Uk to Australia with a 15 month old

[km9371]

Hiya! Looking for any and all travel tips for doing uk to Australia with a mobile 15 month old 😬

We are going vis Dubai but only have 1.5 hours between connecting flights so not much time to do anything accept run to the next gate 😂

Have you booked your DC a seat? If not, book a seat. Don’t do bassinet and on knee. DC won’t fit the bassinet so he or she will be on your knee the entire flight and potentially you won’t get a bulkhead seat either so someone will be sitting in front of you. Not great when they recline their seat. You’ll have no space at all.

Agreed, do not attempt that trip as a lap infant with a mobile child.

I have done that trip recently to see family at 10 and 17 months and all I can say is good luck. Lots of snacks, toys and expect very little sleep or downtime on the flight.

Australia is very child friendly so you’ll be fine on the other end! Everywhere has amazing parks.

We travel a lot long haul with our daughter but I would be afraid of a flight to Australia to be honest!
Is it possible to organise a longer layover? Our daughter was much better on the flights where we had a decent layover to run around and get her energy out.
We had a 2.5 hour layover recently that went down to an hour because of delays... and she was not happy about being dragged through the airport and straight back onto a flight.
Does she have her own seat? I know you don't need to pay for one but for such a long flight it might be a worthwhile investment.
Anyway, recommendations of things we took for our daughter (we don't always take all of these because we like to pack as light as possible but these have all been good)

• Yoto player w/headphones
• Stickers, lots of stickers
• as many snacks as possible
• magnetic tiles/building blocks
• water colouring things (can't remember the actual name) - or the kind of digital ones that wipe clear when you press the button
• felt tips & paper (this wipes off the plastic trays with a baby wipe so not too bad if it goes everywhere!)
• screen time
• lots of 'mini' books, we have a disney/pixar set of 10 that takes up the same space as one board book
• a travel fan (toy & cooling - I found on recent flights they've taken away the individual air conditioning controls)
• if they have their own seat, we tied a large muslin to the bars that connects the tray table to the chair in front and then tucked that at the back of my daughters seat to create a kind of fabric hammock (but very tight) to support her legs, she was definitely more comfortable with her legs like this than dangling and slept well too. I probably haven't explained this very well but it was basically our very cheap & easily portable variation on the stokke flight bed thing.
• the kids games section on the in flight entertainment was a hit with our daughter, though we were on a different airline to you I think
• I had to give her a lot of attention to keep her calm because she was bored and cooped up, she wanted to be read to, me to draw with her, that sort of thing, so prepare to get very little rest as she didn't feel like being 'independent' unless she was watching the tv
• sensory toys, we took a small square adult fidget toy which has different clickers/sliders on each side but it was more travel friendly that the huge baby versions
• mini cars
• painters tape/washi tape
• If on your lap, ask the air hostesses to bring you/partners food one at a time so you can swap who's holding the child because otherwise you risk one kick sending your food everywhere!
• A spare change of clothes for you & partner, not just child (hopefully you'll never need it but spending the rest of an 8 hour flight with poo, vomit or food on you is so awful! - not something I would bother with on a short flight though)
• felt/magnet books
• push/pop toys (I am so tired I can't remember the proper names!)
• when my daughter was younger that ufo, string pull toy was a real hit and it had push/pop section on it
• those stick on spinners we found useless as they didn't seem to stick properly
• magnetic puzzle book
• magnetic ball maze puzzle
• Also we tend to pack in our suitcase separate toys for long car journeys, restaurants etc that aren't the same as the flight toys are the novelty factor is always helpful.

Good luck!

Thank you so much everyone!!

We are going to book him a seat, I can't imagine having him on my lap for 24 hours I think he'll have pulled all my hair out by the time we get there.

We're not able to do a longer layover as we want to arrive by Christmas Day and have quite tight travel dates due to OH work 😢

Tips for entertainment are much appreciated!

How does in flight food and refreshments work for a little one is there usually things they can eat?

Would you take a car seat on board to trap him in occasionally?

Food depends on the airline & age - at that age we had our daughter on our lap and some airlines provided no food, others provided a few heinz jars and others gave us another adult meal.
Our most recent flight our daughter had her own seat and they provided a kids meal on a tray.
None of which my daughter ate - snacks from home are your friend! We were able to take kids yoghurts & milk through security as food but I think this is probably dependent on the staff whether they count it as necessary for a baby that's not really a baby anymore or not.
But we took so many snacks & food for our toddler on the flight, like an entire separate carrier bag full. Our toddler is pretty fussy with food and I didn't want to deal with her hangry!

I think you can only take a car seat on board if its an airline approved one which again would depend on the airline & the car seat?
Honestly I've only ever seen americans do this so not sure how common this is outside the US. But unless your car seat is small enough to go into the overhead locker - you would have to use it the whole time anyway as they'd be no where to store it when you didn't want to use it?
We do actually have a folding car seat that went into the overhead locker but since its not airline approved we didn't bother trying to use it on her seat at all. I don't think it would have changed much because when she wanted to move she would have fought the car seat anyway.

If you take a car seat it’s in place for the duration of the flight. You can’t put it anywhere else. If you’re travelling with OH at least you can raise the arm rests between you and LO can lie down (ish) and sleep.

Food wise, you’ll get something but it can be rubbish so I’d take extra food just in case. Be careful and declare it all in your landing card if not eaten on the flight.

We booked the “bland” special meal for my daughter at 17mo and she really liked it - it was simple food like white fish, chicken, rice, pasta, plain vegetables etc. For some reason kids meals are really hard to get hold of for infants occupying their own seat - Singapore Airlines won’t provide them on some legs.

Emirates does provide Ella’s pouches to infants. You can also order snacks to collect at Boots at the airport.

A car seat will be a pain in the ass as you won’t be able to use it in Australia as their car seat laws are quite different. The seat needs a top tether and an Australian safety kitemark.

"How does in flight food and refreshments work for a little one is there usually things they can eat?".

Do not rely on the airline to fully provide. Infant meals can vary tremendously in terms of quality and quantity. Bring some of what they like and plenty of it.

Re Australia in particular, leave behind any and all uneaten foodstuffs on the aircraft. If you do bring in any commercially prepared foodstuffs for your child you will have to tick the yes box and declare it on your landing card; failure to do so could incur you a fine and or a reprimand.

"Would you take a car seat on board to trap him in occasionally?"

No. Trying to carry that through three airports as well as well as down the plane aisles along with hand baggage will be a bind. Your UK car seat will not be allowed to be used in an Australian vehicle as they have different safety standards.

Thank you all!

I hadn't thought about that with the car seat, you're right it will be an extra thing to carry and take up valuable playing space. I shall not bother, we were going to buy one of those folding travel ones but it still is quite chunky folded.

Also such a good idea to order snacks to collect at boots! We are flying emirates and as he has a seat I expect he'll get a meal but like most little people he is quite fussy and doesn't entertain being spoon fed at all.

I also hadn't realised we have to declare any left over snacks! Thank you 💚

It’s straight forward taking sealed, packaged commercial foodstuffs into Australia. You just can’t take fruit/vegetables, nuts/seeds or homemade food. It’s not something to worry about if you’ve got leftover pouches, Melty Puffs or baby biscotti from the flight.

Really look into the meal - airlines are mega funny about providing meals to infants in seats. They don’t provide meals to infants without seats and therefore won’t automatically cater to infants in seats due to age. You need to specially book a meal online before check-in and it’s been hit and miss for us as to whether a child meal is even an option, hence ordering bland meals for our toddler.

Where are you going is Oz? We took my 18 month old to Perth via Dubai. He had a seat. My DH declared halfway to Perth he would rather the plane crashed. It was tough. But as I always say 'this time shall pass'. This was before tablets etc. whatever rules or routines you have they don't apply to long hall. Do what you need to do! Now flying long haul with 2 teens seems easy. We didn't go back to Oz until my DD was 4!

Would you take a car seat on board to trap him in occasionally?

The only reason why we have car seats in cars is because 3-point seat belts are not good for child-sized bodies. In any situation where there is only a 2-point (lap) belt, a child seat adds very little. It might be that a solid shell seat could provide a little extra head protection in a car if it rolls over in a very specific way, but there are no otherwise-survivable plane crashes where that will make a difference.

@Porridgeislife thank you! I will check, the three seats I booked included meals and we have to select from a menu closer to the time. Hoping I can choose something he might at least play with for a bit 🤦🏼‍♀️

@chickenpieandchips adelaide! That sounds rough 😢 we really don't have much of a routine but he's used to lots of time outside / exploring so I expect he'll be a bit sad with the containment!

@samarrange I wasn't interested in the car seat for safety in the event of a plane crash, just considered it as a way to belt him in his seat as he'll escape a lap belt very easily.

OP we used to use a cares harness. I think that was the name. If you need something to keep him in his seat. Might be worth a look.

I've done that flight (mostly) solo with DS every year from age 9 months. DS now 8. I some very good tips above from PP. My two cents:

• Screentime - download favourite films and tv shows onto an ipad. I've had not working entertainment systems on more than one long haul.
• Headphones - and make sure these fit their little head (can buy kid ones with volume safety control)
• Colouring crayons which are triangular shaped - otherwise they roll onto the floor and you spend 24 hours contorting yourself to pick them up.
• Water pen colouring books are useful.
• Wipe down everything when you first sit down - armrests, tray table, joints and remote control. They will spill & drop stuff and lick stuff.
• Endless snacks of favourite foods sorted into small packets. Avoid too much sugar. My kid mostly rejects airline food so i've always been grateful to have lots of options with me.
• Lots of water in sports cap water bottles. You don't want to have to keep asking for cups of water from the attendants, it will get spilled all over you.
• We had an inflatable footstool that converts their seat into a flat bed. Was worth it for me but with small pump it takes up equivalent of one person's carry on baggage. Not as necessary if you have a three seat as you'll have more flexiblity of space.
• Run them as much as possible whenever you are on land. No travelators, walk as much as you can.

Good luck. Most of the time it's not as bad as you think.

Mine are now 14 and 17 so quite a while since we did this fairly regularly with little kids as my sister lives in Sydney.
My main tip would be to not worry about the trip. Travelling with kids can be hell, being stressed and worrying about it will make it worse. One of my memories of DS2 was him wondering up and down the aisle singing Wheels on the Bus. He was happy and he wasn't being a nuisance.
We used to take a travel buggy and put it in a travel bag for when it went in the hold. Which was also handy for shoving a few random things in that we didn't need on the plane.
The rules are a bit more relaxed regarding food now. You go through the main Nothing to Declare lane if everything is in sealed packs. (But do check what is on the banned list).
Take plenty of snacks (still do this with teenagers!)
Take a few favourite toys/games etc but I wouldn't take too much.
Change of clothes for everyone!!