travelling with 7 mth old

I'm off to visit a friend in Tassie in Dec and have never travelled with DS before. He'll be 7 months when we go and the friend i'm visiting has a bub around the same age so luckily I don't need to take alot of stuff...just a backpack, my Maclaren Techno XT stroller and Kozy carrier. He has his food on tap :dance: Can anyone give me a few tips to make the trip as smooth as possible? Anything special I should take? I'm going with a friend so will have an extra pair of hands thankfully.
Also does anyone know if I will have to pay extra to take the stroller? I'm going Virgin there and Jetstar back.

just subscribing as I am also due to travel with my son at that age and I'm imterested in the hints!

Good luck

Take a change of clothes for him at least (and if he's a spewy bub like ours, take a new shirt for you...) on the plane with you - he'll probably choose the worst possible moment to be sick all over everything...

The most useful thing we've found to take when travelling with our 6mo is a packet of disposable change mats. I know: the landfill component is awful (though no worse than disposable nappies, which we are also using as we travel), but it's seriously handy to be able to put her down on someone else's sofa/bed/rug/whatever, with nappy off, for some nappy-free time, without having to worry what she's going to do to their furniture. I lasted about a week just washing our waterproof mats daily, but when we were in a hotel and couldn't wash so easily the disposable mats were a lifesaver. I think you can get them at supermarkets in Australia, but not certain as I haven't bought them there.

What else?

I believe that the airline will make you check the stroller through. They will, I believe, take it as baggage at no cost to you (they'll take a stroller and a carseat, I think - check the fine print on their website). I suggest you might want to have a carrier (a sling or something) to carry your baby on the plane and in the airport after you check the stroller (not sure what a Kozy carrier is - it might do the trick perfectly - we use our Ergo).

Do you have a carseat? I don't know what the law in in Tassie, but I'd guess that you can't get a taxi from the airport without a carseat. Also, if you want to be able to take both your baby and your friends baby in a car together, you'll need two.

Take some familiar and some new toys for the plane. You may have to distract him if he's upset by something. Try hard to time it so you feed him on the way down on each flight: this will help him to adjust the pressure in his ears by swallowing, and prevent him from having painful ears and screaming during the descent. We've had no trouble on any of the 5 flights that DD has taken (from 3-6 months old), but there have been babies on the flights who, listening to them, were pretty miserable about it.

it's going to be fine. Staying with a friend who understands about babies that age I'm sure you'll have no hassles. Hope you have a great trip!

We took our DD on a trip to New Zealand when she was 8 months and she had a whale of a time! You will usually have to put your stroller in as oversize baggage but it's usually included free as part of an infant's luggage allowance. It's a great age to travel cause they tend to fall asleep in the plane, they're not running around everywhere, they fit in the bassinette and they're not too big for the change tables. Remember to ask for a bassinette seat if available. If you're hiring a car you can get a car with a baby seat but you might find you have to adjust it, they tend to be installed pretty dodgily IME.
that's all I can think of atm but if I think of more I'll be back... have fun :)

Thanks for the tips tenar:)
Kozy is similar to the Ergo except with ties instead of clips, am really only taking the stroller as somewhere familiar for him to kip in during the day. My friend is picking us up from the airport and has two carseats which is great.
The disposable mats are an excellent idea! DS is in cloth, but i'll be using disposables on holiday as can't be bothered washing whilst i'm there:lol:
I'll check with the airline about the stroller, I definitely know I have to check it but am not sure whether it will count as "baggage" and will have to pay, as I have a carry on luggage only fare.
Thanks again;)