Need Advice on International Travel with a 10 Month Old Baby

Hi A.,
We actually just flew to Germany for the weekend a couple of weeks ago with our then 8 month old daughter and I am getting ready to fly to Australia with her next week. A couple of suggestions: did you know most international planes have bassinets? If you haven't contacted your airline and requested one, do it now! If you did purchase a seat for your son, if he sleeps well in his car seat, bring it on the plane. If you don't have a seat for him, don't worry, the bassinet is a big help. Make sure you feed him on take off and landing (the sucking helps pop their ears, it does make a difference so wake him up if you can to feed). Once there, it will really depend on what sort of sleep he got for the plane ride, we found that my daughter actually didn't sleep her usual 11 hours so when we arrived, she was ready for bed and just went right into her usual routine even though we were 8 hours different in time.
Bring plenty of food for him (and a pump for you if you are still BF, it will make you more comfortable on the plane with the air pressure if your son doesn't want to eat much). And remember his favourite toys, it will make it more enjoyable for you all! Going through security with a stroller and car seat takes a lot of work, if you don't need to take them, leave them behind. (We took both to Germany as we needed them but I'm not taking either to Australia) If you have a baby bjorn or a wrap of some sort, I would highly recommend it.
Good luck and remember, your son will feed off your emotions so if you can keep calm and relax (easier said than done, I know!) it will make it easier on all of you.
Enjoy Ireland!

only 4 days... honestly that hardly seems worth it to adjust him to the time change at all. I took my 10 month old to Germany with me last summer, so here is my advise & experience.
#1) if your traveling infant in arms (I did!) ask for bulkhead row seating on your trans-atlantic flight and tell them you would like to use the baby sky cot/bassinet. The airline should bump someone from that row to accommodate you becuase they can only put the bassinets in certain rows (they did it for me... I was rescheduled becuase I missed my scheduled flight),
#2) if travelling with your hubby, try to sit near him, but not neseccarly next to him (maybe within one row of eachother). That way you'll be able to each take a break from the kiddo when needed and it should keep the baby wanting to go back and forth to a minimum.
#3)Buy a few new books and toys for during the flight. Keep them in your diaper bag so they are brand new and novel to your baby when you pull the out. They'll keep him entertained longer. Also, pack along some special treat kind of food... for my daughter it was those Gerber Yogurt Melts. Food can be entertainment.
#4)If you want to adjust him to the time change, let him take longer than normal naps during the day so he get some rest, but doesn't sleep so long that he's up all night. We let my daughter take 4 or 5 hour naps during the day for the first 2 days (in the morning mostly) and we'd wake her up and get her into the sun to reset her circadian rhythm (we were in Germany for 2 months). He'll still wake up at night, though, for several days. With my daugher it really took about a week to get her adjusted to the time change. 4 days really isn't even enough time for him to fully adjust to the change. Shoot, thats not even really time for an adult to adjust to the change. With that short of a stay, I might try to just keep him on "home" schedule as much as possible. Let him nap during the day and take shifts when he wants to be awake at night.

Good luck. Sounds like a fun trip! =) Oh... and seating... it will be easier if at least one of you is sitting on the aisle so that you can get up and walk aisles with him.

Not sleeping through the night may actually make it easier for him to adjust. We always found that with our kids, although we never went more than 4 time zones away. In those odd situations, I often just let the baby sleep with me. They tended to sleep more that way when I wanted them to than they would in their own bed. Take fun toys. A busy book has always been a favorite of our kids. We just did 16 hours in the car this weekend with hardly more than that and a pacifier for our 10 month old. Our kids always did better than we expected. Traveling East is always easier, so the trip may go fine. Have fun! I hope it goes well. Let us know! Oh, for the airport, I always take both the Baby Bjorn and the stroller if I'm going to be that tired. Even if I'm carrying the baby, the stroller is easier to push, even loaded down than pulling something. If the baby is in the stroller, I just make sure I can handle everything else. A rolling bag with the 4 turning wheels is my favorite because I can just pull it with my hand pushing the stroller and it comes along sideways. The Baby Bjorn is good for when you are getting on and off the plane and you don't have the stroller anymore. (Plus, what baby doesn't want to be carried?) :) The trip last weekend, the suitcase was in the stroller and the baby in the Baby Bjorn the whole time. GL!

Hopefully she will sleep a lot. The airplane can either put a baby to sleep and it will be wonderful for you, or I am sorry to say the opposite could happen. Just try to relax and take things as they come. You can check a stroller in at the gate and you can bring your CARSEAT onto the airplane. Hopefully you have gotten her her own seat?
I hope you have a wonderful time in beautiful Ireland, and try to stay LONGER if you can!! It is so worth it!!

We just did a 6-hour flight to Hawaii with our 10-month old, which I know isn't as long as yours, but the flight wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. We didn't even get out very many of the toys we had brought along. Our Baby Bjorn was a big help, because I could walk up and down the aisles with him in it until he fell asleep, and then sit down and have my hands free while he slept. It did help to have a lot of snacks along.

The time adjustment/sleeping in a new place was difficult, and our baby ended up getting about 10-12 hours of total sleep each day (including naps) instead of the 14-17 he was used to. I would recommend building naptime into your schedule, even if it is during a drive to get someplace. When we skipped naps, we paid for it.

Many airlines will let you check the carseat and stroller for free, so you don't have to worry about getting them through security. The Baby Bjorn was great in the airport for getting through security, because you don't have to take the baby out of it (like you do a carseat or stroller); you can just walk through while wearing the baby.

Other than that, I don't know if I have too much advice for you, because every baby is so different, and your destination is so different from ours. Babies are adaptable. Good luck and have a good trip!