When I took my baby to China, he was 9.5 months old. Here is the link: Super mom — 9 month baby on a long haul flight
When we travelled back to Finland, he was 11.5 months old.
ATTENTION: our returning trip was a daytime flight, with 9:20 AM take-off! If possible, better to avoid daytime long-haul flight when traveling with a baby.
Some facts about the airline and the aircraft
Shanghai (PVG) – Helsinki (HEL), 10 hours
Finnair. A350-900, similar, or almost the same as A350-XWB, in terms of cabin layout. Again, there is only one baby cot seat, which is 41H (Row 41 is an exit row). This time, this seat was booked by somebody without a baby. And there were at least three babies on board. But anyway, there were plenty of empty seats! I took three seats in the middle.
ATTENTION: the advantage of non-exit row seats is that the carryon bag could be stored under the seats in front. In this way, everything is easily accessible while taking care of the baby.
Shanghai terminal T2, check in
The check in process was pleasant. They did not care about the 2 kg over-weight. Plus, they provided a big bag for our stroller.
At the custom, we went to the baby priority line, so it was fast. At the safety check point, there was no priority lines. But they were nice, and they offered to hold my baby while I was arranging belongings.
The Gate is close by. I really appreciated that.
Welcome aboard
During the long taxing, my baby did poopoo. We couldn’t go to the lavatory, and I had to feed him. Maybe he was not that hungry, he stopped drinking before take-off. When the plane was stable, we went to the lavatory. He cried really hard! He didn’t like it at all! But I had to do it! After several trails, I succeeded, barely. Luckily it was not a huge mess. Then we went back to seat, and continued feeding. He slept! Fortunately, they started to serve lunch. And I was able to finish it before he woke up. Yes, he slept for only 40 minutes, as he always do. Still about 8 hours to Helsinki!
We started to play toys. Snacks. Milk. Play. Walk. Round and round. I rocked him to sleep, but I failed to put him down. Then we went back to our round. I tried walking and feeding for many times, but he didn’t cooperate. About 3.5 hours to landing, he finally slept. He was waken up by other baby’s cry. Still 2 hours 20 minutes to go! I gave him some food, and he was a good boy. For whatever reason, he refused to drink milk. About 1.5 hours to Helsinki, dinner was served. I had to pass. So it was good that I ate a little snacks while he was sleeping. We kept playing, walking, and talking to people. He did poopoo again! Omg! This time he did a mess in the restroom. I felt lucky that I prepared enough wet tissues. When I took him out of the restroom, I was afraid of looking at people, because my baby cried really hard in the restroom.
During descending and landing, he still refused to drink milk. So I had to give him veggies bag and water. His ears seemed uncomfortable, but he didn’t complain at all. There was a baby kept crying during landing. In fact, my ears were also quite uncomfortable. Everything after landing was fast and easy. I mean, he had enough distractions from people collecting their belongings.
Helsinki airport
After exiting the plane, we walked for quite a bit. Interestingly, I saw more people going for the flight connection. There was no line at the custom, at all. Then, luggage claim. I asked an airport officer to help. After exiting the baggage claim place, D was waiting for us.
So, I survived from two long-haul flights with my less than 1 year old baby.
Did I mention that Finnair gave gift to every baby? It’s an activity book, and a small Moomin towel. What a sweet touch.
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