How old will your LO be when you decide to go on holiday abroad?

[DMG83]

we're going at the latest in feb so LO will be around 3-4 months, but we will fly sleazy-jet (easy jet)... my honest opinion of that!? a crying baby on the flight will be the LEAST of anyones concerns if they're flying with a super cheap airline!!

i'd feel uncomfortable taking LO on a long haul or with an expensive carrier as I've paid for upgrades/better flights in the past and bemoaned the screaming babies so i guess i better not be two faced and do it myself.. but short haul, economy flights i 100% will be taking and wouldn't think twice about it!

Actually that is a good idea - my experiences of easy jet and all the cheapies are that people are more concerned about sitting together (like a herd of animals getting on that plane) next to a window sitting at the back etc rather than babies .... it would be like a moaning obstacle lol - if you don't like sitting next to me and my bubba sit somewhere else - hmmm that is food for thought thank you xx

precisely, and they''re always packed with older teens causing more mayhem than a baby could so i honestly wouldn't feel guilty.. it's when you are flying business class etc. i really have been peed off in the past cos you double your flight expenses for a lovely trip then have it ruined? not v fair.. we flew to mauritius on honeymoon and had 2 screamers the whole way there.. didn't bother me AS much on the way out as I was on cloud 9, but when we were returning and i knew good old rainy uk was a few hours away, wedding and honeymoon over, back to the office, i did just feel like asking them all to shutup (which is obviously ridiculous, but you get what i mean - i felt shortchanged after paying so much)

companies i wouldn't think twice about flying with a baby are: easyjet, thomas cook, thomson, ryanair (although i've never flown with ryanair so don't know how much i want to do that even myself lol) etc.. And i'd like to think by age 3/4 years LO could control herself enough not to cause a nuisance, so we'll be back to our long hauls/better flight providers by then.. just depend on her maturity etc.

 

[KellyC75]

We HAD to fly long haul to Australia when DD was just 3 months old

We had a night flight, so luckily she slept all the way, other than waking for bottles & changes

The time in Australia was very hard though, she found it hard being out of her surroundings, along with having reflux, it made the 3 weeks there very tough

We are going again in a few months time, emigrating & im hoping for a good flight with her, especially as i'll be about 28 weeks pregnant too!

 

[ellie27]

We have always loved our holidays too and would go abroad twice a year.

Before our first baby arrived (Jan 2010) we said we wouldnt go away that year....flights/heat/......

Anna is now 18 months and we have been abroad 3 times in the last 10 months!!!

First holiday was just to Majorca (3hr flight) Anna was 8 months and she slept the whole way there (it was a 6am flight which helped as Anna would normally sleep til 9am!) Not too hot as it was september - only around 21 degrees.

2nd holiday, Portugal (3hr flight) again fantastic, it was first week of April, Anna was 14 months.

3rd holiday, Lanzarote (4.5 hr flight) Anna 17 months

We go with the flow at home, lunch one day could be 12 noon and next day 2pm, her naps could be a big 2hr nap or two small 1hr naps...we dont have a very strict routine but thats what has worked for us. It has helped while we have been away as we relax and go with the flow, Anna would sleep whenever she wanted in the pram no problems.

I would agree, and my brother told me this too, its so much easier when they are babies and not able to crawl/walk etc.

Oh, and kids travel free up til age 2.....if I wasnt 24wks pregnant now we would be looking to squeeze another holiday in at my break in October (will be 35wks then so unfortunately no more hols this year for us!)

I say go for it!!

 

[Dizzy321]

DS was 13 months old when he 1st went abroad 4.5 hour flight, he was great! Then he was 2 when we went abroad again another 4.5 hour flight. Then last sept we did a 9.5 hour flight to Florida with a 4 year old and a 17 month old, that was a little tougher as we stupidly never got DD a seat won't do that again lol. We plan on going to Spain when this little one is around 7 months old, can't wait all fun

 

[MummyCat]

Both my folks and my in laws live in South Africa. It's an 11 hour flight. We took our daughter for her first birthday (April 2010) and we took her again at 22 months (Feb 2011).

Both times she has been fabulous. A little unsettled in the first 30 min as she wanted to be up and moving around and couldn't understand why she had to be strapped in for the take off... but after that we either entertained her with her favourite DVD's on a portable DVD player/colouring/stickers etc... but mostly she slept. There has always been a child on the plane making more noise than her to be honest.... and in fact.... during the night the kids sleep and you don't hear a peep.. it's the snoring old man in the row behind that keeps you up!

We will be flying to SA in December with a 5/6week old baby and our daughter who will be 32 months. The baby will have a bassinet and I know will be less hassle than Lottie as Lottie will want to walk up and down the plane and be nosy and look at all the people!

Lottie doesn't get to see her grandparents often and has thoroughly enjoyed her holidays to SA... in Feb she swam every day and I think if she had a choice would have liked to stay there! Our 4 weeks over Christmas are going to be magical... and for the couple hours of entertaining them when they're NOT sleeping on the plane, I feel it's well worth it!

PS... Lottie doesn't cry lots/often but on occasions where she did start to fuss... we'd take her for a walk up and down the plane or go visit the air stewards at the back who love to see the kiddies! So she didn't disrupt other passengers much at all. We are very conscious of others and wont jut sit there and let her cry for ages!

 

[DMG83]

mummycat that sounds lush

just had to share my worst trip ever actually lol 4.5 hours to lanzarote, i had a kid behind me (aged about 3 - certainly old enough to know better) played with the window blind thing slamming it open and closed for an HOUR, then he sat and kicked my chair, i mean full on played a game of kicking my chair for the rest of the flight!!! I asked his mum to stop him kicking my chair (v politely) and she said, and i quote "no he's not hurting anyone).. then on the descent she refused to put him in his seat and caused a MASSIVE hassle - the steward said if we crash or bump there's a good chance you will kill your child if he's on your knee with your own weight and his size but they were yelling at the stewards!! In the end he went in his seat and screamed bloody murder - STUPID family!!!!

 

[Lady_Bee]

I am going to have to take mine on a long-haul flight to North Carolina when he/she is only a few months old. It's either that or be separated from my husband for even longer. :/ As long as I get the OK from my doctor I think I'll take my chances with the flight. The only thing that worries me is the germs. But I'm very diligent with sanitisers when I fly and I'm hoping that a 3-month-old baby will just want to sleep most of the time. I think it's usually older babies who want to grab things and suck things all the time? Anyway I will cross this bridge when I get to it next spring!

 

[cait]

We'll be doing ferry and drive to france next summer - baby will be 8 or 9 months. But will prob fly within UK before that, don't think it will be much hassle at all.

 

[MummyCat]

mummycat that sounds lush

just had to share my worst trip ever actually lol 4.5 hours to lanzarote, i had a kid behind me (aged about 3 - certainly old enough to know better) played with the window blind thing slamming it open and closed for an HOUR, then he sat and kicked my chair, i mean full on played a game of kicking my chair for the rest of the flight!!! I asked his mum to stop him kicking my chair (v politely) and she said, and i quote "no he's not hurting anyone).. then on the descent she refused to put him in his seat and caused a MASSIVE hassle - the steward said if we crash or bump there's a good chance you will kill your child if he's on your knee with your own weight and his size but they were yelling at the stewards!! In the end he went in his seat and screamed bloody murder - STUPID family!!!!

OMG... no!!!

If Lottie did that with the blind for 2 minutes she'd have been told off. If she even considers kicking the chair in front and she'd be in trouble. I know that might sound strict... but if she even for a second thinks it's okay to behave like that then she'll continue to do so... and as far as I'm concerned, she must respect other people's property. It's not her plane... so it's not hers to destroy.

As for not getting the kid strapped in I have no words just

The thing that bugs me most on flights... is if a kid near us is misbehaving and the parents do NOTHING about it. If a child is being naughty and a Mum and Dad are trying desperately to get him/her to stop or to calm down, then I have no problem with the noisy kid. At least the parents are trying to do something about it. In fact I have empathy for them as I know how they must be feeling and often if I have something/toy of Lottie's that might entertain/distract the kid for a few minutes I offer it to them to help them out... distraction works most of the time!

 

[lynnikins]

we took the boys to NZ in Feb/March this year, ds2 was just under a year old and they both coped pretty well surprisingly most of the travelers realised that we wouldnt be doing the trip if we didnt need to ( caus its 25hrs+ flying time with a 2 hr layover in LA in the middle ) and the flight attendants were helpful there were lots of parents with younger LO's than ours on board and we all mostly hung out at the back by the toilets or passageways across the plane rocking/bouncing/holding our LO's to keep them calm when they got bored of being in their seats,

 

[lynnikins]

we wont be traveling with the baby to NZ or Australia for at least a year after they are born unless we win the lottery caus its blooming expensive lol, might go to sweden to see OH's mum though but we might drive/ferry that trip instead

 

[DMG83]

mummycat that sounds lush

just had to share my worst trip ever actually lol 4.5 hours to lanzarote, i had a kid behind me (aged about 3 - certainly old enough to know better) played with the window blind thing slamming it open and closed for an HOUR, then he sat and kicked my chair, i mean full on played a game of kicking my chair for the rest of the flight!!! I asked his mum to stop him kicking my chair (v politely) and she said, and i quote "no he's not hurting anyone).. then on the descent she refused to put him in his seat and caused a MASSIVE hassle - the steward said if we crash or bump there's a good chance you will kill your child if he's on your knee with your own weight and his size but they were yelling at the stewards!! In the end he went in his seat and screamed bloody murder - STUPID family!!!!

OMG... no!!!

If Lottie did that with the blind for 2 minutes she'd have been told off. If she even considers kicking the chair in front and she'd be in trouble. I know that might sound strict... but if she even for a second thinks it's okay to behave like that then she'll continue to do so... and as far as I'm concerned, she must respect other people's property. It's not her plane... so it's not hers to destroy.

As for not getting the kid strapped in I have no words just

The thing that bugs me most on flights... is if a kid near us is misbehaving and the parents do NOTHING about it. If a child is being naughty and a Mum and Dad are trying desperately to get him/her to stop or to calm down, then I have no problem with the noisy kid. At least the parents are trying to do something about it. In fact I have empathy for them as I know how they must be feeling and often if I have something/toy of Lottie's that might entertain/distract the kid for a few minutes I offer it to them to help them out... distraction works most of the time!

I feel sorry most of the time for the parents when they are trying their hardest, when you think how terrible adults can be with flying it's hardly surprising that some children may not settle well.. but honestly, i sat there wanting to smack that mother stupid, she would rather pander to the atrocious behaviour of her toddler than have him safe and well, everyone was disgusted with her. Absolutely no sense x

 

[Blah11]

Amelie was a bit of a poop on our flight descending on the way there cos she didnt want her belt on Was horrid and she SCREAMED. We ended up asking the air hostess for a lapbelt attached to me which she said was fine as shes just over 2 and little and she stopped when she was on my knee. She also wanted to go to the toilet a lot lol. 4 hours is a long time for a toddler to sit in one spot.

 

[gills8752]

I took my 7 month old to Jamaica so that was a 10 hour flight there and 8 back and she was wonderful. I kinda dread taking her now she's walking as she'll want to run around the plane and bug everyone. She slept most of the journey when she was young and since we bf it was easy to calm her with boobs. The kids on the flight who were walking were a lot more hassle than babies.

 

[Nyn]

we took ds1 to Italy when he was 3 months

I know I was taken to the States (from England) when I was 6 weeks old!

It's actually much easier travelling with a tiny baby rather than a toddler!

 

[missmayhem]

i'll be off to china when bubs is 3/4 months........ not looking forward to the flight at all but my parents wish to meet their new grandchild (1st grandchild)

plus i won't be paying for the flights either so it would be rude to say no.....

 

[tink30]

I took my little boy when he was 2 on a 4 hour flight.. he slept all the way. On the way back he woke and then cried the last hour.. he was shattered and i think his little ears hurt.. i had some stares.. and groans.. but i stood up at the end and said ''what are you all looking at??? hes 2 for god sake!'' lol.. they soon stopped looking hehe.... i felt rage because i was so protective of him, and he did so well considering xx

That is good of you to stand up for yourself - the good old british public are good at mumbling and moaning but when confronted they don't know how to react - hubby wouldn't like me doing that BUT if the moans and groans got to that point then I think one of us would say something. Good for you for sticking up for yourself - that would have been one of those moments that I would have loved to have been there to see the other peoples faces lol xxxxx

lol.. it had me in hysterics afterwards with my friend and her mum.. felt brilliant to let some steam off.. and they should have been ashamed of themselfs.. lots of them had grown up children of there own.. so they should remember what its like hehe xxx

 

[ahcigar1]

I plan on flying back east with my LO for the first time when she will be about 6 months old. I have also flown with my neices and nephews before, one time when only 4 months and another time when almost a year. And they both did very well. Weren't very fussy at all. They were sure to bring lots of different toys, and also tried to hold off feeding for during take off and landing to help reduce the pressure in the ears which is most uncomfortable to them. My nephew who was almost a year they kept him busy and did lots of walking up and down the aislt to help keep him occupied too. The other people actually enjoyed this cause he would stop and greet every person he passed, they actually got a kick out of it. And I am the type of person that if a baby is a little fussy, it really is no big deal. It happens sometimes, and the other people on the plane need to get over themselves if they are so bothered by it.

 

[babyhopes2010]

10 months old and we will go to spain

 

[jess181989]

I have a friends wedding in Malaga when baby will be 9 and a half months old. I'm not too concerned as they make baby food onsite at the hotel and I have self sterilising bottles which only require a microwave . They have also supplied me with a cot for an extra 20 during my two week stay and the airline is allowing me to carry my car seat and pram at no extra cost. I'm extremely excited! x