Baby Air Travel

Travel Tips for You and Your Baby One Mile up
Everyone needs a holiday once in a while, and traveling with your loud and rebellious child should not stop you. How do you cope at 30,000 feet in a small confined space on a long haul flight with many other fellow passengers close around you. It can be a nightmare just thinking about it, so we have compiled a list of useful tips to help you from pulling your hair out of your head so that you can have a 'bon voyage' vacation trip as possible.

Here is our survival tips and strategy:

• This trip won't last forever although it seems that it could do - you will be very lucky if your trip will be anything like it use to be when you did not have children. Your priorities have changed things and nothing runs to a schedule. Just think to yourself that this ordeal will be over soon, and in the worst of it you can say something like 'I am gonna look back at this situation and laugh' 
• Book an individual seat for your child if possible - if your child is under 24 months then the chances are that your child will have no seat of his /her own. This will make meal times a real juggling act, so if possible you should consider paying a bit extra for a whole seat for your child.
• Before your children were born you may have desired the window seat for the scenic views or the seat on the inner edge for quick access to the aisle, but now that you have a child, your choice is limited to the convenience to the onboard toilet facilities (it just too small bathroom facilities in my opinion). Carefully consider which seat is the closest to the toilets and arrange this requirement in advance if time permits
• Rehearse how the aircraft  environment will be like so that your child,  if s/he older enough, will get a gist of how it could be like in advance
• Bring toys and other games that have the affect of distracting your baby in the likely event that s/he will get bored. Remember, the longer the flight the greater the number games and other sorts of distractions you should bring along at least a toy for each hour on the flight. Consider other airline passengers and try to select toys that do not make a considerable amount of noise.
• Choosing a seat that have seat back LCD TV screen for movie films and games. If a facility like this is not available then bring along  portable DVD player with a good supply of batteries
• Coloured crayons and felt tip pens with colouring in books or small white board that are available for children so that they can squiggle the time away
• Pack ready made milk formula so that you can instantly satisfy your baby's thirst thereby minimising crying and whining. Bring some baby foods just encase your baby does not like the airlines food. Note that when you are booking your flight, ask if the airline can provide a special meal for your child. If your baby is not on solids then it is less likely that the airline can cater for your little one
• Flying overnight might be a good idea for any long haul flight as other passengers are more likely to sleep and therefore be not as talkative and thus the ambience will be quieter. Some children may not sleep easy as they may get excited about this whole new environment. You may want to tire out your child beforehand so that your little one is more likely to fall asleep
• Being with fellow adults in the past without children you may have found that  indirect flights are not a problem but with a child this can be a whole different story, for example, you may not be as quick trying to get to your connecting flight. Taking a direct flight also means less time in the confinements of a plane and arriving at your destination sooner rather than later