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Re: Long haul travel
Asked by EllieQ
Question:
We are about to return to New Zealand to live with our 10 month old baby boy. Any advice on coping with the flight and dealing with time zone changes? We are flying with Air
New Zealand so previous experiences with them would be most helpful. We are stopping over in Hong Kong for 2 nights,
My Advice:
When we did it E was 18 months old and she was walking/running (which some american airlines really had a problem with) as she would want to stretch her legs on the longer stretches of the flight and so toddle along the aisles. Their point was that if there were turbulence she might fall or go flying [no pun intended] in reality we were right by her side all the while and there are nearly always advance warnings of turbulence.
►Speak to your pediatrician and see what they advise re: routines, nappies, feeding/milk, and so on. We were advised to take travel sickness tablets with us - we didnt need them, but hey that was our good fortune. Different doctors will advise different techniques of coping I am sure.
► Pack only disposable nappies for the duration of your journey (saves having to think about them smelling the place out), you can buy more on arrival or unpack your cloth.
► Ensure that the airline provides milk if you are not breastfeeding and are using 'real' milk, otherwise they will fill up with warm water for formulas.
►Stock up on favourite snacks (permissible by airlines - dont want to be caught smuggling stuff through customs!), find maybe some fruit snacks that can be gummed or take a while to work through as this will use up a few precious moments of theflight.
► Throughout the flights we often did exercises with the (mostly older) people at the back of the aircraft; cloud gazed out the back windows; danced and sang in front of the mirrors in the large loo at the back of the plane
► According to his age/weight he may be eligible for a 'skycot', this will save you the cost of an extra seat that can sometimes be prohibitive and you dont want to be forced to hold him the whole flight ... it is nice to have a break!!
► Check with the airline what they will do as there is a list of things how they can make life easier for you.
Above all have fun!!! You want to have a relaxing flight for yourself as well as for your child. If you are a nervous flyer see if you can find a way to calm yourself so that you do not transfer this anxiety to your child. Then you can worry in private if you have to knowing your child is happy.
We found Air New Zealand very friendly and supportive of all children on the flight especially the younger children and they were always checking back with us to make sure we were ok. Our flights out went wildly over time (our 24 hour journey took 42 hours) but pretty much everyone was fantastic. On the way home there were no major delays and we had a very happy travelling child. There was also a child travelling alone for the last leg of our flight and the stewardesses were attentive and professional. It was encouraging to see that they do do their job well (random thought, but very real in this day of frequent flying). The best thing to do is as suggested earlier and check with all airlines you travel with for what they provide and more importantly what they don't.
I hope that this helps and that youhave a safe journey.
Peace
EF.x
(November 10th) (
