Flying with a new born

[emmyloo2]

Hello,

I am due to have my first baby on 14th November. My husband and I plan to fly with the baby just over a month later home to Australia from the UK.

Is this feasible do you think? Can a newborn fly at such a young age? From my research they can fly after 2 weeks old. I am just wondering how safe it is given it won't have had injections at that point. I think they get their first round at 8 weeks.

Secondly - would the baby just sleep in a bassinet in the plane? I read somewhere you should take a car seat and book a seat for that. However, I ahve only ever seen people put their babies in the bassinett things that planes have.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks

You won't be able to keep a newborn in a carseat for that long - it should only be for about an hour. However, having the car seat for takeoff and landing is safest IMO. You'll also need the baby's luggage allowance and you usually only get that if you book a seat for them. Check with your airline about the bassinets and their own policies on how young babies they'll take (though I saw 1 week with one airline!).

I think it's up to you on the safety. There are places in the world that still have polio, etc, so in flying you do run the risk of coming across someone carrying it or something else, but you'd have to be pretty unlucky to do so I think.

Btw, what if the baby is late? You're rather relying on it turning up on time, aren't you?

Thanks. So we would take a car seat for take-off and landing and then put it into the bassinett? We will be flying BA or Singapore Airlines.

And yep, we are relying on it turning up on time (which I know the chances of are slim!) We will buy flexible tickets though so it is late and we are too short on time, we will just delay our flights. We are trying to get home in time for Christmas, otherwise we would obviously wait longer.....

We would be flying just through Singapore and onto Perth so hopefully the risk of polio etc is quite slim.

I think you'll be just fine (with a bit of planning)!

My DS was born in NZ on 18 November - 11 days late - so he was 1 mo old when we flew back to the UK on 18 December.

The advice we received at the time was that DS should be 2 weeks+, I think, at the time of the flight although he could travel younger than that if we had a doctor's note. However, age aside, the main issues I can think of are:

• getting a passport sorted asap. We got a photo done at 3 days old, and a birth certificate the next day, but it still took about 10 days after that for the passport to arrive. In the UK you can get an urgent passport issued if you go to the passport office but you need to make plans about who will do that if, eg you have a c-section or other complications.

• If it's a one-way flight, you'll probably want to get an Aussie passport so that you don't run into visa issues on entry. You might want to check with the High Commission how quickly they can turn around an urgent application (our experience was that they will do whatever they can to get you on your booked flight).

• if you do decide to take a carseat, you'll need to book an extra seat on the flight at the child's rate. Personally, though, I wouldn't bother about taking a carseat on the flight for take off/landing for the reason below

• babies hate take off and landing so it's best to have them on your lap and feed them through both. The airline will provide a safety belt which attaches to your own belt. I breastfed my DS which made it super easy to feed on take off and when there was turbulence too.

• a bassinet is nice and you should get priority with a young baby. BUT, the bassinets are all situated in the bulkheads, so you get very limited legroom which can be really uncomfortable on a long flight (we made that mistake first time around - DS ended up on my lap the whole time so the bassinet was wasted but we were very stiff afterwards). If you can afford it, consider either a business or premium economy seat instead. Or, at the very least, book baby a seat at the child's price - that way, you can have an entire row to yourself, with plenty of space and privacy to bf.

• think about your route. You usually get more luggage allowance going via the States but then you will have to go through immigration, even in transit. A direct flight to Sydney or via HK/Singapore would be more comfortable although you'll probably get a smaller luggage allowance.

Hope this doesn't sound too scary. I had all the same worries as you before we flew but, thankfully, had a really positive midwife who was totally supportive of our decision to fly back when DS was so young. We had (apart from the lack of legroom) a really great flight.

It'll be fine. I took my month old baby to Bahrain. He was in the bassinet sometimes but most of the time, I had him in a sling on me. He fed a lot.

Hi Emmylou! I had to answer this - not because I have useful advice - but because I am also due my first baby on the 14th of November and I also want to fly home for Christmas! So I'm watching this thread with interest. I would be flying in Europe though - and a quite short flight at that, which might make it a bit easier for me,but similar concerns nonetheless.

My main worry was also exposure to diseases etc; but a friend of mine pointed out that breastfeeding gives the babies a lot of antibodies, so I hope that will work out and be a good source of protection.

Good luck with everything!

ILGH - a sling is a great idea, wish we had done that! Definitely agree re feeding a lot too. That and sleeping of course.

Should just add that, having just done the journey in reverse 2 weeks ago with an 18mo, travelling with a newborn is much easier!

Thanks everyone, much appreciated.

Good point about the bulkhead seats not having as much room. My husband is 6 ft so it might worry him more than me. I will look into that. We could fly business if necessary. We will fly direct from london to Singapore then Singapore straight through to perth, so it's not a terrible flight.

I will also take the sling - great idea.

Phew - I feel a bit more at ease now. I was getting all worried about it. Our other option was for me to go home and have the baby in Oz, but that was going to be more trouble than flying home with a newborn.

My sil has had 5 kids and she said flying with a baby at 4 weeks was no problem at all.

Yep, having done the flight at 6 months pregnant (worst flight of my life), I reckon it's a lot easier to travel with a young baby than with a bump.

You'll be just fine. Lots and lots of luck.

Hi

I flew long haul with my 6 week old son not so long ago. Depending on the airline the baby is allowed a stroller (take up to the plane with you), car seat (haul), and 10kg of haul and 7kg of cabin luggage. Ours were very comfy in the bassinet and with the motion of the airplane he was asleep most of the 18 hours. The baby was on our lap during take off and landing and during turbulence. We did not pay extra for a seat as honestly it would have been a waste of money. They also give you a lap belt during take off and landing which clicks unto your belt. As we were in SA for 9 weeks my son had a BCG injection a week before we left and the rest of his injections in SA (which was very pricey indeed). Enjoy it, much easier than flying with a 2 year old ;-)

PS

I'm 6 ft and my husband 6ft5 and we did not have any problems in the bulk seats on either BA, SAA or Emirates. I think I depends on the airline but we appreciated having slightly more leg room in the bulk seats.

Thanks grumpy. Good to know about the bulk head. We will be flying BA and then Qantas.

We plan on getting the 8 week injections in Perth because I will stay there for a couple of months.