[ruthyroo]

Hi all

We are planning a trip back to the UK with a baby who (all being well) will be around 3 months old at the time.

We don't have any time pressures to get back, and have been planning to take the journey a stage at a time rather than make it a flying endurance test. We'd been planning a 6 night stopover in the Cook Islands (woo hoo), then a 1 night stop in LA / SF, then a 2 night stop in Boston before heading on to the UK.

Is this a good idea with a wain in tow? Are we going to get enough benefit from the SOs to make it worthwhile? My mum thinks we should just bite the bullet and do it in a one-er, that all the faff of getting in an out of airports will make it more hassle than it's worth.

Whaddya think, oh wise ones? Especially interested to hear from those who did it either way with young child(ren) - straight through or leisurely trip?? Did you welcome the break or would you rather jsut get it over and done with?

[MB]

Hi, Ruthyroo! Not quite the same age/situation, but for what it's worth:

we did Seattle-London when our lad was just over 2yrs. old, and Seattle-Auckland when he was just under 3yrs. He also did Auckland-Seattle when he was a few months under 4.

Each of these trips had just standard 'plane changes with the accompanying approx. 2-5 hour waits. He was fine on all the flights, and slept in very long slabs (5-10 hours) each time.

One thing, of course, to bear in mind is that on the 'right/wrong' day for your baby, any given plan might turn out to be less than optimal. E.g., it might make utter sense to fly straight through if you have a basically 'easy' baby, but if baby happens to have tummy pains on that particular day it could be really trying. And vice-versa.

It's a tricky one, isn't it? Perhaps, given the point I have just made, it might be good to plan the journey so that it is as far in tune with the kind of temperament your particular baby has as is predictable... but NOT to cater to the baby factor at all costs. For example, if you predict that on the whole your baby would be better off having two nights' break after half the flying time, great. But if planning those stopovers just for that reason would be really costly and/or contrary to other parts of your planning, then instead maybe it's worth just relying on a few refreshing hours in a big airport between flights.

It just might be miserable to have a clunky, pricey or disagreeable schedule on your hands plus a miserable baby... if planning for the little'un's comfort was your only motive for doing the flights that particular way anyway!!

:nice1

[nippa&pippa]

my daughter was 9weeks old when we flew to NZ from UK and we have found from our experiences that we were better off to go straight there as she was already know the difference of day/night time routine. When we arrived in NZ, she was wide awake for UK's daytime during NZ's nighttime :roll. Lucky she eventually understood time change few days later. So I wondering how much confusing will be on baby if had few sudden change of times during few stop-over... It is down to what your baby is like really as I was strict on my children about their bedtime routine from early day.

[ruthyroo]

Thanks guys. I am swinging towards having a good break in the Cooks, a short stop in LA if it's convenient and then straight to Edinburgh from there (via Frankfurt or something mental like that probably). That way we get home sooner and my folks can basically take over the baby snuggling until we recover! Certainly it seems to be very difficult to fly from the West coast to the East coast of the UK with a Star Alliance / Air NZ partner - so stopping in Boston would really bump the cost up, for perhaps little benefit.

Any other opinons still very welcome! The difficulty is that we will probably be booking flights before the wain is even born - so no way to judge temperment in advance!

[jubjub]

If you want a break on the way, then go for it, you will be messing with babies routine anyway! Lets face it, might be the only chance you get for an exotic location for a while!

I would suggest you maybe do a min of 2 nights in a place, or its not worth the hassle of getting off the plane and unpacking all the stuff. (you do realise that babies come with a heck of a lot of stuff???) If you are breastfeeding as well, it makes life so much easier, you dont have to bother about bottles and stuff, but if you do need bottles etc, just make sure you take enough sanitised empty ones with you for each flight.

We did it all the way through, with a 6 hr stop in HK, at 6 months old, at 3 months they sleep and lie in the plane bassinet anyway mostly, so its prob the best time to do it non stop if thats what you want to do.

Just a suggestion, as you are going home so soon after birth, just by a travel cot with a bassinet insert, then you can just take it home with you, I know a few people that did that instead of buying a cot straight away.

[Familyofmonkeys]

Much easier to travel about with 3 month old baby....they tend to adjust easier to time differences than older children, plus when not at weaning age, you need less stuff with you when traveling. If you BF, you will need nothing other than nappies, clothes etc, so you are not tied to any particular routine. Personally, I would enjoy the chance to have a stopover while you can, as it will be more difficult when baby is older.

[Tia Maria]

Ruthroo,

I think the Cook Islands is a must, you should, hopefully, just be coming out of the sleep deprivation stage then and will enjoy a well earned rest! :D

As jub jub mentioned, any trip with a young baby comes with a lot of planning and stuff, especially if bottles and formula are involved. So you will have to think carefully about how you pack, what stays in your hand luggage, what you check through to the UK (if anything) etc.

I'm not sure of the flight time to LA but had you planned the short stop for sightseeing or just to take a break from flying? Personally I wouldn't bother with anything under 3/4 days for sightseeing with a new baby as its quite hard work which can take the fun out of it.

When I travelled on my own with a baby I did 12 hours in transit at Singapore and it was a godsend. I could wash bottles, I could stretch out, I could chill out about the baby crying as it wasn't disturbing anyone and I could have a bath to wash off all the baby sick (pretty glamorous eh?). If anything I'd have stayed longer.

So if I was in your position I would make stops but only in hotels with lots of facilities (pool, room service, microwave, massage service, shops near by etc), just to recharge the batteries. I wouldn't take on any sightseeing unless it was a once in a lifetime chance to visit a particular place.

Cheers

Tia