Long flight with a 6 months old baby

08 Aug 2024 | #parenting

We just took a 14.5 hours flight with our 6 months old baby from Japan to Europe and in this post I’ll share how we manged to make it a pleasant experience for everyone involved.

Planning

Taking a direct flight

We were going to Hungary to spend time with my family and friends. However there are no direct flights from Tokyo to Hungary, and in the past we have always flown with a layover (e.g. Dubai, Doha, Istanbul, Warsaw, Helsinki). To keep things easier this time, we flew into Vienna with a direct flight and my mom picked us up by car (it’s only 2.5 hours from Vienna Airport to Budapest). This proved to be a great decision as the hardest part for our baby was take off and landing, and also flying direct meant that the overall travel time was shorter even with the longer drive at the end.

Most airlines offer a baby basinet for kids under 11-14kg for free (though some charge for the seat reservation required for this). We flew with ANA to Vienna and we are going back with Austrian Airline and both asked us to call them to reserve the baby basinet. On ANA it was entirely free including the seat reservation, with Austrian we got charged for the seat reservation.

A flight attendant attached this after take off and removed it before landing, and we had to hold the baby while the seatbelt sign was on.

Timing

We picked a flight leaving late at night (10:45pm) which was a great idea as by that time the baby was so tired that she fell asleep immediately and slept for almost 10 hours, only waking up for a few short times to eat.

Before the flight: keep it low-stress

We were flying on Monday evening and didn’t have any plan for the weekend, so we could pack (and do some last minute gift shopping) comfortably. By Monday morning we were ready to leave. This allowed us to sleep in and have a slow morning. We went out for lunch to our local soba place, then gave the baby a bath, and took a shower ourselves.

Once we were ready, we took a taxi to Kichijoji and took the airport bus from there to Haneda. This meant that it was pretty easy to handle the 3 suitcases with the baby: the taxi dropped us off right where the airport bus leaves from, and at the airport we grabbed a trolley cart. On the way back we will arrive to Narita and we are thinking of taking the Narita Express (it takes longer and more expensive than Skyliner, but takes us directly to Mitaka) and/or use Yamato to send home some of the suitcases from the airport.

At the airport

We arrived to the airport around 6pm and our flight was leaving at 10:45pm. Normally luggage drop off only opens a few hours before boarding, but since we were flying with ANA (one of the big Japanese carriers), who has a hub at Haneda, we could drop off luggage immediately and we also got a stroller for the baby that we could keep until the gate.

We had dinner at the airport, hung out at the lounge (until they closed at 8pm) then went through security and passport control. One of the perks of traveling with a baby is that we could use the priority queue at all of these, and didn’t have to wait at all. Our baby usually goes to sleep around 8, so she slept a bit in the baby carrier. She couldn’t sleep deeply with all the lights, but it was enough to keep her happy.

The flight

Traveling with a baby meant that we could board first.

Take off was the trickiest part as we had to keep our seatbelt on and hold the baby, but it went without issues. My wife would have fed her if she would not have been happy, but it was fine.

During take off and landing the air pressure changes, so ears can pop. To avoid this discomfort it is generally recommended to swallow to open the ear canals, and thus feeding the baby is a good idea. For our case she kept sucking on her pacifier and that seemed to have been enough.

Once the seatbelt sign was off, a flight attendant installed the baby basinet. The baby ate and then fall asleep and slept for almost 10 hours, only waking up a few times to eat. As the flight was leaving in the night, the crew turned down the lights inside the aircraft after takeoff, which helped a lot to keep the baby sleeping. And it also helped us take a rest (for which the extra legroom was really helpful).

After around 10 hours, the baby woke up and the crew turned on the lights shortly after. Our baby is usually energetic in the morning, so she was fine, played a bit with the flight attendants and nearby passengers. We got breakfast, and we were almost ready to land.

The crew took away the baby basinet before landing, and we had to hold the baby, but she was fine. The landing itself went without issues (again my wife would have fed the baby if she would not have been happy).

From the airport

Luggage pickup and passport control went well, and we were on our way to meet my mom who came to pick us up at the airport. The drive home, while only 3 hours, was actually one of the hardest parts, as the baby is not yet used to the child seat. We don’t have a car in Tokyo, and while we rented cars a few times to try, she is still not fully used to it. But even here she only cried a few times, and slept big part of the way.