MRS G

Hi all,

We will be travelling to Australia in November with my 18 month old son. The first flight from Heathrow will be a night flight so I'm hoping he sleeps quite a bit of the journey but I am worrying about the second leg from Singapore to Adelaide. Does anyone have any good ideas how to keep him occupied? We will be buying him some new toys but don't think that will keep him busy for any great length of time.

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

mrs g

lucyb

Good luck!

From my own experiences he will probably sleep more than you think, but will also want frequent walks down the aisle too. Just take loads of your own fruit and snacks for him to snack on if he is peckish. SQ have a good in flight entertainment system so you might find the childrens channel keeps him more than amused......

Lucy

jaycat

We flew in 2002 with our then 18 month old son and all went well really.
If you expect the very worst that can happen, anything good is then a bonus.
We flew with Japan airlines and they were very good, had goody bag for son with book & colouring pencils in. We took a few reading books with us. The little television in the back of each seat was a bonus and that kept him occuppied playing with the buttons. Other than that he slept fine on a blanket on the floor in front of our seat, we actually asked for the bulk head seat so that he could only annoy the people behind us....lol.
Mind you the japanese people kept him occupied by making paper origami for him (we actually still have the bits that they made, they are very clever at that sort of thing)
I am sure it will all be fine, we tend to worry too much really.
Most airports have childrens play rooms where they can go and play while you wait for your flight.
Hope it all goes well.
Karen

njk435

We flew to Aus in May with our 11 month old, she was a little angel. She slept loads, smiled for the stewardesses and generally behaved.

Toys, drinks and space are essential. The cabin crew will probably take him off your hands for a bit too, my daughter spent a bit of time with the pilot - not that she'll remember...

We flew Business Class (Post-Iraq Treat) which I would definately reccomend.

The check in staff will normally try and keep the seat next to you clear, if you haven't booked a seat for your son.

It may be worth investing in a portable DVD player with headphones and some Tweenies DVDs too

markeh

hello!

We took our 3 month old with us, flying from Birmingham with BA to Frankfurt and the on with Qantas.

Baby was great, slept most of the time.
Just keep him /her entertained & fed.
Qantas had a big problem with the concept that we would like our pram during the 7 hour stopover at Frankfurt. Carrying the baby wasn't fun

Oh well never with Quantas again, Emirates next time from Birmingham.

Bye
Mark & Leonella

MRS G

Thanks everyone for your info, fingers crossed all goes well!

mrs g

chr1sarter

Mrs G,
It would be great if you could tell us how you get on in Novemebr and how you managed to keep the little one entertained. Who are you flying with?. The time we go next year, our second child will be around 18 months, so any help would be appreciated..

MRS G

No probs Chr1sarter, we are flying with Singapore Airlines who are meant to be good with children. We flew to America this year with American Airlines who were terrible. My son had to sit on my knee all the way and when they served up dinner they never even asked if me and my husband wanted our dinner separately.

mrs g

njk435

Mrs G, the last leg of our flight to Perth was with Singapore, they were fantastic! I'm sure you'll have no problems

wendymaisie

Hi,

We done the journey in May this year with our son who was 16 months at the time. We too flew with Singapore airlines but from Heathrow to Sydney and I could not fault the service at all with the airline, they were so good with my son and could not do enough to help. The only downside is that toilet changing tables are far too small for a toddler to be changed on, but with a struggle you manage!

They have tv sets which come out of the armrests or on the back of seats (depending where you are sitting), my son found quite amusing to watch the cartoons. I packed loads of little toys (not noisy ones either) and stickers which kept him amused for hours. I also spent quite a while walking with him up and down the aisles.

I hope your flight is not packed as the check-in clerk arranged for us to have four seats together to give us a bit more room, was ideal as my son was able to lie down and sleep between us.

Good luck in your travels!

Wendy

mrs g[/QUOTE]

HiddenPaw

great thread and I'm bumping to the top again cos more tips, stories and reccomendations would be useful. Our bub will be about 16-18 months when we travel.

what about air pressure changes? anyone had probs with their babies' ears?

scoobydoo

We came over once when ours was about that age....we made sure that he had a bottle of drink that he had to suck hard on, as I think it does hurt their ears on take off and landing. That really helped but the trouble is you can't always control when they are asleep.One time he awoke after landing and was obviously deaf! Again the drink helped.

Cathay Pacific were excellent and we ended up with 3 goody bags for him!

Make sure you over pack the nappies and have a couple of clothing changes. The small sachets of Calpol come in handy too.

wendymaisie

With regards to air pressure changes I made sure my boy had his juice bottle with straw to suck on, it released the pressure and he seemed ok (well no tears anyway!)

paula 1

Hi
I'm taking an ARGOS book, both my kids love looking at it, 7years & 2years.
It was a choice of flying Business class or taking the argos book, so we opted for the book, i think we saved ourselves a few thousand pounds!!!!!!!!!!!
Paula

HiddenPaw

ARGOS as in Argos catalogue? Wow....hours of fun !!!!!!

bet it takes up half of your cabin baggae allowance tho - it weighs a ton!!!