Long distance flights

My husband comes from the Solomon Islands and the flight route is via Australia. Our little boy is 17 months and we want to take him to visit daddy's home before he is 2, as after that we have to pay child fare for him. Please can anyone advise us how you would tackle the 24 hour flight to Austalia? Would you do it all in one go, or would you try to break the journey for a couple of nights in each direction? Would anyone advise that we do pay for him so that he can have his own seat? We would appreciate any suggestions.

I know someone who flew OZ to UK and they got stuff for the child (to help them sleep) from the GP and they had no problem and child settled fine into the time zone over here

wether you pay for him next year or take him before he is 2 - he isnt going to remember it is he! at the age hes at he probably wont even take notice of anything there - its just gonna be a holiday for u.

id wait til he was older - i wouldnt mind about paying for him if it was something he had his heart set on seeing.

Thanks Alex that's really helpful. Hayley, we're not going for him to see/remember the SI but for the family to meet him. We know he won't remember it, but they will!

Hi we travelled with our son and he had just turned two.We purchased his own seat and i think in our own personal opinion it was the for best.He slept most of the way with his head on my lap and his legs were still little enough that they didnt reach the other end of the seat where my husband was sitting lol.Depending on what airline you travell with and how small your child is they can alocate you cribs but they arn't that big and most of the time the children dont use/like them.
We travelled from Australia to Rome,we had a two hour stop over in KL where i woke him,fed him & let him have a run around.When we got back on the flight he was tired again and slept for 12hours.Our gp told us to give him demezin as it unblocks all there sinus passages and does make them a little drowzy.My DS hasnt ever really taken alot of medication so i was to scared to give him anything that helped him sleep(im not knocking it)im just paranoid about alot of meds.
On the way back we stoped over in KL again and stayed for a few days to adjust before coming home the time difference was only 2 hours and the flight home was only 7hrs so when we got back he was pretty much back to normal again.
Good luck i hope this helped a little???