Coffee break
In it for the long haulBy Kathryn Jones Taking a newborn on a long-haul flight probably isn't top of the list for most new parents.
But we were keen for Bub to meet his UK rellies, and we thought that as we didn't have much of a routine at that point anyway, it would probably be fine.
Dan and I are used to flying, having done a fair bit of travelling before baby. We're particularly familiar with the London-Sydney trip and thought it could well be a nightmare with a nine-week-old baby. All that pressure in little ears, as well as the potential for first infections from new germs in a confined cabin. Never mind the thought of 24 hours in a small space with our screaming little one. But we decided to go for it anyway.
I felt being prepared could only help. Tom's hand luggage contained 25 nappies (one for every hour we'd be in transit), four packets of wipes, 12 babygros, 20 bibs, a blanket, plus four or five muslins and hand towels for good measure. The bag was enormous. Surely we'd be able to deal with any amount of leaks, spills and spews with all that.
Most of it had been used before we'd even left Canberra. While we were waiting to board the plane, Tom's nappy leaked and then he managed to throw up all over Dan's lap. I got weed on while I was changing him and had a vast, spreading patch of baby drool decorating my shoulder by the time we got to the departure gate.
But it got better. We were able to fast-track customs in Sydney and board the plane before everyone else - something I'd always fancied doing. I knew there was a reason we'd had a baby.
We'd been assigned the bulkhead seats with a fold-down bassinet, which was great, although it meant we couldn't keep any luggage at our feet. Yanking our hulking great bag out of the overhead lockers for every nappy change was challenging. Negotiating the obstacle-course aisle with the bag and a wriggly, stinky baby was even more interesting. As for trying to pull down the change table in the cosy toilet cubicle, digging in the bag for his change mat while holding him - well. It took a while to get into the whole thing. I'd eventually emerge triumphant with a clean, fragrant baby and all the paraphernalia successfully back in the bag only to find a long queue of irritated people waiting outside.
Tom was unphased by the whole experience. He looked faintly worried when we installed him in his mini-seatbelt on Dan's lap, but fell asleep soon after take-off and happily slept the whole way to London in-between feeds. Something to do with the engine noise and the plane movement perhaps. And Dan and I enjoyed the most free time we'd had in weeks. We chatted, watched movies, drank perilously hot chocolate and even slept for a couple of hours.
The flight back to Sydney after our holiday in the UK was trickier. Tom was grizzly and we had to hold him a lot with a bit of baby swapping at mealtimes. But even that wasn't as bad as we'd expected. We didn't notice any evil looks from fellow passengers. The engine noise kind of drowns out baby cries anyway. And pacing the aisles is apparently good for avoiding deep-vein thrombosis. At least this time we'd packed a much smaller bag of essentials (at least half of what we took on the first flight remained untouched) and were getting nifty with mid-flight nappy changes.
It seems the younger the baby, the better they'll travel. We watched the couple next to us struggle with their two-year-old (too big for the bassinet) as he squirmed and yelled and got bored and hated being held the whole time and didn't want to play with any of his toys. We promised ourselves we'd take the trip again before Tom got much older. Certainly before he was a toddler.
Although, let's not make it TOO soon, OK?
Kathryn is a journalist and sub-editor from the UK who married a Canberra boy and settled here. She’s worked for Woman’s Day, Slimming, Woman (UK), BBC Good Homes (UK) and the more local CityNews, and celebrated the birth of her first baby in April 2007.
Coffee Break is a parent’s insight to life in Canberra. If you’d like to contribute, we’d love to share your view of the world with other like-minded mums and dads. Just send your contributions through to feedback@canberrakids.com.au along with your contact details.Archieved Coffee Break | 
