flying with babies

Hi we are going to orlando in feb with 2 older children and twin 14 month old babies,i was wondering if anyone has any tips on what to do regarding having to sit for 8hours or more with screaming,squirming bundles of joy sat on your lap,or do the cabin crew take the babies and bath them and put them to bed for you like i dream?:Dor are you left to fend for yourself while all non parents glare at you because your babies arent perfectly behaved??,any advice would be gratefully received:)
Sean and Clan

The worse bit for me was nappy changing in the airplane loo - very cramped - every time you try to turn round you drop something then you can't reach it - not to mention the wriggling baby.
Yours are too old for a sky cot I believe so you will end up with them on your lap. Have you considered buying them one extra seat between them so at least you have a bit more room? I know I would be far too mean to do that but its worth a thought.
Babies with no seat don't get any food or drink either so you'll need to take a bag with their supplies. They don't get any luggage allowance either - whoever worked that one out obviously doesn't travel far with babies!!!
Consider sitting near the back so you can get up and walk round with the babies if they are restless - there is always a big space near the rear exit/toilets where you can stretch your legs without getting in the way of the trolleys.
And, sadly, yes non-parents (and parents with short memories) will glare at you (and mutter) although this isn't too bad on the Orlando flight as there are so many children on it. Just ignore them - they don't have anything better to do.

Angela

Hi Sheep

The cabin crew are usually very good with the babies but it will be up to you to look after and entertain them.

We have been taking our childern since they were 5 months old and our best advice would be take plenty of milk, babyfood, spare nappies and clothes plus a good comforting blanket and a few familiar small toys. You'd be amazed how much the motion of the aircraft gets them off to sleep so should give you a break during the journey.

We also take a change of clothes for ourselves just in case the children were sick over us :(.

Also have a bottle ready for take off and descent / landing as it keeps them quiet and stops their ears popping.

Other passengers might stare if the childern make a bit of noise but don't let that put you off - if they wanted a child free environment they should have paid the extra to fly business class! I've told a few of the (very rare) more volcal ones as much too :D:D:D!

Finally, we always buy a seat each for the children as we could think of nothing worse for them (or us!) of having them on our knees for the whole flight. Money well spent!

"Other passengers might stare if the childern make a bit of noise but don't let that put you off - if they wanted a child free environment they should have paid the extra to fly business class! I've told a few of the (very rare) more volcal ones as much too !"

Even sitting in business class doesn't guarantee a scream free environment - I ended up with somebody else's 10 month old (who had screamed continuously for 2 hours) sitting on MY lap as they were at their wits end and for some reason their baby took a shine to me [:p] - she was asleep withinn 15 minutes of sitting on my lap and duly handed back to her very grateful mum and dad;)
Shame I never had the same effect on my own kids[}:)]

Don't forget Sheep as well, that as you are travelling in Feb, there is always a possibility of your flight being delayed due to bad weather so allow extra food, clothes,nappies etc in case you are delayed at the airport. And don't forget the Calpol if they are teething as the pressurised cabin can make some adults gums/teeth sensitive so I would guess babies would be no different.
You may be lucky at the time you are flying and find that the flight isn't too full so you can get an extra seat anyway, so if they fall asleep you may be able to lay them on the seat.

Talking of Calpol, if when you get to the US don't forget to get a good supply of childrens Advil as it lasts for up to 8 hours (it's similar to Calpol, but lasts twice as long) and enables the child to get a full nights sleep without the medicine wearing off if they are ill.

You can get it from any pharmacy and there is now a version available for very small children :D.

Thanks for all your help with my questions,it is such a big help knowing people out there have worried about and done all of this before:)

On the other hand, Sheep the alternative is don't bother dosing up the children, knock yourself out with the sleeping pills, relax and enjoy the flight and let someone else worry about them. Have a good trip.

Thats the best advice to far lol:D