Travelling with an 8 week old... any advice?

Hi,

We're off to Sydney in a couple of weeks for a weekend away and bringing my Mum with us to help out with DD. She'll only be 8 weeks old and it will only be a 1hr flight from the Gold Coast but has anyone got any ideas or advice you can give me in making the trip as comfortable as possible for both baby and parents!!? :D

We planned this trip when I was pregnant and knew it would be a bit challenging with such a young baby however we are going down to Sydney for the fresh seafood markets so I can eat all the oysters and prawns I want as I couldn't when I was pregnant :) :)

How do young babies cope on flights with blocked ears? If she's unsettled do I just offer a breastfed? Would that help her ears?

taking of/landing is the time to feed!!! bubs sucking wil clear their ears for them...
good luck hun..i am doing it in June but with a 8 month old!!!! heaven help the other people on the plane then!!!!

id put her ont he boob for take off and landing and whenever she is unsettled, id also use a sling!!

have fun and enjoy the seafood!!

Yep, pop her in a sling, boob out, and let her just suck and be comforted... and relax.. you'll all be fine babe... have fun!!! :D

yes, feeding on takeoff & landing is definately the way to go.

I also always have one of those VICKS vapour inhalers in my pocket so if either of my children aren't drinking (or for DD chewing a lolly etc) then I just take the inhaler past their nose & it will help unblock. It was suggested to my MIL while she was travelling with my niece when she was a baby & she was screaming on the flight, the flight attendant gave one to MIL & told her to keep one on her for flights.

Have fun hun & enjoy all that yummy seafood!!!!! (I will see you before you go, hopefully on Sat :dance: )

You won't be able to have her in a carrier whilst the seatbelt sign is on - they have a special seat-belt attachment which attaches to yours and has to go around a baby's/child's waist. But you can have her in a carrier at any other time if you like.

Feed on take-off / descent (or offer a dummy if you use one, if she doesn't want a feed). Some babies aren't bothered by the pressure (my DS never was), others are. Feeding is the best thing for it.

Babies are SOOOO easy to fly with at that age. Seriously! I flew from Cairns to either Sydney or Melbourne (by myself) with DS when he was 3 and 4 months, and with DP as well at 6 months, then again just a few weeks ago (15 months), and once they are mobile but before they can be easily entertained whilst sitting still is the most challenging time to fly with babies, because they don't understand why they have to sit still. We took a few hand puppets and sang songs and read books to DS and he was fantastic this last trip. Usually it goes much better than you would expect. And with a one hour flight, it will be over before you even know it.

Tips:
- Change her just before you board, and unless she poos, you won't have to change her whilst on the plane. For longer flights, people who use cloth nappies will put their bub in a night nappy so that they don't have to change as frequently. (Can't remember whether you use cloth or sposies).
- Put her in clothes that are easy to change, with minimal buttons and fiddling.
- Pack a spare teeshirt for yourself.
- Keep the bag with hers and your stuff in it under DH's seat (if you are holding her), so that he can get to it easily if she is asleep on your lap.

Good luck!

Thanks girls!! Very helpful advice. I don't feel so nervous about it now! I think I was more worried about annoying others on the flight than how it will affect us and DD... :lol: just have to block everyone else out and just focus on settling our baby. After all, we were all babies once too!

Suse - thank you sooo much for all those tips!! I will show DH ;)

Ren - we're currently in NZ. K was an absolute gem flying over. I was a bit worried he would be grizzly but nup didnt moan at all, he was too glued to watching all the planes take off and land and watching the ground crew LOL

I guess my advice would be to be prepared as much as you can i.e do your changes etc before getting on board, one less thing to worry about and just stay relaxed about it all.

Offer Ava a breastfeed during take off and landing if she needs it but yeah cause it's only an hour flight from the GC you'll find you'll be on the ground again before you even know it hehe

ours was 2.5 hrs and I found it went real quick by the time drinks and food were served etc

You and Ava will do fine :)

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I think I was more worried about annoying others on the flight than how it will affect us and DD... :lol:

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Don't worry about it - planes are noisy, engine noise drowns out the sound of a baby screaming quite effectively I've found ;) , and they often put all the kids and babies up the back of the plane anyway.