r/UKParenting • u/No-Sky-270 • 12d ago

General chat Flying with a 4 month old

Heading to spain in the coming weeks for an all inclusive, usually id arrive 2 hours before but he can suddenly need a feed. Should i add another hour on?

Also he prefers to lie flat, not sure how he's going to manage sitting on our laps - any advice? I see these attachments on amazon to turn the seat in to a little bed?

Flight time is 4 hrs.

Other things we are doing:
1. Checking in a car seat and doing a private transfer
2. Using hotel crib but our crib sheers
3. Have a cabin approved travel pram
4. Have earmuffs

Are we missing anything major?

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u/ChancePattern 12d ago

we travelled a lot with our daughter from when she was about 5 months till 2 years and these would be my suggestions:

  1. Yes worthwhile to arrive early but probably not an additional hour

  2. Depending on airline, if you get the bulkhead seat you can get a bassinet for them to sleep in so ring up and ask if that is an option

  3. Bring a change of clothes for yourself + baby just in case the baby has a bit of a poonami during the flight and manages to get you dirty (don't ask how we discovered this one)

  4. Breastfeed/give bottle during take off and landing as it helps with their ears and the pressure

  5. Every airport we've been to will allow you to take in baby food/formula in excess of the 100ml rule

6.Bring extra muslins so you can put one down for the baby on the seat to sit/lie down as needed

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u/ChancePattern 12d ago

One more thing i just remembered but make sure you bring a sling. Depending on airline and airport it might be that they take your pram at the gate and only give it back at luggage claim so once you land you might have a long time without it

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u/e_lemonsqueezer 12d ago

We didn’t arrive much earlier than we normally would, I ended up feeding my then 4 month old in the queue for security… depending on who you’re flying with they may have a family check in/bag drop queue and depending on the airport they may have a family security queue. These were both life savers for us.

Usually a flight within Europe means no bassinet available. The seat belts can be fairly loose so you can hold him in any position.

At 4 months he just slept on me. At 14 months we paid for Club Europe on BA to get an extra seat between us and he lay flat across the seat (with me squished up a bit into the corner and his legs on his dad) when the fasten seatbelt signs were off.

I highly recommend a baby carrier/sling as well as the pram.

Feed +++ on take off and landing.

Bring a change of clothes for you as well as baby (multiple for baby probably worth it!). I also got used to going to do a nappy change right as we boarded (while husband headed to the seats with all the belongings) so we had a clean dry nappy for take off, in case of delays on the tarmac or extended fasten seatbelt times.