Babies on a plane, is it safe, and can you stay sane?

I don't have any children, but according to those of my friends that have traveled with children it is much easier when they are really small. When they start walking things get much more difficult. Most children seem to hate taking off and landing as that's when your ears start hurting, so if you think your daughter won't like that maybe a direct flight would be best.

I've never flown before. We drive everywhere. At that age I think 5 hours wouldn't be too bad depending on the child. Most 4 month olds still nap a good bit and can be easily entertained by something shiny lol. I think adding stops would be worse because you would have the time between in the airport and getting on and off planes, jumbling all that stuff around. If you mom is going with it should be pretty easy. You can take turns holding her and if possible walking up and down the isles.

My daughter flew with her young child. Having something for the baby to suck on, a bottle or pacifier, is a god idea. I would also suggest that you buy a ticket for your baby for safety reasons. If you have a choice I would try to get a flight around a normal nap time for your baby.

When my son was four months old I took him on a two and a half hour flight from Bristol to Faro in Portugal. I traveled by train with him to Lisbon whilst we were there. It all went fine. I did another trip when my son was thirteen months old. We got a flight from Bristol to Riga in Latvia. It was challenging to pack for that trip. We were allowed 15kg of luggage between us both. On that trip we traveled on local buses and trains. We did an overnight bus trip from from Lithuania to Estonia. He was good on that trip. When my son was 20 months and I was 18 weeks pregnant with my daughter we went on a 12 hour flight from London Heathrow to Cape Town in South Africa. Our plane was delayed for five hours due to fog. It had taken us more than four hours to reach the airport. Other passengers on the plane were amazed how well behaved my son was. Now I have my baby daughter we shall be flying from London Gatwick to Halifax in Canada this summer. I think starting a baby flying at four months old is an excellent idea. A non-stop flight or a stop over of a few days would be best with a young baby or a toddler.

Your best bet is a non stop flight as this will cause the least amount of changes in pressure on your baby's ears. Make sure that you have at least two pacifiers for her (incase on drops on the floor) as sucking on the pacifier will help reduce the pressures also. If handled properly flying with a small child can actually be less stressful than driving a long distance as you will be able to give the baby your full attention while traveling. Things you will need to consider while flying with all of the regulations are bottles, getting through security, and diaper changes. Make plans in advance for these things and you should be ok.