Flying/holiday with 5 month old

[Friedseasalt]

Trying to get organised for a hol which is shortly after Xmas. Due to Covid I didn’t fly with DS until he was 2 so I have zero experience with a baby. What do I need for the airport & flight? ( 5 hours ) and any tips or tricks for the travel or the holiday (10 days), will be 25 degrees ish so a lot warmer than UK in winter!

At 5 months, hopefully they will sleep for a good chunk of the flight. Take a couple of little toys they like for when they are awake. If you breastfeed, feeding during takeoff and landing can reduce ear popping - would also work with bottles if it times right (you can take as much formula as you want in hand luggage). Plenty of spare clothes, nappies, wipes etc in hand luggage too.
On holiday, some kind of sun cover or snooze shade for the stroller and possibly a little clip on fan to keep baby cool. The Milton cold water steriliser is good when away if you bottle feed. I found mine were quite easy to travel with at that age!

I flew long haul with my 5 month old. He was so freaked out by the noise/pressure, that he screamed and refused to breastfeed for SEVEN hours. It was horrific, for everyone. It was a night flight and plane took off around 7 pm so we thought he would sleep.

Oh and it also completely threw off his sleep. He had been sleeping through the night for the 3 weeks before we left and the holiday totally fucked that. He woke every 2 hours the entire holiday. So keep your expectations very, very, very low.

Pack more nappies than you think you need, 2 changes of clothes (they are probe to poonamis on flights), I found it useful to have the yoyo stroller so you can take it in the cabin, and definitely a sling/baby carrier so you can bounce him up and down the aisle. Take a blanket as flights can be extra cold.

BTW I flew again when he was 12 months and it went spectacularly well. It should have been hell (13 hour flight, 4 hour layover and another 2 hour flight) but he was an angel. Laughed and smiled and slept when I needed him to. I find it easier at this age as I can bribe him with snacks and he's generally happier, but many will tell you it should be a horrible age to travel. It did fuck up his sleep again and we had to co-sleep the entire holiday.

Don’t forget to bring a change of clothes for yourself as well as baby (from bitter experience).

Yes to the suggestion of a sling. Especially when getting off the plane, as normally you collect the pram from the luggage area.

I found 5 months a good age to travel as they are less mobile, so aren't fighting to run or get down.

Definitely a change of clothes for you...nothing worse than having to sit covered baby puke...even if they aren't normally the vomiting kind ( I know having learnt the hard way!)

This. I flew with my ds at 3 months and 7 months and all he really needed for the flights were boob and sleep. Took toys for the second lot of flights but he was uninterested. As they're in the buggy at the airport, they sleep a lot. He had an expected poonami at the airport though so defo remember spare change of clothes just incase. I think at that age, you don't need much other than what you need in normal daily life.

Have more nappies than you think you will. Two packets of wipes. Two changes for baby, one for you, not necessarily for puke but having a drink whilst holding a baby might conclude with part of the drink on you and baby.
Have some snacks you can eat single handed.
Book seats in advance.

During the holiday, depending where you going, I would consider a wetsuit for baby and sibling. At 25 degrees, pool and sea might be cold. I would also consider an inflatable baby seat for the beach, some come with a canopy, so the baby can easily be part of beach life. At that age, babies are entertained by so many things, mainly humans around them. A small soft ball, maybe with a noisy bell in it, can provide hours of play even if you are throwing ball at baby without any expectation baby will catch in.
Sun cream can easily go from baby’s hands to baby’s eyes, so make put it before you leave the hotel bedroom, so it will be dry.
Depending on accomodation, you might not have access to a washing machine, so think big when it comes to tops for both kids. Ice-cream, sand, suncream , … you might easily go through two - three tops per day.
Do you know if water is drinkable where you go? If not, careful with bath water. Canaries are safe, Egypt or similar countries are not. If going to a country with famous tourist belly issues, make sure to take water purification tablets with you for bath time.

Clothes for you as well as the baby!