Hi all -

We are expecting our first kid this August, and at the same time are starting to plan for a visit to our families in Europe, from Australia, for Christmas.

This is peak season of course, so we would be keen to book asap. Now, I had 2 questions for all you expert travelers with children

1/ Technically, the only real issue to book the flights is that, of course, we don't know the date of birth. Would it be possible to book the tickets for the 2 adults, and add a lap infant later for such an international trip? I will also call and ask a few airlines, but I trust Flyertalkers much better than the average call center rep!

2/ Without any legal/technical considerations, would you consider it wise to book tickets before the delivery? Up until now, everything has been eventless in the pregnancy, but we know we can have multiple issues ranging in severity before the delivery. Though we may have to postpone our trip in such a case, our travel insurance could cover it, and we may be prepared to take the bet if the ticket prices increase too much. But this is our first child, so your experience would be kindly appreciated...

And yes, she will be a little more than 4 months old by the time of the trip, which is a bit scary for us, but we are planning on traveling with a stopover of 1-2 nights on each leg, which hopefully will alleviate the whole ordeal for her...

Many thanks for your kind feedback!

- donluis