My son, Joshua was 12 months old when he did his first long haul flight. We spent 7 hours in the plane to go to Martinique, a Caribbean island where I grew up. We went last year for Christmas to visit my family.
It wasn’t the first time that Joshua took the plane, a few months earlier we went to Germany but the flight was under 2 hours.
So going to the Caribbean was another thing. We hesitated to travel with him for such long distance because he was still so young.
However, my mom lives in Martinique. And, at that time my mum had never seen her grand-son, so I thought it was vital that they meet.
As you can imagine, my mum is not very young so I wanted her to see for the first time my son as you never know what life can bring.
If it wasn’t for my mum, we would have waited a bit longer before travelling for such long distance.
We tried our best to be prepared for such long flight. But, of course as you can imagine, nothing is never perfect.
Too long for a baby
Seven hours in the air is too much asked for a baby. As you know, you cannot expect that a child or even a baby to seat quietly for such long period of time.
Not even in a dream!
On the way to go to Martinique, we have seen him either excited or fussy. He wanted to explore the aircraft. Sometimes, he wanted to walk through the alley.
When seated on my lap or my husband’s, he liked kicking the front seat. We were even worried that he might stand up and started pulling the hair of people seated in front of us.
That would have been something, really!
Generally speaking, it was fine in one way. However, I cannot say the same on the return.
The way back was a nightmare.
We thought it would have been easier because it was a night flight and that he would sleep.
What we didn’t planned was he would have caught up a flu. So, he had blocked nose which made it complicated for him to breathe properly. To make matter worse, the air conditioning in the airplane was too much.
So, the poor little thing tried to sleep but couldn’t. He woke up every 10 min and cried constantly. And, it was like that during the entire flight.
Some passengers started being annoyed.
Even one man showed his frustration but we couldn’t do anything. The only thing I could do for helping was to breastfeed him but it wasn’t enough.
In addition, at the end of the journey, we faced another problem. The ear’s pressure while landing.
Not Great for their ears
Oh my word!
The pain caused by the ear’s pressure from flying worsen my baby’s mood. That time, we saw him screaming. It was so tough for us to see him in such agony.
It is recommended to give him water from a baby’s cup or breastfeeding. I chose the last option.
When, finally we landed, we were so glad it was over.
I would not recommend anyone to take a plane when they have a baby unless it is extremely necessary.
However, I read today an article about a mom who travels the world with her baby since she was a few weeks old.
They have been doing long haul flight most of the time.
I don’t know how they survive these long journeys but I am quite baffled that they have been doing this for quite some time now.
I let you discover Karen and her baby girl, Esmé in a quick video.
What did you think about it? Will you do long haul flight with a baby like them for travelling the world?
