Advice for flying with infant

Kauto0709

I've been invited to a family wedding in America (near Washington DC) in January and plan on going with my little girl who'll be 22 months old then.

I'm trying to decide what are the best flights to take. There are direct flights with Aer Lingus from Dublin to Washington but they're on a smaller plane (Boeing 757) with no bassinets available.

British Airways seem a lot more child friendly. They use the bigger planes for the long-distance flights and they will provide carrycots and child seats for children up to 2 years old if you are in one of the assigned carrycot seats (which you can pre-select for free when you book your flights). They provide children with an activity pack for the flight and they bring kids meals first so as adults can then enjoy theirs. They sound so much nicer to fly with, but then of course the catch is that I would have to fly Dublin to London Heathrow to Washington DC which would add a good few hours to my journey and mean dealing with an extra airport.

I'm not sure what to do. I'm leaning towards the British Airways flight as they seem so much more child friendly and I like the idea of being able to put my little girl down in her bassinet for a nap for an hour or 2 during the flight, both for her sake and mine! But as I've said it would make the day a good bit longer. But then again 8 hours on a direct flight with nowhere for the child to sleep sounds awful.

Can anyone who has travelled with young children advise?

faceman

I've never travelled with kids however I'm a regular flyer to the US. Having US pre-clearance in Dublin is a massive benefit to flying from home. BA are a great airline but you will lose that benefit as well as add the inconvenience of a connecting flight and stop over.

Enjoy Washington!

John_Rambo

Bring lollypops for takeoff and landing. Helps with the ear pops. Loads of books and a few brand new toys still in the packages. Favorite movies on an ipad is a must.

I genuinely don't know which option would be better. Depends on the kid. As a two year old our boy slept anywhere, draped over one of us was fine for a flight.

Best of luck.

January

At 22 months, it's unlikely your daughter will fit in the bassinet provided by BA anyway, it's not big by any stretch of the imagination and would be similar to a moses basket, possibly smaller, in size. Also bear in mind that at 22 months, she will still have to be on your lap for take off and landing, or when the seatbelt sign is off, so if there is turbulence and she is asleep you'll have to wake her and put her on your lap if that happens.

As another poster mentioned, the pre-clearance in Dublin would be a lot easier with a toddler than having to clear immigration when you land after a long fight.

rainbow kirby

I would value the massive time saving at the other end from pre-clearing in Ireland over the small amount of extra comfort you might get from BA - I live in London and I would strongly consider booking a flight connecting through Dublin or Shannon if I was travelling to the US with my son.

Digs

We've flown to New York a few times with our first. By the time she was 18 months she went nowhere near the bassinet so really I wouldn't factor it in, they seem mostly to be for small babies! The bonus of those seats though is the extra legroom which we could let her down on to play so I'd nix the stopover flight and go direct and get exit seats or similar. You really don't want to be adding hours to the day and the 8hrs will go faster than you think.

We've found the flights grand, the air staff are well trained to handle children and helped in any way they could. Bring a ton of snacks, toys, sticker books etc! We gave our daughter a pack of wipes and she amused herself by cleaning the seat and tray table for a long time

Will be doing it with two kids shortly so we'll see how that goes!!

Kauto0709

Digs wrote: »

We've flown to New York a few times with our first. By the time she was 18 months she went nowhere near the bassinet so really I wouldn't factor it in, they seem mostly to be for small babies! The bonus of those seats though is the extra legroom which we could let her down on to play so I'd nix the stopover flight and go direct and get exit seats or similar. You really don't want to be adding hours to the day and the 8hrs will go faster than you think.

We've found the flights grand, the air staff are well trained to handle children and helped in any way they could. Bring a ton of snacks, toys, sticker books etc! We gave our daughter a pack of wipes and she amused herself by cleaning the seat and tray table for a long time

Will be doing it with two kids shortly so we'll see how that goes!!

Was that with British Airways or Aer Lingus?

Digs

Aerlingus and delta. I'd rate aerlingus highly as their planes are newer etc but delta were perfectly fine, they have an older fleet (well the ones we've traveled on were).

dilallio

I doubt they will give you an exit seat if you have a child on your lap, as this might impede your ability to operate the exit door in the event of an emergency.

Digs

dilallio wrote: »

I doubt they will give you an exit seat if you have a child on your lap, as this might impede your ability to operate the exit door in the event of an emergency.

You can't book an exit seat for a child under 12 but if they're sitting on your lap you can. We sat in the exit on one of the delta flights, they moved us to it after take off. Maybe it's doubtful and depends on the crew but I can only offer my experience!

LegacyUser

The bassinets are a gag really. As soon as the seatbelt sign goes on, they insist you take them out.

Dublin - Dubai - Sydney.....totally pointless. 24 hours.

My advice: it's 8 hours, nothing. Give them a tablet loaded with their favourite cartoons, give them loads of horrible snacks they love.....crisps, sweets, etc. etc.

They will love it.

Kauto0709

Steve The Veg wrote: »

The bassinets are a gag really. As soon as the seatbelt sign goes on, they insist you take them out.

Dublin - Dubai - Sydney.....totally pointless. 24 hours.

My advice: it's 8 hours, nothing. Give them a tablet loaded with their favourite cartoons, give them loads of horrible snacks they love.....crisps, sweets, etc. etc.

They will love it.

And just leave them on your lap the whole time? If you can do it for 24hrs, I should be able to manage 8.

Daisy 55

Try out a sling, just to save your arms. We had a bassinet for a one year old, but his legs stuck out!

Kauto0709

Daisy 55 wrote: »

Try out a sling, just to save your arms. We had a bassinet for a one year old, but his legs stuck out!

I doubt she'd go in a sling at this stage, never used one before. She's far too Miss Independent now

The general consenus seems to be that I'd be made to take the longer route when there is a direct flight available. And also I hadn't realised about the US pre-clearance thing. Thanks everyone for all the advice, will go direct! Will report back in Jan how it went!