New Zealand with a toddler, 2018, Chapter 2: Transition to Auckland

We got to witness one of the most memorable sunsets we'd seen in the sky.

Packing

It was time to go then. We had planned to pack a couple of days prior to the departure to avoid the last minute packing. I wouldn’t mind because that’s how I roll, I pack usually in the last minute. But for Anu, that’s definitely what she hates and wants to definitely avoid so we wouldn’t want to get there, although she always ends up packing last minute whether I am there or not :D So what happened? We packed some of our stuff the night before, and most of it during the morning before our afternoon flight. It was totally Anu’s nightmare. She had called her parents for help to take care of Edvin during the morning that we could pack. Super big thank you goes out to them. The tension was something you could cut through with a machete. We were so far from Anu’s comfort zone as possible. I tried to keep my cool. We had also planned that we would be at the airport 3 hours prior to the flight to drop off our bags (we had done the online check-in a couple of days before). We read somewhere that for Qatar Airways flight 2 hours before departure would be enough to drop off our bags. So we didn’t hurry too much. We would have plenty of time.

Getting to the airport

Finally we got to the airport around 1h 45mins before the flight and found the check-in counters pretty much empty. So, still well in advance. Only a couple of customers there checking in. We thought to ourselves and laughed that for once we were really early and that pretty much no one hadn’t come yet so we could get to the counter directly. Well, in 10 seconds we found out that we were pretty much the last people to arrive and that the check-in counter would close in 5 minutes. Actually, we were the last people. (They closed the counter after us and hurried to the security checks.) And when I kindly flashed my smile and asked that when would the boarding start, the answer was “in 5 minutes, you better run”. That didn’t do good for the already almost too-thick-to-go-through tension that was floating in the air. We dropped off our bags (my hand luggage was by the way severely overweight so I had to start putting stuff from a bag to another on top of all the hustle) and moved to the security checks with Edvin, ran through the customs clearances (you have to go through checks twice, once security, another one for passports, when entering the non-schengen area) and got to the gate where they were already boarding some of the last people so we arrived exactly at the right time, hehe. We got into the plane and they pretty much started the engines after we sat down. We had made it.

The flights

I had called Qatar Airways the previous week that we would like to ask if they have a baby basket for Edvin where he could lay down and sleep, and they had fixed us seats where there is a place to attach the baby basket to the wall in front of the seats, which was really good service. This is by the way something highly recommendable for anyone traveling with a baby. I guess most of the airlines have these baby basket options, at least on bigger planes. They usually have a few spots for these only, so we were lucky to get one. Baby basket is something you need to book in advance and a comfortable solution because the baby gets a nice place where to sleep during the flight.

See more info about the baby basket in the end of the chapter in the Tips section.

The flights went really well. Edvin slept, ate and was the happy himself most of the time. Of course there are moments of unhappiness but mostly everything went great. We had a shorter flight from Helsinki to Doha (5 hours) and a longer (16,5 hours) flight from Doha to Auckland, with a layover of 3,5 hours. Even the looooong flight went great. Our little one didn’t have any issues with pressure (at least he didn’t say anything about it hehe). Next to us there was a 2-year-old fellow who was either crying all the time or running around, and Edvin was mostly looking at the little guy and wondering what was up.

I really need to address this air pressure thing what comes to flying with a baby. I think the biggest misconception what comes to babies flying is the effect of air pressure to the ears. At least for me this was a big error in thinking. See, including me, many people that I/we had talked to, were asking us about how we are going to deal with the pressure in the plane with Edvin and how he is going to cope with it. Well, we found out during the trip that actually with a baby there shouldn’t be too much problems. The fontanelle (the part of the skull that is yet to be closed) causes the skull to release the pressure from the skull, so this means that babies who still have the fontanelle, should not suffer from the pressure changes much. Now, I am not a doctor or anatomy expert in any way, and this might not be true with every kid, so please please correct me if this is not completely true. This is how I understand it, though, and after our trip when asking around about it and talking to families that have traveled with babies, vast majority had no problems with a baby when flying. I believe that it’s relatively easy to travel with a baby what comes to the pressure. Oh, and they are not big enough yet to run around in planes :)

I must say that the service at Qatar Airways was really good. The regular service what comes to the flights, but also everything that had to do with a baby, was great. The booking of the baby basket went well as with one phone call they arranged the baby basket for the whole trip, including our Jetstar flights from Auckland to Bali via Sydney. The food was as good as airplane food can get and seats were spacious enough.

Special thank you for checking up on Edvin every once in a while and making his trip comfortable.

On the next post we get to Auckland :)

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The Tips Section

*What is a baby basket?

Baby basket, also called baby bassinet, is something that is mounted on the wall in front of the normal seats where there is a wall in front. The baby basket is not normally there but is something the crew sets up for you if you have booked a seat with the baby basket. Baby basket is free of charge (at least with Qatar Airways) but you need to book it in advance. This is because there are only a few baby baskets available for planes. Not all planes even have them, so you need to check with your airline if it is available.

We didn’t check the availability of the baby basket prior to booking since we thought big intercontinental planes would have them. For short flights where you might assume there is not a big plane, check with the airline if they have them. I know it’s a tricky task when you are sitting at your computer/phone/pad checking for flights online from different sites and trying to figure out which airlines might have them. Then just go with your intuition and be mentally prepared to fly without the baby basket, but if you want to make sure, call the selected airline you are planning to book from and check with them.

With shorter flights you might not even need a baby basket but for longer flights like what we had, we thought it would be cool to try.

Important notion: Something you need to consider with the baby basket. Your baby can be in the basket only when the seatbelt sign is turned off. This means your baby can’t stay there during take-off or landing, of course, but also during for example turbulence. In other words, when everything is ok during the flight you would put your baby there, but if the seatbelt sign comes on when the flying gets rough, you always need to remove your baby from the basket. So, this will be a pretty unpleasant experience for the baby and for you. So, pro tip, if the flying gets rough, try to have your baby sleep in your lap instead of going to the game of putting the baby in the basket, lifting her/him out, putting her/him in the basket, out again, in, out and you know how it goes with turbulence. For the baby it’s impossible to sleep on a flight like this in the basket.

Also, there are weight limits. I think the baby’s weight can normally be 9-13 kilos that they allow for the basket, depending on the airline. Qatar had 13 kilos as the limit. And the length of the basket? Well, Edvin was 67 cm when we went on the trip so he just fit there. The one in the picture of the blog was a bit tight, or too small, but the other baskets were a bit bigger. If he would have been 70 or 75, it would have been already very tight or he wouldn’t have fit. I don’t remember what the official limits are, but these you can also check with your airline. On airlines’ websites they usually have good information about the baby basket.

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