Flying with a baby, any advice?

[Cuevas77]

I'm a former flight attendant and everything you can do is pretty much listed on here! Don't take too many things, 'cause you'll regret carrying the load after the flight! 10 hours or so should be a piece of cake. I just did a 22 hour round and 2 hours were on one aircraft, then stopped for 2, and then 18 hours on another aircraft. My baby was 5 months old so it wasn't so bad, as he is not so active yet.
If the seatbelt sign is not on, then you should be able to walk around the cabin and do more things with her so that she doesn't feel locked in all the time.
Good luck and have a safe flight!

 

[fifs2]

My advice is to enjoy it. 10 months is a breeze compared to a toddling 1-2yr old who won't sit still for a second even for take off or landing- 0-12 months is honeymoon flying I assure you!

 

[syngirl]

Check in early and ask for a row with an empty seat between you. Bring a car seat and the baby's favorite blanket and toy.

Agree to blanket and favourite toy. But would also say bring a brand spanking new toy that she's never seen before. And forget the car seat -- just get the empty row, in fact you might be able to book it off online prior to arrival -- that's what we did, booked two aisles and they'll usually move anyone so family can have whole row.

I'd say forget the car seat, it's a pain and a lot of them are just too damned big to carry through the aisles reasonably. And if your child has a meltdown and wants OUT of the carseat, you've got NOWHERE to put it, so what are you going to do with it? You'll now have angry crying baby wailing to get out of seat and then be squeezed for space. If you just have the empty seat between you then there's a lot more room to lie down and play. Besides, what they don't bother telling you until you're on the plane is that any moment that there is turbulence they make you hold your child on your lap -- for me that meant that I ended up having to hold our son practically the whole way to Canada anyway.

DO bring your stroller -- bring it all the way to the door of the plane, they'll stow it for you and you'll get it back right when you disembark -- this is especially handy to have if you have a stopover anywhere.

 

[syngirl]

Alrighty. Try to check in online if you can and get two seats at the bulk head (the little wall separator thing) so you can get a bassinet. Make sure your baby is light enough and don't get offended if the crew ask how much she weighs because heavier babies can break the bassinets on light bumps. Also take your baby out of the bassinet when the seatbelt sign is on because in case of turbulence, your baby can jump out of the bassinet (seen it, not pretty). (You also want to be close to a toilet because not only are you going to need to change your baby but also your wife's pregnant).

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DON'T bother with the bassinet if you're on AA. First off -- our baby was only 6 mos when we travelled and he BARELY fit in the thing -- he was 68cm long, so you can always measure your child. Secondly, the row with the bassinet on our flight had the wall shoved literally right up against our knees. So yes, we had the bassinet, but we had ZERO leg room whatsoever, so we ended up really uncomfortable. Then as I said in my other post, they make you take the baby out any time there is turbulence anyway, so for us that meant I held the baby basically the whole way to Canada.

The bassinet I think is great for a baby up to about 4 months, and only if it's in a row where you can stretch out. At 10 mos your baby may be far too large (you can check the weight limits on the airline website).

If your wife is 6.5mos pregnant and you two are stuck with your knees up against the wall, and she needs to get up to pee as is the curse of every pregnant woman, the bassinet is probably going to end up being far more of a headache than a help -- I personally would rather have the seat between us and not have to wake up baby out of bassinet every time someone needs to get out of the seat or there's turbulence and baby has to come into your arms.

 

[syngirl]

10 hours or so should be a piece of cake. I just did a 22 hour round and 2 hours were on one aircraft, then stopped for 2, and then 18 hours on another aircraft.
Good luck and have a safe flight!

Absolutely agree -- 10hrs should theoretically be a breeze, especially as since you're gong to the USA I'm pretty sure you'll be on one of the night time flights, so more than likely you can get your baby sleeping before you're even on the plane. Ours slept through takeoff without needing to be fed or anything, but if she's asleep have a bottle/paci ready incase she wakes up and her ears won't pop.

Do bring the stroller, because if it's a night flight you're going to have a lot of time between getting to the airport and getting to your seat so you can lay her down in the stroller and she can rest, and then pick up stroller on the other end. It also gives you extra places to hang/stow carry-ons / jackets etc when waiting to board and when waiting at luggage claim.

 

[katti]

I am completely against giving medicine, but just one spoon of cough syrup (the one for babies, of course) does wonders.

 

[Ries]

My older son was on 40 airplane flights before he was 2 years old.
The main thing we did was always have something to drink for him at takeoff and landing. In the beginning, this was either mom, or if she wasnt on the airplane, pumped milk in bottles. Later, it would be milk or juice, prebottled up, ready to go.
As he got older, snacks too.
Favorite small blanket always helped him get comfortable- the smell of familiar drool does wonders.

But he just happened to be a good traveller, with no propensity towards ear problems, which is usually what drives babies nuts on planes.

At 21, he still flies ten to fifteen round trips a year, for his work.

On the other hand, some babies just do not like flying, and never will.

Good luck.

 

[CarverFan]

Don't know if it was mentioned, but if we had to change a wet diaper (pee only), we did it discreetly with the baby on our laps. Always make sure the sterward(ess) is out of sight as some are nice but some aren't and may complain even if no other flyers are near. It's a big hassle in the toilet as the light is so bright and the table hard. Bring a changing mat or something soft in case you have to use the table.

 

[va2ba]

Thanks for all the advice. We've done most of what has been suggested.

Taking the stroller all the way to the door.

We booked the two isle seats in the middle of the plane.

We're going to have some of her favorite things with her.

The only issue I don't think will be the trip itself, she just doesn't like to be held for VERY long periods of time. But I am sure that she'll fall asleep at some point.

Thanks again for all the advice!