Tips for surviving long-haul flights with babies, someone must have some...

[phdlifeneedsanewlife]

I know there are a couple of threads about this already but the tips seem to be somewhat... paltry. Surely the combined might of MN can come up with some ways to get us halfway round the world and back, if not unscathed, at least somewhat less scathed?

okay what about specific questions?

1. would it be helpful to put ds through his bedtime "routine" on the plane?

2. how do you deal with jetlag in babies?

3. actually that's about it. For now.

where are you going and how old will DS be?
and what airline? and what's the state of play re seats/bassinets etc.?

generally, I would say the younger the better - I have still not recovered from the flight when we moved over to NZ when DD was 22 months old - it was hell. Whereas when we did it with her at 14 months it was easy peasy, and it would have been even easier when she was younger

ah too slow

what time is the flight? a kind of bedtime routine might be good. however, it seems that most babies sleep pretty well on planes; the movement and white noise seem to keep them asleep nicely

they don't really get jetlagged, just maybe out of any routine they're in. my advice would be the same as it is for adults - try and get into the time zone of the place that you're going ASAP, and whenever you arrive in the day, don't make the mistake of a really long sleep when you get there however knackered you are - you must wait until the night time and sleep then with only naps in the day

we are going UK-LA, then LA-Brisbane (via Auckland - 2hrs only otherwise I'd suggest a meetup!) - then back.

Air NZ

I've booked the bassinet all the way and back and had it confirmed once but another thread I saw today suggested this may be far from secure. [worried]

ds will be 8m the whole time. (we are doing the whole trip in a shade under 3 weeks!)

HOnestly I think it will be fine
I would recheck the bassinet for your own peace of mind but if it is confirmed then I think it will be OK
he will sleep a lot I'm sure, and so long as he gets quite a lot in you'll be able to get back to your routine with him quite easily (you, on the other hand, will be a different matter). I'm trying to remember about jetlag, but I don't think young babies get it TBH

at LA, do you change flight numbers and have to do the ridiculous going through customs and rechecking in nonsense? if you don't know, find out! it's a pain in the arse but they should get you through the check in quicker if you have a pushchair and look pathetic

I'm in Christchurch anyway so nowhere near Auckland. Sounds like a great trip!

The scariest tip I ever had on this subject (which I have to say I never followed) was some kind of drug.

Unfortunately not for me.

For the tots. Apparently there is some kind of cold remedy that makes them sleep.

Fenodeen? Phenodene? Feno something anyway.

Alternatively you could get rolling drunk and ignore the safety and comfort of other passengers.

That's what I recommend.

You just have to live with jetlag in babies, and eventually it wears off. IME, anyway...

it'll be PHenergen

don't think you can give it to 8 month old babies anyway

wouldn't recommend it anyway. DH took some that we had (we've never used it) for his hay fever the other day as we had no other anti-histamines about and he was comatose (well, he's usually fairly dopey, but this was quite something). I found it quite alarming and wouldn't give it to my children...

don't give it to 37 year old dopey DHs either
he was a zombie
it was remarkable

I think we're all in agreement, don't drug them! chuck gin down yourself though, by all means

I drugged mine - with phenergan when she was 19 months. My GP said it was fine, she just adjusted the dose down accordingly. Having said that, it didn't have an enormous effect on her - helped her sleep (drifted off, not comatose or anything like it-sadly-), and she slept for a few hours - maybe 4 - and she also fell asleep naturally and slept for about 4. The whole thing was an horrible nightmare, I was 7 months preggers too. Arrgh!

I wouldn't give it to an 8 month old though, and agree that an 8 month old would be much easier to travel with, and is likely to sleep much better.

My top tip is to remember that its only 24 hours, however bad it may be! (It might be fine though, some people find it s fine)

Long haul with a baby shouldn't be too much trouble, from my own experiences they sleep through most of it and the flight attendants coo at them when they are awake!

Slightly off topic, my DS had trouble sleeping coz of bad cough keeping him awake, GP recommended Phenergan, but it made no difference to DS who still had trouble sleeping! Am of your DHs who were comatose after taking it!

thanks for this - I wouldn't have drugged him - course if I drink enough gin (and bearing in mind certain recent threads I am aware it would have to be a LOT) it might also have desired soporific effect on bf 8m old...

have discovered tip that I should try feeding him during takeoff/landing to avoid ear pain. any others, anyone? [pleading]

Hi, we have just returned from trip to South Africa via Amsterdam (total flight time 13 hrs ish), DS is 8 months, we had a sky cot.
He was an angel and isn't normally! found all the people fascinating. I spent a lot of time sat on the floor with him sat on my seat (fortunately with sky cot you are at the bulk head so lots of leg room) I had also bought him a few new toys and got each toy out one by one so that he had to take time to explore them.
The sky cot was fantastic, apart from during turbulence as you have to wake them up and take them out :-(
I fed during take off and landing and he didn't complain at all.
Hope that helps.

Have done several flights - bassinets can be requested but geneally its first come first served - so do try and get the bulkhead seats booked over the phone - you generally can't do this on-line. We flew with DD 12 weeks longhaul - requested, confirmed bassinet with Virgin - found we could not choose bulkhead seats when checking in on line - got to airport 4 hours early and bassinet had been declined. Now I phone on reserving flight and make sure the bulkhead seats are booked for us prior to the on-line check-in opening 24 hours before departure and that seems to work.

We found jet lag was much worse for us than DD.

Be prepared to taste any jars ot liquids you are taking through security.

It'll be far, far better than you think.

I found that going for night flights was OK for the first leg of the journey, but the second part (flying to Oz) was another night flight. Bit of a mistake, its hard trying to keep a 10 mo quiet and amused in the dark. People are more accepting of a crying child if they are not trying to sleep!

Take a holey sheet to cover the bassinet (they don't like it to be completely covered due to the air pressure). And a sleeping bag to sleep in.

Remember to keep baby hydrated with plenty of fluid.

Can't think of anything else right now. And I agree insist on a bassinet every step of the way. When you book, call and confirm you have one, before you leave for the airport and when you check in!

thanks for tips about bassinet. will commence pestering phone calls.

what's a holey sheet for, foxy?

I went to thailand with 14 month old and 2 and half. We took a portable dvd player on the plane. We hated bob the builder after the 13 hr flight but the kids were happy

tbh I think the tips are 'paltry' because with a baby it isn't that much of a big deal, and there isn't much you can do except think about food etc, and get on with it.

ime, early toddlerhood is the time to avoid air travel unless you have to. We took DS abroad from 9 weeks onwards - 15m was way the worst - determined to move about, too young to entertain for long periods with activities.

Actually, DS barely fitted into the bassinet on BA at 8 months - you can have a sort of car seat that reclines instead, that fits onto the bassinet shelf.

Bon courage!

thanks, blu

I took my 5 month old DTs to Australia in 2005 and then to Borneo a year later when they were 18 months. The first trip was fine because they slept a lot of it, although I should mention that we didnt get bassinets all the way, maybe because there were two of them! And people got annoyed and asked to be moved away from us on some legs becuase we had two babies (miserable b*ards).

The second trip was harder - we bought one child plane seat even though they were still classed as infants so that one could sleep on the seat and one in the bassinet (still just fitted at that age).

I have to say that having lots and lots of new things to look at helped with mine, so new books and toys, they were of course that bit older.

Definately take more changes of clothes/nappies than you think you will need. Ds needed changing twice during flight to South Africa, one explosive poo and one puke fest. Take a change of clothes for you ...just in case.

If you are travelling on your own you can book help (someone to meet you at the plane door to carry bags etc.)
I was a bit anal when organising change bag(which is normally a mess) wanted to have everything to hand as knew I was travelling on my own.

I just did England to Australia and back again on my own with my 6/7 month old (we were there for 2 months) and it was extremely easy for a number of reasons:

1. She is still breastfed so I just boobed her whenever she got grumpy which was rarely
2. Took my breastfeeding pillow with me and she slept on my lap most of the time as she wasn't a fan of the bassinet (I used it to store stuff)
3. I had her in the hugabub sling getting on and off the plane and for take-off and landing. I just put the infant seatbelt round her in the sling which meant i had both hands to carry stuff and didn't have to hold her going up and down for an extended period of time which can be wearing
4. Asked for my meal when it suited us as it rarely worked when they were giving it everyone else
5. Once we were in the air had a bag with everything I needed (change of clothes, lip balm, nappies etc...couple of books and toys) under my feet or in the bassinet so I didn't need to keep getting up and down and getting stuff out of the overhead locker
6. Flew Emirates who are fab with kids and were able to hold me a bassinet seat from when i booked the tix

When we got to Oz and back to UK I made sure we went out and about lots during the day for the first few days and made sure she got sunshine so her body knew the difference between night and day. Didn't let her do any long sleeps during the day and only slept when she did so when she woke at 2am and wanted to chat and play for 2 hours (this only happened a couple of nights) I wasn't wrecked the next day. I found she got back onto normal routine after both flights within 3-4 days

Good luck and safe travelling - hope some of this helped

Thanks Cinnamon, good hints there

Have just spoken to Air NZ. Apparently, although the bassinet has been "requested" for me - not "reserved" as previous agents have said - they are allocated according to babies' ages on the day.

I cannot reserve bulkhead seats in advance, and I won't know until the day whether we actually get the feckin' bassinet seat. .

I am FURIOUS that I was told yesterday the bassinet was "confirmed", which sounds to me like there's no doubt.

I am also curious as to how they are going to do this. Will they just have everyone with babies stand to one side at check-in, until they've all turned up, then examine passports to check their ages? Hands up everyone who thinks the reality is going to be "first come, first serve" and stuff what they've been telling me for past four months...