Intl flight with infant

[rupertpenny]

I just lurk here (I may be international soon) but I recently took my daughter in a long haul flight. I don't think I would have wanted the boppy, too bulky to carry through the airport. For us the easiest thing was to let her sleep in a carrier so we could stay hands free and move around. It also felt more secure in case of turbulence. Other than that I didn't need anything specific for flying with her, I just made sure I had plenty of extra clothes for her and that I wore something that would be very easy to nurse in.

[crimsonandclover]

The younger they are, the easier the flight is. As for whether it will mess up his sleep schedule, it totally depends on the kid. And the "problem" with going when he's about 4 months old is that that's when the 4-month wakeful can hit anyway. Not to burst your bubble, but DD2 was sleeping 5-7 hour stretches pretty consistently until she turned 4 months old. Then we were happy if she slept 2 hours at a time.
Lots of babies don't go through the 4-month wakeful or it's really short, but if you fly at that time and his sleep gets messed up, you're not going to know whether it was actually because of the flight or whether he would have regressed even if you had stayed at home.
My girls have usually needed a full week to adjust to the time when we've flown transatlantic (we have a 7 hour difference from Germany to US Central Time). Other women on here have said their kids adjust in 2-3 days, so it completely depends.
Sorry I can't be more helpful, but there's no way to know in advance how it'll go!! Good luck

[frlcb]

Double check at the airport, you may be able to get a bassinet when you get there. Generally they don't 'assign' bassinets until the day of at the airport so I am surprised you were told they were all taken.

My kids both traveled between the UK-US at that age and slept the whole way. I wouldn't bring a boppy unless you think you need to for feeding. Bring extra diapers/wipes, clothes for both of you, extra bottles/formula if you aren't bf'ing, several burp clothes/blankets, snacks for you in case you don't get to eat a full meal, and extra water.

When you get there try to spend time outside in the sun and/or fresh air. It really helps with jet lag. Follow his cues on when he needs to sleep. Both my kids adjust well going from the US-Europe, it is usually a day or two. Returning to the US is generally longer, 3-4 days.

Have fun!

[Shreddingbetty]

DD's first flight to Europe was at 4 months old. Her sleep schedule was fairly messed up during the travel and somehow she didn't have too much time to adjust, especially going to Europe. We left here (CO) super early in the morning (like 3 am ) and had a long layover in Chicago (about 5 or 6 hours). Until she was 15 months old she was a cat napper and would only nap for about 30 minutes at a time and a lot of that was on me or in the Ergo. On the transatlantic flight she slept on me for about 4 or 5 hours. Then we had to drive from Paris to the Netherlands (another 4 hours) and slept the whole time. DH and I napped our usual 2-3 hours nap in the early PM and DD was with my parents but fell asleep sometime during that time as well. I woke her up at around 4ish and then she went to bed around 7-730(her normal bedtime). At that point she was waking up 2x a night and that is what she did there too. She switched over very quickly. On the way back she would wake up early for a few days, be awake for about 1.5 and go down again and I would wake her up at her normal time.
We have been really lucky so far (she is 3.5) that she seems to adjust rather quickly, I think because our travel days tend to always start really early. It gets her off schedule the minute we leave and it seems to help her adjust. But I also know that every kid is different judging from what I've read here. Our goal is to get her to her normal schedule as soon as we arrive at our destination. I don't let her sleep in in the morning and wake her up at her normal time.
Our first trip to Europe we were lucky enough to be able to upgrade to business class with our miles. (Now that united and continental have merged that is pretty much impossible unless you are a 1K flier. we are premier so last dibs on upgrades. ) She was able to just lie on the floor in front of us and play and look around. She still spend a lot of time on my lap and it wasn't really that bad since they are still so little at that age. Personally I would not bring the boppy (never really liked it to begin with) but I have seen people around the airport with a boppy. It takes up a lot of room for when you don't want it.,
Never used the bassinet so I have no experience with that but I know several people on here have used it.
I wouldn't stress over the flight and time change too much and just try to go with the flow and try to get him on a regular schedule as soon as possible. DD lived in footed PJs at that time and that is what she wore for the entire flight. Bring enough diapers for 24 hours. Good luck, you guys will have lots of un I'm sure!

[frlcb]

Nov 23, 2013 15:23:58 GMT -5 @publius said:

I'm flying business and definitely have the bulkhead booked if that changes anything. I'm just trying to determine when I should arrive to the airport.

It is first come but I an pretty sure business class has one and you will get it

[rupertpenny]

Nov 23, 2013 15:12:22 GMT -5 @publius said:

@frlbc How does the bassinet assignment work with Delta? I have the bulkhead booked and bassinet requested. Do they assign at check in? Is it first come first serve?

If you are in the bulkhead you shouldn't have a problem. In my experience the hard part was securing a bulkhead seat, if you can do that they just bring you the bassinet when you ask for it.

I only had it one way, but I would say it is absolutely essential of you are alone with your baby. I was on that flight and I had to beg for a bulkhead seat and I'm glad I did. I couldn't get one in the way back but I was with my H and with two of us to hold her it was NBD.

I flew united.

[frlcb]

Nov 24, 2013 6:10:32 GMT -5 @publius said:

Thanks ladies!

Maud--I'm very sorry for thread jacking.

We never had an issue getting one in business because realistically most families don't fly business.

[americaninoz]

if you have a bulkhead seat booked - then you'll get a bassinet - especially in business (unless they run out of bassinets on the plane - but surely they will prioritise business class travellers...)

When I travelled with dd when she was 3 months old I took a pillow from my bed for her to sleep on on my lap - it worked SO well!

As for sleep, he'll adjust once you get there, but expect a few sleepless nights - usually takes around 3 days to get them back to decent sleeping again

[crimsonandclover]

I always make sure to call ahead and reserve a bassinet seat (basically just a bulkhead one, but they reserve a bassinet along with the seat). I then call a couple of weeks in advance to confirm and again a few days in advance. I do that because the first time I flew with DD1 (alone) to the US, we got to the airport, checked it, and it turned out they had switched planes, so our bulkhead/bassinet seat had turned into a middle section, middle seat economy. They ended up moving me to an aisle seat in Economy Plus (United) with an empty seat next to me so I could put DD1 down some of the time, but from that I learned that it's worth it to call a couple of times in advance and make sure that the plane and therefore seating arrangement hasn't been changed. I don't understand why it was so complicated to understand that I wasn't attached to 29F specifically but wanted a bulkhead/bassinet seat, but whatever.

[pippilongstocking]

DS has flown Sydney-NYC twice, once at 6 mths and once at 14 mths and the time change has never been a big problem. He is usually so tired by the time we get to NY and it's night time anyway so he just goes down normally. I try to get him some sun for the first few days and it worked out fine both times.