Hi there

We took DD to Hawaii when she was 18 months old and had a blast. She took 12 flights in 10 days including all the small interisland flights. Longhaul was from Perth-Sydney-Hawaii. If you can have minimum stopovers we found that works best - usually once the kids are up in the air they are fine.

Last year we took both kids (DD was just under 4 and DS was 14 months) to parts of Eastern Europe for 2 months. Language barrier was not an issue - people tried talking to our kids in their language and they just nodded or in Alexs case - chattered back. We would spend the whole day out doing touristy things and as long as every now and then we stopped for DS to have a good walk out of the pram he was fine. Another essential was to make sure that each day we stopped for a "good hearty" lunch. It was a good chance to have a break and a stretch and refuel as well. The kids altho not always interested in the sights we were looking at always had more then enough to keep them occupied - sometimes I think they must have had sensory overload from all the new sights, sounds and smells.

If you can get a midnight flight back I really recommend it - DS slept for 7 hours straight from Dubai to Perth cause we flew out at 2 am. Also if you can afford to splurge and pay for a seat for your son I would recommend that too. Nothing worse then having a squirming toddler on your lap for a long time and you cannot count on seats being empty on an international flight - almost always full. We have always paid for seats for both our children even if they are under 2 - it just makes it more comfortable for everyone.

Re unsettling, as long as the child has a few familiar items - teddy, toys etc they will be fine. I always take an unwashed blanket from their cot at home - that way it has their familiar smell on it.

HTH and you have fun planning.