Flying with an infant - advice please

[Bexx]

I realise this post should be on the Families board, but I wanted to get as many answers from a UK perspective as possible. A post on the families board has prompted me to think about the realities of flying with 15 month old. Hopefully I'm not tempting fate as this child hasn't even been born yet, but this is the age s/he will be by the time we eventually get back to WDW. (Please, please,please!!) I had just imagined that we would save the money and travel with him/her on our knee, but would this be hell for 9 hours - has anyone any experience of this? Alternatively we can pay for a seat and then we have to use a car seat for them. Which type do they allow on planes - no airlines seem to specify which models are suitable or more importantly, which aren't. And when we reach Orlando can we use them if we book a towncar service, or are UK car seats not legal in the US and so they just become extra luggage to cope with?

So many questions - any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[pegasusEH]

We took our son when he was 14 months old. The flight wasn't a problem at all but there were 5 adults so we could all take a turn.

Entertaining a little one on a plane is not easy. We were very fortunate, he slept nearly all the way there.

On the way back we were lucky enough to have a sky cot and he literally slept all the way.

In all honesty, the holiday itself with a 14 month old was more trying than the flight. I don't want to put you off going as it was a magical trip and we have some fantastic memories, photo and video footage. Just be prepared.

Our main problem was getting him to eat and drink. We had to hunt down a shop that imported English food to get a bottle of Kia-Ora and he probably ate as much in a fortnight as he normally ate in a weekend.

All children are different don't forget and what's a problem for one won't necessarily be a problem for another. Just be prepared and know your child's likes/dislikes.

 

[Elle]

They certainly are all different! And you will not know what it's going to be like until the little cherub arrives!!
We have done 4mths amd 15mths with son number 1! And 13mths and 2 years with son number 2!
Son number 1 is a walking talking human Tornado! But he has the wonderful ability to rise to an occasion, get him on a plane and he is the most perfect child in the world! both times Mum and Dads head swelled as he showed the other screaming kids how to be an Angel, get him off the plane though and watch out, it was like "light the blue touch paper and retire to a safe distance" as he created havoc at the airports.
Son number 2 is the perfect child off a plane, calm easy going, paddy,s last precisely 20 seconds, get him on a plane and he becomes possessed by the Devil!!! On our last flight he screamed from Gatwick to Florida for most of the longest 9 hours I've ever spent.
We have done both sitting them on our knees and buying them seats (never used a car seat, we just strap them to us when we get told to) Without doubt buying a seat for a fractious child is money well spent, it's bad enough having them screaming, but if they are crawling all over you as well!! Also the extra space is invaluable for playing and keeping them amused.
All in all it's going to be 9 hours, and a means to an end, when you get there rent a villa for the extra space and privacy and have a ball, it's just a different kind of holiday to what you are used to, but equally enjoyable.
Don't spend the next year or so worrying about it, just do it and enjoy.
Good luck with everything.
Elle

 

[Bexx]

Thanks both for your replies. Boy, am I hoping that children are all different. Our DD who is nearly 3, is the most gorgeous little girl (IMHO ) but what a little madam!! Practically since birth she has been a restless, demanding little so and so, given to tantrums - particularly on holiday!! I will say though that she is getting better now, or I'm just getting used to it!! She is also a very picky eater ( I can sympathise with the eating abroad bit Pegasus EH), existing mainly on marmite sandwiches, sausages and chicken nuggets. SO I'm rather hoping that this next little darling will a placid, even tempered greedy guts!!

Elle - your advice about getting a villa is completely sound. Luckily we bought into DVC last year and so we will be booking one of the villas with a full kitchen at OKW. The thought of sharing one hotel room with two small children for two weeks sends shivers down my spine!! I'm really looking forward to actually staying there and planning madly already (as you can see), but I just wanted to find out about this seat business so I can start saving if necessary.

 

[Peebee]

Becky,

Take a look at British Airways and their Britax infant seats that attach to the aircraft bulkhead. It seems to be a pretty good system and one that we are going to try out next year with our little boy - he'll be just under 12 months when we travel.

Poohbears#1fan had good things to say about them in her recent trip report (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=390760) - thanks Jo, great reports! It certainly seems a much reasonable deal than paying for an adult seat, and better for the child as well.

Paul

 

[WDWfan uk]

...... Becky, just to reassure you that you have posted your question to the appropriate board - anything that pertains to British planning their trip, including flights, belongs here

 

[LINCLAIRE]

Hi Bexx.
You are not alone, when we go next January, my great nephew will be 15 months old as well.
I have never had a problem with my 2 boys (now nearly 8 and 6 1/2 yrs)
the 1st time they went they were 6 & 5 yrs and were as good as gold on the flight.
I have told my niece to bring plenty for the baby to play with and will put my 2 near him to keep him amused-they love him.
We are lucky that we are going in a large group, so we can pass him around.
Last time we went, there was a baby girl of about 18 months in front of us and she did nothing but scream the entire flight.
I couldn't help but notice that she did not have one toy to play with and she must have been so fed up.Neither of her parents interacted with her or tried to amuse her in any way and we felt really sorry for her.My DH spent some time chatting to her when she was flung over her fathers shoulder and she did calm down for a while, but we had our own kids to keep amused.
Anyway, fingers crossed that my great nephew will be ok on the long journey.
Lin

 

[Bexx]

Peebee - I'll keep BA in mind, thanks. I was rather hoping to fly direct from Manchester to Orlando, but if the infant arrangements are better with BA then it may be worth it.

Linclaire - I take it you haven't book a seat for your great nephew, as you mention passing him around between a few people. I would be very interested to hear how it goes.

 

[bubblefactory]

Hi

My DD was 18 months old when we flew with Virgin . We booked a seat for her and requested a booster seat in advance.

it was great - virgin supply their own in flight infant booster seat - you simply tell them which seat you want it in at check in . She could watch her own Tv , eat , sleep etc. Of course she still had some lap time but it was great to be able to put her down and let her colour and play.

Inflight infant seat arrangments vary widely with different airlines - always ask them to confirm any seat specifcations in writing if you are asked to bring your own for the plane.
BTW we always bring our own car seats - rental ones are usually a rip off and grotty.

Alec

 

[PoohBears#1fan]

Hi Becky - how you getting on?


I didn't fly to Orlando with R until she was over 2 so can't comment on what it's like for 9 hours but we did do a few short haul flights. At 18 months old we flew to Majorca, I went with a friend and her son (5 years old) I found this very difficult as I didn't really have anyone to help me, she was busy with her own little boy who had never flown before. At 23 months though we flew with my Ex-H (Ibiza - 2 hours approx) and it was a world of difference having someone to share the 'lap load' with, we also found that she could sit inbetween our seats as the arm rest moved up out of the way.

My main problems with flying with a child of that age, is firstly they didn't give her anything to eat, although I would assume that's different long haul? The only other biggie is the changing units in the toilets, as she just didn't fit at that age, to be honest, Zak only just fit last month!

We took Z's car seat with us this time and checked it into the hold marked 'fragile', so if you did book a seat that would be a good way of utilising it on the plane and you'd save around $70ish hiring one, yet have a UK standard one which from what I've heard are a lot better than the ones the hire company give you.

At the end of the day, you're on the plance for 9 hours, you're in WDW for 2 weeks - relax and enjoy it, it's worth it

Speak to you soon

Ps. thanks Paul for the trip report comments

 

[DisneyBB]

We flew with our youngest DD at the age of 15 mths. I expected a nightmare, but it wasn't to bad. Buying a seat for her was money well spent. I reserved a infant seat and we had lots of toys with us. I took baby food with me, but half of it got taken away from at customs!! It contained pork and beef. I had trouble finding food for her and she lived on milk, french fries, yogurt and pasta.

 

[Shugmac]

When we went in 2001 my ds was just under 2 and i knew he would get restless half way through the flight so for him and my 8 year old dd i spent a couple of weeks before the holiday looking for little toys that suited their age and wrapped them in wrapping paper and put them in my hand luggage and when they got fed up i gave them another gift which kept them amused for a little while, it even excited my 8 year old unwrapping another supprise i know i'll be doing the same this year when i go.

 

[BevS97]

Hi Bexx

I have been looking into this in great detail lately. Your best bet is to fly with BA or Virgin as they will both supply a seat which is suitable for babies over 6 months. Babys under 6 months seem to fall into a loophole, and there is little protection for them on UK airlines, just a belly belt, and it's even worse on US airlines unless you buy them a seat in which case you can use your infant carrier (if not, you don't even get to use a belly belt, they are completely unprotected - this is the reason that Americans feel so strongly about carseats on aircraft)
For reasons I don't understand infant carseats are banned on UK aircraft - but I digress as your baby will be over 6 months.

My experience with UK Charter airlines is that they don't know the first thing about carseats on aircraft, and everyone you speak to will give you a different answer. I asked repeatedly what sort of carseat I could use on an airtours flight, and was told it had to be less than 15 in wide, forward facing and with a full harness (no booster style seats), consquently we took our Klippan seat since it fit all the requirements, but at the airport the ground staff refused us to use it because it wasn't a Britax - they didn't seem to comprehend that Britax made lots of models and simply being a Britax wouldn't necessarily mean it would fit, they were just fixated on the Britax name. They put the carseat in the hold and we didn't use it.

Bizarrely, on the way back, the ground crew in the States who are familiar with carseats recommended that we use it (the very same carseat) and it fit fine, but Katie wasn't too impressed about being expected to sit in it, when she knew fine well she hadn't had to use it on the outward journey.

We have taken our own carseat all over the place, and have always used it in hire cars, I'd much rather use mine than one provided by a hire company that could be in any state.


Between BA and Virgin, I think Virgin is slightly better - my research seems to show that on Virgin you have to pay for a seat, but the baby gets a proper 5 point harness that is attached to a seat and they can sit in it for take off and landing.

on BA, you don't have to pay for a seat, but the infant seat is on a shelf at the bulkhead, and it can't be used for takeoff and landing, only for the flight itself. I am not sure what happens during turbulence, but I suspect the baby has to move back onto your knee and be strapped into the belly belt.
if you pay for a seat on BA, you can use your own carseat though.

I have scoured the CAA website, and it jsut says that 5 or 6 car seats are approved for airline use, but nowhere can I find a list of models. In the USA approved carseats have an FAA sticker, I wish they would do that here!

Sorry for the lengthy post, but this is a real pet peeve of mine, it's quite an important issue, and it's impossible to get any decent information on the topic.


oh, and flying with a toddler - katie has always been great, she went to New York at 11 months and was fine, then shorter flights between then and 3, and at 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 we went to Orlando and she has never been a problem = she seems to find the whole experience quite interesting and we take loads of things to pass the time (I aim for 1 per hour which seems to work out about right)

bev

 

[neilybealy]

hi

we flew with virgin last year and we travelled with a 7 month old baby

we had to pay approx £35 + taxes (£65 approx in total) for an infant and that was basically for a skycot

on take off and landing the baby was put into a harness type thing and then this was clipped onto the normal seatbelt and she just sat on her dad's lap

after takeoff the cabin crew brought a skycot over and a table was dropped down out of the bulkhead and the skycot was fastened to that table and the baby was put in there

when we arrived we then used her normal carseat (which we had checked into the hold) and put that in the hirecar - i had already e-mailed alamo and asked if we coudl bring our own carseat and they said yes

we could have paid a full child's price so she had her own seat but decided against it - mebbe worth phoning them and asking what your options are if you do this as to whether you can then use your normal carseat onboard

hope that helps

neil

 

[kevin harrison]

We found that the easiest way is to ask the crew if you can put your infant in the hold. It's nice and dark and they should sleep quite well

Seriously we have booked a seat for our 23 month old in PE, in the hope that the extra space and quiet will be to our advantage in terms of relaxing her and therefore us. My wife is also a nervous flyer so it could be an eventful journey.

Our doctor recommended travel sickness pills for our daughter as they should make her sleepy. I forget the name of them, but apparently they work wonders. If this means that our daughter has a 9 hour flight without getting too upset or stressed then I'm off to Boots !!

Kev.

 

[Bexx]

Wow - thanks everyone for your replies, particularly yours Bev. Still don't know what to do for the best, though the "hold" idea is appealing!

Buying an extra seat on Virgin looks like the way to go, especially as they now fly from Manchester in the winter. The only problem is that we will probably be travelling with another couple and the husband is 6' 7" and may not be able to cope with the seat pitch in economy and I don't think they can afford to pay out £600 to upgrade as they will have medical expenses to pay for once they get to the US. Phew!!

I wanted to fly with Britannia (yes, I quite like them) and upgrade to their premium cabin as you can check in later than normal and DD will have a seat back TV to keep her amused, but that would work out pretty expensive to buy an extra seat there for the little one. I like Jo's idea of putting the armrest up, but unfortunately I think that they have those fixed armrests that you store the tray in. Though we are travelling with two other adults we can only rely on one extra knee if we don't get a seat, as one of them isn't mad keen on children except at a safe distance!

Decisions, decisions!