China Airline Experience Sharing: Flying Internationally with a 9-Month-Old!

We made it back! I took my 9-month-old back to Taiwan for a 3-week visit this January. I did a lot of research on how to fly smoothly with a little baby, especially for international long flights (over 10+ hours!). I couldn’t find a lot of information about China Airline specifically so I decided to share my experience! We flew from JFK to TPE which is about 16 hours long flight.

China Airline Bassinet Requirements

You probably already heard that many airlines provide baby bassinets for passengers who fly with a baby. But! It’s not for everyone. Well, they only have 4 bassinets for economy seats per international flight. And, before you call them to book your bassinet, check to see if your baby is qualified for one! First of all, one adult is only allowed to fly with one baby on lap. If you have two babies, you have to buy at least one seat for one of them.

• Weight - your baby has to be under 10 kg (22 lb) 
• Height - your baby has to be shorter than 71 cm (28 inch) 

Click here to see China Airline's infant policy.

The flight attendant came to help us install the bassinet after the plane got to a certain height and stable. He asked me how heavy and tall the baby was before he installed the bassinet. Check out this photo below, T is pretty tight already, he was 69 cm and 8.5kg.

Note ***I was told that China Airline has changed their policy to only allow 6-month-old babies to use the bassinet.

I am not sure if this is accurate since every agent has different sayings, so be sure to ask them about the age limit before you book the tickets!


Honestly, T didn’t like the bassinet that much, so most of the time I still needed to hold him. I put him down when he is super tired and he stayed in there for a while until he woke up again. However, I was glad that I got to switch our seat to the bassinet seat because it has extra leg room! That makes both of us more comfortable. Not to mention that the person next to us didn’t show up! So we were lucky to have two seats...hehe:)

Can babies fly internationally free?

No, you have to pay 10% of an adult’s ticket!

Can I carry on a stroller?

Yes, but your stroller has to meet the carry-on size. An umbrella stroller that folds up quickly is usually a good choice. You can check in at the gate and the agent will return it to you when you get off the plane. Downside? You have to wait until everyone is gone before they can bring you your stroller out. So make sure you don’t have a tight connection flight schedule!

China Airline Baby Foods + Diapers

Remember to order your special meal for your little one! We were provided 5 diapers for the 16-hour flight. I prepared a couple extra ones just in case. On the way to Taiwan, T’s meal included 6 glass jars:

• 1 pear sauce
• 1 peach sauce
• 1 apple sauce
• 1 peas puree
• 1 chicken puree 
• 1 beef puree

On the way back we also had 6 jars of baby foods, 2 pear & banana sauce, and 4 apple sauce.

Check-in Bags

3 check-in bags were allowed for international flights with a baby. Overall this was a good travel with my little one! Have you flown with infants? What's your experience? I would love to hear it!