Well my wife and I are trying to plan our summer trip for this weekend and next week but also taking our 4 mo old daughter. I found 2 first class tickets to Honolulu (Continental Miles) but the wife thinks the flight would be miserable and not sure what we'd do in Hawaii with a baby. I checked with Continental and we would be able to get one of the inflight bassinets for the flight. This seems to be an older child trip or just as a couple, unless someone here has some good suggestions (all islands in play). Our other idea is renting a car and driving to Destin. Seems the same to me though? What could we do in Destin that we couldn't in Hawaii and vice versa. The main draw we have to Destin is some very good friends that live in Mobile that we'd get to hang out with. I am also open to other suggestions from someone that has traveled with an infant.

At that age they're young enough that travel shouldn't be that bad. Car travel was worse than air travel for us though. On the plane she can sit in your lap and you can play with her, etc. In the car she's stuck in her car seat the whole time. The only thing about the plane is the pressure changes. But you feed her during take off and landing to help ease that. As far as what you can do when you get there, pretty much the same you do here. Get an umbrella to use on the beach and take her with you.

We took my daughter to Hawaii when she was 8 months

...not sure what we'd do in Hawaii with a baby...

@ mom & dad's surf spot:


Makapu'u


Sandy's


relaxing w/ grandma & grandpa @ Kailua Beach


Hiking through bamboo


late night eating dinner at Duke's w/ Auntie Jessica


Waikiki


[This message has been edited by AGinHI (edited 8/4/2009 2:33a).]

Have fun!!

baby bjorn

Im just gonna say this because I think it should be said.

If you have a 4 month old, please do not fly in first class. People pay a lot of money to sit up there for comfort and sleep, and if you do not know how your kid will act/cry, do not put people through that who pay that much money to fly. I would get extremely upset if I had to sit through all of those hours of a kid crying.

Just my thoughts...

Agree that crying babies should not be in first class

Screw that! People pay alot of money to sit there is garbage. He spent alot of money and time to accrue those miles. First class belongs to those people that can book first class.

Not all babies cry on planes. When my daughter was 5 months old my wife and I took her on 3 business/vacation trips from Houston to Sacramento. She did wonderful on all but one leg. Ironically that trip was the only time another passenger made a comment about a baby pre-flight. I sort of felt like it was karma for that man. I would highly recommend getting a seat for the baby. I am not sure about the size of planes that fly to Hawaii, but on our trips getting three seats meant we had the entire row in coach which was really nice with a child. Plus it gave her a place to sleep in peace and mom and dad got to relax also. In the end don't worry about other people and what they paid for seats in first class. I can't count the number of times I have been in first class and the man snoring next to me kept me awake. If you have the tickets take the family. My daughter is 2.5 now and has been all over the country and is a great traveler. As for what to do in Hawaii I can't help there, never been, but on all our trips we just did what we wanted to do (beach, shopping, dinner) and took the baby along it has worked great for us.

I agree, not all babies cry on planes, but if you have no idea about how your baby will react, dont make other people suffer through it that have spend their money to be up there for comfort.

I just find it incredible rude that you would say screw everyone else that paid, they can deal with my baby.

I did not say all babies, I said Crying Babies.

And when travelling with my kids, I do not take them in First Class until I am sure they are not going to be crying. My youngest is 1 year old and I would wait until she is a little bit older.

I think if you had paid or used your miles to get first class on a nice trip with the wife alone and someone had a crying baby next to you, you would think differently.

Trust me the parents of the crying baby are the most miserable people on the plane. They don't want to be disturbing other passengers, and they definitely don't want their kid crying. Cut them some slack. It's not like they made the kid cried. Sometimes you fly out of necessity. It's not like you can drive to Hawaii. How about all the fat cats in first class buy some damn noise-cancelling head phones if you're that sensitive to having a baby on the plane with you.

I don't think I would see it differently. I would feel bad for the parents, because as the post above indicates they feel bad about the crying child. Your world is so sensitive and more important than the rest of ours that you have to be in the kid free bubble to be happy? I say lighten up. It's the circle of life. Acuna matada!

Sweet Kitten

I have a one year old that has flown at least 5 times round trip and a four year old that probably flew 10 times round trip his first year. I know how miserable it can be as a parent when you kid is crying on a flight. It is one thing to deal with a crying baby for a 2 hour flight and another to deal with a crying baby on a 9-10 hour flight, especially if you paid several thousand to be in first class.

It would be much easier on the parents to just get three seats together as mentioned above and allow themselves more room for the child. Also there will be more noise and other children around and it will not be as big of an issue if they are afraid of a crying baby. I try to be extra considerate of my fellow travellers when flying long distance. I travel to Hawaii about 4 times a year and have dealt with all of it many times.

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It would be much easier on the parents to just get three seats together as mentioned above and allow themselves more room for the child. Also there will be more noise and other children around and it will not be as big of an issue if they are afraid of a crying baby. I try to be extra considerate of my fellow travellers when flying long distance. I travel to Hawaii about 4 times a year and have dealt with all of it many times.

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I have no argument with this. I'm just saying parents with children have as much right to sit in first class as you do. And think if there's just one of you, and three of them, they paid 3 times as much as you. Basically all I'm saying is you don't get to choose who you fly with. It would also be more polite for the fat folks to buy two seats, but they don't and they end up spilling over into my seat.

Let's face it. Air travel is not a luxury anymore. It's an airborne greyhound.

Moose,

Did you ever take advantage of the inflight bassinets when flying with the little ones? Does it help? My wife and I have taken the IAH to HNL flight before, and the 767-400ER have a HUGE 1st class. You are literally 4-5' from any other passangers (other than your seatmate). I would think that if there were any areas of the plane that could aid in keeping a infant 'happy' the room of 1st class would be it.

I'd really like to hear if someone on here has used the airline inflight bassinets especially. I know you have to have a bulkhead seat to use them.

Thanks for the info guys, were 98% certain we are NOT going to HI next week just for the fear of screwing up her sleep schedule too. Hey, it's our 1st kid, we're learning as we go.

hope you go....no reason not to.

a 4 month old is pretty damn adaptable....because they are going to do their own thing no matter what.

We travelled with our first to Europe at 6 months....all in all it was a great experience. We were in business class, but did not use any basinet.

I have used them for the first child when he was little. We had probably flown with him 2 or 3 times already and he was a great traveller. He was not a problem in it. When he got a little fussy we walked him and he was fine.

But I have seen others on the flights there that have been miserable.

In June we just booked a middle row in coach and things were fine. Let the baby lay in a seat by themselves.

My comparison for the First Class/Coach with a baby would be.

You don't take a baby to a real nice, quiet high dollar restaurant, you take them to kid friendly places to eat.

Just because you can afford to take them to the expensive place, does not mean you should.

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You don't take a baby to a real nice, quiet high dollar restaurant, you take them to kid friendly places to eat.

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Makes sense, just not an accurate comparison. We're not gonna see eye to eye. you think the more you pay the more you should be away from anything that annoys you. I think if I'm paying as much as you I can sit where you sit or eat at the same restaraunt you do.

This one will probably really kill you. My wife breastfeeds in public. She covers up, but still.

Why would that bother me? I am pro-breast feeding in public. That is a very poor comparison comparing a crying baby to a woman breast feeding, especially one you said that is covering up.

OK, I'll admit that was slightly in jest. I agree that the better choice out of respect for others is what you suggest. But I wouldn't be bothered by it.

Truce?

Going to a beach destination with an infant is not any fun, unless you have someone who can help and give y'all a break. You will end up feeling like you wasted a great deal of money and time going to Hawaii to spend time in your room and car. Every time you finally get to relax for a few minutes on the beach or by the pool, you will be packing back up to return to the room.

If you must go, drive to Destin and pay for the folks to join you.

If anyone thinks the parents of a crying child are the most miserable people on a plane, you are mistaken. Years ago I got off a plane where there was a child already crying before takeoff, and was able to take the next flight. Unfortunately, with new 9/11 flight rules you can't do that anymore, so you are stuck.

For $25, most airlines will allow you to check an extra piece of luggage.....(j/k)

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If anyone thinks the parents of a crying child are the most miserable people on a plane, you are mistaken.

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No, you're the one that's mistaken. All you have to do is listen. The parents are trying to console, distract, apologize to other passengers, etc. If you don't have to break a sweat due to the crying child you can save your comments for someone else.

my 9 month has been on 3 rountrips and he sleeps through the whole fly everytime. one of my fav pics is of him looking out the window at the closes it is a great pic. never seen or heard of these bassinets on planes before

Might just be me, but if I had a new baby, I would just not do any traveling for a while.

I've flown three times with my 20 month old: 3 mos, 6 mos, 1 year, and 18 mos. 3 months was the easiest I thought and I was even flying by myself. I just strapped her in the baby bjorn and went. My kid has always hated to sit still and she's done surprisingly well on every flight. She never cried loud enough to have anyone give me a glare..although on her 18 month old flight she did have a problem with kicking the seat in front of her...but the man was understanding. Probably the worst problem we've had is having her poop right when they start the descent and you're stuck with a stinky baby until the flight ends.

Is it just me or does the baby in all of those pics look kind of unhappy?

Very astute...however, you are incorrect. What people said all the time was, "Why's he so angry?"

(on a side note - what was even more troubling was the "he looks just like the dad" comments...)

Anyway, our response was, "He's not angry, he's just pensive," which was true. Now people tell us how thoughtful and intent he is.

As a parent responding to the same comments over and over in multiple situations becomes tiresome...so, I started saying, "He's not angry, he just doesn't like you."

Suffice it to say, he is channeling his anger towards his peers in Judo...and at his little brother...always.

So, to answer your question, my son was not unhappy, he was just like, "What the **** are you looking at?"

I like how this kid is flipping the bird to the camera.

Well thanks for all the comments and help. We decided to rent a house near the beach in Gulf Shores, AL and drive after all. Begging for even more punishment, we brought the dog too. Though we haven't been able to spend as much time on the beach as I'd like, it has been pretty relaxing and nice. Thanks again for all the advice.

AginHI, that's an awesome picture!