Overseas travel with 3 months old

[barb]

Hi everybody,
we are planning a trip overseas with a 3 months old. I am looking for any advice, suggestion, idea, experience, especially for the plane ride. We are going w/ emirates, anything that I should know about, with transfers, seats, ANYTHING!!
Has anyone heard about ear/headphones for kids to reduce the noise level - so they may sleep better???
Looking forward to your responses.
Thanks, Barb

[OldMate]

I have not experienced this, however, I have heard that babys and young children have a lot of difficulty equalising their ears. That may prove to be difficult to fix. I will keep my eye on this thread, as DW and I intend to travel with our new family member early next year!

Oh, and be careful of areas with high incidents of vector borne diseases (malaria, dengue, etc) as it is difficult to protect very young children from mosquitos and the like.

Good Luck

[MantaRay]

We flew overseas with a 3 month old, not a long flight though. The best piece of advice I have it to take a sling. On the flight, and everywhere you are, it is so much easier to settle a baby in a sling, and also it keeps your hands free for other things. Our boys have never had problems with their ears, but just in case you can feed them or give them a dummy for take off and landings - sucking will enable them to equalise.

Also, make sure you have changes of clothes with you, not just for bub but also for yourselves - it can make for an uncomfortable flight if you are thrown up on or pooed on etc in the first few minutes!

I think in a lot of ways it is easier flying with them at that age, so I am sure you will be fine. Have a great time!!

[Chocaholic]

OK, I have never travelled with Cooper overseas but we have done a number of interstate flights. I found the younger he was, the easier it was.

- The sling is a godsend as it makes things like going to the toilet so much easier and bubs is easier to settle.
- The change table in the toilet is tiny so be aware that it may be easier to only take what you need to the toilet instead of the whole nappy bag if it can be avoided
- Take spare clothes for both bubs and yourself
- Do NOT take a handbag as it makes life difficult trying to cart it around. Put the necessities (i.e. wallet etc) in the nappy bag
- Take a couple of small toys for a distraction as other children crying may set bubs off.
- Try to feed bubs during take-off and landing to equalise the pressure in bubs ears. Try water if bubs isn't due for a feed. Otherwise a dummy is the next best option.
- Ask for an aisle seat to allow you to get up and walk if bubs prefers movement for settling. Saves you having to climb over others
- Ask if you can get a seat left vacant next to you to allow you to put bubs down for a few minutes (your arms may get very sore during the flight if you have to hold for the whole flight)

Those are the major ones that I can think off. Having another adult to help will make it easier (I assume as I have always flown on my own!).

I have always found the stewards/attendants to be great if you need anything, they will usually go out of their way to help.

Hope that helps.

[Claire]

We flew to the UK when our boy was 3 months old and it went OK!

Get the bassinet seat if you can - so you've got somewhere to put bubs when they are asleep or you need a break.
I fed on take off and landing, but I'm sure you can offer your finger, or a toy, bottle, dummy etc.
You don't have to check in your buggy and can keep it with you until you board - it helped us when waiting for interconnecting flights, if nothing else you can use it to push your luggage around! I will say though the buggy got us pushed through customs and passport control really really quickly.
Take plenty of nappies, wipes and changes of clothes and somethign warm to wear. Bubs own blanket instead of the plane supplied.
Small toys but stilleb prepared for some pacing...
My boy flew over OK but when he woke (his normal time) but it was still a dark cabin, he had trouble with that and was hard to settle those last few hours, on the way back he fed constantly...
You just do what you've got to do, it's all manageable.
I found the experience, not too bad - our toddler was a little more difficult but there were two of us so we took turns.

HTH

[barb]

Thanks everybody for the great ideas and suggestions! I hope we'll manage the long flight...
Barb

[cannedemma]

Hi, thanks for asking this question as i too have found this info useful...
one thing i bought which is going to be very handy is a close and secure sleeper, a portable bed that u can take on the plane and use at the airports during stopovers etc... these cost around $50 from toys r us and are great...

Also my midwife has said the absolute best way to settle baby is to feed during take off and landing... this will stop issues with the ears popping...

we are taking our 3 month old and are not even taking a pram as we are using a sling also which is much lighter to pack and easier to move around with!

Good luck, it would be great to hear how u went when u come back?

[barb]

Hi again,
Thanks again for the great advice. I've just looked at slings because so many of you praised it, although I am a little hesitant, my sister had one and her baby literally disappeared in it...?? Are some better then others?? I have a baby bjorn carrier, but I think I'll give a sling a try and I'll take both with me. I know about giving him the breast or a dummy during taking off and landing, hopefully that'll work. I am aiming for the bassinet seat and the bassinet that they have, and I can also get a stroller for transfers, which sounds good. Our trip is pretty long - 10 weeks - so it'll be a while when I can tell you all how it went, but I defenitely will!
Thanks again, Barb