16 month old boy on a plane for 7 hours - help

As the title suggest -HELP

Off to Thailand to visit the in laws and for a wedding on the 16/12/06 and while we are there we are going to travel around a bit. All in all we have the to and from Thailand and 6 domestic flight arranged.

Any suggestions on plane travel with an infant. His first trip and our first trip as parents, semi dreading the idea (not the holiday).

Looking forward to any tips

Re: 16 Month old boy on a plane for 7 hours-help

You poor bugger! Hopefully your young fella sleeps a lot or you have some good loud tunes on the Ipod and you sleep a lot whilst the missus is kept busy .

Re: 16 Month old boy on a plane for 7 hours-help

kevro said:

As the title suggest -HELP

Off to Thailand to visit the in laws and for a wedding on the 16/12/06 and while we are there we are going to travel around a bit. All in all we have the to and from Thailand and 6 domestic flight arranged.

Any suggestions on plane travel with an infant. His first trip and our first trip as parents, semi dreading the idea (not the holiday).

Looking forward to any tips

Click to expand...

Ask him what he expects from the first time experience and conjure a plan to alleviate any negativity or doubts he may expose. :boy: Seriously...generally speaking if you exude happiness and relaxation then he will follow. :1luvu:

Re: 16 Month old boy on a plane for 7 hours-help

Wysiwyg said:

Ask him what he expects from the first time experience and conjure a plan to alleviate any negativity or doubts they may expose. :boy: Seriously...generally speaking if you exude happiness and relaxation then they will follow. :1luvu:

Click to expand...

Easier said than done for a 17 month old boy confined on a packed plane, he will be chomping at the bit to do a dummy spit after the first couple of hours.

Also don't let him sleep the day before the flight and make him jog around the block 5 times, he should sleep like a baby then!

But seriously enjoy youre holiday and have fun with youre son on the plane, I'm sure all will be O.K.

Happy travels

Re: 16 Month old boy on a plane for 7 hours-help

Hi Kevro,
We've recently been there and done that, to the UK no less! Wysywyg is right re the attitude you need to have. Also, see if you can get a bulkhead seat as they have cots-they're for smaller kids, but if he is under 10(?) kg they will let you use them. If he is too tall he might have troubles fitting in, but. Also, make sure you have some milk or something that he can drink during the take-off and landing so his ears equilibrate with the reduced cabin pressure. Also take plenty of small snacks like raisins, baby muesli bars, little fruit snacks etc in case they don't like the airline food. Also take a faw favourite toys, but not too many as they'll prob be happier playing weith your headset! Also a mild sedative like infant polaramine might help. Don't forget nappies etc of course!
Good luck!
Cheers.

I seemed to get some crying baby near me on every flight I took recently. It really annoyed me.

Try and keep him awake for a long time before the flight so he sleeps the whole trip.

And if he is awake and restless, take him for a walk up and down the plane for a bit.

And yeah the key thing is get him sucking on something during takeoff and landing to equal the ears.

kevro... goodluck!! - we had our 17 month when we did 22 hours non-stop singapore - new york the long way round ... what airline u on? this makes a big difference - we flew singapore air which was great - the 5 hour cross canada trip was much worse cause the canadian air hosties were no help at all

our kid had a cold so we had drowse inducing medication which helps - but if you haven't used it before make sure you try before the plane trip cause some kids speed up with whats meant to put them to sleep - ahhh nightmare

another advantage of singapore (and no i don't work for them) is the tele screens even in economy - thats a few hours just there! but most airlines have them now?

as people have said, get the basinet row, take lots of nibbles, distractions and something to chew/drink when land/takeoff... have a great trip

Hi Kevro

Having done to the UK a few times with my toddlers, you have my sympathies. My thoughts are as follows and feel free to discard anything not useful;

1. If you can afford it a seat for the little one is best as they can stretch out and rest next to you. If you have a bulkhead bassinet every time there is turbulence they want you to hold the baby which is usually just after they finally got off to sleep.

2. Plenty of drinks for the flight and make sure they have drinks/lollipops for sucking on during takeoff and landing. Nibbles for the flight such as crackers are always a great hit.

3. New toys that you would feel happy discarding/leaving on the flight. Small cars/planes toys with flashing lights. If you are seated next to Realist then the noisiest toy you can find ...... but otherwise things with motion/flasing lights usually distracts for a while.

4. Most airlines have kidpacks which often include pens/pencils/cheap etchasketch so you don't need those. i keep these as they are great in hotel rooms etc with the kids.

5. When everyone is sleeping and your toddler is awake, walk them up and down the corridors to burn off energy. This usually elicits sympathy and gratitude form other passengers that are awake that they are not seated next you and your child.

6. Plenty of nappies and wipes. For seven hours probably four-five nappies just in case...remembering all the time through immigration and customs. Spare clothes as they wil make a mess. My little boy went through three sets before we were on the plane he was so excited.

7. Don't feel too bad about what other people feel about your kids on the flight. Usually anyone near you will either be great or unreasonable. One flight to the UK we couldn't get a seat for a toddler on one leg. The guy in front kept reclining his seat right into my lap whilst I was nursing the baby. The toddler kept tapping his head throughout the flight and he chose to ignore it rather than adjust his seat a little forward. Eventually he stood up to have a go at me and when I stood up he was at least six inches shorter and thirty kg lighter. At that point he decided discretion was little more appropriate

8. Try and pack light and use day backpacks as well as suitcases. This will allow you to have a suitcase in one hand, daybackpack on your back and toddler on the other arm. And those without kids think they are doing the trip hard

9. Try and chill out and enjoy yourself.

Cheers and good luck

Shane

Thanks for all the responses (and sympathy) guys and girls. It will be a challenge and we will be attempting to use every trick in the book and some that arn't. Young Benny is a bit of a chick magnet so he will do OK with the hosties and I will of course not exploit that situation.

We will be flying Thai Airlines and they are great with kids and I seem to remember from past trips they have some hosties with a badge declaring them as child care assistants when not attending there normal duties. We have gone the bulkhead seats but he is to big for the folddown basinets.

As suggested we will be keeping him awake initially and running him around in the morning is likely happen as we have a 1000 hours flight and he usually has a nap about 1030. Will try and get him up a bit earlier and run him ragged. Hopefully the adrenalin rush will wear off a couple of hours into the flight and he will crash and burn on the plane.

All his snacks and drinks are there and hopefully the air pressure changes won't set him off. I have had that myself flying back from the UK with a bad head cold. I thought I was going to die and no amount of earpopping was going help. Hopefully the bottles will help relieve any pressure problems.

Once again our thanks to everyone for there input, its much appreciated and I for one am glad that we are not doing th London flight. Bad enough without kids.

Regards
Kevin & Lamyai

Caught this thread a bit late, but I don't know about making him extra-tired - When ours is over tired he sleeps worse than usual! We had a nightmare leg from from Korea when ours was 13 months, sick bags for both him and myself (I'd eaten some dodgy food the day before, perfect timing), and mum between us

kevro said:

As the title suggest -HELP

Off to Thailand to visit the in laws and for a wedding on the 16/12/06 and while we are there we are going to travel around a bit. All in all we have the to and from Thailand and 6 domestic flight arranged.

Any suggestions on plane travel with an infant. His first trip and our first trip as parents, semi dreading the idea (not the holiday).

Looking forward to any tips

Click to expand...

My sister and her husband traveled the world with a child a little bit younger.
Just be relaxed.

We did the UK haul with a very active 2 year old boy. Exhausting. 19 years ago but still vivid! But our bestest memories are those holidays......

Some tips:

Dont try to change his routine too much - ie dont try to keep him awake because then he will just get overtired, and really cranky and ours was impossible to get to sleep when he was overtired (and really needed to sleep)

We went to the discount stores and bought a few cheap things like little cars, little toys, food treats (eg sultanas, etc) and wrap them in some nice paper. On the long haul we obviously had some naps, but when he was awake, every 30 minutes or so he was allowed to pick a treat if he had been good. And the unwrapping and playing/eating would see him through happily to the next treat. Mostly.

Teach him how to unblock his ears (holding nose and blowing gently) The ascent and descent especially is terrible for kids this age because it hurts! Keep him away fom other kids for a few days just before you leave so he doesnt pick up a cold or that would make his ears hurt really badly. Take some baby demazin in case he gets a blocked nose etc; also aqua ear for on the trip if you plan to go swimming so he doesnt get an outer ear infection from the pools.

Take things you know he likes to eat. Tired hungry kids are not good. At his age he should have a seat because otherwise he will be on your laps the whole time. The bulkhead cots will be way too small for him by the way. Maximum age for them is around 10 months (by size)

If he has a favourite teddy, tie a string around it so you can tie it to luggage - our son's sleep teddy almost got left behind in Germany - and that would have been disastrous.

We also took a small sleeping bag that we could zip up around him, meant that we had something to hang on to when we all had a nap!

Dont try to give him some sedation medicine - that can rebound and keep them awake

If you can, see if you can book your hotel room so you can go into your room immediately you arrive, even if it means booking for the night before you arrive. That way you can crash and sleep if you need to as soon as you get there (Picture us walking around London at 7am in the morning totally zonked and jet lagged with a 2 year old and not being able to get into a room until 2pm)

Guess who has travelled a lot with kids - I cant believe how lightly I pack now that the kids have grown up!

Thats another thing I am worried about for the young fella and thats dodgy food. My wife even gets sick eating the North East food when she is a bit out of practice. Its not really Thai food in this region but more known as E-sarn food and the Thai language lessons are waisted as the speak E-sarn (Local dialect - combination of Thai and lao). Her sister from Sweden with there two kids is over for the wedding also and she has had to visit the hospital with one of her kids. Looks like its toast and vegemite for me for the first 6 days.

The first flight will be the big one I suspect. The next six will be domestic flights ranging from 1 to 1 1/2 hours so hopefully the return trip will have no novelty value for him.

kevro said:

Thats another thing I am worried about for the young fella and thats dodgy food. My wife even gets sick eating the North East food when she is a bit out of practice. Its not really Thai food in this region but more known as E-sarn food and the Thai language lessons are waisted as the speak E-sarn (Local dialect - combination of Thai and lao). Her sister from Sweden with there two kids is over for the wedding also and she has had to visit the hospital with one of her kids. Looks like its toast and vegemite for me for the first 6 days.

The first flight will be the big one I suspect. The next six will be domestic flights ranging from 1 to 1 1/2 hours so hopefully the return trip will have no novelty value for him.

Click to expand...

Does he like those Maggi Noodles? All they need is boiling water. If so I would take some of those. I know they arent that great for them but on a short term basis that should be fine.

Hi Prospector, I think my wife has a shopping expedition arranged in Udon Thani town when we get there before heading out into the country side. She has some plans there for me and Benny. The real trouble is possibly the water used for ice or washing dishes, bottles etc. Last time I was up there we basically drank rain water from a tank and was OK in the main. Lots of bottled water will be bought in town I suspect before heading bush. I am not surprised however if my wife gets sick because what they eat up there would strip the paint off your walls. Not to mentioned all the fried insects of various size and shape.

Hopefully the shopping trip will cover us but if there is a problem (which I realize will probably happen no matter how careful we are) then the Thai doctors and chemists are pretty good these days. For me a truckload of Immodium or Lomatil should be sufficient.

Sounds like she has it all covered! Actually, the sickest one of my kids got was drinking formula milk (at 10 months of age) made from boiled water on Hamilton Island, AUSTRALIA! They had giardia in the water tanks and didnt tell anyone. He is still lactose intolerant 15 years later.

One other thing, make sure his immunisations are up to date too! Measles/mumps and tetanus especially. MAybe even HepA if up to it.

Prospector, yep all immunizations are up to date but I was reading through his record the other day and I noticed that the Chicken Pox jab is not due until 2 weeks after we returns at the end of January. Any thoughts on getting it done earlier.

kevro said:

Prospector, yep all immunizations are up to date but I was reading through his record the other day and I noticed that the Chicken Pox jab is not due until 2 weeks after we returns at the end of January. Any thoughts on getting it done earlier.

Click to expand...

I think it is OK to get it done earlier, I guess the only thoughts might be any reaction to it while you are away.

In my children's day : there was no such thing as the immunisation for it; having said that I got Chicken Pox for the first time in my thirties, gave it to my son who was five, then he gave it my other son who was only a year old. We were sick for 6 weeks all up! Check with your Dr to see if the CP injection gives a bad reaction; if there is the chance of this then I dont think I would do it but wait until I got back.

recently went to Europe with a 19 month old - booked a bassinet seat but didn't get allocated it even though we booked it months in advance - there were others on the plane with the same story (including a lady with a 6 week old). Had to nurse our daughter on our lap the whole 12 hour leg from malaysia to europe. Luckily she slept pretty much the whole time.

Make sure you've got plenty of food and drink - they're slow to respond on the plane. snack food like sultana's, biscuits etc. plus water and milk.

We also had the good fortune to travel to the UK from Europe 2 days after the bomb scare at heathrow this year - so couldn't take much on the plane and they checked everything - had to taste the baby milk in front of security to be able to bring it on, no water etc. etc.

All went pretty well though except the last 8 hour leg from Malaysia to Aust on the return flight where she didn't sleep a second even though we kept her awake and had her run around for 5 hours during stopover in malaysia. Weren't too popular on that particular flight ... ah well.

Hi Cuttlefish, all part of the experience I suppose. I know that if bubs over 10kg you can't use the basinet anyway. Just hoping for a bulkhead seat. Requested one with the travel agent twice and I watched them type the Email. I then had to speak to Thai airlines again re departure times with the start of daylight saving here in WA and no bulkhead had been booked. They then got on the PC while on the phone to them and made the notation. Fingers crossed but will find out on the day I suppose.

Taking heaps of drinks and snacks. I note that many people suggest sultana's. Why is that??