Flying to Cape Town on Christmas Day with 14m DS

[redllamayellowllama]

To appease both sets of Grandparents, DH, DS and I are flying out to Cape Town at 9pm on Christmas Day. This is our first long-haul flight as a family (have been putting it off and putting it off!) and was wondering if anyone can offer any tips?

Lift to airport is sorted, so not worried about that, but are there any other Christmas-related issues that anyone can think of which could cause problems at the airport?

Have recently stopped BF-ing (which, in hind-sight, was a bad move) and DS is on am and pm bottle - cows milk. What is current protocol (flying Virgin) on taking on fluids? Do people think we'd be better off with cartons of formula?

DS a fairly good sleeper, but after being loaded up with presents and e-numbers at Nanny 1's, this may not be the case - any tips for keeping him entertained and maintaining the sanity of us and those around us (or should I accept this is unlikely now?)?

Sure there's lots else to think of - can anyone fill in some gaps for me? Thank you.

If you are planning on formula - you can phone the Boots airside and they will keep some aside for you. As it is a night flight once you have got on, had dinner, the lights have been dimmed your DS should be tired enough to sleep (DD always is). I would take a few books/quiet toys to keep him occupied incase he isn't ready to sleep. Do you use a grobag? They are fantastic at letting LO's know it is bedtime. Also have you requested a bassinet? We had one and it was a great place for DD to sit whilst we were eating, she also slept really well in it.

Sorry a bit garbled DD is tired and stroppy. Let me know if you need any more info about it. Virgin are fantastic with LOs and the warm sunshine and beaches on the other end are well worth the flight and possible lack of sleep!

Thank you so much for this - will phone Boots in advance and get some formula saved (am guessing this is because you can't take liquids over a certain amount through security checks, but can buy it once onthe other side?). We are using a grobag; DS goes and gets it when he is ready for his bottle, so that will be a must-have travel accessory.

I've given Virgin a ring after seeing your bassinet advice and unfortunately, they don't give them to babies over 12 months, which is a shame. We were hoping the flight might be a little quieter on Christmas Day, but the lady on the phone said it is full, so our dreams of an extra seat for DS have been crushed. Will be getting there nice and early (thus escaping the aftermath of MIL's Christmas dinner ) to try and wangle a seat towards the front of a section!

I'm so relieved so see you are flying Virgin and not BA. Hope you have a lovely time x

did you pay for an extra seat?

I don't want to be too negative but we flew to SA with ds at that age and it was a living hell. He screamed the whole flight. It hurt his ears (take some of those calpol and nurofen sachets with you, they are fine to take on board). He couldn't get comfy. The flight was full and he didn't get his own seat either.

If you have the money, buy him a seat.

I don't know if someone has more up to date knowledge but one thing that annoyed me about Virgin was that you couldn't put the armrests up (as the trays were in them so they were fixed). This meant that ds couldn't lie down over us iyswim. It was different on BA but that was my memory of that Virgin flight.

It may be different now but I'd ask about that otherwise it means he basically has to sit upright on your lap which is a right pita!

you will be fine though. Despite our flight being a living hell, ds was easily the child from hell and everyone else was fine so I would suggest our experience was about the worst you could get.

Incidentally, the minute we left the plane, he fell fast asleep for about 6 hours arrghh!

info about which seats have moveable armrests

if he doesn't have his own seat, I would seriously recommend making sure you get seats where the armrests can move (so don't go for the bulkhead)

in fact, I have found, on numerous flights with my monkeys, that the back of the plane is far better as they can get up and wonder around a bit in the galley if they have to (and you're near the loos).

choose your seats on here

I've found seat guru to be very accurate and useful!

also if you are flying the Virgin 747 (you can probably check the aircraft on your booking) take one of the 2 seaters at the back (if he doesn't have his own seat). They have quite a bit of room around them and you will have no-one next to you which is a huge plus with a little one who might want to get up and down!

seat map from virgin

seat guru says the only downside of those seats is that there are equipment boxes underneath them which can mean less space under the seats but they have loads of space on the side so are v popular

foxinsocks, I have just seen this after forgetting about posting! Thank you so much for these tips - I hadn't even thought about the possibility of unmoving armrests and we're counting on him lying across us. I'm going to check in online 24 hours in advance and, if we can choose seats, will be going for the back ones.

Unfortunately, we don't have the money for an extra seat for him (this trip was a very generous gift from my Mum). If we did, I'd be getting him one immediately.

I'm beginning to feel a bit bad about all the trips I've made in the past as a single woman when I have sneered at people with noisy young children...