What I learned about flying long haul with a baby

It’s no secret that I was dreading our first long-haul flight with Tala. Flying 13 hours from Amsterdam to Taipei, a two-hour layover, then another hour and 45 minutes to Manila with a 9 month-old baby, was a scary prospect.

I spent more time than I should have Googling tips for flying long-haul with a baby, packing and repacking our handcarry, and worrying myself into a state of suppressed anxiety.

But, like the first poopy diaper and the first vaccination, the first long-haul flight was way worse in my mind than in reality. Tala did great. We survived. I even managed to get six hours of sleep—that’s a full night in my book! And we felt like pros on the flight back home to Amsterdam.

Here are a few things I learned from the experience.

Fly direct and book bulkhead seats. Whenever possible, book a direct flight. Unfortunately, that’s not an option for us as KLM ceased direct flights between Manila and Amsterdam in early 2013. The next best thing: choose a flight with the shortest stopover.

Bulkhead (a.k.a. Economy Comfort) seats are highly sought-after by parents with babies and small kids, so book them way in advance. Even if baby no longer fits into the bassinet, you can use the extra legroom as a play/crawl space. Trust me, shelling out extra for those seats is worth it.

When possible, aim for takeoff 1-2 hours before bedtime. “Oh, your flight takes off at 8pm? You’ll be fine!” I heard that a lot. In reality, it’s a little more complicated than that.

Flights stay busy for another 1-2 hours after takeoff: the captain makes announcements, the flight attendants hand out menus, hot towels and earphones, passengers change seats, cabin lights stay on. Good luck trying to put a baby to sleep amidst all that excitement! Our overexcited Tala ended up going to bed nearly at 11pm—and she didn’t go down easy, either.

To buy the baby a seat or not? Although Tala can still fly for free, the thought of holding her on our laps for 17 hours made us agonize over this for weeks. Having a baby makes one crave convenience; in the end we decided it’s always better to have options, and booked a seat for her.

It worked out for us. Tala was too excited to sleep in the (uncovered) bassinet, so we ended up strapping her into the car seat, swinging her to sleep, and putting the car seat into for a full night’s sleep.

Later, we realized we could have just put the car seat on the floor. It was an expensive lesson to learn. But I don’t want to think about that too much, because it makes my wallet ache!

You don’t need an iPad… yet. At around 9-10 months, babies will be mesmerized by the most ordinary things. I had packed a Ziploc bag of small toys, but I didn’t even need it on our flight to Taipei.

Some of the wonders that happily occupied Tala during her waking hours: a plastic spoon, the flight safety card, the drawstrings on Marlon’s hoodie, the remote control on the inflight entertainment system, the earphones, and the seatbelt buckle (just watch out for tiny fingers getting jammed).

Bonus tip: the paper vomit bag in your seat pocket makes a very crinkly—and thus awesome—hand puppet. You paid for this stuff, so use the heck out of it!

Sleep when baby sleeps. If you’re never taken this advice, do it now. You’re sitting on a chair in the sky; there’s nothing that needs to get done. Will I ever watch an inflight movie ever again? you might wonder. Maybe someday. But now is not the time.

Also, traveling with a baby is tiring. You’ll need every bit of energy to keep you going until you reach your final destination, where jetlag awaits (oh joy!). So sleep already.

Make friends. Babies are generally fascinated by each other. So strike up conversations with other parents and watch your little ones amuse each other. Go on inflight field trips and visit your new friends in their section of the plane.

Make friends with the crew—you need them on on your side.  Marlon and I absolutely HATE the infant lap belts they force on us at the beginning of every flight, but we quickly learned they weren’t worth arguing with the crew about. Plus, the cabin crew is in charge of the swag (we got a pair of Miffy/Nijntje bibs) and, when charmed, can arrange some pretty cool perks… like a visit to the flight deck!