Yesterday we came back from our holiday in Canada, and it was the return flight that inspired me to write a post that will probably be more important and interesting for many mums than the one about the holiday itself.
A baby on board an aeroplane and travelling is stressful not only for the baby, but above all for the parents and fellow passengers. After our latest experience I can say that the only one who enjoyed it was Matias. 
You need an incredible amount of patience, so steel yourself and be ready for really anything. Your child may feel a compulsive need to demand attention by crying, hysterical laughing, spluttering or coughing. Our flight lasted 9 hours and Matias was everywhere. When I say everywhere, I mean: on fellow passengers' laps, in the toilet, on the ceiling, on the floor, and even, for example, in business class where children really are not welcome... It was a trial by fire, and although everyone told us that a night flight is better and the little one would sleep, he did not. We survived the daytime flight there much better and tried to entertain him in every possible way, which partly worked. Thanks also to lovely fellow passengers, the little one really enjoyed it and went from seat to seat. At night, however, a child who does not want to sleep is very hard to entertain. After several flying experiences, it has proved true for us that flying is easier with a baby aged 3 – 12 months. Please excuse the lower quality of the iPhone photos this time, which are not entirely sharp because of the lack of light.
Brief info about a baby on a plane:
Children under 2 travel free, without their own seat, on their parents' laps. If you have a good baby who can sit through a journey in a car seat, you can buy them their own ticket/seat and they can travel in it. For a surcharge you can sit in the first row, where you can use a cot, the so-called baby bassinet, which is however only for babies up to 12 kg. (It is really tiny, Matias only fitted into it sitting up.) A child is not entitled to a meal, so you need to provide it yourself. Beware of liquids, though, max 100ml is allowed. Changing tables and mother's rooms are standard at airports, it is worse on the plane where you have to change the baby in the mini toilet.
We recommend taking with you:
- Fruit pouches, e.g. Sunarka.
- Dried fruit, e.g. apples.
- Baby snack sticks without salt, rice cakes.
- A banana or other fruit that does not leak.
- Toys, drawing, anything and above all plenty of it...
- A dummy even if the baby does not use one, for take-off and landing.
- Nappies, wet wipes and a light cap because of the air conditioning.
- A cover for the pram, we have the Stokke Pram Pack (you can take the pram right up to the plane where you hand it over to the flight attendant)
