Originally Posted by
cbc812
Mrs. cbc812 and I are flying LAX-SYD this weekend with 10 week old cbc812 Jr. He is a great baby - wonderful temperament, minimally fussy, already sleeping 7-9 hours at a stretch through the night. We are nevertheless pretty anxious about the lengthy flight and anticipate that the little guy will be vocal about hunger/diaper/air pressure/etc.
We have a plan for each of the above scenarios, but we're weighing putting together goodie bags for the folks around us with earplugs, candies, chocolate, and good tea and a note that it's our little booger's first flight. Opinion on this move varies widely; some say you shouldn't apologize for having a child, others that it's a considerate gesture, especially on a lengthy flight.
I find myself in the latter camp, but am wondering what FTers think. WNBFP (Want no babies? Fly private!)? Or go for it? What say you?
Well, I was a single flyer for over 40 years, and I was always annoyed by kids. I know it is a bit unfair, but I always thought that parents should be held strictly accountable for their children.
Then I started dating someone with kids. we have taken the ony year old to four continents already (including a side trip to the maldives). I can now see why parents sometimes seem less than atentive.
So, with that in mind I am going to offer these suggestions:
1. Acknowledging your child could be fussy is an awesome idea. I know when I was childless I would look much more favorably on people who were actively and aggressively trying to maintain calm with their kid. The goodie bags are an easy way to let people know you are those types of parents. Kudos and good idea.
2. Be prepared to be awake for up to 36 hours. When we took two kids (one a year old and the other five years old) to India I was awake for 40 straight hours managing the kids. On the way home, we went straight from the maldives to the US. That was about 48 hours total travel time (with 14 hours in BLR). I had the one year old on my own from paris to Denver for the last part of that trip. It was ROUGH.