Hi all,

Just thought I would share some travel tips I have found along the way. My son, Tommy, is now 14 months old and he has traveled alone with me 4 times now to visit my family in America. (and will be flying again in a couple of weeks!) Here are some great ideas that I thought I would share with you:

Traveling with a car seat on the plane: I have purchased a separate seat for Tommy last flight and brought along our car seat. I found it really hard to find the right car seat for flight travel since they require a car seat that fits using a lap belt. I have the Britax Freeway model and it worked perfectly for us on our flight with Delta a few weeks ago, and we are taking it on our BA flight in a couple of weeks. The good thing about the Freeway model is that it can take a lap belt, which is what you need and few car seats do that. (most require the shoulder harness with the lap belt type seat belt) I measured the widest part which is around the knee area and it is 17 inches, and it was plenty narrow enough for the seat with Delta.

Another thing that they require is that you bring the instructions for the car seat along just in case they ask for it to make sure it qualifies as being able to use a lap belt. I brought it, but they never asked for it. I also found that flight attendants love Britax, and won't bat an eyelid if they see you with one.

Also, if you are traveling alone with your baby, I found the Freeway one of the lightest seats to bring too. What I did to get around the airport was I took bungee cords (those elastic cords with hooks on each end) and strapped the car seat to the back of the pushchair (I take my bugaboo right up to the gate) and that leaves my hands free for hand luggage!

lets see. . . . . what else is useful for trips, well here goes:

--Bring loads of toys to keep your little one busy. I bought those fisher price peek-a-blocks and crammed a few in my hand luggage and took one out every time Tom got bored. They are light weight and small. Make sure you don't bring anything that can roll to the back of the plane when it is dropped, because EVERYTHING will be dropped!!!!!

--Raisins are a good time waster.

--I used Steri-bottles and was able to just throw the bottle away when I was done with it. It meant I also had more room in my luggage by the end of the flight.

--I brought 2 of those long sleeved bibs and they work a dream!!! It is so hard to keep him neat and tidy on a plane otherwise!!

--Bring a magazine and after you are done reading it, use it to tear pages out for your baby to play with, make accordian fans with it, show her baby pictures, etc, etc.

--Su doku is what I did when Tommy slept since I found i couldn't really concentrate on reading a book, or sleep since I was flying alone with him.

--I brought a small toiletry bag to use to take to the loo with Tommy that had a single nappy, wipes and bag. Saves having to carry a big bag to the loo since the loos are so small! I just refilled it for next time afterwards.

Hope this help with anyone considering flying alone with your little one soon!

Shelly
and Tommy, 14 months