Sheilaxxx

hi

can anyone share their experiences of flying to oz with 2 babies. i cannot seem to decide if i would be better stopping over in singapore for a night or doing the london/sydney direct flight. i would hate to be arriving in singapore and they were conked out sleeping and i would have to wake them up. i have a 13 year old daughter also who will be a great help but the thoughts of the whole flying business is killing me. though i cant wait to get there.

thanks

Geelong Gent

Our experiences have been easy and from our experiences I would recommend a 2 night stay in Singapore to relax and breakup the journey.

The big part (majority) of the trip is the London - Singapore leg. Thereafter the trip is a doddle.

What about your husband or OH will they not be on the flight as well?

The airlines do provide assistance and we found Singapore very helpful.

quoll

Many (many!!!) years ago I flew from Aus - UK with a 12 week baby and 3 yr old toddler on my own and it was a breeze really. I flew back when the baby was 5 months old and went straight through again - that was in the days of a refuellingstop in Bahrain as well as Singapore/Asia. It will be fine, dont stress about it. If you are bf it will help as there will be less stuff to cart about with you. Travel light is my motto - I carried the baby in a sling and had a backpack so had a hand for the toddler. The only rule we had was that when the baby went to sleep (be sure to book a bassinette if the baby is small enough) we all went to sleep. The only other advice I have is that if there is any likelihood of either of them having motion sickness you take childrens dramamine with you - nothing worse than spending 24 hours covered with sick!!!

Go straight through though, much easier to get it all over and done with in one hit.

Sheilaxxx

my husband had to head out a few weeks ago to start work.

i wont be putting my baby in a sling he's two stone. i am going to bring car seat for him. i dont think i know how to travel light!!!

kevzone

Hey Sheila,

We flew with our 18 month old a couple of years ago and found the singapore staff very helpful in flight. What we decided to do was to book a 12 hour block in the Singapore airport hotel, which meant not going through customs hassles.
I would recommend that as the journey does tire everyone out, even if they do manage a bit of a sleep in flight. We did this as we just wanted to get the trip over with quickly but definitely plan to have a stay over in Singapore, wether it be a long or short stay.

I'm not sure what it's like now but when we went through british security check, they took all our cans of baby food and milk etc, which I understand they had to BUT... In the departure lounge there was nowhere to purchase more as we decided to throw the food rather than have security open every can or tin then give it back half opened. :curse:
(It was a good job the airline had some stocks on board).

Good Luck with the trip

Geelong Gent

Car seat? why? you can't use it in Oz

kevzone

Hey Gent,

What do you mean by that?

Geelong Gent

UK Car Seats cannot be used in Oz. They do not conform to Australian standards. There have been many threads on this. The underlying implication is you can be fined - but much worse insurance cover would be invalid.

calNgary

Hi a family who stayed in our rental came with a baby & toddler, try & get on that new plane think its called the 360/380, they had a great flight with room to move, book the baby seats before you travel. Car seats in qld have to be bought new in oz to be legal

kevzone

Thanks for the clarification Gent

Sheilaxxx

i know i cant use it in oz but anything to make my life easier for the journey. didnt fancy him on my lap for 24 hours.

paulaos

I have just flown back to UK with 20 month old, hubby and 12 yr old daughter and it was a flipping nightmare. We booked baby a seat (highly recommend) and took her car seat which was good until we had to get off at singapore and dubai for refuelling. Having to carry it with all the other stuff you carry for a baby was hard work. But on the other hand, when baby slept it was good to strap her in the car seat.
I've heard that you can buy a really lightweight car seat just for air travel, might be worth looking into?
I got some anti-histamine from pharmacy called Polaramine which helps relax baby if they get over-anxious and helps them to sleep. we gave her this on the middle flight and she slept for 7 hours!!
I never stopped over, just wanted to get it over with.
Have a few wines......it helps!

CEM

We went when our youngest was 13 mths. We paid for a seat for her and I bought a cotton sling type of thing that hooked over the back of the seat, came up between her legs and tied round the back. It kept her supported (and still!) the whole way, folded up to fit in the front pocket of my bag and doubled as a highchair for the first few weeks until our container arrived. Brilliant bit of kit!
I think it probably is easier to do the journey in one hit if you find airports (like me) stressful. At least you don't have to collect baggage half way through the journey and check in twice. I did it on my own with 3 little ones and I was very relieved when the bags had gone and I knew I just had to pick them up at the other end.
Good luck
C x

comet555

Or there is this, which is an restraint that is approved by most airlines. I'm surprised you were allowed to do that with just a sling. You generally can't strap a child into a seat unless it's in an approved device (carseat, child restraint, etc).

http://www.kidsflysafe.com/

We used it with our 2 year old the last time we flew. He wasn't thrilled at first but he did get used to it. However once he settled down it was just like he was strapped into a car seat. I probably wouldn't use it with a child much younger than 2 though. My son turned 2 a couple of days after the flight and it went just small enough to fit him comfortably. It really depends on the height of the child.

CEM

We weren't allowed to use it for take off and landing, she had to sit on our knee. It was just a bit of extra support. I'd definitely have bought one of these cares things though - looks brilliant.