Babies on plane .. experiences ?

[zazaen]

I really want to go on holiday soon. I have a 5 month old- who is quite fussy and cries a lot so I'm really anxious about the plane journey..

I'm thinking to go around when she's 7 months old

Anyone care to share their experience?

Hahahahaha so many crazy memories from them
puking over DH to stripping off all their clothes. Good luck! Every baby is different! Yours might sleep like a baby.

We flew regularly from the moment DS was three months. Just pack a change of clothes for you as well as your baby.

We did our first trip with DS at 7m too. Best time to do it in my opinion!!

take toys like the suction spinners, a new toy to fidget with, snacks and the iPad!
he would cry so much in the car and Mickey Mouse was th only thing that helped! So we took the iPad with shows downloaded JUST IN CASE.

we did a 4 hour flight. He slept for half of it. Was a dream.

DS is 22m. I think he’s had about 12 trips so 24 flights? He usually sleeps, sometimes plays for a bit or talks about what he can see out of the window. DH and I only fly short haul so don’t bother booking seats together but if DS is upset then we swap and he has him for a bit. Lots of milk and snacks at that age they are grand.

We’ve taken ours from age 5 months….not had any issues…..only short haul though …..up to 3.5 hours….if they cry they cry….people understand

I've had many miserable flights with screaming infants and inflicted my youngest on one plane-load (turns out she had narrow Eustachian tubes and found it hard to pop them). Please only consider short haul and at least try to keep them as happy as possible. One 13 hour flight where the parents completely ignored their screaming child for the whole journey was particularly memorable.

I flew regularly with ds since he was 6wo (we were expat, but came home 3 or 4 times a year). It was fine. No matter how horrendous you think it might be, remember that the flight will end! Tbf, ds was a dream to travel with, he was ebf so really easy to placate.

We've flown with our kids since 11m (long haul to the US) so not quite as young, though we did some 6 hour train journeys when younger. No puking but we had the odd poonami! But we always carried a change of clothes wherever we went anyway. Brought some quiet toys and books and they slept a lot. Didn't use screens until they were older. We brought food pouches for convenience, and they heated them up for us. No crying or screaming, they were breastfed until they were 3 and that always calmed them down quickly. Fairly easy when aged under 1, hardest age was 18m-2.5 when they don't want to sit still!

I took ds when he was 5 months turning 6. It was a 3.5 hr flight. Aimed for a night flight in the hope he'd sleep. Wore him in a stretchy wrap and he slept on me, fed during takeoff and landing and generally was pretty chill. What I wouldn't recommend is opening a water bottle that's been pressurised and spraying yourself and sleeping baby with cold water... I learnt that one the hard way.

I travelled to Denmark with my son regularly. No problems. Remember a bottle and/or dummy for the take off and landing.

Oh, and board as one of the last, especially once baby becomes mobile!
The less time spent in the cramped seat, the better!

Agree 7 months is a good time

Don’t expect things to work like they do on the ground. DD refused to sleep although I had carefully timed flight to coincide with nap time. Then fell asleep just as plane landed. Refused to breastfeed so needed an alternative ear popping strategy for take off and landing (breadsticks!). However, it wasn’t particularly awful overall.

Recommend a 1-2 hour flight to start with!

We did several flights with our babies, one was awful, many more were fine.

I’ve been on a flight where there was a baby who screamed/cried for the entire flight and it was horrendous. Everyone on that flight was stressed including the cabin crew.

Holiday in the U.K. until they’re two.

I did 30 hours of travel with a 4month old - lucky he is quite a chill baby. Even so, one (of four) flights was abit painful and he was really unsettled.

It's so hard to predict as each baby is so different and each day can be.

I think pre-crawling is much easier though as no way would he sit so well now when awake and likely wouldn't sleep as much.

Former expat here so traveled a lot with DD1. 7 months is getting into the window where they’re really bloody difficult unfortunately. Pre 6 months is easy because they sleep a lot and are generally content to just look around. Over 18 months + also fine because cocomelon on the ipad (with toddler headphones of course!) and all the snacks keep them happy. But the inbetween bit - yikes. You’re trying to contain a mobile baby, they have the attention span of a goldfish, all their toys are massive and bulky so take up loads of space yet they only play with it mere minutes, they like lobbing stuff to see what happens, they’re napping less. That said, sometimes needs must and you have to travel. Even if it’s not a need the reward of the holiday usually makes it worth it! Even long haul it’s only a day of your life and I’m sure you’ve survived bad days before.

7 months would not usually be mobile.

I agree the crawling and early toddling stages are most difficult.

Will you be on your own OP? With a partner, honestly it’s pretty easy. Without, it’s harder but I did a solo flight with baby at this sort of age (and she really wasn’t a chilled baby!) and it was fine.

Dc was always great on a plane from a young age (2 months). Try and get a flight time that might coincide with a nap. Then by the time you feed them (little and often), play with them the flight is almost over (short haul).

OP you say your baby is 'fussy and cries a lot' - please wait until she isnt! Why inflict a fussy crying baby on other passengers? If your baby isn't happy and settled at home what makes you think she'll be any different when her routine is disrupted on holiday? It sounds like it won't be a fun, relaxing holiday for you with a baby who cries a lot......

Most babies are fine. Mine were. However don’t be that parent who ignores crying for long periods. Some parents on long haul seem oblivious to it, especially after lights out. Short haul is best to begin with. I find most parents bring a baby bag along with sufficient entertainment. I do admit that when I see a baby I pray they aren’t near me. However I saw a baby with grandma recently and it was like a military operation. A big rucksack with everything and baby well entertained. Happy baby and calm gran.

We have flown loads with our kids from 6 months onwards.

We flew to Australia (from UK) when Dd was a baby. She vomited because I gave her too much milk in her bottle as I was paranoid about her ears popping and being uncomfortable. She was absolutely fine the entire flight apart from that initial blip.
When we stood up at the end of the flight, the people behind us hadn't even realised we had a baby with us.

However, our kids were very chilled babies. Especially the first, happy to sit on me and look at books, play, crayons etc. My entire hand luggage contained entertainment and snacks for the kids so we always had something to distract them. Plus change of clothes, nappies etc of course.

What I'm trying to say is if you have a fussy baby at home, they're likely to be fussy in a strange environment like a plane. If you think you will find that stressful, maybe wait for a bit?

If you are prepared though and have lots of snacks and toys and don't expect them to sleep or keep to usual routine then I'm sure you will cope. Good luck!

I think a baby that cries a lot at home will cry when travelling. Why would they settle easily when they don’t at home? Is baby 7 months now or 7 months when travelling? They do change if you are planning next summer.

So much easier to travel with them when they're small and immobile and you're not worrying about weaning or what solids you can give them abroad!

Took mine at just turned 4m and it was fine. Slept most of the way. Would have been a nightmare much older than but mine was crawling at 7m and walking by 10m.

We flew quite regularly with a baby and now with a toddler. Id pick baby over toddler any day of the week.

I breastfed which was a godsend as I stuck the baby on the boob especially during take off and landing and he was quite happy. We did do downloaded videos and had little toys. We also picked seats right at the back near the loos so were out of the way.

LIgnore this poster OP. I really hope they don't bother travelling by plane because if they are this grumpy at home, I'm not sure what makes them think they won't be this grumpy on a plane when their routine is disrupted by a holiday. Perhaps they should wait until they're older and grown out of it.

Go on holiday if you want to go on holiday. Passengers book flights knowing there will be a plethora of other folk on the plane. You don't know who will travel on the plane with you, so the risk is the same for everyone.