10 tips for flying with a baby « This Runner's Trials

15Jun/1226

10 tips for flying with a baby

As soon as Wyatt was born, I started looking forward to all of the exciting things I'd get to do with him. I also realized there would be a lot of not-so-fun experiences in my new role as a mom. On the top of my list: flying with him alone.

That event finally happened this past Wednesday. I was terrified for weeks leading up to the flight. My top fears:

He would scream the entire time in the airport.
I wouldn't be able to collapse the stroller at the gate. I need two hands to fold down the BOB and I needed at least one of them to hold the baby.
He wouldn't nurse at all. Wyatt has turned into Mr. suck-a-little, look-a-lot. Getting him to nurse in public is so hard now because of all the distractions.
I'd feel awkward nursing next to someone on the plane. Wyatt won't nurse under a cover anymore. Also, Wyatt is longer than the width of a coach seat. I'd have to scrunch him up or else he'd kick the passenger next to me.
He'd poop at takeoff and I'd have no where to change him. Our plane didn't have a changing table.
He'd scream the entire flight and I'd be that mom.

I'm happy to report that our flight could not have gone better! Everyone told me to nurse him or give him a pacifier at takeoff and landing (to help his ears pop), and to book a flight during his regular naptime. Well, those tips didn't work for me. Wyatt won't just suck at the sight of a boob anymore, he hasn't taken a pacifier since he was 2 months old, and I don't know what naptime is. But these tips helped make our travels less stressful:

1. Buy a carseat bag. Babies require a lot of crap. Most airlines charge you to check bags. The solution? Invest in a carseat bag. Airlines are required to check carseats for free. If you use a carseat bag, you can protect your carseat and put other things in there too!. We bought this bag. It is huge. We fit a smaller bag with books, toys, and baby clothes in it along with the carseat.

(source)

2. Know where your baby is comfortable. After getting through security, we still had an hour to kill before boarding. Unfortunately, my son cannot spend an hour in his stroller without screaming. So we alternated between playing on the floor and taking a walk with the stroller. There were no meltdowns!

3. Talk to the representative at the gate. Originally, I had a window seat but someone was in the seat next to me. I spoke with the airline representative at the gate and told him I was a nursing mom who wanted privacy and asked if there was any way I could be moved to a location with an empty seat next to me. The representative was so understanding, and actually asked another passenger if he minded changing his seat to accommodate me (he didn't). Not only did I have an empty seat next to me, but the woman in the aisle seat in my row was on her return trip home from meeting her first grandchild. I could not have lucked out more. A huge thank you to US Airways for having such awesome employees!

4. Ask for (or accept) help. I had no idea how I was going to approach the folding the BOB situation as I was walking down the gateway. Then, the guy behind me told me he had the same stroller and offered to collapse it for me. When we landed, I asked the baggage handler to open the stroller for me and he had no problem doing so. Such relief!

5. Book a window seat. Wyatt loved looking out the window while we were on the ground and when we were in the air. The flight was only 1.5 hours. For a longer flight, I could see how an aisle seat would be better so you could get up and walk with baby more easily. Though the window was a nice distraction!

6. Disinfect everything. Yes, I'm a germophobe who goes overboard sometimes. But I am so glad I thoroughly wiped down the tray, window, and armrests. My wipes were black with dirt and germs. Ick! Since Wyatt was touching everything and then putting his hands in his mouth, this really gave me peace of mind.

7. Follow your baby's lead. We got Wyatt up at 4:30 for the 7:45 am flight. He didn't nap at all before boarding. I knew he needed to sleep on the flight, but I also knew he wanted to investigate everything for awhile. If I tried to nurse or bounce him to sleep upon boarding, he would have resisted and screamed. He loved looking out the window, smiling at the people boarding, and playing with his toys on my lap. As soon as we took off, he started yawning, went for my boob, and easily fell asleep nursing. He slept comfortably on me most of the flight.

8. Remember most people are parents. When Wyatt woke up, he was happy playing with his toys for about 15 minutes. Then, during our final descent, he started crying a bit. I thought his ears bothered him, but he wouldn't nurse or chew on my finger. I just comforted him as best as I could. When we landed, I apologized to everyone around me, but everyone commented on how great he was. One woman even told me I was lucky to have such an "easy going" baby. Hahaha. I'm sure the crying annoyed some people, but plenty of adults are parents and understand that you can't always soothe an upset baby.

9. Be prepared for everything. Thankfully, we had no delays, vomiting, blowouts, scream fests, or problems nursing. But I felt better being prepared for all of these events. I packed plenty of toys (including a new toy to hopefully pique his interest), diapers, changes of clothes (for both of us!), and a pumped bottle (in case he'd take the bottle over the boob for some weird reason). This all easily fit in my diaper bag and I kept it stowed under my seat.

Not the plane.

10. Have faith in your baby. In the past 6 months, there have been plenty of times where Wyatt has had a complete meltdown. This kind of makes me expect the worse in public. I completely underestimated how entranced he'd be by his new surroundings and I forgot how much he likes sleeping on me. Yes, we were incredibly lucky in terms of people helping us and the flight being on time. But my baby deserves a lot of the credit, too. I'm so proud of him for doing so well! <3

Tagged as: baby, motherhood Leave a comment

Comments (26) Trackbacks (4) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

Lee
June 15th, 2012 - 07:28

So glad it went well! I saw your tweets about this and know you were really nervous!

( REPLY )
Cindy
June 15th, 2012 - 07:47

Thank you for sharing this!! I’ve done quite a few solo road trips with my 6 month old, but haven’t braved a plane yet….these are great tips for when I do!!

( REPLY )
Marci
June 15th, 2012 - 07:52

I flew with my husband last week and am flying home by myself tomorrow with baby. Not looking forward to it! Good tips though. Nice the airline accommodated you!

( REPLY )
Runblondie26
June 15th, 2012 - 07:54

Great tips Jen, I’m glad to hear it went well!

I’m too afraid to check our BOB, it’s good to hear it made it unscathed as well.

Enjoy your time with family!

( REPLY )
Sana
June 15th, 2012 - 08:03

Sounds like Wyatt actually enjoyed the flight The boy just needs a vacation

( REPLY )
Lindsay
June 15th, 2012 - 08:04

Thanks, Jen! I’m glad your trip went so well! Bookmarked to reference when I fly with my little man for the first time in November! This week I purchased a car seat and shipped it to my parents so they have one for when we visit. It’s the same all-in-one we have at home so we’ll know how it needs to be adjusted, and it’ll last until little man is out of a booster.

( REPLY )
Army Amy*
June 15th, 2012 - 09:30

It sounds like you did a great job! The return trip should be, if nothing else, less intimidating.*

( REPLY )
Meghan
June 15th, 2012 - 10:11

Congrats on a great flight. I haven’t flown with my five month old abd have no plans to yet, but just the thought makes me nervous.

One tip I learned at my breastfeeding group is to double diaper. First diaper is their normal size and tge second diaper is the next size up. That way if they blowout from the pressure changes the bigger diaper will catch it all!

( REPLY )
Rebecca
June 15th, 2012 - 10:34

The car seat bag to hold some extra stuff is genius! Totally going to do that now for my trip to California in a couple of months

( REPLY )
Robin
June 15th, 2012 - 11:30

Thank you for this post! I’m flying with my 4 month old without the hubs and I appreciate your tips! I hope my little guy handles it as well as Wyatt!

( REPLY )
Allison@RoadtoRoleModel
June 15th, 2012 - 11:36

Glad it went well! Those are great tips, especially the car seat bag.

( REPLY )
kathleen
June 15th, 2012 - 11:56

awww, so happy it went well. have a great trip!! xo

( REPLY )
Karen
June 15th, 2012 - 12:28

Thanks so much for these great tips! We were supposed to fly for the first time with our 7.5 month old son on Tuesday. BUT, I kid you not, we got to the airport – all set and organized – and I had bought tickets for the following week! Serious
mommy brain. My husband had to get to our destination for work so we weighed our options and decided on a 14-hour road trip!!! We left at 5 pm and Finn slept for almost the whole ride. The whole thing was less than ideal but it’s amazing how flexible we’ve become:) Hope you are having a nice visit!

( REPLY )
Heather
June 15th, 2012 - 14:24

I am so glad you had such a positive experience! fingers crossed it’s good on the way back too!

( REPLY )
Rim
June 15th, 2012 - 15:18

Such a good boy!!!! Glad it went well, it’s always amazing when airline employees help!!! I work for a global airline and still hate airplanes/ airports and everything that comes with it!! Great advise on the car seat bag .

( REPLY )
Christina
June 15th, 2012 - 15:47

I’ve been worried about flying alone with Ella as well, so your tips will come in handy – especially the part about how airlines have to check carseats for free! I didn’t know that! And I laughed at your comment about “I don’t know what naptime is”, only because I’m sitting here listening to my screaming baby on the monitor, who is clearly overtired given that she’s napped for all of 30 minutes today. Naptime is a foreign concept in our house as well

( REPLY )
Kristy @ Breath of Sunshine
June 15th, 2012 - 19:31

such great tips. I traveled with my now 8 year old all the time when he was a baby.

One more piece of advice – Be careful with checking your carseat (especially if you have a layover). Our luggage didn’t make the a connecting flight and we were stranded at an airport without a car seat Fortunately we found a car rental place that would rent us a car seat because it didn’t show up until the following day.

( REPLY )
Megan
June 15th, 2012 - 19:50

I <3 you times a million right now. We're taking our first flight in a week (from Detroit to Seattle, no less), and I'm absolutely terrified. These tips, especially the "everyone's a parent" one, helped me to remember that it's okay for babies to travel, and that it can be a successful adventure! Hope you had a nice trip.

( REPLY )
Ashley M. [at] (never home)maker
June 15th, 2012 - 20:28

So glad it went well! These are great tips. Thank you.

( REPLY )
Andrea
June 15th, 2012 - 23:04

I would never think that much about how my crying baby would affect other people. You seem so considerate! I am not a Mother, but a crying baby doesn’t really annoy me. It’s a baby..babies cry! So what. They’ll stop eventually. I guess not every adult thinks that same way as me.

( REPLY )
Katie
June 16th, 2012 - 05:41

Glad that your first flight went so well!
Thanks for the fantastic tips – I am flying with a 3 week old baby at the end of the month (yes, we’ve got permission from his paed!) and I’m sure that all the tips will help a lot! Luckily it’s only a 2 hour flight, I hope that we have understanding people around us too

( REPLY )
Christie
June 16th, 2012 - 07:14

Having flown with Riley a number of times I can definitely say that I second ALL of these tips! There is one that you did, that I didn’t, and fully regretted. We all probably think to pack a change of clothes for baby, but DEAR GOD do NOT forget yourselves! When Riley was getting her first tooth we had to fly all the way to MN for a wedding. Thanks to a misunderstanding between my husband & I, we had given Riley medicine on an empty stomach. None the less, she puked it up ALL OVER ME, mid flight. Ryan was in the wedding we were attending, so we only carried on Ryan and Rileys clothes. I got off the plane in XXL mens mesh shorts and a workout tee. Awesome. Not really

( REPLY )
Caralyn @ glutenfreehappytummy
June 16th, 2012 - 15:45

what a great post! your son is so precious! glad it went well!

( REPLY )
Erin
June 17th, 2012 - 19:32

Glad to hear your trip went well. We have flown a lot with our now 3 yr old son and I have done a few solo flights with him as early at 12 weeks. I have found that it is always a lot easier and he is a lot better than I ever imagine. Even after so many flights with him I still worry that he will be a disaster on the flight and he always amazes me.

I own a BOB and love it but never travel with it. When my son was young we used the car seat and maclaren easy traveler. Then when he was older I bought a super cheap BRU umbrella stroller that I love for travel. For $20 it is actually not a bad stroller. I gate check it and could care less if it gets abused.

( REPLY )
Kris
June 17th, 2012 - 19:43

Glad it went so well! I’m not a mom, and we listened to two crying babies from Tampa to LA. Not fun, but we knew they were babies! I think most people understand. I always try to help a mom if I can.

( REPLY )
Heather
June 22nd, 2012 - 09:38

LOVE this! I’m flying with my little 4-month-old in a few weeks and this is so helpful!

( REPLY )