Travelling long haul with a baby during a pandemic

It’s here; travelling long haul with a baby during a pandemic. I wrote about my experience of travelling short haul with a baby during a pandemic earlier in the year and promised this would follow after we booked a trip to see our friends in San Francisco, US.

To help you know whether this advice is right for you, Isaac had just turned one when we took this 12 hour flight.

The airport

I learnt the hard way when we went to Spain in the previous month that we can’t just rock up to the airport like we used to pre-Isaac. This time we came prepared. 

We arrived almost 4 hours early (3 is standard for long haul) and we were pleased we did. Covid adds a layer of complexity to expect longer wait times at check-in while they check everybody’s covid passports, negative tests etc.

We flew with Virgin and chose Premium Economy which gave us priority check-in. It was still mayhem, but less so than it could’ve been.

We had plenty of time at the airport, we had a nice meal and time to get Isaac changed. We had a slight delay which meant Isaac fell asleep at a weird time. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time…

Let’s talk about sleep

I like to think I’m relatively chilled out when it comes to Isaac’s sleep, but perhaps I was a little too chilled out on this occasion.

Isaac didn’t sleep on the plane. I tell a lie, he slept for 14 minutes. Fourteen measly minutes. Ultimately, it did benefit us because he bounced back quite quickly when we arrived in San Francisco, but it didn’t feel good at the time. It felt bad.

James and I walked the length of the plane I’m guessing about 150 times. Being in Premium Economy on Virgin is like flying Business (I don’t really know why they don’t call it Business?) but it was a lot better than I expected for the money.

NB: We got a good deal on our flights because of Covid, but we’re flying into LA in March and we found some really good Virgin Premium Economy tickets on Jack’s Flight Club. We pay for our membership, rather than just receiving the free email, and if you enjoy travelling I would say it’s definitely worth doing.

If I could offer one piece of advice, I’d say try not to let them sleep at the airport. Let them feel tired when they get on the plane. Or, just have a mini meltdown in the toilet every 35 minutes, like me.

But hey, we survived. Would we do it again? 100% yes.

A little bit more about Premium Economy

We had two thoughts; we were either going to get three seats in economy, or two in premium economy. I think we made the right choice specifically on Virgin. There’s a lot of difference between the two types of seat. On British Airways, the difference in negligible, so do a bit of research on the airline you’re choosing if you’re torn between the two.

Our food was great and they also gave us a pack of Ella’s Kitchen meals for Isaac. They couldn’t do enough for us throughout the flight and it was safe to say everyone knew Isaac’s name by the time the flight was done.

Thankfully he was so good. He’s not much of a crier, but you just never know with flying; their ears could hurt etc. so I was thankful that while he was awake, he was at least happy.

I would’ve had to go to the toilet for a meltdown every five minutes if he wasn’t.

Benefits of premium economy:

• More baggage included. We both took a backpack each and a mini suitcase each. We could’ve also taken a mini suitcase for Isaac if we wanted. It meant we could have a whole suitcase full of toys.
• Space on the floor. We picked the front two seats which had loads of leg room. We made a little play area on the floor and it meant that if Isaac was happily playing on one of the seats, James and I still had space without having to stand in the aisle.
• A glass of Prosecco pre-flight; an essential when flying with a baby/toddler.
• A drinks and snacks area at the front of the plane that Isaac whiled away many, many hours in.
• Much better seats; bigger, sturdier, generally nicer.

Flying transatlantic from the UK

Something slightly annoying about flying to America from the UK is that airlines don’t tend to fly during the night. I’m told on good authority (our neighbour who’s a pilot) that it’s just a question of time slots. They pay for the airspace at a certain time each day.

This does mean that you usually fly out to the US in the day, aka, when your baby is awake. It’s also the longer of the two flights. It took us 12 hours to get there are 9 to come back, that’s quite a difference.

I didn’t think Isaac needed complete darkness to fall asleep but perhaps I was wrong. When he was meant to be napping, he was very distracted by the lights around him. Isaac is too old now to let me do this, but if your baby is a bit younger, I’d recommend bringing a baby carrier and a muslin to drape over their heads to keep the light out.

Yes, noise does tend to send babies to sleep, but when they’re at this very crucial age between baby and toddler, they are into absolutely everything and at peak cuteness, they get their fair share of attention.

Let’s talk toys

I put this section into my short-haul post as well, but I’m adding it in here because what you need for a long-haul flight is slightly different, in my opinion.

We still packed small toys that are easy to fiddle with (push poppers, little fake telephones, puppets) but the real winner was the iPad. Look, I’m not going to tell you how to parent your child, but you’re a better parent than me if you can go 12 hours on a flight without the help of Hey Duggee.

He didn’t really watch Hey Duggee, he just liked having unfettered access to something he doesn’t use that often at home.

He also spent hours (and that is not an exaggeration) giving out drinks and snacks to people in the little bar area at the front of the plane. We packed an entire suitcase of toys, and while we did get through them, he was most interested in people.

Something he did unexpectedly enjoy playing with was the Melissa and Doug Wooden Animal Magnets. We got a lot longer out of them than I thought, so I would pack them again.

I’ve since bought Isaac a Doodle and Scribble board which keeps him very entertained so that’ll definitely make the cut for our long-haul flight in March.

Side note: I have a friend who wraps presents up for her toddler when they go on planes, so he has new things to play with. I love this idea. Isaac wouldn’t really get it just yet but it’s a great tip for older kids.

The definitive hand luggage list (for a 1 year 0ld)

• Milk (we decided to wait to get back to move Isaac onto whole milk so we used instant powder)
• Loads of food (don’t assume the airline will cater for babies, especially if you’re not paying for their seat) Think: Ella’s Kitchen beef stew, spaghetti Bolognese, fruit, toast with peanut butter on, the usual. Remember, you can take any water and powder on the flight for your baby as long as your baby is around when you go through security.
• Little snacks (rice cakes with peanut butter saved the day)
• Toys (old and new)
• iPad
• Water bottle (Virgin give you big bottles of water in Premium Economy – so handy)
• Dummies (take them in a sandwich bag for easy access and to keep the dirty ones separate)
• Cutlery
• Bib
• Spare clothes for baby x3 (think layers)
• Spare clothes for you (trust me – I didn’t pack these and spent 5 hours drenched in Isaac’s wee)
• Toothbrush and toothpaste (for you all)
• Sleeping bag for baby (it gets cold!)
• Flannels
• All the wipes. We packed three packs
• Nappies
• Portable changing mat
• Sudocrem
• Vaseline (Isaac’s skin got really dry because of the aircon – vaseline helped)
• Dettol wipes (Covid and all that)
• A selection of different masks (it’s a long time to wear one type of mask and it hurts the backs of your ears)
• Talcum powder
• AirPods
• Shoes (if they’re walking)

A little note on buggies

On our trip to Spain, we made the mistake of checking in our buggy. We did this because it says on all airline websites that buggies over 10kg have to be checked. We wanted to take our main Bugaboo pram because Isaac still sleeps in it while we’re out and about at night.

Going there and back in Spain we ended up queuing for hours because of Covid restrictions. Without a buggy that’s very hard work.

We quickly realised that airlines will always let you take a buggy through, no matter what the size, so this time we took the pram all the way to the gate and it was a game changer.

If you’re taking a proper pram and pram case, not only can you hide loads of stuff in the case, but you get a seat for your baby wherever you are, however big the queue.

If you’re planning to take your main everyday pram (or one that doesn’t fold down easily) through to the gate I’d recommend buying something to pack it in. We used the Stokke Pram Pack which fits Bugaboo prams in perfectly. We found ours on eBay for a fraction of the price. You can take it to the gate and then pack it away before giving it to a member of staff to load onto the plane.

Then, you will either get your buggy given to you as soon as you get off the plane, or it will be put on the luggage carousel for you to collect.