Flying with baby

wieb67

Ill be flying with my 11 week old for the first time next week! Does anyone have any tips to offer?? Getting kind of nervous...

bks807

I have the same question. Are you allowed to bring formula through security?

wieb67

@breannekot‌ - were you able to wear LO during takeoff and landing?

Jenner37

I second baby wearing through the airport, so much easier. Also change of clothes for both of you, for some reason when flying with DD1 at that age, she always had a blowout. Also good suggestion from @mambonumber5‌ about nursing/feeding/paci during takeoff and landing to help pop their ears. Try to carry on as little as possible, I only bring the diaper bag filled with diapers, snacks for me, blanket, extra clothes. I don't know how long your flight is but make sure you go to the bathroom before you board the flight, unless you're flying with someone else and then I guess you will be fine to get up mid-flight.

Dawson56

bks807 said:

I have the same question. Are you allowed to bring formula through security?

Yes you are. I fly frequently with my little ones. You can bring formula thru security.

cls0602

Yesss thank you for this post! I will be flying with my son in December. He will be 12 weeks old. Flying is hectic enough but add a baby... Yikes.

wieb67

cls0602 said:

Yesss thank you for this post! I will be flying with my son in December. He will be 12 weeks old. Flying is hectic enough but add a baby... Yikes.

Agreed. I had a friend that made gift bags for the other passengers with candy and earplugs to apologize for the baby and they apparently loved them...too bad I'm not that nice.

wieb67

breannekot said:

wieb67 said:

cls0602 said:

Yesss thank you for this post! I will be flying with my son in December. He will be 12 weeks old. Flying is hectic enough but add a baby... Yikes.

Agreed. I had a friend that made gift bags for the other passengers with candy and earplugs to apologize for the baby and they apparently loved them...too bad I'm not that nice.

Real people do this? I thought it was blog or Pinterest myth.
Why do people feel like they need to apologize for flying with their child? Especially before said child has even caused a problem.

Right?! I'm just gonna hope if anyone is really that annoyed, they move.

JustCricket

I had a friend who swore by this thing (or something similar, not sure what the exact brand she used was) https://www.amazon.com/Infant-Airplane-Seat-Flyebaby-Comfort/dp/B002SMZS32

eta- but I can't verify it's safety or if it can be used on all flights

wieb67

@1983lindsey‌ good luck! We are also flying Tuesday. I'm just telling myself that it's only two and a half hours...haha

wieb67

mambonumber5 said:

Darn you people that have short flights I am take a 10+ hour flight in a couple weeks. Boo living in hawaii.

Haha I'll take your ten hour flight to Hawaii and you can have Michigan ;-)

formerwigirl

I am a bit late to respond, we were out of town. I wanted to give a few tips I learned. We flew from FL to WI then drove to MI and flew back from there. I packed 3 bottles and had at one airport we just had to take it out of the diaper bag, the other they actually tested what was in them. We took our ergo carrier but never ended up using it. I went through security holding DS and at both airports they had to wipe my hands (I don't know what they were checking for). We made sure to change LO shortly before boarding the plane. Once on the plane, gave him a bottle and he slept the whole flight both times (both flights were about 2 1/2 hours). We had his pacifier clipped to his shirt just in case he needed it to. On the plane, we picked our own seats so we picked seats by other people with children. The airline we flew with had the priority passengers board the plane first, then people with children under 4 so that was a nice perk.

I was really prepared for it to be quite a hassle having LO, but it wasn't bad at all. I hope everything goes well for you.

wieb67

@formerwigirl‌ - did they have you take the baby through the scanner?

Ivorytower2

Just did a coast to coast fly with my 2-month old. I wore her in the airport and didn't have to take her off to go through security. Make sure you bring a huge bottle of water for yourself and one-handed snacks. My LO barely slept on the flight, but she ate more than usual and was pretty happy. At one point she fussed for a while and the flight attendent let me stand in the front of the plane and then they even held her while For a bit. All the bathrooms on the plane had changing tables and it was easy enough. If you have layovers, look for the family bathrooms because you can have some private space for a diaper change, clothing change or just to rest and reset. I found that most people were so nice and understanding- especially other parents regardless of how old their kids were. Good luck!

amom2four

Take an extra couple of empty bottles and formula. You can always buy water but I got stranded in dfw when ds1 was little for 9 1/2 hours and just barely enough formula for the trip to oregon. I didn't wear him because I had 2u2 but just make sure you allow extra time for the inevitable baby related delays.

wieb67

Thanks all I will have to nurse on the plane so I hope I'm not seated next to some random dude.

formerwigirl

I had to take baby through the older style metal detectors. They had me go through that one because of the baby, I couldn't go through the full body scanner.

wieb67

Been sitting on the non moving plane for almost two hours cuz of mechanical issues and de-icing...might as well have flown all the way to Hawaii...

Ivorytower2

Omg how frustrating! That's my biggest fear when flying with LO. You can plan everything down to a science, but it's impossible to account for the infamous mechanical delay.

wieb67 said:

Been sitting on the non moving plane for almost two hours cuz of mechanical issues and de-icing...might as well have flown all the way to Hawaii...

wieb67

Ivorytower2 said:

Omg how frustrating! That's my biggest fear when flying with LO. You can plan everything down to a science, but it's impossible to account for the infamous mechanical delay.

wieb67 said:

Been sitting on the non moving plane for almost two hours cuz of mechanical issues and de-icing...might as well have flown all the way to Hawaii...

Seriously! We had to change like four poopy diapers on that plane lol - luckily no issues on the ride back and he didn't cry at all then - he loved staring out the window

laurendcolee

Did anyone check strollers/car seats for flights with their LOs?

suitern

laurendcolee said:

Did anyone check strollers/car seats for flights with their LOs?

@laurendcolee, we check a stroller at the gate.  They don't recommend checking a car seat because you don't know what it goes through when you don't see it. I guess they worry about damage to the plastic and seat itself.  We just bough car seat at my parents house that we use each time we go...its a good option and less stuff to carry.