long haul flight with a baby?

It's me again. Sorry, forgot to mention that we are living in Switzerland and the flight will take about 20 hours.

There are a gazillion posts about this I am pretty sure. try doing a search. from what I remember..alot has to do with the little one's personality.....do a search. much more helpful than my memory

I recently flew across the Atlantic on my own with my two children, one of whom was 13 months old.

I have to confess I found it really hard. On the way over she wouldn't sleep at all. On the way back she did sleep but not without mishap. The staff let us use the basinet even though she was borderline or just over the weight limit for it. She went to sleep and so did I. Some time later I was awakened by a plop in my lap and was startled to find that she had sommersaulted out of the bassinet/sky cot into my lap. I was very shaken and relieved that she hadn't landed on the floor or hit her head on the armrests. Needless to say she spent the rest of the trip sleeping in my arms.

We are soon to fly from the UK to New Zealand, a similar length trip to yours. Our baby will be 18 months at the time we go. Based on the above experience we have decided to buy her a seat and we will take her infant car seat on board the plane with us, so she can be safely strapped in while we are sleeping.

As others have said it depends a lot on the child. Some people manage it by tryiing to stick to night flights.

In your situation I would definately take a stopover in Asia. My preferred stop over is Singapore as it is very easy and clean, there are lots of nice hotels and the airport is good.

chceck http://www.travelwithyourkids.com/ it's very useful.

Yes. Buy a seat for your child. Your child will sleep better and be more comfortable. And so will you. Schedule a stopover, just tack a few extra days onto your travel so you can at least enjoy wherever you stop. You won't regret doing so.

Be realistic- you know you and you know your child- 20 hours is a day- what would your child normally be doing in that day- it isn't just about the sleep, but also attention spans and the humour of your child, yourself, and the others around you. As a safety net, speak to your GP/pharmacist before you go, consider taking some sedative for your child (alot of anti-histimines are also presrcibed for dealing with travel sickness/ sedation) if the situation gets dreadful and they are completely overtired etc and you are not in a position to help in any other way, it can be fair for everyone just to help them off to sleep, and even if you don't use it, you know it is there if you need it and then you'll be more confident in yourself etc which then means the vibes your child is picking up are positive and around you go in a positive circle! Whether a stop over will help or not depends on whether it is just for a few hours, or longer, will you be confined to an airport etc, what time of day in jet lag terms would the stop over be (eg one stop over we did in Singapore was 11:30pm home time, so children all exhausted, and had to be woken up to get off the plane) Don't ket it put you off- enjoy your trip and the experience.

Hi, I have 2 kids, now 6 and 9 years old (a good age to travel except for sibling fighting)
I always cross my fingers or stay on edge because plane travel with young ones can be unpredictable. Sometimes great, sometimes....

We did a lot of coast to coast travel in the US when they were young. Generally a scheduled flight of 5-51/2 hours, which was plenty long enough and at times torture. I found the hardest age for flying was from about 15 months to 2 years. AT that age they wiggle, want to move, don't understand the word No, or other instructions, and yet have very short attention spans so entertainment is tough. Admittedly, one of my kids was a challenging child - definitely not easy-going.

We once flew on a red-eye overnight flight because I had heard that kids would sleep overnight. Well, it ended up being one of my worst flights. My tired son fell asleep on the very short trip to the way to the airport, and then was wide awake when boarding the plane. He did not want to sleep and it was a full flight with business travellers trying to sleep. Because others were trying to sleep, the noise my son made was MORE noticeable than usual.

On another flight he was learning to make sounds and was especially interested in shrieking. This was at an age when the word NO, or disciplining him was not viable (too young). (distraction was the best technique when it worked)

Regarding car seats, I stopped using them after about 1 year because I found that they put the kids feet too close to the seat in front of them and they end of kicking the passenger in front. Also, if there is no car seat there is space for a toddler or baby to stand and play in front of the seat.

Other travel tips:
try for wide body planes with 2 aisles - that gives you room to do laps up and down the plane, and a changing area on the floor at the back if one is not available in the lav.
generally it is less crowded in the back of the plane.
travel on less busy days when it is likely to be not as full, busy.
have a decongestant to prevent ear ache/congestion

I would recommend a ticket/seat for a 14-18 month baby (think of the return flight too). 20 hours for a mobile child is too long to have them sit on your lap.

I hope this hasn't been too discouraging!
good luck, and I'm envious of your trip!

We flew a similar distance (Melbourne to Athens) in June 2002. Our daughter was at the time 19 months old, so a little more mobile and a little bigger than your travelling companion. We flew straight through with 1 hour in Singapore, 3 hours in Dubai and 1 hour in Larnaca.

On the flight Melbourne to Dubai we had an empty seat next to us due to the SARS crisis and related decline in travel through Asia at the time. Our daughter would not settle in the seat - would not sit in it, would not sleep in it. I am glad we hadn't paid for it!

Our family doctor recommended using anti-histimines as a mild sedative which helped. We packed snacks and some new toys. We found the following things worked well...

1. No wandering in the aisle - establish this rule very early on so you don't have to chase your child up the aisle for the entire flight.
2. Breastfeeding and/or bottle for take off and landing and everything in between. Expect some funny poo for a couple of days after. Favourite snacks - throw the nutrition guides out for the day - if chips work, give them chips.
3. Music (such as The Wiggles - an Aussie favourite - be sure to discover them when you are here) or nursury rhymes on the portable cd player. Child will need practice at balancing these on their head - use a hat to keep the earphones on.
4. Small sized magnetic drawing toy - such as 'etch n sketch' or 'magna doodle' - we got very good at fish, cats, aeroplanes and self portraits.
5. Have low expectations about sleep and watching the movie - anything else is a bonus
6. If they don't sleep at all on the flight - so what. You'll just have to take the first couple of days slower.
7. If you stop at Dubai they have a fantastic play room at the airport that you can collapse in while your child wears themselves out for the next leg.
8. Request the bulkhead and bassinet and check in really early to get the best seats you can.

I wouldn't worry about the stopover unless it is in a place you really want to go to. Like having a tooth pulled, a long haul flight is something best done quickly.

Flying with a toddler isn't easy but then going to the supermarket with a toddler isn't easy either. I would do it again in a flash.

There are two of you and only one of him. Save your money for the holiday or put it towards the next one. It's hard work but well worth the effort and in no way is it worse than pregnancy and/or childbirth.

Have a great trip.

I agree with #8 who has made some very good points.

In relation to point 1 - we let our 19 month old child wander in the aisle. He loved getting the attention from other passengers, it tired him out and it allowed us to stretch our legs. It also was another way to pass the time.

In realtion to point 7 - Singapore also has a childrens playground in the transit area.

I hope you enjoy Australia. We have been to numerous countries but still think that our country is the best, especially our home city, Melbourne.