Long Haul flight when baby is 14 months or wait until they're school age?

[LavenderFlowers]

Hi everyone,

Hope you're having a lovely weekend

I am trying to plan ahead for a long haul trip to see family with a baby. I can only go at certain times of year due to the weather (it's far too hot a lot of the year) so I would be going when baby is 14 months. It would involve a 90 minute flight, followed by a 13 and a half hour flight. I would have someone with me, probably a parent to help.

I'm getting nervous at the idea of this.....even though I really want to see family. It's a very expensive flight so I had hoped to go when baby is under 2 so they wouldn't need their own seat. It's not a flight I'll be able to make often, it will be a couple times while they're young at most. Do all airlines provide a basket for long haul flights?

Should I wait until they're school age and can enjoy the trip more? My family live near theme parks/kids activities so it would be an added benefit for them at an older age too.

TIA x

I think, at 14 months, your child would be too big for the bassinet (IIRC, the limit is 12 months)and also, there are only a few seats which have the bassinet “shelf” so no guarantee you would get it (it may be bookable on BA, say)

This site will be helpful- https://www.flyingwithababy.com/british-airways-bassinet-seats/

Definitely wait until they are older, 14 months will be the worst age possible!

It'll much, much easier when they are school age plus they'll enjoy and remember the trip.

Life is short. The time between now and school age is a long time. If you have another child in the meantime you'll be waiting even longer.

Go now, you don't know what the future holds. Yes, the flight will be a bit awkward but you've only got one child, you'll have help, you will manage. Lots of people do. Crack on.

Hmmm, I did a long haul flight when mine were 3 and 17 months - not as long as you are talking about - 8-9 hours iirc. It wasn’t the most fun I’ve ever had, but it was fine and worth it to see friends (not even family in my case!) I have fond memories of the trip and even of the challenges of the flight (walking up and down the aisles as our dc insisted on crawling around … I did have Dh with me the whole time though tbf. My opinion is that if we wait for things to be easy when travelling with kids, we’ll wait til they are 18 ;-)

We did several long haul flights when they were babies/toddlers. We always booked night flights so that they could sleep. When there were delays we booked rooms in the lounge so they could get their sleep (although they were once awake then throughout the night flight which wasn't so good but we just took it in turns to entertain them).

It depends on your baby.

I flew to Australia when dd was about 18 months and it was fine but we did pay for her to have her own seat and we were lucky because as a baby/toddler she was happy to sit still for long periods as long as she had plenty of adult attention.

We took a 7/8 month old and a 3.5 year old on a 12 hour flight and the night flight direction was a lot better. The baby did nap a lot either way but it was a lot better when the pre schooler could have some night time sleep.
Another thing to bear in mind is you get a lot of benefits with young children, eg pushchair right to/from the gate, priory boarding if you want it, and extra legroom seats if you need the clip on baby chair (the sleeping cot thing they only have one on board I think, so we missed out on that both ways, but they have enough of the seat thing which was ok.)
I would recommend booking the hotel at there airport and not trying to make all the connections in one go. So do the 90 minute flight, get a good sleep, and then do the long flight. And vice versa.
Good luck!

I've just been on a 9 hour flight where a baby of around that age screamed for about half of it. To be honest it didn't bother me as I was a few rows away but I don't think it was much fun for the parents.

Having said that - these things happen and you wouldn't be the only people on the flight with a baby!

I do a 9/10 hour flight every year to see relatives. This year with my dd2 aged almost 2 was probably the hardest. We were tight and didn't pay for a seat, and it felt cramped but I did have DH to swap with. She needed constant entertaining/holding while napping. My primary aged dd was fine, she was happy watching films and doing sticker books on her own. So yes, it's far easier with an older child but I still recommend taking them when younger as well if you can afford it, because life happens and you deserve to be able to see your family too.

You will be fine! 14m is not too hard. I have done long haul with my kids from 11 months. Just prepare well, take snacks, clothes, food and toys etc…
Do it now when it’s free, paying for two long haul costs a ton these days. When they are school age, you typically have to go in school holidays too.

And agree they won’t fit in bassinet, that’s for babies under 12 months. My 11 month old was already too big.

14m would have been an AWFUL age for my DD. She was a very physical child…
9m or so pre crawling would be fine and now post 2.5 where they understand what a plane is I can see being manageable …