Travelling with a 9 month old

[Kate5]

Does anyone have any advice on short haul travel (greece) with a 9 month old? Holiday company says they travel on your lap for 3 1/2 hours + the transfer 1 1/2 hours - but my husband and I are v tall (so is daughter) - hence I can't imaogine there will be much room and she will not sleep on my lap (never has anyway). Am I setting myself up for a complete nightmare ?(I cannot book her a seat apparently ...) Any experiences/advice welcome !

Hi there
We travelled with ds at 9 months (2.5 hour flight) and in general it was a breeze - much easier than I'd feared! We were automatically allocated first row (bulkhead??) seats which have extra space - think you need to request these with most airlines. The flight wasn't full so we had a spare seat next to us on the way back.
Ds 'never' slept on my lap either but he managed it on both outward and return journey.
Take more food/drink/nappies than you think you will need; don't ask for any hot drinks for yourselves during the flight.
Can't think of much else except that it probably won't be as bad as you think, and if it is, it won't last very long!

Same here - we flew from Scotland - Italy with ds when he was 8 months and I was amazed at how easy it was. Having something to suck for takeoff and landing (bottle/breast/cup) and plenty things to entertain them on the flight. It is worth it to get the holiday you deserve!

Hi Kate 5

Don't really understand why you cannot book a separate seat for her if you take along a Rock a Tot type car seat. Many airlines allow you to strap it in so you can at least use it for duration of the flight but possibly not take off and landing. I think there is a debate about the safety of this on a previous thread. Personally I felt the seat was more secure for dd than her potentially being crushed on my lap into the seat in front. We've booked a seat for her for our next flight when she will be 20 months, so it will be interesting to se how much she is permitted to use it.

The 1.5 hr transfer would worry me most though - if the coach is full then you could have her loose on your lap the whole time.