Flying with baby
 

Has anyone got any hints/tips to share. We are going across to Calgary in the summer with our first baby who will be about 8 weeks old at the time. We are flying with Air Transat and have pre booked the seats and sky cot.

thanks.

Re: Flying with baby
 

Hello there
I have a 9 and a 4 year old who have travelled by plane longhaul since they were about 3 months of age. My suggestions:

1.- I often take an over-the-counter remedy similar to Calpol with me called Medised, however, I am nearly certain your baby is too young for any stuff like that, so ask your GP for something to help them sleep.
2.-If possible, try to fly in the evening or at night, as the baby will then be tired and more likely to go to sleep anyway.
3.- Well done about prebooked seats and cot. This is super important when travelling with kids even if, like mine, they are older. Later on make sure you ask for infant meals as they often come in smaller portions and interesting trays with small treats, etc.
4.- At takeoff and landing make sure baby is suckling on something to help prevent painful earache due to pressure changes (milk, breast or dummy will do, lollies or chewing gum for older kids)
5.- At checkin time if queue is long speak to staff. Most airlines are happy to help you jump the queue and make things easier for you.
6.- Lastly, the most important one, and the one that has taken me the longest to learn: DO NOT give a peanut when baby cries and this upsets people around you. You and baby have both paid for their tickets as much as anyone else and there is NOTHING you can do to prevent babies/children from getting tired and crying. If people want a child-free flying environment, let THEM worry about how to get it (fly bussiness or move seats, it is THEIR problem not yours).

Bestest of luck and do not worry too much

Chipotle

Re: Flying with baby
 

Ditto to that, especially not bothering about other passengers. I know that's difficult sometimes, but it'll only make you tense, baby will pick up on it and it becomes a vicious circle.

At least at this age they sleep a lot, much easier than trying to get a toddler to sit still....

V

Re: Flying with baby
 

I have never heard of 'Air Transat' ...... Virgin and BA suply harnesses that hook to your own seat belt and attatch to the baby, last time we travelled over my daughter was 18 months and spent the entire trip laying on on lap. We are crossing again this week from JFK to Heathrow and we are taking her car seat to hook to the main seat.

Air Transat ????? ............ I would never fly on an airline I never heard of, it probably has outside toilets :D

Re: Flying with baby
 

http://www.airtransat.ca/en/0_0.asp
Alive and well at an airport near you.

Re: Flying with baby
 

Your braver than me, my baby is 7 weeks and I just know I wouldn't be able to cope with the baby so little specially with the frequency of the feeds. I am going to be flying in September with him when he is 9 months probably on my own.

One thing I am making sure of is blocking a seat off next to me, I have read that you can ask for this at check-in and it shouldn't be a problem unless there are no spare seats left. I think I will be going with zoom and hopefully they will be a little flexible with the baggage allowance as 20kg isn't too much.

And yes I totally agree about ignoring people if the baby cries, I have noticed here a few times especially when I go on the bus with the pushchair a few people just don't like it as it takes up a bit of space. What are we supposed to do not go out? It is their problem not mine. Sorry just a little rant of mine atm after something that happened yesterday.

Re: Flying with baby
 

You know I'm the same if I've never heard of something I'm convinced I don't know about it.


:D

Re: Flying with baby
 

Well .... there you go ! .. looked them up, 14 aircraft based in Canada !

As I have never heard of them before I would still never get on one ... Air India have a very large fleet but I'd never get on one of theirs either :D

Re: Flying with baby
 

I have flown all over with babies toddlers and kids in combination. Babies are the easiest. Flight is going to be around 9 hours? Babies dehydrate flying just as adults do. Avoid giving the baby the first shots before you go if you breast feed. If you bottle feed, you might want to.

If you are breast feeding: Feed as often as the baby wants, don't give a monkey's if the old git next to you nearly drops dead from shock when you get out the feeding tackle. Relax, enjoy the flight. Feed on take off and landing, landing is more important than feeding. If the baby is asleep...LEAVE HIM!

If you bottle feed: Sterilize six 8oz bottles for the flight and airport. Fill one with boiled water to the top. Seal. That one is the emergency spare if you are delayed - you can split it into a new bottle at the airport. Wash out a used bottled with bottled water, refill with bottled water and get a food outlet to microwave the bottle for seven minutes. Empty, over the teat, which will become sterile enough soaking in boiling water in a plastic cup. Use some of the spare water you saved in the first bottle to make up the feed. Add boiling water. Fill the others to 4oz with boiled water. Seal with the teats inside the bottles if you use Avent. Measure out the formula for the five 6oz bottles into five separate ziplock snack bags. When your baby wants to feed, ask the steward(ess) for a cup of boiling water. Airline cups are 2oz per cup approx. Pour in the formula, shake then add the boiling water. Perfect hot sterile feed. Calgary airport has a changing room; Timmies will give you free hot water if you need to make up a hot feed on landing.

Above all - relax, ignore the stares from passengers if you baby cries. Babies sleep a lot on flights, so don't be concerned too much. Have a beer yourself but drink plenty of water if you breast feed, your milk supply drops when you are stressed.. :beer:

Re: Flying with baby
 

They book via Globespan here in the UK.

Re: Flying with baby
 

Boots sells disposable baby bottles but I cant remember the name. They are great and you can fill them up with formula before setting off. Once closed you cannot reopen them but plastic is thinner than ordinary bottles so milk can be warmed up quickly by sitting it in cup w/hot water. Airplane staff are usually quite happy to warm milk up for you. Not a very environmentally friendly thing, but saves you having to worry about putting away your empty bottles and so on.

Best

Chipotle :D

Re: Flying with baby
 

As you will discover when your sproglet gets older, they can be in a room with a hundred other children and you still be able to hear yours cry! I think we are given a special ability to hear our own children louder and clearer than any one else, so when your baby is crying on the plane, it will seem louder to you than to anyone else. I've seen parents on planes getting stressed over children that are barely whimpering.

If anyone tuts at you, make sure you point the baby at them when you wind (burp) him/her :p :D

Re: Flying with baby
 

As someone else pointed out they are a Canadian based airline. They don't fly a regular shedule but are charters, although they do some of them regular enough like to Florida. I flew them once Toronto to Paris and would never do it again. Cramped seats with the closest seat pitch I have ever seen, horrible food, and not even toilets (took some out to put in more seats). That was the most miserable flight I have ever had. They have since gotten rid of all the 757's that were flying past their range so maybe the airbuses are not as bad, but I hated them so much that wouldn't matter to me, I still wouldn't take them.

A note about the food. They take on all food in Toronto or Montreal before they leave since they have no crews to resupply at the destination. So the food on the return flight is really horrible as it has been sitting all that time.

Re: Flying with baby
 

As everyone else has said, you'll look back on those early flights with fond memories as your toddler hares up and down the aisles and swings on the emergency door handles...!!!! My son just slept at that age, pretty much all the way. The white noise of the engines is great for that.

Another tip would be to take a spare top for yourself. You'll be covered in spit-up/breast milk/whatever, and there's nothing worse than getting off a long flight looking and smelling like that ;)

Re: Flying with baby
 

I flew with my 4 weeks old baby 18 months ago. I have a tricotti sling. This holds your baby against you and is very comfortable. It's very good to have the cot but if your baby is unsettled and screamed you'll be stressed out even if you put your mind on ignoring everybody else. I loved the sling during the trip as it held the baby against me without any efforts on my part, he was feeling secure and warm against me and slept most of the way (sleeping was a very difficult task for my son to do!!!). Have a look http://www.babyhut.co.uk/products/tricotti1.htm. The sling is great (outside a plane) anyway.

I didn't like the idea of using drugs on a baby. I've changed my mind since as he's a little monster but your baby will be too young anyway.

Good luck!!