fudgelie

Hi all,

We're planning a trip from YYZ to PER for next November / December and we will be travelling with a 9-month old infant. We have a have stopover in Abh Dhabi for 4 nights to break up the trip.

For the AUH - PER leg, we will be travelling via MEL. The exact itineary is as follows:

AUH - MEL (EY in J, should have bassinet) 21:50 - 18:05 (Flying time 13:15)
Layover of 02:55
MEL - PER (VA in J, no bassinet) 21:00 - 22:15 (Flying time 04:15)

We do have the option of making the layover in MEL up to 24 hours at no extra cost. I'm wondering should we just stay the night in a hotel in MEL near the airport. We have never travelled with a baby before so it's all new to us. I was thinking if we had a rough flight with our baby on AUH - MEL, we could be glad of the overnighter to recouperate before jumping on the next flight.

erik123

That's a tough one. I'd lean to getting it all over with sooner.

fudgelie

Ya it's hard to know which would be the better option. We'll be doing a trip to Europe in the summer so I think we can use that as guidance and make a decision afterwards.

Milwaukee

I agree with erik123 , but smart to use your trips coming up to calibrate.

If you were connecting to another super long flight it might be worthwhile, but in this case I think that long stopover might increase the pain - unpacking, new environment, repacking etc.

fudgelie

Yes you do make a good point, if we getting on another super long flight then it might be worthwhile having the stopover. However maybe we should just carry on given that it's only a 4:15 flight. Thanks for the input.

GUWonder

Repeat time zone adjustments of the sort mentioned in the OP strikes me as being an awful idea. Typical adults don’t do well with performing to their best under such repeat time zone changes in such short periods; and an increasingly active 9 month old child — and some can even be walkers by that age even as most are still crawlers — will add to the challenge with their clock usually being thrown off a bunch too even if big into frequent daytime napping at home.

The faster the trip is over, the easier the adjustment process tends to go for parents and children.

A YYZ-Europe trip this summer with the child is a very different thing than the YYZ-AUH-Australia journey mentioned in the OP when the child is 3+ months older (than for the summer trip to Europe) and is 9-months. If anything, I would say the trip to Australia would probably go over more easily on parents and child this summer than it would in November/December.

CDTraveler

A 9 month old in a bassinet is a bad idea. Most airline bassinets are small, not meant for mobile kids. At 9 months, my kid was not just walking, but running and climbing out of his crib - this far in advance you have no way of knowing how active your child will be. A bassinet would have contained my kid for about 6 seconds, tops, before he went over the side and hit the floor. If the airline allows it, I would have the child in a car seat, securely buckled in. A child who is used to a car seat often recognizes being buckled in as a time be still and is more likely to sleep. Having the child securely buckled in also always the parents to sleep without worrying what an unsecured child will do while they sleep.

fudgelie

Yes I think you make a good point about getting the trip over and done as quickly as possible. I think we may be leaning towards this option. I certainly agree, YYZ-Europe is child's play compared to YYZ-AUH-Australia. Unfortunately the timing of YYZ-AUH-Australia is fixed as we will be attending a wedding, if it wasn't for that then we would definetly bring it forward because as you say, the child could even be a walker at that age.

Yes I think we are definetly going to be pushing it trying to use a bassinet at 9 months, baby could even be walking at that stage. Plus if he can sit up, the airline won't allow us use the bassinet. We'll have to just play it ear really as the next few months go by. A back-up plan would be to get him his own seat depending on his activity levels. We don't own a car so and live in a walkable urban area so our use of a car seat is limited to once or twice per month when we rent a car for some sort of day / overnight trip so unfortunately our baby may not have that sense of familarity with a car seat. However as you say, it will be reassuring to know that they they are strapped in and secure if either of his parents dooze off.


Thanks everyone for the input, definetly some food for thought here and some things that we hadn't considered.

erik123

The bassinet is typically based on weight so check that. I've had my then nearly 1 yr old in a bassinet once without issue - but that's the exception.

fudgelie

Ya I'll have to keep an eye on his weight, it's possible that he could already be over the bassinet weight at 9 months.

Mwenenzi

A tortuous route (many time zones 15840 miles)
A map from Great Circle Mapper - Great Circle Mapper

A simpler route (11882 miles)
A map from Great Circle Mapper - Great Circle Mapper

PER via Singapore can be OK

GUWonder

Sometimes the length of the child can be an issue for bassinet use; but most commonly the size issue that hits first is the weight limit. And the weight limit for using the bassinet definitely can hit well before a child has turned one years old. And the weight limit for the bassinet use varies by airline and by plane (or maybe even also by plane bassinet type).

Redhead

I flew with a lap child many times, so I'm not against lap babies in general. However, for a trip of that length, get the child their own seat - you will be thankful for it.

Pack (quiet) toys that are both old favourites and new ones, books to read to them (pat the bunny and other interactive ones are good), and snacks - don't depend on the airline for baby food.

Good luck

fudgelie

Length, now that's something I didn't think of. Baby may be under the weight, but too long to fit in the bassinet! I'll have to check that as well, thanks!

Ya if they're too big for the bassinet, we'll definetly get them a seat. It's far too long of a journey for them to be on your lap the whole time. Yes will definetely make sure we're self sufficient on the food front and that we've got some old and new toys. Reading to them should definetly be good for their calmness.

I agree, we are most definetly taking the long way around. However we're trying to book using specific airlines / points programs which has us tied to this direction.

GUWonder

With bassinets, the issues of using them tend to be that of:

1) availability -- even if in the bulkhead where they get positioned, the flights sometimes don't have sufficient working ones available/loaded;
2) infant's weight exceeds permissible level for the bassinet use;
3) infant's length exceeds permissible level for the bassinet use;
4) infant's mobility is such that the bassinet use poses sort of a danger itself; and
5) needing to remove the infant from the bassinet whenever the seat-belt light goes on.

The last one really can make for a less peaceful ride for the infant and the accompanying adults than if the child were in a car seat where it can remain whether or not the seat-belt light goes on.

With an FAA-approved car seat in use in the passenger cabin, the bassinet use limits become a non-issue. Then you're looking at whether or not to buy a separate seat for the child or to try to gamble on a flight where an open seat becomes possible for free. Some airlines sell adjoining seats for lower prices to be used to store objects than what would be the case for a standalone passenger fare or even a seated child or lap-child infant fare. If it works to store an instrument, it could work to store a car seat that just happens to be used for the lap-child infant.