Unfortunately, it the parent like the one you encountered, that doesn't bother with basic neccessities like diapers, food or toys that causes the nasty looks to be thrown at those of use do try and make a child comfortable.

Kit-kats and Coke, great for studying in college, probably not so good for an 8 month old.

BTW, since the original post in June, we've done the trans-continental flight with a 2 year old and a 6 month old. The divide and conquer method worked well for us.

Glad you had a great time and that things went well with your baby. Sounds like a success all the way around! (Although, I do feel sorry for that other baby....poor thing must have been SOOOOO exhausted after all that traveling. And that mother not bringing DIAPERS, at the very least....well....no comment.)

Thanks for the update!

Glad you had a good trip; we have always travelled with our children, to visit relatives in the Caribbean. The youngest is 4 now, but I remember the stress of travelling when they were younger. One thing I must admit, is that before I started reading this site, the idea of car seats on a plane for children never even occurred to me. I have seen small travel seats (called maxi-cosi here) used, but on take-off and landing, you had to hold the baby in your lap, secured with a separate seatbelt. And in travelling throughout Europe, I only see small children sitting on their mother's lap. Brimhamrocks; this is probably why you had the problem with the European car seats.

Tulips, RE: US vs European car seats..... possibly so.

I, too, have seen young children in Europe sitting on their parents' laps instead of being strapped into a car or booster seat. That scares me to pieces. I hope none of those parents, because of their own recklessness and lack of judgement, lose their children in a terrible accident.

Thanks to all who posted for the great ideas. We are headed to Germany in October with our son, who will be 15 months. We're going to visit my husband's parents and we are, well, terrified of the flight. Like an earlier poster said, we are going to plan for the worst and hope/pray for the best!

It'll be fine, kellygirl....just make sure to take diapers, food and toys, unlike that mother SRC51102 described.

Have a great trip!

re: european car seats not being airline certified. that's because most foreign airlines usually don't accept the use of car seats on a plane (their version of our faa does not believe, at this time anyway, that using a car seat on a plane is safer). the use of car seats in planes, although not mandatory in the u.s., is more of an american thing.
and because i'd rather have positive thoughts about that one mom...maybe she lost her baby's bag at the airport right before the flight?!
anyway, i am just in awe of all you folks traveling long distances with your kids...and this young too! we didn't have the courage to do it till our son was 15 months old and our flight was only 4 hours! one thing which worked great with us..we had a small cassette player with all his favorite songs. that really kept him calm.

You're right, perhaps I'm being too harsh about that mother. I don't know her circumstances at all. Hush my mouth (fingers)!

haha! i'd just rather not think that a mom could be that clueless! (smile)

Glad everything went OK. I agree on the stroller--I became a firm convert to Maclarens ages ago on my child's first overseas trip.

Perhaps the lady with the other baby had simply run out of diapers? If she had only a 1-hr. break between flights in London, she might have used them all on the first flight, and I've never seen diapers for sale in an airport. Kitkats and coke *is* a little odd, though, especially since the FA's could have provided something at least somewhat more appropriate for a toddler.