How old were your kids before you took them on a plane/holiday?
 

The other half will be dropping any day now, but we are keen to get a holiday booked up to Croatia for June, mainly to see some family but we have some business to deal with over there as well, so need to get there sooner rather than later.

The flight is just over two hours so that's not so bad, and we will be staying in in our own property so no hotels to worry about.

How long did you leave it before travelling with your little ones and how did they take flying etc?

Also how long did the babies passport take to come through, this is my main concern.

Short haul (Denmark from UK) 3 months old and she was fine
Dubai 18 months old

When you book ask for bulk-head seats as these have a little more leg room and usually take a travel type cot

I didnt fly til I was 11 and that was to go to Florida. Bit different now a days though :)

no probs getting the passport back in time then?

Cookie,

You can fast Track the passport application if time is tight. Think it takes a week. We had to go to Liverpool passport office though.

Misses applied for a passport in December, OVER the Christmas period, sent it off through the post. Didnt pay anymore than standard application and got the passport back in 9 days :thumb:

That's good to know, I've just had a couple of people banging on about how it can take months etc.

People do like to stir. :D

As mentioned below we fast tracked ours and it was a week or so:)

A Mr Jeremy Clarkson states in his book that he would not subject other airline passengers to his children until they were old enough to sit quietly in their own seats. He holidayed in the places he could drive to e.g. South of France. I admire the fact that he has been so thoughtful about it :)

Suggest that you and everyone else with young children also take this approach and save us poor regular airline passengers from your screaming brats until they are old enough to sit still and keep quiet. Show a bit of consideration for others :)

That didn't take long. :lol1:

Hmmm, let me think, how about bollx :D

Morgan was 3 and did 9hrs to Barbados. And has done that every year for the last 5 yrs sometimes twice a year.
He is better on a plane than I am ... hahha... Never had a problem

A valid point. However, you can pay extra for better seats and avoid sitting with the great unwashed with screaming brats.

19 and 20 (years). I think they were old enough to cope by then :D

I have seen and heard kiddies screaming on a plane before, usually because the parents just let them get on with it, while they knock back copious amounts of overpriced booze.

This is not how we would act on a plane.

Little 1 was 9 months. Aberdeen to heathrow, that's about as long as i'd advise with a child of this age. Although the flight time was only 50 mins, we were on the plane around 2hrs with all the pi**ing about at either ends. With an unrestrained toddler, it's hard work.

I would never take him into europe, never mind across to America or further afield.

In your example, a child of 2-3months should be okay. They should still be at the sleep 18-20hrs a day stage.

Exactly!

We have travelled, eaten out etc with our daughter since she was tiny. No problems at all.:)

It is all down to how you are with them - you get up tight & stressy - guess what - they pick up on it!!:rolleyes:

With flying ensure they either have a bottle or dummy to suck on which helps avoid the ears popping. Most airline supply skycots for small babies.

As our daughter got older we always ensured she had books / toys etc to keep her occupied & she wasn't left to run around causing chaos & scream blue murder.

Sounds like you are already on the right tracks - so sod what others say & do what you want!

And anyway, if you are visiting relatives I bet they'll all be keen to see the new arrival asap!! Good Luck!:)

Our daughter was 3 months old and it was a 4 hour flight and she was as good as gold, not a peep out of her. So the sh!t stirrer above saying we shouldn't have taken our baby on the plane to suit him and others with the same attitude can go :hjtwofing

My daughter was 5 months old when we took her to India for the first time. Our British Airways plane was f**ed, so we had to take Afgani flight in. We stopped by in Prague (8 hours) and in the war zone Afganistan:eek: (5 hours). Stephen (kids' daddy) had to be extremely assertive for getting our seats moved in Afgani plane, because a group of unruly and drunken British students gang behing our seats was causing chaos. I absolutely hated that flight, but my little girl and 5 year old son were fine. One the way back, British Airways treated babies and children very well. Afgan airport was bombed a day before we flew out, so BA wouldn't even fly over Afganistan, they were so safety-sensitive. All extra fecilities were provided for kids entertainment and comfort.

Your daughter will be ok to fly for two hours with a decent airliner, man :thumb:

21 weeks old and still in her mummys tummy.

No problems with screaming or crying but she did kick and wouldn't sit still.

our 1st at 12 weeks to Barbados

and twins at 6 months to greece (complete with the other three kids)

My children have been going on 'planes since they were a few months old as my wife would wander aimlessly back and forth to Poland.

The passport was quite easy (although harder these days I believe?), although one 4 week old baby looks much like another so it becomes a bit of a joke when they are three years old!

Steve

Daughters first flight was at 8 months to menorca and then again at 12 months to turkey (both last year) She was fine on both occasions. Not the most comfortable thing to have a kid sat on your knee for 4 hours but doable. Passport took 2 weeks IIRC.

Thanks guys, looks like I'll be booking some flights then. :thumb:


Hopefully sat next to some moany old git that hates kids on planes. ;)

BA years ago used to make sure that single business men (sexist, sorry) were never sat anywhere near children. I doubt very much they do these days.

Steve

We've flwon with our 4 year old 2 or 3 times a year since he was about 4 months and only once had a problem with other passengers. The guy sat in front of us was giving us evil looks before we'd even got to our seat and then spent the next 10 minutes complaining that my lad was kicking his chair. I demonstrated to him that my sons legs only barely reached the edge of his own cushion and didn't reach the back of his chair but he was adamant that he could feel him moving around. We called the stewardess and got them moved because otherwise I was going to throw him out of the plane at 30,000 feet. Strangely, he didn't like my suggestion that if he hated kids so much, maybe he should stay off public flights and maybe invest in a private jet.

the laughable thing about these sorts of people is that they dont have kids, as a rule

but boy when they finally get there act together and have some, they act/talk like they are the first person in history to have the little fvckers, and start complaining there is no play area on the plane

(often travelling with my 5 kids I am usually pretty tolerant of other peoples kids, but the odd ones do let the side down -- business flight to Aberdeen a little sh1t acted up the whole journey, whilst the mother just sat there, no doubt wondering when she could have her next fag)

That moaner sound familiar, PS Lewis by any chance,lol??

Mac

My son was n a plane at less than three months with no real problems. He is almost three now and goes on 3-4 return flights a year with no problems. Just prepare well, pick good flight times and it really is not an issue.

+1 Also we book flights overnight so other passengers are asleep as well as our kids as part of their routine/sleep pattern.

remember calpol is your friend