Long Distance Flight with an Infant

[Wastedyouth]

You should never board first if you have kids. Be the absolute last person on the plane. Everyone is sitting already and the kids get distracted with all the movement and people.

Getting settled first just gives your kids time to sit and get bored with none of the excitment of the plane moving. Also thats about 30 minutes that the people around you dont have to listen to your kids freak out.

Pre-load baby Einstein on an iPad with some soft headphones and distract the heck out of the kid until the whitenoise of the engines lulls them to sleep.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by Barnet Flame

Ask for a bulkhead seat and a basinette.

We flew to Australia when our son was nine months old and he slept a lot and was no problem on either leg.

My wife and I on the other hand, aggravated the hell out of each other.

I honestly think it is easier traveling with a baby that age than it is with a toddler.

This, except dont expect to be given the bulkhead seats. They are preferred seating and you will need to pay extra for the extra legroom so when booking your flight make sure you snag those seats.

[habernac]

we flew with our 1 year old a few years back to Hawaii. He stretched out over my wife and I and slept pretty much the whole flight.

[Ozy_Flame]

Can you check them in just to be sure they don't cry the whole time?

[Tron_fdc]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

This, except dont expect to be given the bulkhead seats. They are preferred seating and you will need to pay extra for the extra legroom so when booking your flight make sure you snag those seats.

Yes and no. I've sat bulkhead, and have been asked by the stewardess to change seats to accommodate a small child that needed a basinette.

Bulkhead isn't really extra legroom anyway. I can usually stretch out under a seat in economy class, with bulkhead my toes are up against a wall. I hate those seats.

[Misterpants]

Pro-tip: If your baby is a bit fussy and needs to be walked around/rocked, go to the back of the plane just before they start to serve drinks. Normally you aren't allowed to loiter in the attendants area, but if you are trapped behind the drink cart and your seat is near the front of the plane, they can't say nothin'! It's dark back there, has good soothing engine noise and you can escape the judging glares of theose that have yet to experience travel with children and aren't worldly enough to buy a frigging pair of noise cancelling headphones.

[cavalera403]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Can you check them in just to be sure they don't cry the whole time?

I think horse tranquilizers and a dog kennel should be mandatory until about the age of 14.

That or some good noise cancelling head phones and a few stiff drinks.

PS: I only practice the second point, drinks are only need on flights longer than 2 hrs

[Peanut]

Westjet doesn't do the bulkhead/bassinet thing. Not sure if AC does on Hawaii flights.

Here's my pro-tip that shouldn't have to be a tip: make sure you are seated with your wife. AC has seated me apart from my partner on several occasions. They actually have seated me apart from my partner and my 4 year old, even when we are all booked on the same itinerary. So my 4-year old was 10 rows away from me and 6 rows away from her step-dad, just sitting with random strangers. Lunacy. But anyways, people are *usually* willing to switch but it's stressful to get on the plane, wait for everyone to get seated and then start asking people to move around.

[burn_this_city]

If you go through the online seat selection you should never be separated.

[SilverGS]

We took our soon to Maui when he was 8 months and HK at 11 months.

He slept at least half the time if not more.

Otherwise I didn't find anything extra was needed that I didn't already do when we are out and about in town.

1. Ensure you have some sort of entertainment you know they can focus on for a while. With my son he had no problem sitting still for 30-60 minutes watching a show on the iPad. Or maybe toys you know they like to play with to occupy their time when they are awake. We had some toys, kids apps and some shows on an iPad that we knew could keep him occupied.

2. Obviously the given is get them up and out of the seat once in a while when not sleeping. Walk them up and down the aisle and what not.

3. Snacks - We brought milk and a bunch of his favourite snacks in case he gets hungry. When we went through security with the liquid all we had to do was put it in a plastic bag and they do a special swab test on it. You are allowed to take drinks more than 100ml for babies. If he is still only breastfeeding I guess this won't be an issue anyways.

4. If your kid doesn't fall asleep on planes you can give him children's gravol. Since he is 5 months I would cut a tablet in half and dissolve it in his milk. It will help them sleep.

5. When to get on really depends on your kid. If they are ok with sitting still or can be occupied easily getting on first is nice so you can make sure you have room for all your gear in the overhead bins. We always got off last. Much easier and your stroller will be there waiting for you as you exit the plane.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

If you go through the online seat selection you should never be separated.

Air Canada makes you pay to sit together if you book a tango fare.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Wastedyouth

You should never board first if you have kids. Be the absolute last person on the plane. Everyone is sitting already and the kids get distracted with all the movement and people.

Getting settled first just gives your kids time to sit and get bored with none of the excitment of the plane moving. Also thats about 30 minutes that the people around you dont have to listen to your kids freak out.

That may be true when they are older, but personally I prefer the stress-reduced way of having extra time to fold the stroller and put away all our crap. When you have a baby in your arms, it's much less stressful to do all this without 50 people waiting behind you. The kid being 5-10 minutes extra in my lap is not going to make a difference in a multi-hour flight for me.

Pre-load baby Einstein on an iPad with some soft headphones and distract the heck out of the kid until the whitenoise of the engines lulls them to sleep.

We're trying to minimize the whole screen addiction thing with kids, so definitely not doing that.

I didn't start this thread, but it's about to get pretty relevant. Getting on a flight to NYC tomorrow morning, ha. With effin United of course.

[Wastedyouth]

Originally Posted by Table 5

That may be true when they are older, but personally I prefer the stress-reduced way of having extra time to fold the stroller and put away all our crap. When you have a baby in your arms, it's much less stressful to do all this without 50 people waiting behind you. The kid being 5-10 minutes extra in my lap is not going to make a difference in a multi-hour flight for me.



We're trying to minimize the whole screen addiction thing with kids, so definitely not doing that.

I didn't start this thread, but it's about to get pretty relevant. Getting on a flight to NYC tomorrow morning, ha. With effin United of course.

Thats why I said be the absolute last people to board....

I understand the issue with causing screen addiction by over stimulating them with tv all the time but it is a stressful situation for them as well, and providing something familiar they can focus on eases there situation as much as it does for you.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Wastedyouth

Thats why I said be the absolute last people to board....

The problem with that is if you're last, all the overhead bins are completely filled up (especially these days when people are avoiding checking fees). And when you have a kid with you, every little bit of extra space helps.

I understand the issue with causing screen addiction by over stimulating them with tv all the time but it is a stressful situation for them as well, and providing something familiar they can focus on eases there situation as much as it does for you.

We just bring a couple of small toys an a picture book. Seems to do the job just fine.

[GreenLantern]

I know some people who took twins down to Florida, they were 11 months old. One twin didn't stop crying for the entire flight right from take off, the other one puked everywhere about 20 minutes in and stunk up the entire plane.

Imagine sitting on that plane all you can smell is baby vomit and all you can hear is baby crying. LoL.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

I know some people who took twins down to Florida, they were 11 months old. One twin didn't stop crying for the entire flight right from take off, the other one puked everywhere about 20 minutes in and stunk up the entire plane.

Imagine sitting on that plane all you can smell is baby vomit and all you can hear is baby crying. LoL.

As bad as it was for the other passengers, I feel way worse for the parents in that situation. Most parents do everything they can to make sure their babies dont bother others... but sometimes it's just out of your control. The flight probably took a few years off their life.