long haul flight with 7 month old

TRISHKA

Hiya
I will be travelling in a couple of weeks to Seattle with my 7 month old, a friend is coming also and I plan on bringing my sling and a stroller as have an 8hr stopover in Chicargo but was wondering if anyone has any experience flying amercian airways with a baby? on their website it says travel cots(bassinettes) are on a first come first serve basis, anyone use one of these before? how many are on each flight? plan on checking in as early as possible to try to get one. I'm still breastfeeding but baby is on solids now so will need to bring food for her, any suggestions what to bring? I normally make her food up but not sure if I will be able to bring this onboard with me? if not does anyone know what prepared( ellas kitchen etc) foods are available in boots in Dublin airport? Also read to bring a couple of new toys to entertain her during the flight any suggestions for good toys that suit flights and hold babies attention? was thinking maybe some of those suction type toys I could attach onto laptray? also any other advice would be amazing to keep me sane as will be 27hrs travelling before we get to destination :eek:

mary1978

Hi there

I flew with my 6 month old on a flight to Singapore with BA return on my own and it was not too bad. Have to say that BA were great and very family / baby friendly. The outbound was grand as baby slept for most of journey as it was overnight. Flight back was tougher on him because it didnt leave till 1am so he was very overtired, then sleep was quite broken and he didnt sleep so well as it was then his daytime so nighttime flying is definately preferable.

For the bassinets - unfortunately, they can't reserve one for you even at check in. You have to wait till you board so board early and ask for it as soon as you get on. (its cos if a baby on the inbound flight vomits over one then they are down one bassinet for the next flight, so don't know until the plane before yours has landed and been cleaned up. i think it is rare enough that you wont get one but again, depends on airline.
But you can resevre the bulk head seat in advance usually. BA allowed me to do it online for free.
the size of the bassinets and shape/ type depends on airline. BA had little moses baskets which our LO was literally squeezed into as they are pretty small. then for larger babies they have a sling type seat which looks ok for sitting in but not the nicest for sleeping. But then Singapore airlines moses baskets are much longer... just depends on the airline.

For food, BA actually provided baby food onboard. I was BF'ing and our little guy wasnt really eating solids when we flew so I didnt bring food anyway, but he had a bit of the BA stuff and liked it.
I would call the airline and see what is provided if anything. I don't know what they have in the airport but I would be prepared for the US security to take everything off you before your flight onwards to Seattle. The Dublin guys are much more relaxed / reasonable and didnt question me bringing expressed breast milk thru with me.

Toys - I brought loads. You will need them when you are there anyway. I just brought his usual stuff. Rattles, a new Lamaze toy, some blocks to play with etc etc.

For me, I brought his usual blankets, dressed him in his PJ's (night flight), brought LOADS of spare clothes and nappies, bring a plastic bag to put all his dirty clothes in. Plane can be cold so bring a good jumper and a hat.

Best of luck and try not to stress about it. Oh, anddefo bring a sling. Seattle is a lovely place.

Pugins

Flew Dublin-London-Kuala Lumpur-Melbourne with 5 month old

Brought lots of those food pouches and no problem in any airport, they just asked me to taste them at security. As for toys I just brought a few Lamaze ones and some books.

Good luck!

TRISHKA

Thanks Mary and Pugins for the replies, its good to know other mams have managed to get throught longhaul in one piece, Any suggestions what toys to bring? i'm kinda pulled between bringing plenty so she has loads of choice and then i'm thinking it could be a pain in the ass tryin to keep track of them all if she keeps dropping them on the ground, rolling under seats etc

Clothes wise I was thinking of just dressing her in either babygrows or leggings and longsleeved tops, and bringing plenty of spares.

Can I ask did you bring both handluggage and a nappy bag with you? again trying to figure out if "less is more" and I would be better off trying to squish everything into one bag for handiness, but then again 27hours is a very long time to be trying to survive out of one bag?

thanks again

dollybird2

I flew longhaul with my baby when she was six months old. You will survive it!
I didnt use a bassinet instead i just let her sleep in a sling which didnt interfere with the seatbelt so it was handy. I brought a carry on bag &a nappy bag, no problem bringing both. For food i brought a packet of dry baby rice & a tub of formula. Again no issue bringing these and the air stewards wete great for getting boiled water for me. I would advise bringing a bottle for water as air travel dehydrated my lady no end & if id kept giving her milk she would have been sick.
Re: toys id bring a good choice and the suction ones are a good idea. A handheld dvd player worked a charm for me. Also the lamaze wrist & ankle toys were great.
Clothes wise babygros are handy for changing nappies & bring a blanket or warm cardigan in case the plane is cold.

Enjoy your trip. Im very jealous would love to be going somewhere nice!

TRISHKA

Thanks Dollybird2, yeah so looking forward to the trip i'm really lucky. Can I ask did you simply not ask for the bassinette or was one not available? also which airline did you fly with? We have an Ergo and I intend bringing it and "sometimes" if she is really tired she will fall asleep on my chest in it but othertimes she has a meltdown and just wants out of it, you probably had a ringsling etc. Yeah going up to smyths today to check out some of the toys, quite hard to find those suction toys, have looked at a couple on amazon but they seem quite large to be carrying around. The wrist/feet toys are a good idea will rob that:)