Hi frnds........ Iam a new mother. Iam going to travel by air with my 5 month old baby for the first time and that too ALONE. I have few questions please help me . 1. Will the airline staff be friendly in helping our baby? 2. Do we need to buy separate ticket for the infant? IS bassinet included with the ticket ? or we need to request it separately? 3. I am planning to travel from Los Angeles to Hyderabad. Any preferred air lines? 4. How do babies cope up with such long flights? 5. What are all the precautions that need to taken for a 24 to 30 hr long flight travel? 6. What are the common ailments that parents come across during flight travel? and how to avoid those? 7. Do I need to feed the baby during take off or landing? I am BF my baby. 8. What other precaution I need to take during my travel? 9. Is it safe to give the remaining Vaccinations in India? I has to talk to my Pedi. In my next doc.visit. 10. What are the common problems in US born children in India? How should we take care of that? Please send me all suggestions/Advise/Precautions. Thanks, Vasuk:help
Hi Vasuk, I know how u feel. When my daughter was 3 months old i travelled from newyork to chennai and stayed there for 4 months. First let me tell u, travelling with a 5 month old shldn't be tat terrible as u think. 1. In flight, u don't need to pay extra for bassinet. While booking ticket for 1 adult and 1 infant, make sure to request for a bassinet. 2. While flight take off and landing, try to either feed ur baby or give pacifier to avoid the air pressure. 3. When i travelled the flight attendants were very friendly( jet airways). They helped in washing the baby bottles etc. 4. Try to minimize ur hand/cabin luggage as much as possible. 1 bag will be gr8. U will need a stroller. 5. At this age ur baby shld sleep thru the fight, if he gets very fussy u can always give Tylenol.(even the doctors recommend it) 6. Have all the baby stuff, extra dress for u and the baby dresses organized in ur hand luggage..it will be helpful when u r travelling alone. 7. As of the baby vaccinations, i would really recommend to get the shots here b4 ur trip. I think +or- 1 month shldn't be a problem. 8. Get the diapers here, quality in india is not good atall. 9. Water is very important. Use bottled water or take brita filter from here. 10. Be careful about the mosquitoes...i used the net which was ok...u can use good night also. Otherwise everything will be fine. Hope this helped. Have a great trip!! No worries:thumbsup With love, Abhi
Thanks a lot Abhi for the reply.. Its very informative.. Iam preparing the check list.. Yrs response give me confident that i can do it.. thanks again....... Vasuk..
This is really a good piece of information that Abhi has given. I have a similar situation. I will be travelling alone with my 6 month old on the 19th this month to Kolkata. Few questions that arises in my mind are: Is there any other vaccination that my baby needs to get apart from the general 6 months shot that they get? How convenient it is to move around in the airport with the baby? Is it better to have a sling and carry on stroller or a stroller and a carry on back pack. How do you wash the bottles in the plane? Is it OK to ask for assistance if I have to go to the restroom? What are the other issues I could face that I need to keep in mind? Please let me know. It will be of great help.