trans atlantic flight with a 1year old?

[bozemum]

I have been invited to a wedding on the west coast of america. It would mean taking my baby, who will be 1 by then.

It seems like quite a daunting prospect. Has anyone else managed ok on a trip like this? Or is it really hard work?

I took dd when she was 14 months on a 7 hr flight. It went ok.

the flight there was a daytime flight, so only a short nap.

we took lots of small things for her to play with (like a little drawstring bag and some clothespegs!)

she spent a lot of time walking up and down the aisles - this was a real godsend, she had only just started walking and the novelty hadn't worn off yet.

I did have dh with me to help.

it is doable! hth

ok. our trip would be a little longer, as we have to do a connection from aberdeen to heathrow first. so its 14 hrs altogether. how did you get you little one to take a nap? I think he'd be too interested in what is going on.

ok.

Book a seat for your sanity and comfort. Don't leave him on your lap.

Give him Calpol to take a nap

Take lots of snacks

Walk up and down the aisle.

Buy/borrow a dvd player.

The crew may well take him off your hands for a while.

Do a search for "long haul flights" or look in the excellent MN travel section. There's loads of advice on here.

Goodness! Sounds like it'll be quite an operation!

Never heard of using calpol before to get them off to sleep. Might be worthwhile giving it a try.

We took dd to US East Coast just before her 1st birthday. She wasn't walking at that point. We flew with BA from Edinburgh to Heathrow (7 hour wait in Heathrow as we were on airmiles so had no choice of flights) then a 7 hour flight to US. We booked a baby seat thinh for her for the flight - it fastens onto teh bulkhead - so we didn't have to pay for her own seat yet still had somewhere to put her. It was like a sort of bouncy chair thing and just big enough. It was OK - we survived! I did buy some board books and finger puppets but she wasn't interested. She certainly wouln't have watched a dvd or anything at that age. Her 3 year old brother WAS happy to look at the seatback TV thing though.
Just remember that although it will not be teh best experience of your life it will pass! Be aware though - jet lag with her was a nightmare - she took at least 4 days to adjust to US time.

Glad to hear others consider a long haul flight with a one year old to quite a big task. I wasn't sure if I was just being over paranoid.

I like the idea of the baby seat thing. Not sure we can afford to pay for 3 flights. At least not unless its really necessary.

With BA it was OK - dd was over 1 when we came back and there was no problem. That was 6 years ago now though so may be different!

Honestly it's not a big task. At that age they're still quite easy to entertain and sleep a lot. You just have to take loads of stuff.

Really do consider paying for a seat for baby. When you've paid the taxes you have to pay anyway I reckoned it worked out at about £7 per hour in the air extra and therefore a bargain in terms of sanity. We too were headed for a California wedding.

If we can name airlines (no vested interest) Virgin are usually voted most family friendly and we have found them good. My little one gawped at Madagascar on a loop but wouldn't go near the headphones.

Just make sure you have drink to hand for both takeoff & landing it helps the ears.

Agree do not expect any nap. At 11 mths our DS (normally great sleeper) did 17hrs travelling to get to Vancouver Island & stayed awake throughout as all so exciting.