Flying long haul with a baby: Here's what to expect

Nothing strikes fear into the heart of parents quite like the first plane ride with bub. Along with seat recliners and window screen openers, the general public just don't seem to warm to screaming kids on a plane – and don't we parents know it.

I'll admit I fell prey to the dark hole of social media before our long haul. Coming second only to posts asking about travel to Fiji ("Has anyone been?"), the pleas on parenting forums were loud and desperate: "We're flying long haul with baby: what the hell do we do?"

After flying from Sydney to Venice and back from Amsterdam, more than 20 hours each way, with a 10-month-old, I've got good news and bad news. The bad news? How your flight goes is entirely a matter of chance. If you've got kids, you know no matter how prepared you are, everything can fall apart within five minutes.

The good news? Travelling with a kid can actually be pretty awesome.

The good times roll once you're at the airport. Expect to be ushered to the shorter queue at customs. Bypass the cattle class lines and enjoy the express pre-boarding, where you can fill up empty overhead bins and grab bulkhead seats, (a space pre-kid I would have classified as "legroom" and post-kid now identify as "where the nappy bag goes").

While we felt pretty snazzy with our travel pram that folded up into overhead bin size, we had to tip our hats to the genius set-up of one family: dad standing in bulkhead reading a dog-eared paperback, a sleeping four-month-old strapped to his chest; mum spread across the two economy seats with her feet up #goals.

The good times roll once you're at the airport.

Preparation was a key part of our survival. We eked out toys, books, food, snacks and story time (who knew reciting The Very Cranky Bear would be so warmly received by passengers in the surrounding rows?) However for all our tricks, it was a plastic cup leftover from service that provided the best entertainment.

Allaying my fears, people are actually kind. Those seated near us were businessmen or older travellers with kids of their own, bored and keen for interaction with a smiley bub. And there is solidarity: at one point the area at the front of the A380 becomes an in-flight playgroup with kids and parents sharing snacks, toys and travel plans. My little one makes off with a toy mobile phone; I give a pair of socks to a parent whose kid had thrown up on all four pairs she'd packed.