Travelling to India with a baby / toddler (17 month old)

Hi Ladies,

I will be traveling to India with a 17 month old in March and I'm getting really tensed up and worried thinking about the long flights. Specially about her sleeping in the flight, her food, milk etc.

For parents who have traveled on long flights with toddlers, how did you cope with all this? I'm traveling by KLM and they don't have bassinets for >20 lbs. How did you get bulk head seats (if you did)? How did the baby sleep? In your lap/arms? How did you manage?

Are you allowed to carry milk for the baby? How did you manage all that aspect?

Please give your suggestions/tips...I really need all of them! Right now I feel like

Thanks in advance!!

love,
Aarushi

Hi arushi,
i travelled with my baby to india when he was around 8 months old.i know its extremely difficult when they become a toddler coz then they will want to run around!!!i guess,we will have to keep few of their fav toys/books to keep them occupied ,even if its for a while.....about the bassinet,i did get one when i was travelling,but the min i put him in the bassinet he would wake up&cry!!!so he ended up sleeping on mine&my hubbys arms.....moreover when ever the seat belt sign was on,we were asked to hold the baby&not put him in the bassinet!!which was majority of the flight time!!!about food,you could carry a few bananas for emergency,otherwise,i guess you could just give him whatever food he gets on board...does your child have a seat?if yes,then he will be provided seperate meal.you could call your airline&find out if they provide kids meal.....recently,when we travelled to hawaii with my son,he is 14 months now,he lapped up the pasta that they gave in the flight.he was infant in arms,so didnt get a seperate meal so my myself&my hubby shared our meal with him!!!about the milk.....your can carry some milk powder in a clear ziplock bag&warm water will be available on board,so you wont have a prob with that...dont worry,i think kids adjust better than us adults!!have a great trip!!!
vidhya.

Thanks Vidhya for all your tips!!

Aarushi - its been a long time since I travelled with an infant - what I was going to suggest was to check with the airline regarding taking baby food - Vidhya has given some very good ideas. I am not sure if the airlines have relaxed some of the rules now. Enjoy your trip!!

Hi Aarushi,
I recently visited India with my 1 year old. I came back to the US on Jan 2nd.

You are allowed to take sealed baby food and any other solids your daughter eats like bananas, other fruits, idli, rice, roti etc. You will only be allowed to take liquids not exceeding 100 ml per container. We travelled by Qatar and they limited a total of 1200 ml of liquids/fluids per person this includes any lotions you might be carrying.

Vidhya ideas on entertaining the baby are good. Ensure that you take couple of your child's fav toys/books and also take some new toys/books. The new ones might hold her attention and the old ones will provide comfort. I took an old toy and some new ones for my son. And of course his blue blankie. Every where we went the blankie came along. The blue blankie changed colour by the time we returned to US.

You will have to request the bulk-head seats much in advance. These are usually first-come basis. While going to India the lady next to me had a 17 month old boy ... whew... was he restless. Anyway he was entertained in all ways and finally fell asleep and the mom put him on the floor (under the bassinet)! He slept quite comfortably for 7 hours on extra blankets the flight attendant provided. My son of course did not fit into the bassinet so we used it for storing stuff!!!!

As Vidhya says you will have to keep your child on your lap during take-off, landing and turbulent weather.

You will be provided milk in the flight for the child. And you can request hot/warm water. I carried an empty flask with me and filled it up with hot water and requested for a bottle of water as soon as I could. So I could mix formula whenever my son was hungry.
Do ask KLM about the baby food they serve. My son was provided jar food.

Are you travelling alone?

If you have not reserved a separate seat for your daughter then she will have to sit and sleep in your lap. My friend took her 18 month old daughter and was complaining about back pains in the flight!!!!!

Try to get some rest before the day of your journey. We were so busy with last minute packing and I did not get any sleep on the flight (even with my husband with me) and became dead tired by the time we reached Doha. But once I landed in Chennai and met my family all tiredness went out!!

Good Luck! Do not worry too much. Mothers always do the right things at the right times!

Gayathri

HI Arushi,
Though I have no kids yet but during my this India trip, we were travelling with our cousin and her toddler (2 year old).
She was good in the flight but at times she used to run and one of us have to run behind her throwing the luggages.......
Anyways, abt flight (we were travelling in American Airlines)......she got food like pasta, chips, muffins, cakes, bread etc......
We even got milk for her in the fligh, so no need to carry any formula powder....
Abt entertainment.....our cousin took her portable DVD player and the fav DVDs of her daughter along with some of her story/painting books. So, she was all engaged and did not bother like other kids.......
One more thing, we had observed that the air pressure made most of the kids cry......so, keep them busy in songs/music during flight......
Regards.

Thank you so much Vidhya, Shobana, Gayathri and Meeta for your invaluable inputs!! I have been trying to reserve the bulkhead row seat but because my daughter is past their bassinet limit, they are not giving it to me...:( Let's see about that...

Thanks for all the other tips...including milk, food and toys etc...will carry a flask as well as milk powder..just in case...good tip about the DVD player..will check out to see if my baby is interested in it...:)

Gayathri, Meeta: I'm traveling with my hubby...so will have help in the flight...did you take a stroller incidentally? Did you find it useful in India?

love and thanks to all of you,

Aarushi

Hi Aarushi,
Actually I did take my son's stroller with me. This is the regular bulky graco stroller. But it was checked-in to the flight at Dulles and I was told I would receive it in Chennai. Qatar Airways did the same for umbrella strollers. In Doha (Qatar) I was told I could get a courtesy stroller!!!! But after I finally located the place in Doha the attendant there wanted me to give my boarding pass to Chennai as some sort of collateral for lending the stroller. Seemed pretty stupid - so I did not take it.

And I did not use the stroller in Chennai. Too much traffic and smoke at the child's level when put in the stroller.

I will not advise taking a stroller. Most of the time in the airports my son was so unnerved at all the new people/place that he would not sit in the stroller.

I did observe some people carrying baby-carriers... that could be useful for small babies.

Also, the Qatar Airways flight has a TV for every seat (atleast the international leg does). So my son was quite entertained by the cartoons and other shows... he is too young to know the difference between his shows and our shows and I never put on cartoons or TV when he is around at home ... poor child!!! :)


Gayathri

Dear Arushi,
India is so crowded for walking itself that taking a stroller on the road is really difficult.
But its useful on many instances like you will not find kid's feeding table, so you can feed them on the stroller table itself if you have the bigger one with all the attachments etc....don't know the exact name.......
Even for occasions like marriage where space is a constrain, you can make your daughter sit comfortably in her chair with her stuffs........or even she can have her nap there too without any disturbances........so, its a good option too, but check with your Airlines whether they will put extra charge for stroller.........
Regards.

Thanks Gayathri and Meeta! You guys have been awesome in helping me out!!

love,
Aarushi