Has anyone taken their child on a long flight?

We flew with our LO when she was 17m to NYC. Flight our during the day was good but no nap. Was entertained by the films on the screen basically and eating food. Night flight on the way back was bad. Grouchy cause tired but extremely difficult to get to sleep as she normally likes just to lay flat in bed by herself but because she was a lap baby she couldn't. Only slept 1hr 30 and was upset on my lap so had to be on the seat by herself while I stood up... she wasn't crying the whole time like but because we were tired too if felt stressful. But it all depends on how well ur baby sleeps and their preferences tbh x

He's normally a good sleeper. We fly at 16:35 on the way there, and then on the way back we fly 21:10, so I'm praying that he will just sleep fingers crossed🤣he hates sitting still tho so that might be an issue. And what's the deal about milk, do I buy some before I get on the plane, or do they have whole milk on the plane I can have for my son?

I flew 13 hours to Thailand with my little girl when she was 16/17 months old- I found a night flight worked really well! We flew out at 16.30 and landed at 8am she slept a long portion of the flight. The way back was a day flight 9am landed 10pm I found best things were a busy board book, new toys she hadn’t seen before ( I even wrapped the toys up so it was more exploring ) the wrapper alone kept her busy for a while, snacks I knew she liked, screen time, pre downloading things like ms Rachel that I knew she’d enjoy and every so often I took her for a walk up the plane aisle - if you can I recommend booking extra leg room - I found this very handy as she could play on the floor in front of me and I didn’t have to worry about her kicking the seat in front! All the stewardess I have ever met are always lovely and interact with babies/toddlers I’ve noticed which is always helpful! I hope this helps - have a lovely time in America!

@Kayleigh I don't know the answer to that question unfortunately. We gave our daughter milk before we got to the airport as she doesn't have bottles before bed anymore just a sippy cup of milk per day for the nutrients. You may need to buy whole milk from the airport and take that but I think if you look up the airline rules I'm sure you can take liquids necessary for babies/toddlers through an airport

I travelled with my LO long flights since she was 4months to visit my family (now she is 18 months). Airlines don’t usually provide milk. I can say night flights are better for them to sleep but even flying during the day she sleeps a lot. Maybe it’s the white noise of the plane what makes her sleep longer. Anyways, be prepared for not sleeping much because sometimes You need to sleep with them on your lap (if there are turbulence). Try to get your LO tired, e.g. if there is a soft play in the airport. Take some toys to entertain them. I usually buy some new toy for the flight to keep her + engaged. Although they love to play with things they find in the plane like plastic bottles, pillows, headphones.

Hey, we just got back from Dominican Republic with our 18 month old! The flight wasn’t too bad! Flight home was a night flight so she slept pretty much the whole way! One thing she struggled with was the time difference and getting in to a routine, took us 4 days to adjust! And a couple days when we got back home she was very jet lagged! Bring loads of new things to play with! I did also buy a second hand iPad from Amazon for £90 which was great for education games! Did get flash card, magazines with stickers and toys, colouring ect! One thing I would recommend is packing lots of snacks! Really regretted this! She didn’t want to eat the food over there so resulted in snacks and ran out really quick! Hope you have the next time!

With milk we brought it at the airport, there and back! They do not store any on the plane so make sure you get it ready before hand xx

Just remembered, we flew with tui! They do not provide meals for kids unless you have booked a seat for them, we took a pack lunch on, and made sure we ate at the airport x

@Jasmyn yes that’s a good point actually! We flew with Air France and they didn’t provide a meal for a toddler unless they have their own seat!