Travelling with a 11 month old!

[pinkbeans16]

Hi
Going on a plane with an 11 month old baby! Any advice? Tips? Tricks?

How long are you flying for @pinkbeans16? I only flew for a couple of hours at this age and they had a feed in take off (to help with their ears) followed by a nap. There wasn't much time to have to entertain them really.

How long is the flight?

We recently took our 10 month old to Ottawa, so quite a long flight.

No matter their age book them a seat, for us on the way back we had an entire four seat bulk head row, so we had lots of room on the floor for her to roll around.

You can take a car seat on the flight, that means you can actually eat your own food, or have a hot drink safely.

Order formula etc at boots for collection after security, take a shit pushchair if you take one, we’ve now had two completely destroyed between leaving at the plane and getting it back at the airport, take a sling as hands free is so much easier.

Dummies, take a million dummies as you’ll lose a few if you’re as skatty as us. Take toys that won’t annoy others, we didn’t realise how noisy her scrunchy book was.

Along with taking at least two changes of clothes for the baby take something for you, if baby is sick, has a poonami etc and you’re taxiing, turbulence etc you have to just sit and wait, so clean clothes may be needed.

If there is more than one adult book shifts in, we both had eye masks, ear plugs etc so if we weren’t the parent on shift we could get a bit of a break.

Time feed carefully, our daughter was hungry before takeoff, but we delayed a bit so she could feed during take off, luckily she isn’t to grissly etc if she does have to wait a little bit.

Nappy changes can be a pain, the baby change folds down from the back of the toilet usually, they do not always have straps or a lip and they’re tiny. I found putting the toilet lid down and changing her on my lap easier. On the way back we followed a friends tip and it worked well, she gave us some disposable puppy pads, I put one of those on the floor, laid her on it to change her and then all in the bin once done. It stops her making a mess on the floor and stops her having to be on a dirty toilet floor.

If you’re on the bulkhead take a travel town to put on the floor, not only does it mean baby isn’t on a dirty floor if they make a mess you can just fold it in the towel, much easier than picking up crumbs etc that baby makes.

Order all your toddler food and nappies/baby wipes that you will need at the airport (both ends) and during the flight from Boots for collection after all security checks. This will hopefully save you some time in the security queue as you will have less liquids to be checked and will save room in your carry-on luggage. You are allowed ONE standard airport shopping bag on to your flight in addition to your hand luggage. e.g You can have hand luggage + 1 Boots bag or hand luggage + a standard bag from another airport store.
Most airlines will allow you to take the pushchair right up to the plane door and then staff will pop it under with the luggage. Ask at check-in whether you get it back on the Tarmac once you've landed or whether it will turn up on the carousel.
You should get priority boarding.
Aim to choose an aisle seat near the front of the plane or if the aircraft has a bulkhead seat try and book one if possible. Some parents do prefer to sit near the bathrooms at the back, but noise levels can be higher. However this might be useful depending on how your baby responds to noise, take this into consideration.
You should try and give your LO a drink whilst taking off and landing to relieve any pressure in their ears. Either that or encourage them to suck their thumb or a dummy (that works for longer!).

Take satchets of Calpol and ibuprofen with your hand luggage just in case. Make sure you have at least one change of clothes for LO on the flight and bring a spare top for yourself. Layer LO up so you can keep them comfy through the flight.
Take several dummies for the plane if your baby uses them - then if they get flung on the mucky floor you can get another one out. Or buy a dummy clip.

Take a hat to pull over LO's eyes and ears to help with sleep and to keep head warm if the air con is too strong.

Even though you'll probably get given blankets by the airline on the flight, still take LO's own blanket as it will have a familiar smell and texture.

Put hand luggage in a back pack so you have your hands free.