Travelling with infant

[summerfun91]

We will be travelling to Melbourne on Jetstar mid July, our baby will be 11months.

Anyone have any tips? I've never travelled with a baby before. I expect the nappy change in the toilets to be extremely squashy. I am pretty nervous.

What are the chances of having a spare seat next to us to sit the little one?

We return on Qantas.




Thanks

 

[Quickstatus]

We will be travelling to Melbourne on Jetstar mid July, our baby will be 11months.

Anyone have any tips? I've never travelled with a baby before. I expect the nappy change in the toilets to be extremely squashy. I am pretty nervous.

What are the chances of having a spare seat next to us to sit the little one?

We return on Qantas.




Thanks

You did not say where your embarkation point is.

Your chance of getting a FOC spare seat does not necessarily increase with baby in tow. Don't expect it and plan for it not to happen. Actually there are travelling with baby threads here recently. If you search for it you should be able to find it. I remember the posts were quite comprehensive about this topic.

Here is one:
http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/qantas-frequent-flyer-program/travelling-infant-under-2-but-65742.html

 

[Simo]

Changing nappy in the toilet is hard and sometimes easier with leaving the door open.. Staff are great and if you check in early enough you just might get a spare seat. Try and time feeding and stuff around take off and landing so they are eating and there ears don't play up... Or have a bottle ready to go when you board the flight...

 

[MickC32]

We flew with our 7 month old at Easter, Jetstar PER-MEL, and back with QF (via ADL for work). Jetstar definitely has less room, no doubt about it. We were lucky to have a lovely lady in our row who was not only understanding but helped out. The crew on all flights were AWESOME.

Try to time feeding/bottle with take off and landing, hope they sleep!

Most importantly don't let yourself get stressed as your baby will notice. If they play up just do your best to keep them under control and everyone else on the flight will be on your side.....leave them to run amok and you won't be so popular!

 

[GarrettM]

If it's not too late try to time your flights to coincide with a regular napping schedule.
We did PER-MEL (VA) in April, departing around 1100 - which was just about perfect. Bub (also 11 months if that helps) put her head on my shoulder during pushback and by the time the wheels left the ground she was out.
Slept for the first hour of the flight and was cruisey as afterwards.

Flight back was a little tougher, as she refused to sleep at all. She didn't get too stroppy, but it was still hard work. Luckily we were o a QF operated flight, even though we'd booked JQ.

She loved smashing the IFE so we let her go with that mostly. Plus a couple new toys, well timed snacks/water, and a couple walks up and down made it work.
FA was also very considerate, and helped make some space so mum at least could have a break.

 

[snabbu]

As Quickstatus said, where is your starting point? The longer the flight the different plan of attack.

In a perfect world your flight would be right when your 11 month old is due to sleep.

 

[Jmrocky]

We will be travelling to Melbourne on Jetstar mid July, our baby will be 11months.

Anyone have any tips? I've never travelled with a baby before. I expect the nappy change in the toilets to be extremely squashy. I am pretty nervous.

What are the chances of having a spare seat next to us to sit the little one?

We return on Qantas.

Thanks

Bottles or dummies for takeoff/descending to help their ears. Buy a new toy or 3, and bring it out once on board. Don't take the lap belt off, any major turbulence and they could end up down the other end.

Sounds like you haven't bought them a seat, every kid is different but mine used to get quite antsy after about 0.5hr, sleep out of the question. Distraction via any means possible was the only way we did it.

 

[Altair]

From our experience a couple of tips regardless of length of flight,
1) Try changing the baby before boarding
2) Have a small bag/packing cell with a nappy, wipes, cream, nappy disposal bag, change of clothes. The bath rooms are small so you do not want to take the full nappy bag in there
3) Do not forget to take a spare top in your carry on for yourself in case of spills
4) We tend to sit in the row closest to the toilets so reduced chance of getting stuck with trolleys etc in the aisle

 

[harvyk]

As others have said, from – to will affect your strategy.
As someone whom has taken many kids under the age of 2 on flights, both short and long, some of the strategies we have employed are.

1. Distraction, make sure you have a selection of the child’s favourite toys, tv shows and movies, music with you. That said, do not bring toys which would normally make noise (without headphones), as they will drive everyone crazy.
2. This is a good time to buy your child something small like a teddy bear or other small toy which they haven’t seen before. Give it to your child if they become restless during the flight.
3. Food – make sure you have a selection of the child’s favourite foods with you. This is not the time to be strict on what foods to feed your child, with getting through the flight the name of the game.
4. Do not attempt to stick to a schedule. If your child is sleepy, let them sleep (I managed to once get 10 hours of sleep out of my 2 year old from LAX-SYD, when the FA came around to offer dinner I politely said none for her, sleep was way more important). If you attempt to stick to a routine you are simply asking for trouble, plus on any flight of any sort of length, timezones will help destroy any sense of routine at your destination anyway.
5. If possible, and the child is still small enough, get a bulkhead row with a baby bassinette. They are wonderful for longer flights as they both provide a place for the child to sleep in, and to play in.
6. Yes, the toilets are squishy for changing nappies in, the only advice I can offer is get the bare minimum from the nappy bag prior to heading to the toilets. Enter the toiliets with just the replacement nappy, a change mat, wipes, dirty nappy bag and if required a change of clothes. Yes it is a struggle, but it is possible. If at all possible, make sure you do the change just before boarding, and again do a nappy check just before decent.
7. FA’s tend to be very good, when my twin boys where 8 months old, I had 2 FA’s hold them for most of the flight from BNE to CBR. They offered, so we weren’t going to say no. Furthermore most of the flights we’ve done, FA’s have assisted us to get on board and off again, often offering to carry some of our luggage.
8. Take more nappy’s and more changes of clothes than you think you’ll need, you ideally want to be disembarking at your destination with spare nappy’s and clothes.
9. Be careful of Phenergan. It will sometimes put your child to sleep, other times it will make them very hyper. If you do want to give them Phenergan before traveling test how your child will react to it several days before travel.
10. However long you think you’ll need to get through the airport, double it. Customs lines, security lines, baggage lines, they all seem to take much longer with a child. You do not want to be running through an airport trying to make it to your flight, you want to ensure you are at your gate as early as possible (that also includes heading to your gate from the lounge if you have lounge access, don’t want until the flight is called, start heading down there well before the lounge dragon / angel calls the flight).
11. Don't forget to take a change of clothes for yourself, last thing you want is for a nappy to leak all over you and there is nothing you can do about it.

Good luck, and enjoy, there is nothing quite like experiencing taking the next generation on their first flight.