Jet-lag in babies

[bobby's bear]

We are off down under with our 5 month old in a few weeks and I was wondering if anyone had any tips on managing jet lag in the baby and surviving the long haul flight.

Thanks!

[Pickle]

There have been threads on this before, try doing a search (I usually post on them!). We've been to NZ and back 7 times now since having our son 4 years ago, and 4 times with 2 children.

Hit the ground running - as soon as you land in the time zone you're going to, switch to their time. It helps a lot if your baby is in a routine, as you just go ahead and do the usual routine. We always find that for the first few days the kids fall into a really deep sleep after lunch and it can be hard (and feel a bit mean) to wake them up, but don't let them sleep too long. Lots of fresh air and sunshine and you should be pretty much adjusted well within a week.

The flight should be easy with a 5 month old. If the baby is on solids make sure you take some with you for the flight - they do supply food but chances are it won't be stuff your baby will eat. Feed on takeoff and landing, although it's not essential as the air pressure is pretty regulated in large planes these days. Take a few little toys, but you will probably find that your baby sleeps for a lot of the flight, and when awake there's so much to look at you won't need too much to keep him/her occupied.

Take more nappies than you think you'll need - little tummies seem to get affected pretty easily and you may end up with more dirty nappies than usual.

Have a fab time, and feel free to ask if you have more specific questions.

P x

[willjac]

sorry to hi-jack thread

I will be flying out to NZ in a couple of months on my own on the way out with my son & I'm trying to decide whether to buy my son a seat (will be 21 months when we fly)/ move to a higher class seat etc to make the flight more manageable. Can I ask, Pickle, in your experience (with all those flights under your belt with kids!) what would you say would be the best seat configuration for us? Thank you

[Pickle]

Hi Willjack,

We paid for a seat for our daughter when she was about the same age - makes life a lot easier in my experience. Otherwise you've got the problem that they're too big for a bassinet and have nowhere to sit other than your lap, which is a nightmare with a nearly 2 year old.

You'd probably end up with more space for less cost if you buy an extra economy seat than if you go business class. We travelled business class when we had just one baby and there was room to have him lying beside me in the seat, but he was only small (3 months) and it wasn't very comfortable. With an older child I think it would be tricky, and you have the added pressure of feeling like you have to keep them quiet ;-)

Depending on the timing of your flights, it may be worthwhile trying to get a window seat - you can make a much quieter cosy little space for a child that way. Day flights we go for aisle as they're more active and likely to be up out of their seats a lot. Some airlines will give you a whole row if the flight isn't full, which is ideal (or we've also found people ask to move if there are spare seats and they find themselves sitting beside kids!!).

Good luck

[willjac]

thanks Pickle

Yes admittedly the last time we flew to NZ with him was in business (he was just 5 months old) so was not a problem but now the thought of trying to keep him confined within a small space makes me very nervous for that length of time! I think I will go for buying him a seat too & pray for an empty flight!

Thank you

[Pickle]

When we went business class the woman beside us kicked up a real fuss after takeoff asking to be moved as "she hasn't paid all this money to be kept awake by a baby". Fair enough, she got moved. I took much pleasure from the fact that my son slept the whole way, while she sat looking very annoyed towards the back of business class being kept awake by the man beside her that was snoring very loudly :))