Teckelspass

Our DD is now on her way to 4 but have taken several trips to Europe and Australia with her from West Coast.

My first tip would have been to get a bassinet seat bc as others said it can be a long time on your lap, but since you may not have that option so be it. Be sure to check with gate agent just in case. Some airlines are better than others with this anyway. With Qantas we put her in bassinet after leaving LAX and she slept till just before landing in Brisbane; with AA to Europe we constantly had to take her out when seatbelt sign was turned on. Some airlines are more aggressive with seatbelt sign and whether or not they can remain in bassinet.

Second, although DD normally has very restricted screen time and balanced diet with no snacks between meals on the ground, we give her whatever she needs on the plane 😜. They really do compartmentalize and we've had little trouble returning to normal after trips.

As others said, iPads are great, stickers, books, etc. 14 months can be difficult bc not enough of a baby to simply take pacifier or breast, but not old enough to really be occupied with the stuff that amuses older children. But you will manage it.

If things get really rough and noisy, take her to the back of the plane, stand in the hallway connecting the two aisles near the lavs and do some rocking/walking. It is the place where you will inconvenience the smallest number of people and you have a bit of space. Sometimes they really enjoy a bit of walking about, as others have said.

Finally, have a bit of a thick skin. There will always be those who simply don't want children on a plane; ignore them. If you are a good parent/grandparent, bring the toys, are attentive etc. that is all you can do. 14yos sometimes cry and its part of life; most reasonable people understand that. There is a world of difference between that and a bratty 6yo who kicks airplane seats while the parents do nothing and drink cocktails.

scrubbedexpat097

Thank you

scrubbedexpat097

Well if you are "younger" then you need to quit sounding like a grumpy old man


It is interesting to see all the negative remarks are from the male population of BE

Jerseygirl

If I remember correctly the flying time from Houston to London is approx 10 hrs. She will probably sleep most of the time on the red eye. For the return journey I would make sure she has plenty of her favourite toys to keep her amused. A plentiful supply of her favourite snacks will also keep her occupied for a while. At that age my granddaughter loved Goldfish. She had a plastic Goldfish container and loved to keep opening it...taking out a cracker and closing it again. Walking her up and down the aisles will keep her occupied and help burn off some of her energy...yours too.

Make sure mum has a change of clothes for herself as well as the little one...just in case.

Edit: Dry Cheerios in a Tupperware container are another godsend that keeps my granddaughter occupied and makes her a happy bunny.

yellowroom

While babies can be disruptive, if the parent/guardian(s) are doing whatever they can to keep the baby happy, then anyone that complains is just being a grumpy twat.

My least favourite fellow passengers are those that have zero consideration for anyone else, eg tipping back their seat during meal service, constantly bashing the back of your seat during lights out/sleeping time, talking loudly during lights-out/overnight flights, people with over-active bladders sitting in window seats, those bringing in a suitcase the size of a small car as "hand luggage" and removing your regulation size/weight bag from the overhead locker in an attempt to ram theirs in, faffers who take forever to sort out their bags/coats/books during boarding process and hold up everyone in the aisle while they bounce up and down...

markonline1

We have a daughter that's getting on for 2 and a half. We have avoided trips back for the last 18 months simply because of her. I couldn't imagine trying to keep her occupied for 10 hours! We are thinking of trying next year.
The sky cot's are great for infants, we had one when Poppy was 6 months old.
I don't think she'd have stayed in it too long at 18 months. 20 years of working in aviation have given me a dark dislike of the flying public, so if your little one disturbs others,
you're a paying passenger, sod em!!!!!

ian-mstm

If truth be told, screaming wains aren't a problem for me anymore. I have a set of Shure SE535-V earphones! Best money I ever spent! Peace and quiet whenever I want it... completely blocks out all external noise.

Ian

moneypenny20

Do they work for blocking out the obese, farty, stinking of cigarette smoke man next to you as well?

Twinkle0927

Not sure which airline you are flying with but the ones I have worked for and currently work for don't allow babies past 6 or 8 months in a sky cot or bassinet. Once a baby can push herself up from a lying position they shouldn't be in a bassinet. There have been terrible accidents where babies in bassinets pushed themselves up whilst their parents were asleep and fell out of them. There are also weight limits for them. They are tiny things only suitable for small babies really.

Teckelspass

It depends on the airline and type of bassinet. Some are indeed designed only for true infants and not for times of turbulence.

However, the one DD used on Qantas was for younger toddlers as well and came equipped with straps over the top which would prevent what you describe. Indeed when we asked the flight attendant she said DD can stay in it during turbulence when the seat belt sign was on; it just had to be folded away during takeoff and landing.

Wintersong

Depending which airline you're travelling with, you may find that the bassinet isn't usable for a 14 month old - a lot of them have fairly low age/weight restrictions. Since you mentioned sky cots, I assume you're travelling with Virgin. Their weight restriction for the sky cots is 20-25lbs, depending on which type of aircraft you're on.

My experience has been that the daytime flight has been the easier of the two because they'll happily toddle around and the other passengers will be awake - most of the time, you'll find several people (usually women, but not always) who will interact with the little one, talk to you etc. She may even be interested in looking out of the window if there's no cloud cover. It just makes the time pass more quickly. Night time flights have always been worse for me. They don't settle easily, they get woken up time and time again by the other passengers and the airline staff, making them comfortable inevitably means discomfort on your part, so all in all you're unlikely to get much sleep. Having said that, I've always travelled alone with the kids, so there's been nobody else to pass them off to - hopefully between the 4 of you, you'll do ok

Other than lots of snacks, small toys, crayons and paper, books etc. there's not really a whole lot you can do. It's a hard age to travel with - the inflight movies aren't much use, since they can't/won't use the headphones, and they have the attention span of a goldfish Getting some new toys/colouring books and then spacing the gifts out through the flight can be a good way to keep them less bored.

Finally, you may want to bring some earplugs so you can block out the sound of the annoying, whiny gits who complain about travelling with babies (whose own children, no doubt, were always perfect angels who never caused a moment's annoyance for anybody, ever).

scrubbedexpat097

We have no choice but an overnight flight from Houston unless we do stop overs. Straight through is a lot cheaper so it is overnight.

This is the first time in the 28 years we have lived here that we have traveled back in the summer months. We are going to a wedding otherwise we would have stuck to our usual springtime trip which would have been way cheaper

Oh well, we get to see everyone at one time so then we get the rest of the trip hanging out with our son

Jerseygirl

FWIW I think night flights are best when traveling with little ones as they tend to sleep most of the way...depending how long the flight is of course. My granddaughter was 12 months old when we flew to the UK...she slept right through.

petitefrancaise

Oh Sugarmooma, I saw your thread and all I could think was "thank god, I don't have to do this anymore"!! I really couldn't think of anything positive to say, it was all such hard work flying with babes, most of it on my own. Sorry.

Anyhoooo, saw this, the is morning and thought it looked like a good idea. Wouldn't mind one myself tbh. I don't get to fly anything other than economy so I've never had one of those lovely seats that converts to a bed.
https://www.flylegsup.com/

moneypenny20

Don't. They're useless. We got one last year and daughter used it on her trip to the UK. Tried it about 3 times and gave up. Faff to set up, not that comfortable and only practical if in the window seat as it's awkward to move for others to get passed.