theboyedwards

My wife and I have a 14 month old boy (he'll be 18 months when we next visit NZ) who can only be described a fiesty. He can't sit still for more than 5 minutes. Whatever he's doing, as soon as something else catches his eye he's off to investigate. I'm dreading the flight to NZ and wondered how other parents have coped and whether there are any tips that you can pass on. Also, my experiences of airlines varies considerably, is there a particular airline you would recommend to travel with a child. Finally, is it worth buying them their own seat or should you bank on no-one wanting to sit next to you? Enought questions, sorry!

happynz

Asian airlines will be your friend. Singapore Airlines or Malaysian Airlines as well as Thai Airways fly into New Zealand and I have found from personal experience that the staff on the Asian airlines do a better job catering to the little ones.

teambwr47

That would be a hell of a trip to do with him sat on your lap mate and i wouldn't contemplate it at all.....

The chances of you having a seat free next to you for the whole trip are slim. We had a seat free next to us for one leg on our reccie trip but then it was filled at LAX by someone doing just that leg.

Another thought would be... if you did have the three of you on two seats and then another passenger sat next to you how stressed will it get if your little lad is being fiesty while that person is trying to sleep? Think about it as if you were that third passenger....

If it just the three of you get another seat is my advice and then he has a space between you in a row of three seats where you are at least in your own space so to speak.

We did the trip with our kids when we came out recently and the youngest was just under two...

We had a middle row of four seats and while in the flight she had a few moments of crying and jumping about it was at least contained where we were and hopely had minimal effect on others. On the flight with the kids there were hardly any spare seats and the flight was quoted to be full.....

theboyedwards

HappyNZ, I've flown with Singapore a couple of times and thought they were excellent. Thanks for that.

niseysOH, I think you're right, the prospect of two seats is not appealing at all. I'd hate to be the last person on the plane looking for a seat and seeing the only one available is a seat next to me and a small wriggler. I think I'd rather they crammed me into the overhead compartment.

teambwr47

to true....

If it was a one hour hop to europe etc then it would ok but a 12hour leg to LAX or even the full 24hrs......would not be good....good luck with the flight

deboltz

take a bag of food, colouring, books, toys etc

failing that, tranquilisers

P2L

We did a thread on this very subject a little while back.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...=night+flights

Hope That Helps

Ted Logan

Who would look after the kid if they take them ??

Maz

Ditto all the above! A very careful dose of Advil, something like that, can help them get dozy. Of course don't ever give them enough to knock them out on the strength of the medicine alone!

Silly lad.

AlexArchie

LOL I'm a 11 yr old kid and i went with singapore and it was the best airlines i have ever been with (unfortunately all the spare seats where taken by passengers on there own so we where all squashed up at the side and they had 4 seats to ly dow on i would have been fine with two!)

Happy Wanderer

Hi There


We flew with Singapore and they were brilliant. Our youngest was about 15 months and we booked a sky cot. We didn't pay extra but they were booked on a first come first served basis. They clip onto the wall in front of the front row seats, and they're great because you get all of the extra space within the cot as well as the extra leg room.

They had children's menus, and there was a nintendo for each seat and also cartoon channels etc.

The staff prepared the children's meals first so that we could feed and settle them before our food arrived. They also took them for walks around the plane to give us a break. The baby change facilities were good and the loos were very clean.

Only things I would suggest, take 2 or 3 1/2 packets of wipes rather than one big one. You can stash them all over the place rather than have to dig around in a bag looking when it's an emergency.

Take a soft cotton sheet or blanket, the airline one was a scratch wool and left rashes on both the boy's faces.

Take a wash kit and change of clothes in your hand luggage - in case you end up wearing their sticky drinks etc.

We also booked some time in the Singapore airport hotel, which is inside the airport so you don't have to leave the building. It was wonderful - a sound proof travelodge with clean beds a good shower and a cot. It meant that we could have a few hours sleep and freshen up without fear of missing the connecting plane. Also, because it was the same plane (just stopping to re-fuel) we didn't have to take off our luggage and recheck it to start the second part of the journey. We just packed changes of clothes in one of the hand luggage bags.

Only thing we didn't take that we regretted was the umbrella push chair, would have been a God send in the airport and in queues when he was too tired to walk/stand and we had no free hands to carry him.

There was a great thread about this subject about 6 weeks ago, some people made some very good suggestions. It would be well worth your while looking for it.

Good luck,

PS, there was a company in NZ called Baby on the Move. We hired pushchair/travel cot & bedding/back pack baby carrier for next to nothing - it was all new and saved us lots of hassle and the service was very good.

theboyedwards

Thank you all for your replies. I'll check out previous threads (which is what I probably should have done in the first place).

Thanks again.

dlmckay

I flew with a 4yo, a 2yo and a 6month baby In addition to choosing night flights and a stopover in the middle, this is what I did.

The two older children were given brand new backpacks with new toys in them that they'd never seen before.

* Mini Bob the Builder figures
* crayons (not felt tips) and colour books
* stickers (this really kept them quiet - buy a huge pad of really small ones, keeps them busy for HOURS)
* toy catalogue - bizzare but true, this was read more than the books I brought
* books to read
* small handheld travel games - we had one with a fishing rod and magnetic fish
* my saviour - the cheap woolworths walkman and ELC audio tapes. They felt so grown up!

Hope this helps!

P2L

We did something similar. Crayola do 'Magic Pens' and another one that we can't remember the name of but contains black paper that goes coloured when the pen comes in contact with it.Thomas the Tank Engine Aquadraw sheets for the 3 year old No drawing over the seats or the kids.

mitchuk

Malaysian or thai would be the best be ...avoid at all costs any American carriers
When my son was 14 months we took him too Florida and I spent nearly 8 hours sitting in the toilet with him because he would not sit still ....the miserable hatchet faced stewardess's insisted he sat on my lap at all times !!

yeah right ...tell that to a hyper active toddler who would NEVER sit in one place for more than 2 minutes ...

on the plus side though the earlier you get them flying the better it is in the long term ...both my kids don't bat an eyelid now whenever we fly ,long haul or short haul ..