luckily. In hindsight it probably his ears as he went on to suffer with ear problems. None the less I got through it and we had a fab holiday.
Just be prepared for the worst and if you get the best then it's a bonus. I'd give calpol just before the flight in case of earache etc. Feeds on take off/landing, and hopefully your dc might sleep some of the way. I was also a nervous flyer but found having kids the best distraction ever. Enjoy your holiday

We recently went to Lanzarote with our baby, he screamed on the outbound flight but nobody complained, the people around us were all sympathetic (mostly retired people going for some winter sun). Try to get your baby to sleep as much as possible, it will give you a rest. Ours refused to sleep on the return flight so my partner and I took turns holding him, take plenty of snacks, toys will get thrown on the floor so take things easy to find and pick up. Our baby enjoyed destroying the in flight magazine, reading the safety card and having a good nose around. If you want a drink in flight buy something in a bottle with a lid otherwise baby will grab it or knock it over! A sling was very useful on arrival as it was over an hour before our luggage came out and holding a baby can break your arms. It also means you can help your partner with the luggage. I kept baby in the sling for the coach transfer. You'll find lots of finger foods in the all inc buffet but I took some pouches and a box of instant cereal. If you want to buy baby stuff in the resort anything branded and imported will be expensive, in Lanzarote they wanted €2.50 for one Ella's pouch and €12.50 for a standard pack of Pampers! We took swimming nappies and a full length sun protection suit with hat for the beach and pool (take two and some travel wash incase you get a leaking nappy). In the evening I put him in a sleep suit for dinner as he'd fall asleep in his pushchair and I could just transfer him to the cot when we got back to our room. Do you want baby to sleep in a hotel cot or would you prefer to take your own? We took a lightweight pushchair and a Snoozeshade so he could sleep during the day without the sun shining on him. We couldn't go to the evening entertainment at our hotel because it was far too loud and baby just screamed so an evening walk it was. Check your hotel has a bath, ours didn't so we got a small inflatable boat and put that in the bottom of our walk in shower.

Thanks @Pilot12 - all very useful. I've noticed that there is a Spar supermarket near the hotel where we're staying. Do you have any experience of supermarkets in Lanzarote? Are they generally well stocked for baby stuff? thanks

Will you have a hire car? There are several big supermarkets right near the airport if so, you'll be able to get anything you need there.

Spar Supermarkets are pretty much the same as the UK version, I've always been able to buy the basics like cheese triangles, yoghurts and Spanish baby food jars are cheaper than the branded ones. Watch their prices though, some things are expensive. Another good supermarket is HyperDino.

Nope no car. And baby will be just 7 months, so I don't expect she'll be eating much apart from a bit of puree in addition to milk. So should be okay ... we'll take some stuff for the first days.

The hyperama in fuerteventura had fab nappies under the brand dodot. We pack light so my bag was mostly full of aldi nappies.

Ive flown with my 2 loads. They love flights. Feed during take off and hope for a long nap. The motion sends them off to sleep.

Have a sling for use in the airport and on the plane.
Calpol need to be in sachets or small bottle -under 100ml.
Full set of clean clothes for baby. Clean top for you. More nappies in your hand lugage than you think.