Anyone flown long haul with new baby??

[Sunlover00]

Hi there

We're considering flying to Oz xmas this year and our baby will probably be only 6-8 weeks old. I'm worried that this is too ambitous for baby / me/ us. Don't know what state I'll be in to fly after the birth, and whether flying such a long way with the changes in time zones would affect the baby's routine (assuming there is one at that stage!). Would you recommend a overnight stopover on the way, or is it better to get it over and done with asap?

Any advice would be great

Thanks

[srisky]

I have to say that I was the most exhausted/ neurotic/emotional between weeks 2-8 (i.e after paternity leave finished and I was home alone) but when my husband was there I felt almost normal. If you have a supportive husband/partner then it should be do-able although you will be shattered - I think anyone would be even if they didn't have a child with them.

If you are going to fly long haul it is probably 'easier' with a young baby, as they just feed and sleep and need no entertaining to keep them (and consequently you and the rest of the plane) chirpy. I think very few babies have any sort of routine at that age and so it's probably the best time to travel across maultiple time zones with them as there is no no real disruption for them.

Having said all that, I have never flown with a baby but I am basing this advice on how my baby has changed from birth to 4 months in terms of demands for my attention/any sort of entertainment, sleep routine etc...Good luck!

[DaveR]

I've flown to the Far East with a baby at 2 weeks. To be honest, it was dead easy, but then I wasn't the one who had been through the labour and delivery - my wife had flown a couple of days before with our other child, then three. That was an emergency trip, and we definitely wouldn't have planned to go until baby was 3 - 6 months.

The flight itself is unlikely to be v. difficult unless you are feeling terrible - baby won't care in all likelihood. Obviously you can't know now how you're going to feel, but if you are generally fit and are feeling well now there's no reason why you shouldn't be fine 6-8 weeks after the birth.

Ideally you want to get the trip over as quickly as possible, but make sure you get some sleep. If you normally sleep well on planes, do it in one hit. If you don't, I'd make an overnight stop. If it was me I'd fly to Singapore, spend a night in the transit hotel inside the airport, and fly on in the morning.

Transit hotel

Having said all that, I wouldn't do it unless you will be staying with family or close friends when you get there, who will pitch in and make sure that you can get plenty of rest in the first few days. And minimum 2 week stay.

Good luck.

[jeh]

I flew to Australia with a 10 week old and a 3 year old last year and it was fine - baby was too small to notice too much and we did it in one go, he slept a lot of the way in the crib thing. A night flight is much better than a day flight (from previous bitter experience) as it was 10pm by the time we got on the plane and he slept a lot of the first leg!

[ClaireClaire]

We have flown to NZ and Asia a couple of times with kids, though not as young as that.

From one point of view, 6-8 weeks is actually a great time to travel, especially if you are breastfeeding, as the baby will just nurse and sleep.

However, if you have had a c-section and are having a difficult recovery, you might find the long flight hard on you, never mind the baby! I think it depends in part what your own fitness is like before the birth. If you are generally fit beforehand, you should be pretty much back to normal physically by 6 weeks.

I wouldn't worry too much about baby's routine at 6-8 weeks, their routines are constantly changing throughout the first year due to teething, illnesses and growth spurts etc, so you kind of just have to take it as it comes.

We prefer to fly straight through without stopping over. It just adds so much time on, getting out of the airport, getting taxis/trains or whatever to your hotel, then finding something that your children will eat for the day you are there, then getting back to the airport again for another 3 hour check in, etc etc. About a 3 hour layover en route is best, IMO, if you can find it!

Good luck!

Claire

[Sunlover00]

That's brillant. Thanks for all your experiences and advice! Feel reassured it's possible with a young baby, so the only question is whether I will feel up to it.

[melbourne groover]

My advice would be if you are stopping over, get a hotel out of the airport. Singapore is incredibly easy to get around (just take yr carseat) and much nicer to stop somewhere that has a pool or at least you can see the sky... We stopped over in the transit hotel and my daughter didn't sleep which left us taking turns pushing her round the airport in a terrible loaner pram or bjorn. I actually think in some ways better just to push on through esp if you have family in Oz that would look after the baby while you have a nap.

[Sunlover00]

Fortunately, we'll be staying with family for the whole stay so plenty of aunties, uncles etc to look after baby. I would hope my partner will be doing a lot as well and not heading straight for the BBQ/beach!

[Moos]

I flew a 10 hour flight with a 7 week old (oh, and the week before sat on a plane for 6 hours with a 6 week old, which didn't fly...) at Christmas.

It was completely fine. He was too tiny to need entertaining, just slept or breastfed, and even when he cried he was so tiddy that no-one could really hear him. The staff at the airport and on the flight were incredibly nice to us, cooing over him and helping us out at every turn. On the way home, the night flight, he slept for quite a lot of it so we could too.

Our 3 year old was very good for his age, but he was much harder work than the baby!

One thing to be wary of though is that a holiday with a tiny baby is not a holiday in any real sense of the word - you'll want to be doing lots of things, seeing lots of people, socialising... and you'll hardly be sleeping. We had a lovely time, but it's good to be prepared to feel a bit knocked out. If you have kind family around to look after the baby while you have a snooze that will really help.

[Pickle]

The baby will be fine, it's really how you are feeling that will make the difference.

We flew to NZ when our eldest was tiny and it was a breeze, basically feed, sleep, repeat for the 30 or so hours it takes to get from our house to my parent's house - certainly the easiest trip we've done. I felt fine within a couple of days of having my son so could easily have coped flying at 6 weeks, similarly after my 2nd baby.

If you have a c-section I'm not sure whether you are permitted to fly at 6 weeks, might be worth checking before you make any firm plans as you really can't tell what will happen.

Good luck!

[littleEDfamily]

The flight is fine. It's the torture of being woken at ridiculous hours for a week or so after you get there by small people with jet lag (when you are also knackered, as let's face it, it is a long flight and aeroplanes make you feel yuck). I find the family is great at letting you offload sprogs during the day, but there aint many offers to get up to 2am (do I sound bitter, do I???????????) And, unfortunately really little babies mainly need their mamma, so even during the day you may not get to escape/ rest as much as you may hope for (once again, do I sound bitter!!!????)

On the plus side a really small baby does sleep a lot so at least there is a good chance you can persuade them back to sleep promptly if they awaken in the night and during the flight.

[MumToBe88]

Oh no, I am flying to Orlando with my six month old baby at Christmas - baby is due in a couple of weeks - I hadn't really thought about the jetlag effect on the baby though. Think I will look for some tips! I have seen some videos on floridababy website that help with the flight advice