Why would you take a 12-month old to Europe in the first place?...

Save us all and cancel.

OP, you can't base how your kid will be on a flight based on a single previous flight. I've flown a ton with both kids, and it varies a lot (and even a couple of weeks can make a big difference in attitude when they're young).

Last year, I did a 14 hour flight solo with DS...he was an angel. 4 hour flight over Xmas was a nightmare one way, and fine the other. Unless you've flown a ton with her with terrible experiences every time, you just don't know.

So, if it were me, I would just take her. I would get her own seat, though (DH and I did get DD her own seat at 11 mos for an international flight). It's very nice when they can sleep in their carseat. I think it's more worth it than business class at that age. Also, that allows you a row of three to yourselves.

Have you purchased a seat for your daughter or are you traveling with her as a lap baby? I traveled quite a bit with my oldest alone from the age of three months to 18 months when we were living on west coast and were traveling to see family on east coast. With her own seat and a way for her to watch Sesame Street videos, it was fine.

Just do it! If you don't, you are going to loose a lot of money, be miserable and not have fun at home either! She might be difficult in the plane but have a great time there. Make sure she is super tired, make sure you call to reserve a bassinet, take her favorite lovey and hope for the best. I always regret the things I don't do than the things I do. The good news is that you had a test drive and you should know what to expect, just be prepared mentally.
Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:Just take DD to Europe with you as planned.

You can do this.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and my family medicine doc mom friend also recommends benadryl when needed for sleep.

I can't find dosage info. Maybe I will call pediatrician to see if they can tell me.

Careful with the Benadryl. It makes about 10% of kids hyper. Try it out before the plane.

Mine reacted to the red dye and it made her crazy. She's fine with the dye less variety. Took a while to figure that out. It was several years ago, maybe they've removed red dye by now but it was awful.

I travelled a lot to Europe with 2 kids and this is not a good age. That said it's just one flight I assume and there will be your husband at the destination (I changed planes with 2 kids and nobody waiting for me). I would suck it up. It might Not be so bad and she will almost certainly sleep at least part of the time.

Op, I get it 100% and I have a kid that has been described as "the best baby/kid traveler they have ever seen" as we are disembarking. I agree that the age between 9 and 18 months is the worst. At 2.5, it's MILES MILES better; my son was an absolute pleasure on a recent trip back from Europe, and it was still REALLY hard to keep him entertained, fed, and occasionally napping.

So, if you feel like you need a break, for whatever reason (bad recent flight, stress over interacting with parents, etc.) give yourself permission to cancel. It's a sunk cost. Maybe you can call the airline and see if you can use the credit for a ticket for someone else (e.g. your parents) or if name changes are 100% not allowed. If you think about it as an economist (which I'm not but this makes me feel better...), it's a sunk cost, and now you have different preferences and constraints; life goes on. Enjoy a staycation and know that your kid will get better at traveling as time goes on, and that every flight is different.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Option 4: just go. What happened on your flight? It’ll be fine.

This.

Yup. If you choose not to, then I would cancel. No way I would travel overseas using a nanny I have no relationship with.

OP I think the worst plan is leaving the baby with a stranger while you are in Europe.

That sounds more traumatizing than having her cry on the flights.

If you want to leave her, give her some time to get used to the nanny for more than just a couple of days. So that the day you are leaving will not be her first encounter with the nanny.

Go with her. OP. Take a chance.

she will probably not cry for over an hour. An hour is a lot, but it's not too bad if you are staying for the weekend.

Can you change the ticket to an Overnight flight and keep her busy all day so that she will be very tired and sleepy when night comes?

I travelled for 7 hours with my then 9 month old. It was a night trip, and she did not wake up even once.
We travelled for 9 hours with our 8 month old(different child), and she cried for about an hour and a half, but slept the rest of the way. This was an overnight trip as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and my family medicine doc mom friend also recommends benadryl when needed for sleep.

I can't find dosage info. Maybe I will call pediatrician to see if they can tell me.

Careful with the Benadryl. It makes about 10% of kids hyper. Try it out before the plane.

Was just about to say this.

OP, I had a baby who at 9 months I took on 2 flights to get to our somewhat hard-to-reach family in Mexico, and by the end of the first leg I was just about ready to consider giving up and driving all the way back to DC from Houston. Like yours, she could only get to sleep by rolling around; being held by us was NOT soothing. The usual DCUM advice of “you can do it,” and “just book flights for sleep times” didn’t apply. She was so miserable and overly tired, she wouldn’t eat and just screamed. (And to someone’s earlier suggestion, we actually did have a seat booked for her car seat.)

My uncle is an ENT doctor and checked her out, gave her the all clear and suggested we give her liquid Benadryl on the way back. She turned into what I can only describe as an angry drunk, and punched and screamed her way through the first flight until she passed out in her stroller during the layover at Customs and I practically threatened to cut someone if they made me take her out of the stroller for the damn Customs kiosk photo.

We didn’t fly with her again until she was nearly 2, and it went much better then. In your situation, I would be considering cancelling or calculating the cost of a nanny or having a relative or super close friend fly here.