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Am I insane to take fly to Miami with 3 children, ages 6, 3 and 20 months?

3 replies

Wilbur · 12/03/2007 09:43

I have been offered a free week's holiday in Miami with the kids at the end of April. It would mean flying out on my own with the kids (dh not going). What do you reckon? Will the nightmare of the flight cancel out the fun of the holiday? Ds1 will be fine as I can plug him into the movie or whatever and he'll be happy. DD and ds2 however, are not v good at sitting still and ds2 is unlikely to sleep (rarely sleeps in his pushchair now, even when he's knackered). On the flight home we would be travelling with my sister and her dd so we could share the kids out between us, but on the way out.... I'm just worried about things like changing ds2's nappy and having to leave the other two in their seats etc etc. Anyone got experience of long haul with small ones?

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cerys · 15/03/2007 00:07

hello, only just seen this. We have just come back from 2 weeks in Florida and flew back Miami to heathrow. My kids are 6,4 and 2. It was better than I expected, especially on the way back as it was a night flight and they all slept. On the way over the elder 2 slept a bit, plus watched cartoons, coloured etc. The toddler did want to run up and down the plane a bit, but it was ok. However, I did have DH with me! None of mine are good at sitting still but nobody seemed to mind.

No advice about the nappy changing situation - maybe another passenger would watch them for you, or ask the cabin crew?

I would go, especially as you would have company on the way back. HTH

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arfishy · 15/03/2007 00:51

I'm just about to do another solo return flight from Oz to the UK with DD & I think you should go for it. With advance planning of the flight I don't think it will be so bad that it would cancel out the holiday.

If it were me I'd probably try to book the seats in the back row (in advance) (or actually, the same applies to the bulkhead seats too, then you could get a skycot too, not sure if your ds2 is too old for this though), that way there is a little bit of space behind for little legs to stretch, plus you could do nappy changes in the toilet and be right next to the older two. And you'll be very close to the cabin crew during the flight.

Which airline are you flying with? Would your DD be ok with wall-to-wall childrens tv during the flight to keep her occupied? When my DD was 3 she was ecstatic to have unlimited tv on flights.

Do you have a choice of airline? Some are much better than others with children.

I normally pack lots of snacks and food and some new toys wrapped up in wrapping paper to bring out when boredom strikes. I always pack myself a mini bottle of wine too to break out in emergencies, especially as you can't drink tea or coffee with a baby on your lap .

Don't forget to pre-order the childrens meal too, it means you'll get served first and is a novelty.

I found flights where I took DDs carseat a load easier for me, but it did mean I had to pay for another seat - on the very long-haul ones I did, on shorter ones I didn't.

Have a great time! Think of their little faces if you go to Disney

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Wilbur · 19/03/2007 15:45

Thanks for these replies - I have decided to go for it and am off in less than a month! Can't wait . Good tip on the back row seats, hadn't thought of that. Hopefully they have lifted the hand luggage restrictions so I can take plenty of distraction stuff with me.

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