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April 2011 Moms
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International(LONG) flight with your LO?

PSlovePSlove member
in April 2011 Moms

Has anyone had any experience on a long flight with a toddler?

DH's family is in Europe and we are heading over to see them soon. I am basically freaking out. The flight is 7-8 hours. The way over is always overnight and the way back is always during the day, so we need to be prepared for both situations.

Would you buy a seat, or keep LO on your lap? Travel with car seat or just rent on there? Any insight would be appreciated!

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Re: International(LONG) flight with your LO?

  • TwirpleTwirple member

    Well, I haven't gone to Europe, but I did travel from Anchorage to Mexico.  We had six hour flights.  Snacks for LO would be a good idea.  We had a few toys with us that he had never seen.  Overnight was the easiest for us, because he was asleep the whole time.  We would take turns playing with him and walking the isle with him when he was awake.  The Ergo carrier was awesome because he could sleep in it (in my arms) and I could sleep too, without worrying about dropping him.

    I would definitely take your own carseat.  If you do decide to get a seat for him, he can be comfortable in his own carseat.  If you decide not to get a seat, car seats are free in checked luggage.  

     

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  • ale05008ale05008 member

    Hi, I dont usually post here but I lurk and my little one was due in April.

    We are actually right now visiting family in Russia. We flew here when she was 14 months old and with a delay (sitting on the plane) our flight was close to 10 hours. I didn't buy her a seat she was on my lap and did great. I bought a lot of snacks, brought crayons and paper, and few new toys. What really had saved me were stickers. I went to Dollar Tree and got a bunch of them. They have big ones that are easy for little hands, and she was busy with those for awhile. And as you mentioned the flight was overnight, but because its so noise on the plane, she maybe slept for the total of 4 hours. We are flying back in 2.5 weeks so we will see how that will go.

    As for the car seat, I would find out the rules for the country you are visiting. For example in Russia they are not required. Or I guess better to say they are required but no one uses them really. And people who use them don't really follow any rules.  Example: yesterday I saw a lady at the parking lot getting her little baby (looked like maybe 8 months old from FF car seat that was in front on the passenger side) I knew that I wanted to use my RF seat so I brought it all the way here, and I am glad I did. Also here there is no place to rent it from.

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  • lylahlovelylahlove member

    We took a red eye to Canada on Liam's first birthday - it was the easiest flight. We didn't buy him a seat, the person next to us just moved to give us space so Liam slept between us nearly the whole time. 

    Buy lots of snacks, books, fun little toys. We've never taken a car seat on any of our trips, we just use public transportation - so I guess it depends on if you're going to a big city?

    Best of luck with your trip :) 

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  • MrsBabySmithMrsBabySmith member

    We took a trip to Scotland in late May with Wee Beastie.  He did far better than we expected: first morning flight from LA to Newark, 2 hr layover, Newark to Manchester flight (overnight flight), 3 hr drive to Scottish Borders.  He's always slept with white noise so noise of plane + vibration led to decent sleeping on both flights; he did have a couple hour period on the Newark - Manchester leg that was challenging since everyone around us was sleeping but he made it through and we got a lot of positive comments on how well he did from our neighbors.

    Here are my tips:

    1. Check with your pedi about using Benadryl to induce sleep -- we asked & got instructions but chose not to do it.
    2. Include a lay-over somewhere if possible -- Wee Beastie had a great time running loose at gate and investigating the moving walkways in Newark.
    3. Revert to newborn phase "sleep when baby sleeps" approach while on plane -- someone should be relatively well-rested when munchkin decides it's way too interesting to go to sleep
    4. Find out which (if any) on board bathroom has a baby changing table
    5. Ask flight attendant to bring your meal tray if applicable separately from your traveling partner to stagger eating -- one eats & other keeps munchkin occupied then switch; particularly crucial when you have a lap baby!
    6. Don't underestimate the amusement possibilities of the tray table latch, seat recline button, touch screen video, seat back pocket & its contents including air sick bag, and playing peek-a-boo with surrounding seats particularly the folks seated behind you only visible over the back of the seat or the hole between seats.
    7. One of you needs to be on the aisle for easy bathroom access

    This may get me flamed but it's an honest answer: we didn't bring our own car seat.  I did a bunch of research, bought car seat locally online using "buy online, pickup in store" option, used seat for the 5 days we were there, and then returned it to the store for full refund.  It was half the cost of renting the seat from car rental company and we were prepared for them to refuse return or get a discounted refund.  If they didn't take it back, we planned to donate it to a local charity shop, shelter, or church with request to give it to a deserving family.  If you plan to return often, it may be worthwhile to purchase there with plan to re-use on subsequent visits.

    Finally, FlyerTalk has a forum for Travel with Children that you should check out.   The advice is NOT to check a carseat as baggage due to possible damage from rough handling.

    Happy travels!

    Laura

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  • Brooke81Brooke81 member

    I would deffinitly buy a seat for LO if you can in any way afford it. I have flown with my kids to and from europe and would go crazy with them on my lap. Plus there is now way that they would sit still or anywhere close to still at this age. When DS was 14 months he walked the aisles almost the whole time.

    I would recomend bringing your carseat and using it on the plane. If is is big and heavy you can always get a  Cosco Scenera for about $40 to travel with.

    Bring lots of snacks for sure and try to have some new toys. Don't worry you will be fine!

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