Long long distance flight & what is your baby wearing in Australia?

[Dani_Ldn]

Flynn & I are flying to Australia from London on Tuesday night, am a little nervous about flying this far with him alone & Virgin can't even guarantee a bassinet until we get to check in!!

Just wondering if anyone has done a flight this long with a young baby (he is almost 5 months) & how your lo coped with jet lag once you arrived? My plan is to try & keep his naps & night sleep as normal as possible, but instead of napping during the day in a dark room, I am going to leave the room bright & make it really dark at night so he knows it is proper bed time, do you think this might help his body get into Aussie time?

Also, I know the weather has been pretty hot in Aus at the mo, what is everyone dressing their lo in, I am doing all of our packing tomorrow & want to take only what I need (although I think he is going to outgrow a lot of it while we are away & I will just have to leave any small clothes at my Mum's place (we are there for 5 weeks).

 

[felix555]

I recently did a 11 hour flight (my baby was 5 months at the time) on Virgin. Have you phoned customer service to check if they can guarantee a bassinet? I did this and they did.

Are you taking a pushchair? I just used my ergo carrier and dressed him in a long sleeve vest (it was warm when we left) and when we got on the flight i put him in a warm romper to sleep in. something like this ...

https://www.next.co.uk/X523882s5#860435X52

and covered him with a thin blanket.

where I went there was only a 1 hour time difference though so not sure how i would manage the time difference.

 

[Carly.C]

I have no answer for you but just wanted to say I'm very jealous of you. Enjoy your trip home x

 

[Dani_Ldn]

I booked everything thru flight centre & they have spoken to virgin to req a bassinet & were told they won't guarantee one until they see Flyyn's size at check in. I might give them a call direct tho & see if they can give me a definite answer.

 

[felix555]

Just give them a call. I also booked through flight centre

 

[Dani_Ldn]

So I called them & they said there aren't many babies on the flight & it should be fine, but they wouldn't reserve me one. If I get to the airport & I don't have a bassinet I think I might actually go a little crazy at someone in the airport! Going to make sure I am there as soon as check in opens just in case I think.

 

[detterose]

Where in Australia are you headed? I live in Queensland and it is definitely hot here. Most days I let LO just crawl around in his nappy. I dress him when he goes to daycare or if we are going out, but its been too hot for clothing.

 

[felix555]

How odd they did it for me even sent me a confirmation email to let me know and on my reservation there was a note to say I need one. You'll get one don't worry!

Go early I don't know if you fly from LHR? But there is a nice family lounge that was very quiet when I went

 

[Dani_Ldn]

I am going to Sydney at the mid-north coast (Port Macquarie area).

Yup, flying from LHR flight is 10:30pm, so I think I will aim to get there by 7am & wait at check in for it to open.

 

[Lief]

It wasn't such a long flight but when Nico was 3 months old I took him to South Africa to visit my OH's family, OH was there too finishing up work then he followed us home, unfortunately different flights so I was alone with LO on 4 flights and in the transfer airport lol, we were travelling for nearly 24 hours each way.

I dressed him in a sleepsuit and brought a few changes in my backpack. He was great on the flight though, he slept the whole way there, woke in the airport for a few hours then slept again from Dubai to S.Africa. He done the same on the way home. I had a bassinet on 2 flights, the other 2 I held him, used our wrap or laid him in the seat next to me (thankfully it was open)

 

[mom2b2013]

I've been wondering the exact same thing! I'm from Melbourne Aus but live in NYC and I really want to visit home so my family can see the baby. She is only 2mths old and I have no idea when it would be safe for her to fly such a long distance. I have so many concerns like how or where do I breastfeed (i'm not good in public), and what if she cries too much and upsets the other passengers? And there is also the worry of her getting sick from the recycled air on the plane. I guess I will just have to wait till she is a little older.

As for the weather it is pretty warm this time of year in Sydney although it can cool down at night so I would bring something a little warmer as well. Good luck with your flight, I'm sure you will have a wonderful time there

 

[Leesy]

I'm in Adelaide and the weather is up and down, two days ago lo was wearing shorts and t shirt with the air con on and the next day he was wearing pants and a jumper.. I'd pack for warm & cool weather!

 

[detterose]

Sydney's a lot cooler then QLD, so I'd probably take some long sleeve stuff just for night time, in case. I've been told it gets cool at night. But yeah still pack summer clothing xx

 

[steph.]

I did a 24hr flight with Sophia when she was 9 months old. It was fine, very tiring but not as bad as I expected. We didnt get a bassinet, they said they couldnt reserve it, and despite us being the first people at check-in they said there were none available. Turns out they had sold the bassinet seats as "premium economy" seats due to the extra leg room. To say I was livid is an understatement!!!! Sure let a mum have to hold a baby for 24hrs+, have no sleep, and cant even put the table down to eat so that they could make a few extra $$. Anyway I had a bit of a melt-down at the checkin and they managed to reserve an extra seat next to mine. It worked out really well, the noise of the plane put Sophia to sleep most of the time, and I could put her down on the spare seat. I didnt try to get her used to the time difference beforehand but she was really tired when we got there so slept at night without too much hassle.

It depends where you are going here in Oz. I am in brisbane and it has been really hot recently, around 30 degrees. We are wearing summer dresses, t-shirts and shorts. ETA that at night i still put her in long sleeves and a sleeping bag though.

Good luck!

 

[mwah_xx]

I flew LHR-Dubai when LO was 6 months which is probably either your first leg or very similar flight time!

I found I don't really use a bassinet unless on a night flight (used when we flew LHR-Singapore) but generally just snuggle up with LO and let him sleep on me. If you can get bassinet seats they are great for storage, for allowing you to put your feet on the wall for stability and stretching when holding LO. I've not had a problem gettin a bassinet seat on any flight I've been on with LO, and don't know what I'd do now he's older and too big/heavy!

For the time difference, I just went with the flow on the plane! Whenever I get to a destination (wow I sound high flying haha!) I go straight onto that time. I find it's easier to go backwards in time than forwards in time as when your LO goes to "bed" you treat it as a nap and wake them up! As a rule of thumb we've found that for every hour time difference LO has taken a day to get used to it.

No idea on clothing as we are in Dubai! But if you're staying somewhere with air con we've found that a room cooled down to 23 degrees actually feels a lot colder than a room that's warmed to 23 degrees (eg British summer) we use a summer sleeping bag and pjs for our LO!

 

[Snow Owl]

Nothing to add other than I loved Port Mcquarie! We stayed there on our Sydney - Byron Road trip

 

[Dani_Ldn]

She is only 2mths old and I have no idea when it would be safe for her to fly such a long distance.

Unless it was extremely necessary, I would wait until all her injections are done.

I have so many concerns like how or where do I breastfeed (i'm not good in public), and what if she cries too much and upsets the other passengers?

You can bring a muslin wrap or a breastfeeding sling if you don't want to feed in front of others (I wouldn't recommend the toilets, they are always disgusting), but try not to worry, most ppl will probably be asleep & not paying any attention to you feeding. If she cries too much then the other passengers can deal with it, we all have been on flights with crying babies, yes it is annoying but too bad, babies fly too, if they were that bothered about a baby, they can pay for a 1st class seat!

. We didnt get a bassinet, they said they couldnt reserve it, and despite us being the first people at check-in they said there were none available. Turns out they had sold the bassinet seats as "premium economy" seats due to the extra leg room. To say I was livid is an understatement!!!! Sure let a mum have to hold a baby for 24hrs+, have no sleep, and cant even put the table down to eat so that they could make a few extra $$. Good luck!

This is exactly what I a worried about happening! I don't have a seat reserved on the flight out there for some reason when I check online & all the other seats except a few crap one's in the middle at the back are taken, so I am really worried that they are going to tell me they don't have seats for a bassinet & can only give me a crappy seat in the middle. The people when I call u are not helpful. I will prob have a melt down at check in too if this happens lol!

 

[Dani_Ldn]

I just called them again & got a much more helpful person on the phone. A bulk head seat has been requested for me & there are more bassinets available than requests for them, so I will definitely get one, phew!

 

[Halle71]

We flew to NZ from LHR when DS was 3 months old and he was really good. He was breastfed on take off and landing and slept for about 6 hours on each leg - the white noise seemed to help. The rest of the time he was generally pretty content. Be warned though - the bassinets are quite small and and 5/6 months is probably on the cusp of not fitting comfortably and, being more alert, they can be disturbed by the 'traffic' going to and fro. You also have to take them out for turbulence which is usually just when you get them to sleep!

We didn't really have a problem with jet lag (any if us) on the way out but it was horrendous on the way back. No tips really as, at that age, if they want to sleep or wake they will!

 

[Bunanie]

Sydney weather has been crazy!! It was 39c a few days ago, lo was in singlet and nappy... Then cooled down, back to a normal 24c and pretty cool at night. Today was a sunny 23-12c in Sydney, lo wore a long sleeve shirt all day plus her grobag at night.

I suggest to pack some thin long sleeves for night time and some short sleeves onesie if gets hot. Or easier still, just buy them here

Ooooh and its been fairly dry and sunny most days, really good beach weather, so bring some swim cossies and hats

Good luck with the long flight