Australia with dc

[oydal]

We are trying to plan a trip to Australia to visit family with our 2 children - ds will be 5 and dd will be 3. Has anyone done a journey like this with little ones.

I think we should wait another yr but dh wants to go sooner rather than later.

Hello. I haven't been to Australia, but did fly to New Zealand recently with my dc aged 3.5 and 9 months. I thought my toddler was be the troublesome one, but she was actually great. Each seat had a telly with kids' channels and she got to watch TV for hours on end (something she is not allowed to do at home!)

We had one stopover in LA that lasted 2 hours, which I would happily do again, but I know some people recommend having a night over somewhere (I hear Singapore is great).

I was so worried beforehand (even to the point where I couldn't feel excited about the trip), but it was so much better than I expected. And kids are great at coping with jet lag - they just sleep when they're tired and mine settled down after a couple of days.

Even if the flight is a complete nightmare (which it won't be), as one of my friends said, it's only 24 hours out of your entire life!

Hi! I've done Australia several times, last twice with 2DC's - once on my own when DS was 5 and DD 12 months and once with DH when DS was 7 and DD 3. (parents winter out there)

TBH it was great - much easier than the short haul, because the planes are so big, with seat back TV's which have 2000 programmes and loads of games(my two watched TV for hours on board!)
We fly Emirates, because they are good on price, planes are fabulous, and the journey is more managable without a terribly long leg.

IMO BA are not good with kids, but Singapore and Emirates are.
Hope that helps.

hi oydal

I am currently in Australia visiting my sister and some friends. I flew with my DS (age 6) and my DD (age 3) on my own. I stopped in Singapore and stayed at the transit hotel in the airport to break up the journey and allow us all to have a proper sleep in a proper bed before continuing on to Melbourne. (as recommeded by some mumsnetters)
The first flight was perfect. DD slept for 10 hours and DS for about 8. The time in Singapore was excellent as we all had about 12 hours sleep in a bed and then went swimming and to the zoo. The second flight went a bit pear shaped as we had seats where we could not lift the arm rests and so the DCs could not lay across me and sleep quite so easily.

We've leaving for home tomorrow so I'll let you know if i have any other tips/pointers after the next lot of flights if you like.

Also, if you search under my name you'll probably find a few postings discussing the scenario that you are talking about.

Great, thanks for all the advise. Sounds like it might not be so bad afetr all.

My biggest worry is my dd...she's terrible on short flights, hates having to sit down for any length of time and always wants to know whats going on in every nuk-and-cranny...but as you say littlemadam, planes are big. DS would probably be fine watching telly for the entire period!

mckenzie - it would be great if you could let me know how your journey back goes...ae you stopping in Singapore again?

No real advantage in waiting tbh. DD was 3 when we came on holiday in 2006, 4 when we emigrated last year (her brothers were 8 and 13). The first time we flew straight through on the way out and stopped for a couple of nights in Singapore to break the journey on the way back. We travelled for a month en route last year.

Just make sure you fly with an airline with individual in-flight entertainment systems. I think DD watched tv for most of the first journey. Singapore Airlines are fantastic with kids - I would recommend them highly. Singapore is a great place for stop over for a couple of nights - very clean and safe but exotic enough for kids!