island.girl

we will be flying with our 17mth old daughter and wondered about milk on the plane? anyone already flown with a young child?
do you have to order the milk or take your own?
and any other advise please... im dreading it!
thankyou in advance!

lucy.summers

I fly next week with a 14 month old.(emirates)

I have been told that we may be provided with milk but am packing some small cartons of SMA progress just in case nothing is provided. It's only 2 milk drinks for the 20 hour flight so not too worried. I assume for a 17 month old you have booked a seat - we haven't as ben is really little so will still fit the skycot - so I am taking everything just in case we don't get provided with anything. If you have a seat booked you should get most things needed.

Have a good one and I'll post when we're back to let you know how it went!

si.young

We flew Singapore and took our own milk, the cabin staff were kind enough to find some room in there fridge so there was no problems keeping it cold. But we were lucky enough to have a son who preferred cold milk to warm, so we didnt have the hassle of warming it, but I'm sure they would have accommodated that as well.

island.girl

thanks, yea we are booking a seat, she is very very lively!
im sure the people behind and infront will love us!
she drinks full fat cows milk, when we book i will ask them, if not i will have to take with me.
im assuming they will let me clean her cup though.
good luck with your flight and do let us know!

Lewis Lapthorn

What do you mean, people behind you? Aren't you going to request the bulk head (front of cabin with loads of leg room and cabin bed for nippers).

We requested this from Singapore Airlines and they were brilliant. Don't worry - the thought is twenty times worse than the event. They sleep half the journey anyway.

goldcoastrealestate

I am a mother of six and the baby is now 13 - :-( so no more little people for awhile in my tribe.

Last year I flew to Melbourne an d a young mum with 2 toddlers on her own struggled so I spent the entire trip keeping the older girl entertained. This is what I noticed the mother should have done:

1. Plenty of things to do. Pack a bag of things to do, that have never been seen before
2. Food! Pack lots of it, maybe in zip lock bags in small quantanties, or it will all end up on the floor. Small children who get bored, often look for food
3. If you do not object - a lollypop or something similar for blocked ears when taking off and landing. If you are breastfeeding or she has a dummy, that is even better
4. Talking books which can be played on a CD player
5. Mini DVD player with lots of batteries - Shrek, The Wiggles . . . I am sure she will have her favourites!


I realise 17 months is quite young and some of these suggestions maybe for an older child, but worth a try.


Gayle

Three Legs

Yes ...

Fly business class and save on their airfares by forwarding them by surface post.

Just ensure the crate they are packaged in is well vented but equally insulated.

You will have six weeks to settle in to the Australian lifestyle and they will have hundreds of stories to tell you regarding their life on the high seas.

Everyone's a winner.

ginaf

Hi, I have little children and I used to be a flight attendant, hope I can help.

The crew won't mind you using their fridges to store your milk, the will clean her cup for you and heat your bottles and food, make sure you order a kiddies meal if you haven't all ready they tend to be really good and nice and mushy for a 17 month old .

I would take an extra blanket as the airline ones tend to be very thin and scratchy and I would take her night clothes/sleepsuit to change her into at bedtime, don't forget lots of spare clothes for and her and a couple of spare tops for you.

I would try to keep her sucking on her bottle during take-off and landing it helps to clear her ears.

I have never had anyone complain about a screaming baby on a flight so don't worry at all if she has a cry. Tesco's and Woolies do some good cheap toys for little ones.

If you have a short stopover ask the crew if they can arrange to have your buggy brought up from the hold whilst you are on the ground, it is not done unless you ask and makes life much easier for you. Again, at your final destination ask for it to be bought up to the aircraft door instead of it coming out on the baggage carousel, but make sure you ask before landing as the captain will need to radio ahead, but it is easy to do.

We booked a bulkhead row for a longhaul flight and there was just enough room on the floor for our daughter to have a little play down there.

Good luck!

Three Legs

Hey Gina,

Hi ...

We had bulkhead seats back in February flying to Perth with Malaysian. They are good if the kids want a little play but also if they want a little shut eye. We basically lay down a few cushions and blankets and made a little bed for our eldest who couldn't get comfy in his seat.

The only problem with that was the seat belt signs kept lighting up and he had to be returned to his seat ... poor little mite.

Lots of food, lots to drink, scribble pads, toys and those new portable DvDs are Godsends ...

Three Legs

suzy

Just to add to this, double check that the buggy can be brought up from the hold when you checkin. Some airlines refuse to do it because of Health and safety issues. Don't know who you are flying with but I work for BA and they will not do it for you. I have witnessed some unholy rows over the issue because the parents were not told. Can I suggest you get a small 'umbrella' fold up type buggy just for your stopover (about £10 from Argos) so that if your own buggy is too large there won't be a problem. The small fold up buggys can be put in the hatracks with no trouble. Also BA sometimes won't store milk - again due to H & S. Depends on the crew.

PS I would because I'm a nice person

Suzy x

BettyBoop

Hi we're travelling in 12 days with Cathay...can parents with a ten year old request bulkhead seats? and if so roughly how many are available in economy? Been trying all afternoon to get through to their reservations with no luck
Cheers
Liz

Three Legs

Anyone can reserve them although families with babies will take priority as they have clipped on basinettes on the bulkhead.

If they haven't already beeb booked up go for it.

Keep trying on the blower !

CheekyWeetus

We travel with our 15 mth old daughter quite regularly as we live in the US and family is UK and Australia. Although she would typically only have 2 bottles of milk in the length of time of the flight we allow for considerably more.

Its a good idea to have a bottle for take off and a bottle for landing, this helps to keep them calm, as well as equalise their ears with the decent/ascent.

We find the easiest thing to get is the kids formula milk that is individually packed or juice boxes. If you have a few bottles with you they can be rinsed and reused, with the milk safe if unopened.

We also have lots of little snacky things like fruit bars and healthy biscuits, (cheerios are great) as we have found the meals from the airlines are good but infrequent, with the only snack type stuff being junk.

I hope the trip goes well for you, make a game of things like turbulence, landing, take off and kids wont get so nervous, and encourage sleep so you can have a few G&T's

We fly in November, US -> UK -> Singapore -> Brisbane, going East so we can have some time in the UK with family before we head south.

elfin

I posted yesterday that Singapore were fantastic
Elfin
x

Britishaussie

We recently flew with Malaysian and stopped over at KL. We travelled with a 5 year old and a 4 month old and took a stroller with us. As a matter of course, Malaysian Airlines get the buggies off for you on landing so you get to use your stroller straight away. They give you a ticket to attach to the buggy and a tear off section to keep yourself. At no time did we have to remind them, they were just there waiting for us, even when we arrived back at Manchester. And the Far Eastern airlines seem to bend over backwards to make sure you're all right when you have a baby, the cabin staff love them and will hold them for you while you struggle with all your numerous bags and bits and pieces. They will warm up milk for you or anything you ask - they couldn't do enough. On the leg from KL to Brisbane on the way out I was given a bag containing nappies of the right size, some tissues, two jars of baby food, a spoon and some baby powder!