Flying with newborn

cowboyBuilder

Hi,
we are debating whether to take our newborn to ireland for Christmas, he'll be just under 8 weeks old on the day of the flight.
It's a 2 hour flight, with his brother we waited till he was 6 months.

Airlines will take babies from 3 days - seems a bit young, but wondering have people on here tried it with very young babies and how it went
thanks

Sligo1

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

Hi,
we are debating whether to take our newborn to ireland for Christmas, he'll be just under 8 weeks old on the day of the flight.
It's a 2 hour flight, with his brother we waited till he was 6 months.

Airlines will take babies from 3 days - seems a bit young, but wondering have people on here tried it with very young babies and how it went
thanks

We took my then 6 week old away for 2 weeks to London. The younger they are the easier they are. All she did was suck and sleep for the entire journey. I wish we had done it more when our 2 were younger. I don't think I could handle the stress of it now that they are both toddlers....

Leinster1980

We went to lanzarote with a 12 week old, I was totally stressing about it but there was nothing to stress about at all. I had a sling and carried him through the whole way. We also used the airport genie which was brill. He also slept all the way there and all the way back. Feeding while landing and taking off can help with the popping ears or a soother. He's 7 months now and we can't keep him still, I'd be less likely to fly with him now lol.

Penny Dreadful

I flew to Lanzarote with my daughter when she was 16 weeks old and she was grand. A bottle at take off and landing to help with her ears and she cuddled and slept for the rest of the flight.
We went to London when she was 7 months old and again was fine but it was a short enough flight.
We then went to Sweden and France in August and September of this year when she was 11 and 12 months old and again it wasn't an issue.

I'm flying to London tomorrow on my own with her. It will be interesting to see how going solo with a an almost 15 month old will be. I have booked the concierge service with Dublin Airport though so it should make things much easier. I'll report back on that one.

Digs

We flew short haul with my daughter when she was 12 weeks and twice long haul to New York when she was 17 and 20 months. The trip when she was 12 weeks was a breeze in comparison as she slept most of the flight whereas the trips to New York she was mobile and required much more entertaining, although that was for 7 hours each way!

My brother and sister in law live in the states with their one year old son. They've been home twice with him once as a newborn and then at a few months old and all went absolutely fine. They're coming home at Christmas and are more concerned now he's walking and nosing about everything as to how to the flight will go.

munchkin_utd

zo be honest, the biggest problem with flying with a new born is getting a shaggin passport and not the actual bringing of the baby, which is actually grand, especially when they are tiny and immobile and relatively easy to please.

the combination of sling and breastfeeding means you have hassle free food and transport

cowboyBuilder

munchkin_utd wrote: »

zo be honest, the biggest problem with flying with a new born is getting a shaggin passport and not the actual bringing of the baby, which is actually grand, especially when they are tiny and immobile and relatively easy to please.

the combination of sling and breastfeeding means you have hassle free food and transport

Well thats ok, we can get him an EU ID on the same day ...

OK looks like it should be fine, thanks for all the replies folks!

Lucuma

:eek:

Penny Dreadful wrote: »

I flew to Lanzarote with my daughter when she was 16 weeks old and she was grand. A bottle at take off and landing to help with her ears and she cuddled and slept for the rest of the flight.
We went to London when she was 7 months old and again was fine but it was a short enough flight.
We then went to Sweden and France in August and September of this year when she was 11 and 12 months old and again it wasn't an issue.

I'm flying to London tomorrow on my own with her. It will be interesting to see how going solo with a an almost 15 month old will be. I have booked the concierge service with Dublin Airport though so it should make things much easier. I'll report back on that one.

Really?? I found flying with my similar aged daughter HELL on earth at that age. What was your secret? Did you use screens?
Mine just wanted to get down off the seat so I had to leave her on the floor then she went under the seats, I was afraid she'd crawl to the people in front behind but I think the metal thingys under the seat block their access. At the end i pulled her out from under the seat to put on my lap and she was playing with an empty blister pack of Xanax she'd found on the floor :eek: they don't clean planes properly between flights anymore, imagine if there'd been one left in it :eek: I haven't flown with her since, my husband did once recently (she's 14 months now) and he was psychologically scarred for 24 hours after the flight both ways. It's an absolute nightmare to fly with them at that age I found.

Also concierge service at Dublin airport?!?! What's that!?!

dori_dormer

Flying at one year old for us involved lots a snacks, a new toot toot car, and lots of walking up and down the aisles. Flying middle of the day also.

I only ever did it alone once and it was a nightmare. Very cramped window seat, very big 18mth old ( size of 2yr +) and happened to be flying at bed time so he was overtired and couldn't get comfy to sleep. Thankfully was only 2 hrs of crying! The other passengers we're lovely thankfully and sympathised!

It's df easier with 2 people or if you are lucky an empty seat beside you!

Lucuma

dori_dormer wrote: »

Flying at one year old for us involved lots a snacks, a new toot toot car, and lots of walking up and down the aisles. Flying middle of the day also.

I only ever did it alone once and it was a nightmare. Very cramped window seat, very big 18mth old ( size of 2yr +) and happened to be flying at bed time so he was overtired and couldn't get comfy to sleep. Thankfully was only 2 hrs of crying! The other passengers we're lovely thankfully and sympathised!

It's df easier with 2 people or if you are lucky an empty seat beside you!

I'm always flying alone hence needing therapy afterwards. I couldn't do walking up and down the aisles because the flight is only 2 hours long and there's a trolley on the aisle that whole time either the food service or the shopping. Once the trolleys are gone it's belts on no moving time

Pink One

I brought my then 18 month to Australia on my own with a two hour delay sitting on the tarmac at Dublin Airport because of strong winds, which resulted in us missing our connecting flight in Dubai so we had to stay in a hotel there for 12 hours with very little luggage. I hadn't paid for a seat for my 18 month old and she was too big for the bassinet so she had to sit on my lap for 2 of the 4 flights! We eventually got to Australia about 16 hours later than expected. I'm still waiting now for a prize for that

colm_c

The actual travelling with the wee one will be ok, however I don't envy you navigating the annual travel chaos that is Christmas with a baby.

As others have said, bring supplies in case the flight is delayed or you have to stay overnight somewhere unexpected.

We're purposefully staying put this year just to not have that stress. Travelling in Jan/Feb instead.

Penny Dreadful

Lucuma wrote: »

:eek:

Really?? I found flying with my similar aged daughter HELL on earth at that age. What was your secret? Did you use screens?
Mine just wanted to get down off the seat so I had to leave her on the floor then she went under the seats, I was afraid she'd crawl to the people in front behind but I think the metal thingys under the seat block their access. At the end i pulled her out from under the seat to put on my lap and she was playing with an empty blister pack of Xanax she'd found on the floor :eek: they don't clean planes properly between flights anymore, imagine if there'd been one left in it :eek: I haven't flown with her since, my husband did once recently (she's 14 months now) and he was psychologically scarred for 24 hours after the flight both ways. It's an absolute nightmare to fly with them at that age I found.

Also concierge service at Dublin airport?!?! What's that!?!

Yes, imagine a concierge service! I put it into the search section of the Dublin airport website and booked it from there. It was well worth the money when flying alone last weekend. The help with security, especially someone to hold my daughter while sorting out the bags and liquids and the like for screening.
Over all the trip this weekend on my own was fine. There was no one sitting next to us on the way out which helped as that part of the journey was the most awkward as my little one was getting hungry but wouldn't eat as there was too much to look at and she is a nosey little monkey.
On the way back we were on a window seat and the flight was full. She was in flying form and didn't cry but wanted to play with the man sitting bedside us all of the time. Thankfully he was really lovely and played along. If he hadn't been so nice it would have been a different story.

Overall though, taking into account the concierge service and a super well behaved 14 month old, undertaking a trip like that on my own (and being 13 weeks pregnant too) made me very tired and I wouldn't be in a rush to do it on my own again.