Travelling with 6mth old to India

Hi just wanted some advice on travelling with young baby on plane in June. Is it better to get seat with bassinet or just have them sitting with my husband and I on window seat. Any other advice would be appreicated. Travelled to India a few times but never with a baby. Thanks

Bassinet is usually easier - unless, perhaps your flight is really short (in which case it doesn't matter so much). It means the baby can be out of your arms for some time, and there is also more leg space where the bassinets are.

Did you want advice for India? It's a fairly horrible time to visit - depending on where you go it will be very hot or the monsoon will have started (which brings all the food and water borne diseases). If you are breastfeeding then it is probably best to just keep with this while there. There is already a heatwave and the predicted summer temperatures are hotter than normal.

ITA about India in June. Hot! I used to work trips to India as a Flight Attendant and I suffered, before I had babies! Wouldn't want to have a baby there then!

Unless you have an unusually small 6 month old, she's probably too big for the bassinet. Lufthansa has bigger bassinets so you'll be fine on them.

It's still helpful to sit at the bulkhead since there's no one in front to disturb. Many think that these seats have more legroom but that's not really true. It depends on the pitch of the seats.

Please don't sit by the window. She's too young to really look out the window and you will be getting up a lot with her. Make suer you're on the aisle.

If you are bringing the car seat with you, be sure to NOT check it as luggage. Take it to the gate and try to see if they have a free seat to use it on board. This is the only way to fly safely with a baby. Unlike a bassinet, the baby can stay strapped in the car seat when asleep in turbulence.

Here are my non-commercial flying tips. There are a lot on the web but few written by parents who actually worked for the airlines...

http://flyingwithchildren.blogspot.com

Thanks so much for the great advice. my little one is a smaller for her age so i reckon by the time she is 6mths she would still fit in a bassinet, flying with singapore. We are going directly to Udaipur were my husband is from and are only there for 15days so wont need car seat. i will have her in baby borjn so hopefully this will be enough. i know its no way as safe as car seat. mayb i cld sleep with baby borjn on. we r staying in hotel with air con so hopefully she will not suffer to much. will keep hydrated as much as possible and still breast feeding.

once again thanks for ur help.

I've flown with Singapore Airlines quite a lot and they are good (staff are very helpful when traveling with kids), although I don't think much of the new planes on the route I use from India. My kids are also half-Indian (and smaller than an average western baby) and had no problem in a bassinet at that age. Many of the planes we used (when the kids were babies) were old and really did have a lot of leg space in the bassinet area, but maybe the newer ones don't? In any case it is better not to have someone sitting in front because they inevitably lower their seat down at some point.

Udaipur will be very hot (low 40s). Is a baby bjorn a carrier? I doubt you will be able to use it because of the heat. Even travelling by car may be very hot unless it has an amazing AC. Make sure the hotel is a good one, because power cuts occur daily, and you'll need a back-up generator.

Yes, a Baby Bjorn is a poorly designed, hot carrier so I would not recommend it for anything, especially travel. I could not sit down in it and it was in the closet by the time my baby was 6 months old. It was never used again.

Get something comfortable and better quality, like a ring sling or soft carrier. If you breastfeed, a wrap or ring sling is good because it can act as a cover-up, as well as a carrier. Beats those awkward "hooter hiders"! I recommend holding off weaning until you get back. Dealing with bottles and formula is a pain. Experience with both speaking!

There are carriers specifically for hotter climates so you would want something that the baby can be in multiple positions as well as a light fabric.

For more information on babywearing, this site has multiple products;

http://www.peppermint.com/

There are also many babywearing forums on the web you might want to check out on your favorite parenting site, so you can replace that dire Bjorn with something much better!

Many parents traveling to India are disturbed that they can't secure their child in the car. There are no seat belts in cabs and even private cars. There really isn't any alternative for transport there. A baby carrier is not any protection for the baby but at least it makes travel in general easier.

Just make sure they don't speed with an unsecured child in the car!

Hi,

Whilst your baby may still fit in the bassinet there is no guarantee that you will be given the seat.

As an ex-ground staff member, usually those with the youngest baby will get preference. Also many airline reward member will request the bulk head and they get preference.

So by all means put in the request but be prepared.

I had a Baby Bjorn for my son, yes it was a bit hot but also after about 6 months baby gets a bit too big.
Consider an ERGO carrier. They can be worn front, back and side, providing you with more options.

Good luck in India and remember to use bottled boiled water for washing bottles etc and sterilised water for baby. If you haven't started before then your baby may be nearly ready for solids. Whilst some may argue you can wait a bit longer it is really up to your baby if they are more hungry they will wake often meaning they need a bit more food. So pack your baby rice cereal.

Happy travels

Hi,
We traveled with our 6 month old to India in December, we flew Air India and took the bassinet. It worked out great, baby slept in the bassinet while enjoyed the extra leg room which comes with seats which can fit a bassinet. While in India we used a Beco Butterfly carrier, worked out really well, it is organic cotton and breathes well, so baby and wearer are not hot.
Have fun !!

India in December is very, very different from India in June, and I am not sure even the carriers designed for hot climates would work well.I tried a few carriers and gave up fairly quickly since my kids never liked to sit in them. Maybe it was partly personality, but I don't think it is nice when it is very hot. If we were sightseeing (and could be expected to be in clean-enough places) we would travel with a sarong,or some sort of sheet (often a plastic one). We would give the baby time-out (of our arms) on the ground.

Cars - it is mandatory to use seat belts in the front seat and many cars have seat belts in the back these days (all newer designs will). If you rent a car and driver you could request them (and take a car seat).

Please check about immunizations. We ended up giving our 6 month old his Measles shot early when we traveled to India (he was scheduled to have it at the 1 year mark).
Also we had him sleep in a peapod tent at my family's home (although i think it got recalled by cpsc.gov last fall) to protect him from bug bites, especially in regards to malaria risk.
I was nursing exclusively at that point, so did not worry about other public health issues too much.
Now, when I traveled with him when he was 2.5 years old, he touched everything!!
But staying with family helps with making sure the water is boiled, etc...
Hope this helps!