Taking your baby on the long-haul flight to Australia — more survival plans!
I received an email the other day, with lots of questions regarding flying with babies (in this case twin five-and-a-half month-old boys!) from Brisbane back to the UK. The questions touched on some subjects I have already written about in past articles, but they also raised some new points that I haven't yet written about, and so I felt I should share these answers in case they help anyone else. When you've got a long flight on a plane with a small person to face, sometimes there can never be too much advice!
Tips on coping with the changing timezones when you have a strict routine for sleeping and feeding to follow:
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| Alex slept quite well on my lap — and so did I! | My answer to this question was that much as this sounds like suicide, it's actually best to not stress about the routine too much while you are on the flights, but be strict about trying to get back into it over 2—3 days when you get there, and get back. On the flights, it's every man for himself I said ;-) and just do anything that works for you or the babies to get through it, and deal with sleep and routines when you get there. (Can you tell I was the one who chucked Gina Ford in the bin after about 5 minutes!).
Alex has sorted herself out, jetlag-wise, way better than Andy and I have on both Aussie trips we've done with her, which always surprised us. For a while now, Alex has sussed out that when she has a bath, etc..., then it was time for 'big sleep' soon after, so therefore if she had a bath at bedtime when we arrived, she soon worked it out. You will probably get 2—3 nights of a baby waking up at random times for a bit, but that soon sorts itself out back to 'normal'. In terms of feeding, the main thing I tried to keep the same were the gaps between feeds. Alex was still on 3-4 hourly feeds during day time when we went with her the first time (4-5 months), so I tried to keep that as near to 'normal' as possible, and then sorted out 'night' when we got there, or if she went to sleep. If you are taking a night flight as the first flight, then that works well as being 'like' normal bedtime. The Transit Hotel in Singapore Airport is good for a break and a bath etc. We did that last time, and they can provide cots. When you get there, like I say, that is when you need to try and ease back into 'normal' routine. You might find that bedtime is an hour or so earlier/later than usual for a couple of days, but we tried to creep it back to the right time of day. Main thing is — if they fall asleep during the day and it's been a while, then wake them up for a bit and try and hang on to a reasonable bedtime. But as I said before — on the flight, routine out the window! and just chill and do what they want to do. They will probably sleep more than you think they will... honest!
Tips on how to entertain a baby on the plane during their waking hours:We took a couple of Alex's books that she liked to look at (over and over again!), and some little cuddly-type toys we could waggle around and she could look at. We took a few strolls up and down the aisles, and hung out with the cabin crew at the back of the plane, but mostly she was OK just being jiggled about and sitting with us. We didn't use the baby carrier in the aisles, but they could come in handy if a baby requires lots of trips down the aisles to save arm strain!
Nappy-change facilitiesThe change-table folds down from the wall in the loos and usually goes over the toilet area. It's actually quite a handy set-up with lots of flat surfaces for wipes, creams, nappies etc, all within reach, and there is a hook on the back of the door for a bag. And if not screaming (!) then your little ones might enjoy the shiny lights and the big mirror in there ;-)
Just how big is a bassinet, what is it made from, and what might you need to bring along?
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| Alex was quite happy to amuse herself in her bassinet for some of the time, so try to remember to pack some smaller toys in your hand luggage | Singapore Airlines bassinets are the biggest you can get on a plane (see my earlier article about bassinet sizes). Alex slept happily in one when she was 15 months, and I have seen nearly 2-year-olds sleeping happily in them — they are pretty roomy! You don't need to take a mattress, as the bassinet is all set up to be comfy and they come round and put in a sheet and a fleecy blanket on the bottom. We took our own cotton blankets for putting over Alex (the ones with the holes in), but she was happy on the fleece bottom blanket.
Doesn't the general environment of an aeroplane (noises, bright lights, temperature, turbulence, etc) upset a baby regardless?The good thing about the flights is that the background noise on the plane is the white noise that babies love, and it helps them sleep. I am always amazed at how Alex just sleeps through it! You should take jumpers though, as sometimes it can get cold on the flights when they are sleeping. Also, I sometimes put a muslin over where Alex's head is in the bassinet (you've probably seen that photo!) just to stop the glare of the lights if they are on.
Don't fly without these... essentials for your hand luggage to ensure surviving a flight with a baby100 muslins!! Take lots of muslins, and also changes of clothes just in case (I'm sure I don't have to tell you this!). Disposable bibs are good (I know you can buy those in Australia too) — these are paper ones that you chuck away afterwards, so no soggy milky bibs! Pre-sterilised disposable bottles are great. I'm sure you should be able to get these from a pharmacy? They are one-use-only, and come individually wrapped in a bag all sterilised (not very 'green', but very handy, in the UK you can get these in Boots). And cartons of ready-made formula — much easier to deal with.
Warming a bottle/boiling waterI would not use the 'boiled' water they have on the flight, and I would bring your own cooled down pre-boiled water already in bottles, or ready made cartons (test these out before you leave though, so you know your baby likes the taste of them!). If you want a bottle warmed, the Flight Attendants will do it at any time, and I would get them to do a couple once everyone is on board and they are doing the final checks. Or get a couple of bottles filled-up in a cafe with boiling water, just before you board, and then they should have cooled down OK for the hour later when you will take off.
Everything takes twice as long with a baby, so what about arriving twice as early for your plane?
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| Alex tests out the noise-reduction headphones in business class on the flight home last year | Actually once the 'leaving the house' part is done (which takes forever — right?!), then it's not too bad. Don't plan to do much at the airport apart from a coffee for you, a milk for baby and a nappy-change, and you won't be disappointed. Actually, you will probably find the flight goes much much quicker when you are wrangling babies! Weird, I know. We didn't need to take that much more time, and was cheaper as I didn't spend half an hour in duty free ;-)
Unhappy babies in confined spaces — making it easier for your fellow passengers...There will always be a couple of people who will be annoyed when your baby starts to cry, but then I get annoyed with seat-kickers (oooh SO annoying!). Main thing is to just stay calm. Of course your babies will cry on the flight — they cry normally, right? So don't worry. It is very unlikely they will be the only babies on the plane, for a start. And they won't cry the WHOLE flight, as they will sleep sometimes ;-)
On our last trip home, Alex was on top banshee-wailing form while we were waiting to board at the gate, and you could tell from the faces of the other passengers that they were all praying they weren't going to be sitting within ten rows of us. However, once we were on the plane, Alex slept for half the flight, and played beautifully and cherub-like for the rest, and our neighbouring passengers 'loved' her :-) When they do kick-off though, it is hard, I know, but we just take in turns taking Alex off somewhere a bit out-of-the-way (near the loos, for example), and jiggling her for a bit, and it's all done after a while... We had loads of people be nice to us (lots of grannies usually on flights!), so don't worry. Make sure your little ones are looking great in their cutest outfits (!) and it'll be fine. You know if you are stressed, they will pick up on it, so just try and chill...
Getting organised for feeding your baby on take-off and landing
Get the bottles (or boob!) ready while the plane is taxi-ing, but don't start until you are actually off down the runway! Is easy to start too soon and then have no milk left for the climb!! Mostly they need it for the first 5—10mins of the flight while ascending, so it's almost "wheels up — bottle/boob in" ;-) As for landing, just leave it as long as you dare, or until they start to cry. One of our FAs (when we had the great fortune of upgrading to business class for a leg of our trip last year) insisted that we needn't worry about Alex crying during take-off and landing, as crying actually helps a baby to pop their ears better. That made us feel a whole lot better and more relaxed about it (although, to be fair, most people in business class will have their complimentary noise-cancelling headphones on, so they probably wouldn't notice Alex's screaming anyway!). I hope there are some more helpful hints in here for taking a baby on a long haul flight with minimum of drama... soon we'll be able to tell you all about taking a lively and into everything chatty toddler to the other side of the world as we're off to New Zealand tomorrow with Alex... am trying not to think about 4 lots of 12 hour flights there and back with no bassinet...eeeeeeek! |
