Long haul flight with 9 month old....any tips!?

We are going to the UK in a few weeks to visit the other half of the family. DD will be 9/10 months old when we go. We are only going for 17 days!

My question is....How do i cope with the time difference...obviously i cant keep to Australian time, hopeing someone has some good tips on making the whole thing less painfull....dont want DD to be jet lagged and grumpy the whole time we are there!
Also any good ideas for passing the time on the plane, although im not too worried about the flight, any tips/words of wisdom are always welcome!! :)

(not sure if i posted this in the right place??)

Bumping up for info too! We are off the States in June and DS will be one. My head is fully spinning with how to cope with the travel, the time differences etc....

amberj: Im trying not to think about the flight as ''30 hours+ on a plane'' im trying to think of it as a rainy day indoors, cause we have done many of those!! Im making up little packages to take...like little makeup bags from the dollar shop, each filled with something different to pass half an hour, DD has a fascination with my jewellery so i thought id get some braclets and things like that together, at the moment just taking things out of a purse and putting them back in passes twenty mins easily!! if there are fun, new and shinny things inthe purse thats got to add ten mins to the fun!! right??
But your DS is probably a bit old for that kind thing! if i can think of 10-15 little things like that i recon it wont be too bad. although i think ive only got about 3 things atm!! lol

Nice idea. A trip to the $2 shop sounds like its in my future!!

Oh, I forgot to mention earlier, but as far as jetlag goes, my MCHN said to spend some time in the sunshine in the mornings. This apparently helps to re-set your body clock because the sunshine makes your body produce 'awake' chemicals.

She also said to take some Fess nasal spray on the plane and use it not only for bubs but for yourself- will stop you feeling all dried out.

I like the "rainy day indoors" analogy.

amber: i just found a thread asking the same question in the 'holiday and travel' bit, which i didnt even know existed till now! lol. it might be helpfull for you!

Hey thanks, that thread was great!

Ok ladies. I have been there done that..

Took DS when he was 5.5 weeks, 6 months, 12months 2 years and 2.5 years coming up
And DD at 6weeks and soon 6 months.

My tips

1. Lots of snacks.. lollies anything exciting and NEW for them.
2. 2$ shop toys.. Dont bring too many either 2-3 things.. they get over them so quick and prefer to play with the head phones on the plane.
3.2 Changes of clothes.
4. i would say 8 nappies.. you dont need anymore as they dont go anymore then they wouldn normally and you dont want to be packing too much stuff.
5. A stroller like a umbrella cheap ligth stroller.. if you are flying Qantas they supply them.. brilliant.
6. I would take Phenegran wiht you just incase.. I have used it twice on the plane. When you have tried EVERYTHING and they are overtired.... Then what have you got up your sleeve?
7. Book a basinette on the plane.. up until 1.5 years they can go in it.. brilliant as you dont have to hold the baby while sleeping..and they are fastastic beds.
8.Put baby in something warmish on the plane as its normaly cold on them..
9. None of my kids have sucked on anything while taking off and landing.. and never had ear problems at all.

What times do your flights leave australia/

Didi! Haven't seen you in ages!

You are travelling wonder-woman. Just a couple questions:

- I thought the bassinets were only up to like 8kg or similar- I thought Peter (10kg) couldn't go in them?

- I'm debating whether to take just a small umbrella stroller, or my proper stroller and checking it. I fly Qantas to LA and then Northwest to WI. So you are saying if you check your stroller, Qantas will provide a courtesy one for you to wheel around the airport, right? Have you had any experience with Northwest? The only reason I am thinking about taking my bigger stroller is that Peter can sleep in it, but he won't sleep in an umbrella stroller and we will be out and about quite a bit o/s.

- Where do you get Phenergen? I thought you couldn't get it anymore.

Thanks hun!

Didi...great tips!!! thanks SO much!!! someone else suggested phenergan..same question as amber, where do you get it! will be good as a last resort!!
Think we will get a small stroller, ours is huge!! great idea.
my flight leaving is in the evening arriving at 6am (to the uk)
the return leaves in the afternoon and arrives at 7pm
dont know how to deal with the time changes...any tips there??

Jess check with your airline the weight limit for the bassinette. We flew to NZ last week and I think it was something like 11.8kg...
Definitely a smaller stroller or consider a sling or backpack for transiting through airports.
Not sure of the best approach with time differences though sorry beck! I would just go straight into local time as far as possible and hope for the best!

:

---

Didi! Haven't seen you in ages!

You are travelling wonder-woman. Just a couple questions:

- I thought the bassinets were only up to like 8kg or similar- I thought Peter (10kg) couldn't go in them? YOU CAN PUT A BABY OR TODDLER IN THESE UNTIL THEY ARE GOING TO JUMP OUT OF THEM. MY COUSIN IS THE DESIGNER FOR THE SEATS AND BASSINETTS ON QANTAS THEY CAN HOLD UP TO 22KG... BUT IT DOES SAY ON THEM 22LBS... ITS SOMEWHERE FOR THEM TO SLEEP.. AND HE IS NOT OVER 1 SO YOU ARE TOTALLY FINE.

- I'm debating whether to take just a small umbrella stroller, or my proper stroller and checking it. I fly Qantas to LA and then Northwest to WI. So you are saying if you check your stroller, Qantas will provide a courtesy one for you to wheel around the airport, right? Have you had any experience with Northwest? The only reason I am thinking about taking my bigger stroller is that Peter can sleep in it, but he won't sleep in an umbrella stroller and we will be out and about quite a bit o/s. IF PETER WILL SLEEP IN HIS THEN TAKE HIS WITH YOU. ITS JUST GONG THROUGH SECURITY IT HAS TO FIT THROUGH THE SCANNER.. QANTAS WILL GIVE YOU ONE TO BORROW BUT I WOULD USE A BACKPACK OR BABY BJORN OR SOEMTHIGN AFTER YOU HAVE CHECKED IN YOUR STROLLER. PRAMS ARE VERY VERY VERY VERY CHEAP IN THE USA YOU CAN PICK ONE UP AT WALLMART FOR 20$ CHEAP.. SO MAYEB SEE IF YOUR FRIENDS/FAMILY CAN GET YOU ONE TO USE WHILE THERE..

- Where do you get Phenergen? I thought you couldn't get it anymore. YOU CAN GET THIS OVER THE COUTER AT A CHEMIST.. DO TRY IT BEFROE YOU GO AS SOME KIDS CAN HAVE TEH OPPOSITE EFFECT.. I FOUND SOME OTHER GREAT MED IN CANADA SO MY KIDS IF NEEDED GET GRAVOL... JUST A TRAVEL CALM.. BRILLIANT!!!

Thanks hun!

---

Time Change.. nothing you can do here.. but since you leave in the evening your bubba should think its night time and sleep then as they normally would and then when you get there in the morning they think its morning.. So that should be every very easy.. unlike flights that leave at 10am and fly into the night... that is a pain..

Thanks for all the tips in here! DS will be 10 months when we are doing a 9 hour flight. So true about them loving the headphones, we went to Aussie last week and he loved them.