Travelling with a new born

[billmurray]

Restarting this thread as we looking for any tips & tricks in addition to the above - but more related to being at the airport. We will be travelling with a 6 month old.

We have book a 4 week holiday, visiting Italy & England. We fly SYD - SIN - LHR (SQ business rewards booking) 24th Sept. Then LHR - MXP for our first destination & start the holiday. Our return home flight is LHR - SIN - SYD on 25th Oct. We will travel the length of Italy, spending approx 5 days in each spot. The route is;

Milan - Florence - Sorrento - Puglia - Rome - London. We will train most routes between cities, but fly Sorrento - Puglia, Puglia - Rome & Rome - London.

I have the following queries;

1) From my understanding, SQ allows you to bring a pram for free & an additonal checked/carry on for baby items (forumla, nappies etc). I intend to purchase a travel pram that can be stowed in overhead.

2) What is the process for brining formula - im aiming to bring an entire tin - can this be opened already?

3) How do youwash out bottles when in the air (in the toilet?)

4) We are mostly on the A380s with SQ and 777 on the LHR-SIN home - we have booked bassinet for both - any comments on these seats or items to bring to help make the bassinet more comfortable?

5) Are there any images/photos of these bassinets in SQ business, i can only find photos from economy.

6) Has anyone used the CoziGo Airplane Bassinet Cover before or able to comment on it?

7) Any personal experience how to deal with jet lag/setting new time zone while on the flight and the eventual melt down/over tired response?

 

[big_RED]

I hope the below helps

• We have just travelled on Jetstar and Vietnam Airlines with our 3mth old
• Our YoYo travel pram was allowed in the overhead on both airlines (but make sure you have a bag to put it in as both airlines said it needed to be "covered" even though this wasn't the case once we got onboard... so we had to go to a cafe at SYD International Airport to ask them for a black rubbish bag to use as our "bag"
  • When there was a language barrier and people were "concerned" we had a pram we just said "yoyo" and that seemed to be the international word for "it's the small travel pram that fits on a plane" and they let us through
• We had a whole tin of formula in our carry on backpack (opened). Every security station we went through, when we said "we have a baby" they just let us through (e.g. we had 2L of water in our bags to fill up the formula during our trip) and this didn't raise any eyes even when they had "water bottle disposal stations" prior to the security screening
  • We didn't have to get our carry on bags screened any differently to a normal person
  • I did Google Sydney and Vietnam Airport Security rules to 100% confirm this prior. Both websites had good information on baby contents you were allowed so I'd recommend checking that out as well
• In the Qantas lounge we used the hot water tap to clean the bottles
  • I believe you can ask the airline staff to do the same with their kettle onboard (a lot of friends had told us this)
  • And yes, we were going to revert to the airport bathrooms as a last resort too
• My biggest advice is to make sure all bottle/feeding items are in the same backpack. My wife and I had spread the bottles and formula across 2 bags (due to space) and that was just a hassle getting both bags out during flights to feed our baby... so keep it all in the one bag!
• Landing seemed to upset our baby, so having a bottle available during descent meant she had something so suck on and averted all crying which was good
• The bassinet on Jetstar Business came with a small blanket, so we didn't use the one we had brought
  • They honestly look a bit like the Neonatal ICU units a newborn might have to go in... they're just a rectangular cube that folds off from the wall with plastic on the sides so you can see through to your baby when you're seated
• We're heading to the US in a few weeks so are going to a sleep consultant shortly to get advice about the jet lag and sleeping pattern thing. If we get any good advice I'll post it back here!
  • On returning from Vietnam (only 3hr difference) we didn't have too many issues with jet lag as our baby was already on a 3hr eating and sleeping routine. But she definitely did wake up at random times for 3 days before she was fully settled again.

 

[tassie6]

Restarting this thread as we looking for any tips & tricks in addition to the above - but more related to being at the airport. We will be travelling with a 6 month old.

We have book a 4 week holiday, visiting Italy & England. We fly SYD - SIN - LHR (SQ business rewards booking) 24th Sept. Then LHR - MXP for our first destination & start the holiday. Our return home flight is LHR - SIN - SYD on 25th Oct. We will travel the length of Italy, spending approx 5 days in each spot. The route is;

Milan - Florence - Sorrento - Puglia - Rome - London. We will train most routes between cities, but fly Sorrento - Puglia, Puglia - Rome & Rome - London.

I have the following queries;

1) From my understanding, SQ allows you to bring a pram for free & an additonal checked/carry on for baby items (forumla, nappies etc). I intend to purchase a travel pram that can be stowed in overhead.

2) What is the process for brining formula - im aiming to bring an entire tin - can this be opened already?

3) How do youwash out bottles when in the air (in the toilet?)

4) We are mostly on the A380s with SQ and 777 on the LHR-SIN home - we have booked bassinet for both - any comments on these seats or items to bring to help make the bassinet more comfortable?

5) Are there any images/photos of these bassinets in SQ business, i can only find photos from economy.

6) Has anyone used the CoziGo Airplane Bassinet Cover before or able to comment on it?

7) Any personal experience how to deal with jet lag/setting new time zone while on the flight and the eventual melt down/over tired response?

Just flew SQ J & PE with toddler, can help answer a couple. Have flown with him internationally at 6, 12, 18 months and at a bit over 2 years.

@big_RED has done most of the work and I concur wholeheartedly with them

1. Always had a Mountain Buggy Nano in overhead bin. Lifesaver in airport and I never trusted to gate check as so dependent on it. Never an issue on SQ.
2. Just say you have a baby and you can more or less take through whatever you want. In airports in Asia, Aus, NZ and Europe never had anything stopped from taking through including formula, water, fruit pouches. If you are the partner without the baby but picking up the bags from the belt, they normally asked where the baby was so I just pointed him out with my partner where they had already gone through. Expect bags to get pulled to the side most of the time
3. Just used bottle water to rinse as well as possible in the air, washed again in lounges. Not ideal but I figure a well rinsed with clean water bottle for 24-48 hours is fine
4. Haven’t used SQ bassinets sorry. Worst thing generally with bassinets is seatbelt sign and having to get them out…
5. Ditto
6. Yes, have one and love it. Get one. Awesome for covering the bassinet when cabin lights are on who knows when and you want to maximise sleep. Also awesome at destination for pram naps (although keep in mind temperature inside if near the sun as it’s essentially a black tent and gets hot). Still use it with 2+ year old on pram when required. Practice folding it before you go though! There is a little knack to getting it back in it’s bag
7. Whatever we planned for failed so just took it as it came and tried to adjust ASAP with lots of outside daylight time. Worked ok for us and generally sorted in a coupledays

I can very very highly recommend one of the below bassinets to travel with:

• Folds flat into a suitcase
• Means you don’t have to rely on hotel bassinets that are sometimes not good, forgotten or they have run out
• Cozi go fits on it to help darken
• Small enough to fit in random spots in hotel rooms like cupboards, bath tubs… all been utilised as bed spots.
• Also great just as a spot to put them down in when not sleeping. Depending on how mobile they are
• We only used till could roll, so only really our first trip at 6 months but it was fantastic then

Easy Sleep Portable Bassinet

When life gets busy, sticking to the perfect sleep routine isn’t always possible. For families that need flexibility and simplicity in their daily routines but don’t want to compromise on safe sleep for their newborn, the Easy Sleep Portable Bassinet is for you. This lightweight portable baby...

www.ergopouch.com.au

 

[billmurray]

Brilliant,

Thanks for the repsones @big_RED & @tassie6, very helpful

 

[Hunter4vr]

Just flew SQ J & PE with toddler, can help answer a couple. Have flown with him internationally at 6, 12, 18 months and at a bit over 2 years.

@big_RED has done most of the work and I concur wholeheartedly with them

1. Always had a Mountain Buggy Nano in overhead bin. Lifesaver in airport and I never trusted to gate check as so dependent on it. Never an issue on SQ.
2. Just say you have a baby and you can more or less take through whatever you want. In airports in Asia, Aus, NZ and Europe never had anything stopped from taking through including formula, water, fruit pouches. If you are the partner without the baby but picking up the bags from the belt, they normally asked where the baby was so I just pointed him out with my partner where they had already gone through. Expect bags to get pulled to the side most of the time
3. Just used bottle water to rinse as well as possible in the air, washed again in lounges. Not ideal but I figure a well rinsed with clean water bottle for 24-48 hours is fine
4. Haven’t used SQ bassinets sorry. Worst thing generally with bassinets is seatbelt sign and having to get them out…
5. Ditto
6. Yes, have one and love it. Get one. Awesome for covering the bassinet when cabin lights are on who knows when and you want to maximise sleep. Also awesome at destination for pram naps (although keep in mind temperature inside if near the sun as it’s essentially a black tent and gets hot). Still use it with 2+ year old on pram when required. Practice folding it before you go though! There is a little knack to getting it back in it’s bag
7. Whatever we planned for failed so just took it as it came and tried to adjust ASAP with lots of outside daylight time. Worked ok for us and generally sorted in a coupledays

I can very very highly recommend one of the below bassinets to travel with:

• Folds flat into a suitcase
• Means you don’t have to rely on hotel bassinets that are sometimes not good, forgotten or they have run out
• Cozi go fits on it to help darken
• Small enough to fit in random spots in hotel rooms like cupboards, bath tubs… all been utilised as bed spots.
• Also great just as a spot to put them down in when not sleeping. Depending on how mobile they are
• We only used till could roll, so only really our first trip at 6 months but it was fantastic then

Easy Sleep Portable Bassinet

When life gets busy, sticking to the perfect sleep routine isn’t always possible. For families that need flexibility and simplicity in their daily routines but don’t want to compromise on safe sleep for their newborn, the Easy Sleep Portable Bassinet is for you. This lightweight portable baby...

www.ergopouch.com.au

How would you compare travel with the little one at 6 months vs 12 or 18 months? We have flown long haul when the bub was 3 and 6 months and it was all fairly chill. Now we have a couple trips planned when she will be 14 and 19 months which I assume will be bit more challenging as she is interested in everything around her.

 

[blackcat20]

How would you compare travel with the little one at 6 months vs 12 or 18 months? We have flown long haul when the bub was 3 and 6 months and it was all fairly chill. Now we have a couple trips planned when she will be 14 and 19 months which I assume will be bit more challenging as she is interested in everything around her.

17 months was hard for us. They want to be busy moving around and don't have time to sit down and play with all the activities you've carefully packed. iPads are great if they are interested (and it gets easier).

 

[billmurray]

6) Has anyone used the CoziGo Airplane Bassinet Cover before or able to comment on it?

Just to bump the above post. Has anyone seen or have photos of the bassinets in business at all?

 

[blackcat20]

Just to bump the above post. Has anyone seen or have photos of the bassinets in business at all?

Let me see if I took one.

Here we go

 

[tassie6]

How would you compare travel with the little one at 6 months vs 12 or 18 months? We have flown long haul when the bub was 3 and 6 months and it was all fairly chill. Now we have a couple trips planned when she will be 14 and 19 months which I assume will be bit more challenging as she is interested in everything around her.

Concur with @blackcat20, starts easy and get harder before they (I assume) will get easier again

6 months: Cant go anywhere, cant do much, ideal for planes!
12 months: He wasn't walking quite yet, but still pretty mobile crawling. If he wasn't in the bassinet, I had him in a front pack on me 95% of the time which was a lifesaver for us to keep everything contained. He was generally pretty content in there if some mild distractions were kept up. Forgot front pack on one flight... not fun
18 months: Still utilised front pack most of the time, but pretty determined to get his own way a bit more, but not yet too interested in ipad like distractions. Definitely the toughest

(note, 12 & 18 month travel was in J, dont think we could have done it in Y if no spare seats next to us)

We just got back from EU and as he was over 2 so had his own seat (SQ PE way over, SQ J on return). I was nervous about being able to keep him strapped in to a J seat when we couldn't be really close to him to force the issue on takeoff/landing, so we ended up using a car seat on the plane in both directions which was great for us, every kid is different obviously but when he was strapped in to the seat he was generally ok with it, but if he was out of it, not very keen on getting back in and wanted to be everywhere at once! Quick changover at Changi and he was asleep on landing, I managed to carry him in the car seat off the plane, security let us keep him in it, and then back on to plane and take off again without him waking up

While it was worth it for us, having that car seat to lug through airport, deal with security (didnt fit through machines), manage it with crew onboard and then of course you have to lug it with you on holiday, it is definitely an added complexity. We were hiring a car at the other end for ~50% of the trip, so it was handy for that. Of course will very much depend on the kid, some other family flew a different route over with same aged kid and she was fine just chilling in a Y seat

 

[blackcat20]

We did F at 17 months and it was awful, but at least we had space to deal with it.
SQ J at 2.5 was fine, he was glued to the iPad the whole flight.
We just did QF Y to the states, and QF J back. He's 3years 4 months. Did perfectly fine, much better at waiting in long lines, happy to watch the screen or iPad. Just needed help changing shows occasionally.

 

[Quickstatus]

@billmurray

The bassinets are all standard across all cabins.
You need to be aware there is a weight rating -the SQ one in the picture is 14kg. This should be adequate for a 6month.

You also need to be aware bassinets are FCFG first come first go. But you may not get it for all sorts of reasons. Ive seen other airlines exclude babies from bassinet row because some higher status passenger are occupying the seats. Air Canada - looking at you...

The bassinets are strictly operated by the cabin crew. They WILL NOT allow children to be in the bassinet when the seat belt sign comes on - even if you took hours to settle baby and baby just gone to sleep in the bassinet. Seat belt sign = strictly baby out of bassinet.

There is no easy way. It may actually be easier on baby to be in their own seat.
When we travelled with 9m twins, they each had their own Y seat plus we brought along the car seat that we brought along was strapped to the economy seat by the cabin crew. The airline gave prior approval for the car seat to be used in the cabin. No need for bassinets and they slept very well because they were familiar with their own car seats.

I would not make the assumption that having a J seat means it will be easier than a Y seat. Kids should have their own economy seat regardless of size/age.

Re the other points:
Cabin crew can heat bottles
Cabin crew can rinse out bottles
Whatever accessories you bring along should be simple and be familiar to baby - there is nothing better than familiarity. I would keep it very simple.
There is nothing special for timezone changes, if you fly across timezones, you will just have to deal with it.
Sedatives like phenergan often have the opposite effect for some reason

You didnt ask about nappies. The cabin crew would have supplies - but these tend to be newborn types but thats Ok - you can use them and put a normal over the top. You need to carry extra nappies to account for potential delays and cancellation. We had 3 days extra nappies we travelled with the 9m twins to south of france. We used all the 3 day extra just to get to Paris. Use the nappies provided by the cabin crew.....

Bring panadol and ibuprofen
Bring hand sanitiser

 

[billmurray]

Let me see if I took one.

Here we go

Thank you, very helpful.

There is no easy way. It may actually be easier on baby to be in their own seat.

Are you saying you booked a separeat seat for your kids, or you utilised one of your seats and installed a car seat, and you just shared standing etc with your partner?

 

[Quickstatus]

Are you saying you booked a separeat seat for your kids

Yes - Everyone had their own paid economy seats. We brought along our car seats which were strapped into the 9m twins airplane seats. Something to consider.... The car seats came in handy when travelling in taxis, hirecars, shuttle vans, rental cars.

Other benefit of the car seat is that when the cabin seat belt sign comes on, they are already strapped into the car seat. No need to fiddle.

Dont forget even though a child's seat is usually 80% of adult fare, a full luggage allowance is attached. I believe on SQ, the pram/stroller and car seat are not counted toward the checked luggage allowance. A fully collapsible "travel" stroller can be brought into cabin but I would actually use a proper stroller instead because a stroller needs to be robust. "Travel" strollers tend to be flimsy. I would gate check the stroller- drop it off at the aircraft door upon embarkation and pick up at the aircraft door after the each flight. Most airlines will allow additional carry on allowance for baby items. SQ says additional 6kg carry on allowance.

Booking separate business seats would generally be out of the question.