Flying with a newborn

Hi all,

I am due on the 7th of July. We have to fly to Newcastle on the 1 or 2nd of November for a few days. Jellybean will be roughly 4 months old and I was just wondering if its hard to travel with a newborn at this age?

I am just worrying as its going to be such a rushed weekend. Fly up the Friday for a wedding the Saturday, fly back early Sunday morning for another wedding @ 5pm Sunday.

I know newborns sleep lots but I am worried about the plane and Jellybean's little ears popping. I know I have to have him/her feeding while the plane take off and land - but do I do that with a bottle? If so how do I warm up the bottle? Are the microwaves on planes? I am planning on breasfeeding and I guess this is ok on planes???

HELP PLEASE!!! :help:

That is fine. Check with you dr first, but should be no problems. Bubs shouldnt fly till after they are 6 weeks old, due to cabin pressure etc. They only thing i would be concerned about is going in unpressurised airplanes - like little senic tours etc.
My sister flew with her bub Melb to Perth when he was about 7 - 8 weeks, and he was fine. She may have b/feed him on take off and landing.
I fly abit between melb & perth, and in all the time i have flown and there have been little babies on the flight, mostly, i never knew they where on there, didnt hear them at all.

Hi Flossie, Natalie and I will be flying to Cairns when she is four months old. I'll let you know how it goes, LOL!
Of course you can b/f on the plane. If you are using bottles though, I'm sure you can get help from the cabin staff - they will no doubt have done it before - prob in a container of boiling water?
Wow, it does sound like a big weekend! I'm sure bubs and you will manage just fine. I think every baby is different in terms of how much they sleep etc, but the good thing is that by four months you'll have an idea of how sleepy/active your baby is, so you'll be able to prepare for it. All the best!

I flew with Mackenzie when she was a baby and she was bottle fed. I just put boiling water in the bottle when I left home and just before I got on the plane I added cold boiled water (which I had in a flask) to it and made up the bottle so it was OK when we took off. On landing I did the same on the plane. I found it safer to add the cooled water then the boiling expecially on a plane. I also found if you just had the boiling water you get use to how long it takes to cool down and you may be able to master it so you don't have to add any of the cold water - that is of course if you are bottle feeding. It's amazing how your mummy insticts just kick in and you will be suprised how you can improvise!

Hi Flossie

Alex has been flying since he was 3 1/2 months old - in fact next week he is about to go on his 6th plane trip! It really is no hassle travelling with a baby, only thing is that it is hard is to eat your own food so I recommend eating before you get on the plane!

As for the babies, yes definitely feed on the way up and down whether it be breast, formula or water even. If you are formula feeding what I recommend is having your bottle ready with the water already boiled from home and still warm (I usually do it just as I am about to leave for the airport) and have the formula premeasured already in a container. Prepare the bottle when on the plane getting ready for take off, it should then still be warm enough without having to reheat it. If it is too cool, just be warned that planes do not have microwaves, they warm up the bottles in hot water so therefore it can take a little longer to heat up. In other words dont give the attendants the bottle at the last second thinking it will only take 30 secs to warm up!

At that young age your bub should be content just to lie in your arms and hopefully sleep.

Good luck with it all, I am sure that you will have a fabulous weekend!

I will be plying out to London asap as bubs arrives (hoping to be pg now, in tww) infack im booking flights to london this week.yay.

Im sure it is fine but check with a gp or ask your MW

Thanks so much for all your advice. Its so good to hear of good experiences.

You have all been so helpful.

Floss xxx

Sorry to bring a bad experience to the post but I promised myself that I would share my story after being told only good stories before we went flying with our bub.

We went Canberra-Perth return in November when Riley was 2.5 months old... We flew with Qantas and were told that I couldn't breastfeed while we were taking off/landing, he had to 'sit' facing forward on our laps. Luckily it didn't seem to worry him but because he has bad reflux we had a lot of problems and I wish we'd never gone on that trip. It was horrible! I must admit the worst part was probably the time zone difference so you shouldn't have to worry about that at least. But the flight/trip really stuffed up any sort of 'routine' we had and the little bit of sleep we were getting turned to basically no sleep. I wouldn't ever fly with such a young bub again, particularly if there was reflux involved.

Anyway, I don't want to scare you off it, I just wanted to let you know it's not always a good story. I really hope that you won't have the problems we had and that your trip will be great! Good luck!!! :)

Ssmiles, sounds like you had a bad experience on the plane. Both my husband and I work for the Airline industry, and most times the crew on board of Qantas flights are very helpful, but unfortunately you seem to cop one of the bad ones:cry: . It must of made it really hard to cope you poor thing:( . Most of the crews as long as your little one is strapped to you with an infant extender seat belt will allow you too feed them, breast or bottle. But unfortunately for you ssmiles, there are a few that might be a pain the the bottom:angry: .
But Flossie, most of them are good, but I would recommend just to be on the safe side an alternative incase you experience a bad crew too that won't allow you to feed bubs. We travel with our DD all the time, she uses a Dummy (unfortunately), so that is a good alternative to use on take off and landing, or you could just let him/her suck on your finger.
If by some chance you don't end up B/F or you express into a bottle to use, I would make plans to heat before you get onto to aircraft, especially before take off, as sometimes the crew are very busy and may say they don't have enough time to heat the bottle for you, but most time they will if they can. Most of the cafes or eatery's at the airport will heat it for you.
Flossie, I found this at the Qantas site, hope it helps
In the Air
During take off and landing, bassinets must be closed and you must nurse your baby.

Your baby or young child may cry on take off and landing due to the brief 'popping' in their ears as cabin pressure adjusts to altitude. This is perfectly normal. By giving your baby a bottle or breastfeeding at this time, you will help to relieve the 'popping' sensation. For older children and for yourself, the 'popping' can be simply alleviated by chewing on a toffee or sweet.

A limited supply of nappies and baby wipes are available onboard international services, in case of emergency. On domestic services, nappies are available, however, as these are limited, we recommend bringing a supply of your own.

Cabin crew will prepare, heat and wash bottles or pacifiers (dummies) on request. There are no private areas onboard the aircraft to breastfeed babies but you are welcome to feed your baby in your seat.

You'll find baby changing tables in selected washrooms on the aircraft. Use these facilities rather than change your baby at your seat. This is for your own comfort and that of fellow passengers. Washrooms are equipped with special disposal chutes for nappies. Nappies must not be disposed of in the aircraft toilets.

On long flights when there is time to sleep, change your small children into their pyjamas and settle them in their seat or on your lap. The more normal their routine, the more likely they are to sleep. It is often helpful to bring along a favourite bedtime toy for them to cuddle.

On the whole, children sleep very comfortably onboard aircraft. For safety reasons, children are not permitted to sleep on the floor of the aircraft. Please also make sure that your child does not have any limbs protruding into the aisle while they sleep . This can be dangerous both for the child and for unwary passengers.

If your not flying with Qantas, I'm sure that most airline policies would be the same, but you could always check out their policies online before you go.
Hope this helps.
:)