Travelling with small child

[ischa]

Hi All,

I’m so excited reading all the progress reports, and get so excited when I read “flights booked”! We not at that stage yet, but working very hard towards it.

We are planning to take a trip out to Adelaide during April, I would really appreciate some advise. We have a very active 19month old little boy and I’m already having nightmares about the flight. We looked at breaking the trip and staying in Singapore for a few nights but it all adds up. Would you suggest we do break the trip or is it manageable flying straight to Oz. We are also considering booking a seat for him, again adding to the cost but I cannot imagine containing him on our laps for almost a full day !

Any advise would be really appreciated. We will use Singapore Airlines as I have only heard good things about them.

Thanks in advance.

Aireys:o

[Guest Trakki]

We uased Singapore Airlines and they were great we travelled with 4 children aged 1, 2, 5 and 7. We were dreading it but it was OK. We booked the 630pm flight out of Heathrow in the hope that they would sleep and they did. After the initial excitement Joe (1) fell asleep. I did not get a bassinette for him but they left the seat next to me empty so when he fell asleep I padded the seat with pillows and blankets provided by the cabin crew and there he slept. I was really suprised as our nickname for Joe is Joe the destroyer as he is a manic child and never stays still. We had one episode where he wanted to go for a walk so spent half an hour walking up and down the aisles. The cabin crew were fab and Joe stopped to say hi to people on the way!!! We stopped at Singapore for 9.5 hours and booked the transit hotel which was the best thing we could do. It meant that me and Pete could chill out while the children ran around but were contained. Using the transit hotel meant that we could use the roof top swimming pool for free and we had packed our swimmers. The room had towels. joe however slept while we swam so Pete stayed at the pool sied with him asleep in the buggy. Took the buggy with us and got it on the stopover. By the time we had swam and eaten it was time for the next flight. This time there was no empty seat and I had a stroppy lasy next to me but Joe was fine, he slept most of it. You will be ok as you will be next to your hubby so can swap laps if you get dead arms. Pete was in the row behind me with Jack and Niamh and I had Joe and Sophie next to me.

 

All in all the flights were so much better than we thought. the kids meals that we ordered before were great, loads of choice and loads that ended up in handluggage. All the children had their own hand luggage but didn't use much, it was more useful once we were here before toys arrived. We had taken colouring stuff for Joe and Niamh but Joe wasn't interested and Niamh was quite happy with the TV and slept for the whole of the 2nd flight.

 

Don't worry about the flights they are fine. We were mega worried flying with 4 but it was fine.

 

Godd luck with it all and hope that helps a bit is you have not fallen asleep reading it

[Guest rich]

Interested to read this as ours will be 8 months old when we go. Hope he doesn't have a huge 24 hour wobbly. We're thinking of going straight through... Advisable or not?

[Guest Trakki]

we went stright thorugh, just the 9.5 hour stop over and as much as we would have liked to spend some time in Singapore didn't have the funds and really just wanted to get here and get it over and done with. Some have stopped over and say it helps with the jet lag. Joe was hit with jet lag the hardest. Having done shifts for years me and Pete weren't too bad as our bodies are used to being confused!! (Am on nights at the mo)

 

HTH

[Guest GIPSY]

Hi

 

We did our reccie in November and our daughter was 28 months. We flew from Heathrow to Singapore on the night flight which I think left at about 10pm ish. She slept the whole way there!! I would definitely try and time your flights and we are doing the same flight when we go over for good in June.

When we got to Singapore, she woke whilst we were in the Airport which was only for about 1 1/2 hours and then we got on the next plane journey which she was awake for. She did well - I took lots of things to colour with and she watched the TV for short periods, but didn't like the headphones. One thing we did do was take some small presents wrapped up and if she had been good for a while, she was allowed to open one. I had read this from another poster and it seemed to work for us. We wrapped pairs, figurines, links, etc.

However... on the way back, we flew out of Perth on a tea time flight - this was the worse time for us as she has a giddy spell at around this time - NIGHTMARE!! Compounded by the fact that we had a childless couple in front us of that complained - stupid ****!! I will in future always time my flights as it really wasn't nice and some people think children should be in cages (I suppose I could see if she could go with the days ;-) )

 

Good luck

Hayley

[duncan-clan]

enjoy your flight over i brought my children with me 4 and 1 yr old...before you pop over go to boots or asda and get some medised (its a mild seditive for children) 5mm each before you get on plane and they should sleep most of the way...you will be asked how old children are as they dont like parents giving it to infants or under 2 not sure way cant remember or you can have screaming baby for hrs enjoy your time over here you will love it

 

alex

[The Monaghans]

Ours were 3 and 18 months when we flew over and we booked a seat for the 18 month old. We took their UK car seats onto the plane with us as we knew they would sleep better in their car seats than on plane seats. We took the night flight from Heathrow and they slept most of the way to Kuala Lumpur where we had a five hour stopover. Our theory was to let them run around at KL so they would sleep on the next flight but unfortunately they were awake for the whole of the second leg and the youngest was a complete nightmare! I'm glad we did it the way we did though, the car seats were definitely a good idea even though we couldn't actually use them when we landed in Adelaide as they aren't legal here.

[jo_marnes]

I'm having the nightmares too! We fly in 3 weeks with 3 kids - aged 5, 2 and 1. I am worried about our 1 yr old - he was only one this week so he isn't nearly old enough to colour/ watch TV etc. I hope he sleeps but he doesn't nap much in the day usually. And he is such a fidget! We are flying Singapore. Leave Heathrow at 10.05pm. 5 hour stop in Singapore. We are going to use the present ideas, but not sure how it'll work for Leo (the youngest). Running out of time to buy the bloomin things too. Arrghhh.... my emotions are all over the place - excitement, stress, worry.... mostly just anxious about getting things done!

[Anne B]

Hi,

 

I've done the trip a) pregnant, b) with a 19 month old boy, c) with a 5 year old and a 2 year old and d) with an 8 year old and a 5 year old.

 

Probably the easiest was with the 19 month old as he slept really well on the plane.

 

We booked a seat for him so we had 3 seats and he slept between us. We took the early evening flight to Singapore, then had a 2 night stopover. He slept well on the 2nd flight down to Adelaide too. We had some surprise presents wrapped up which we produced when he started getting a bit grouchy (trains, cars) and they kept him happy for ages. Make sure you have some snacks (preferably not sweets) with you as you never know when they are going to get hungry.

 

It won't be easy but try not to get too stressed out by it and if people give you dirty looks, just ignore them. It will all be over in a few hours time and you'll never have to see them again.

[ischa]

WOW, thanks to everyone for all the great ideas !!

I just said to my husband this site has given me more info and helpful tips than any other site.

Think we have an "action plan", will book the little monkey a seat, stay over in the transit hotel for a few hours and I will most defiantly wrap a few toys.

Thanks, again to everyone !

Question to the Monaghans - Just one things I want to ask about, why was the car seat not legal in Adelaide ? The idea was to take the car seat with us and then use it in the hire car. What do they use then ?

Regards,

Lindi (32), Byron (35) and Kieran (19months)

[minkyme29]

In 2005 when we did our reccie, we worried about the travelling with our then very active 3 year old daughter. In the end we decided to travel with short breaks at various airports along the way - so went from Birmingham to Frankfurt, then hung around for 2 hours there, then onto Singapore (the long stretch of the journey) where we had a 4 hour wait and then onto Perth.

 

Luckily for us our little one was past that exhausting 'up and about and all over the place' stage but still it was a concern. The stops at each airport gave her enough time to charge about and knacker herself out for the next leg of the journey...and of course the airline tv network helped too. At Frankfurt airport there was super little train play park, really well thought out and ideal for weary parents to stand by and watch!

 

Good luck and try not to worry...one thing I would recommend however is to take doses of 'Rescue Remedy' on the journey, it works wonders for the anxiety and stressful side of travelling and if given to little ones can help them with the jet lag etc You can purchase it from Holland & Barrett stores or Boots, look for the homeopathic and herbal remedies section, in a very distinctive yellow box.

 

Bye for now and happy travelling...

Dette

[The Monaghans]

WOW, thanks to everyone for all the great ideas !!

I just said to my husband this site has given me more info and helpful tips than any other site.

Think we have an "action plan", will book the little monkey a seat, stay over in the transit hotel for a few hours and I will most defiantly wrap a few toys.

 

Thanks, again to everyone !

 

Question to the Monaghans - Just one things I want to ask about, why was the car seat not legal in Adelaide ? The idea was to take the car seat with us and then use it in the hire car. What do they use then ?

 

Regards,

Lindi (32), Byron (35) and Kieran (19months)

 

 

UK car seats aren't allowed here Lindi. The first size car seats (usually from 0 - 24 months roughly) are anchored in here via a special harness that bolts to the floor at the rear of the car. I know that people have used their UK seats here and I guess for the first few days you might be ok, but they are illegal and you will be fined if stopped by the police. We still have Rory's seat if you'd like it but you'll need to get the bolt to anchor it to the floor or the car (according to my husband!).

[Anne B]

One thing I didn't mention about travelling with a 19 month year old, is that although he slept pretty well on the plane, it took him ages to get over the jet lag once we were there.

 

Obviously at that age they have no concept of time zones and trying to adjust your sleeping pattern. He just kept waking up when he was hungry and thought it was time to be awake and have a play. We spent a few nights awake with him in the middle of the night, feeling totally exhausted, playing cars or watching kiddies TV !!. Didn't help us to get over the jet lag either. In contrast on our last trip with an 8 and 5 year old, they adjusted to the jetlag much quicker than we did!! You can't win!! Good Luck !!