Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone has any tips for flying (Canberra to Brisbane) with a 4 mth old baby?

I am quite nervous about how well she is going to handle it. She is normally pretty easy going but I want to make this as smooth as possible if I can. I have asked for a mid morning flight because she can normally tolerate being out and about at that time and will normally go to sleep if I cuddle her but Im not sure what to expect on a flight.

If anyone has any tips or advice from previous experience I would appreciate it.

Lisa 25
DD 08/04/05

My DD has just racked up her 20th flight so I feel pretty confident in telling you that it will all go a lot easier than you may anticipate! Especially a short flight like Canberra-Brisbane. I have a huge amount of info on travelling with a baby, I have it in a word document so I will pm you and if you want I will email it to you. DD's first flight was at 5 mo and I was also very nervous and did loads of research and copied it all into word. It's worth a look.

My own personal advice for a 4 mo is to take a pillow for your DD to rest on comfortably in your lap if you won't have a bassinnet and of course to feed her during take off/landing (if she's not asleep like mine usually is!) to help ease the ear pressure.

Good luck with it!

Veronica

Babies of this age are easy peasy to travel with (compared to toddlers or bigger non-mobile babies). I flew to Melbourne for the weekend with Alex when she was 3m old. On the way home (evening) she fell asleep in my arms in the boarding lounge in Melbourne and didn't wake up until 4am at home! Here are some tips:

- If you don't have a sling or Baby Bjorn (ie means of carrying your baby hands-free) then get one. They are great for airport and on/off planes because you often can't take strollers all the way to the gate and have other stuff to carry too. If you have an unpadded sling it won't take up much room and can also double as a "play rug" on the floor in the airport terminal (and/or nappy change mat).

- Alex didn't usually have a dummy but I took one anyway. I made sure she was sucking dummy or my finger during takeoff and landing (on the way down when she was awake anyway).

- Alex was BF so fitting in feeds was pretty easy.

- I took about eight changes of baby clothes for an overnight trip and only used two. I took about twice as many nappies on the plane as I thought I needed plus a full change of clothes for Alex and a clean T-shirt for me in case of BFing disaster.

- At Canberra airport they wouldn't let me take Alex thru security in the sling. I had to take the sling off and put it thru the X-ray and carry Alex. This was a bit of a pain because I'd just changed her and put her in the sling.

- Also the baby change room at Canberra terminal doesn't have a toilet in it, so if you want to use the toilet either do it before you check your stroller in or you'll have to do it with baby in sling (which is what I did).

- The time between check in and boarding is a good one to feed baby if it suits their day because there's more space in the terminal waiting chairs than once you're on the plane.

- In case you don't know, there is a fold down baby change table in the toilets on the plane.

Edited to add some stuff.

Steph
DD Alex (March 04)


This message was edited by s_m on Tuesday, 2 August 2005 @ 8:59 PM

I've flown quite often with young babies, and so long as you're prepared to give them lots of attention it's usually fine. It helps if you can breastfeed on take-off and landing, otherwise try to have a dummy or bottle ready for her to suck.

Try to travel light (but with spare clothes etc) but make sure you've got enough water for yourself, especially if you're breastfeeding.

Kristen

Excellent! Thanks for the advice. I was getting a bit nervous about it but now my mind can rest a bit easier.

roni29- that info would be good to read, I think my email address is in my EB profile if you want to send it there.

s_m - I already have a baby pouch so I will definately take that and my pillow. Thanks heaps for the tips about the toilets and the security check. I won't actually put her in until we pass through it.

Thanks again for the advice.

Steph, I can't believe they made you take off the sling to x-ray it! WTF? I've relied on my Baby Bjorn for all of my travel up till this last trip when DD got far too big for it - they're great since you never know when/if they are going to let your stroller on board or not till the last minute. They've gone over me with the wand to check the sling with DD in it and felt around her but have let me keep it on with her in it...

Veronica

Yes it was a PITA but the main problem with my sling is that it has two 3" brass rings so the alarm thingy goes off. In Melbourne it was much busier (Sunday nite) and there was a nice security lady who just buzzed me over with the wand including up between Alex and me.

If you're looking to carry a toddler hands-free I would highly recommend an unpadded ring sling similar to the ones at www.mayawrap.com. I carried DD (who is nearly 17m and probably 13kg) around Mawson shops for more than 1/2h last Friday in the sling. She was on my back and three people stopped me to ask about the sling. Also I can still carry her in front of me and use the toilet without having to put her on the floor of disgusting public loos!

These are great tips! So, sorry to hijack the thread, but I think I need one of these slings for our upcoming trip to QLD. Anyone selling one, or have one to loan for a week?

Cheers
Carla

Carrying Away has the best website for info on different kinds of slings, as well as selling them:
http://www.carryingaway.com/

I'm looking for a cheapie on eBay right now. I had a Baby Bjorn-style and an Asian carrier - genuine 1970's thanks to MIL. MIL was supermum and carried one on her back, one in front, one in the stroller, and the oldest walked beside her. Sadly, my girl just cried every time I put her that close to my chest without having my boob out (yet DH and MIL could sling her just fine). Oooh, crossover to the breastfeeding in public debate! I could have been walking around with one boob out for months and nobody would have seen it!