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Babies: 9 - 12 Months
pinkpigeon
member
First trip via plane. Your lessons learned?
pinkpigeon
member
First trip is next weekend. Please share any baby air-travel advice you have. Any little known facts, or helpful tips. Thank you!
Bria - Born 7/20/2011 - 2 yrs old
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Re: First trip via plane. Your lessons learned?
We have flown from oregon to ny twice and oregon to the bahamas at 3 months, 9 months and 10 months. Nurse or offer bottle during take off and landing to help release the pressure in lo's ears. If you use bottles, bring more than you think you will need. My LO ate a ton on all the flights.
Bring a new quiet toy for them to play with. Bring extra clothes for you and them in case of an accident. I changed him before take off at the airport and then when needed on the plane on my lap, put the diaper in a zip lock bag. Some airplane bathrooms have a diaper changing table. My LO squirms too much to change it in that little dirty bathroom. Yuck.
You can wear lo in the airport or use your stroller and check it at the gate. I personally buy a seat for LO (long flights) and strap him into his car seat for the trip. This has worked great for us. He sleeps through most of the plane ride.
Bring a birth certificate, some airlines may ask for it. You can bring more than 3oz quantities of milk/formula or baby food through security.
Good luck. It will be fine.
Clicked on wrong board, but took our first trip with our LO when she was 10 months. My mom told us to bring floss. That it was incredible how many kids will sit and just pull the floss out of the plastic holder. She said she had never seen a kid injure themselves with it (but if your worried about it, just put a piece of tape over that piece. I thought she was nuts, but it saved us in the last 30 minutes when she got very sick of being on the plane. She played with that thing when even her favorite toys didn't work. You can pop the floss open and re-wind it as well.
Also, bring plenty of new toys, your LO's favorite toys and snacks. Get an aisle seat. And remember kids cry, they cry on planes, they cry in cars, they cry at home, they cry. It isn't the end of the world, and you will never see the people on the plane again. Anyone who gets mad at a crying baby has issues. There are jerks everywhere, don't let that ruin your trip or put more pressure on you. Traveling with a child is hard enough. Try to just enjoy the trip.
This. We traveled with DS at 3 months and will fly again when he is 11 months. We always buy a seat for him for a few reasons: It's safest, but he will also sleep. It kind of fools him into thinking it's a car ride. It also gives us some extra room and allows us to have our own row of seats. I think most people do the lap thing, but these reasons make it worth the extra money for us.
We check the stroller with our baggage and I wear him in the Ergo. DH carries the car seat. We go with one backpack and one messenger style bag. For us, it's easier through security without the stroller and extra items.
I think our trip at 11 months will definitely be more challenging than when he was only 3 months since he is mobile now and gets frustrated/bored when he's confined.
Good luck!
Thanks ladies! Keep 'em coming. Some things I never thought of.
Unfortunately we already purchased our seats, and I planned on DD sitting on my lap. We considered getting her a seat but she has never liked/slept during car rides, so I didn't think putting her in the car seat would go over well. But we do have an ergo, and she has always liked hanging out in that, so hopefully it won't fail me now.
On our previous road trips we brought a pack n play for her to sleep in. This time we're staying with family, who doesn't have a crib, and we're also leave the pnp behind. Any ideas for sleeping situation? I was thinking about buying one of those portable cribs that fold up into a packable size.
My first lesson was - if the person next to you is broad shouldered it's incredibly hard to nurse on the plane! DH has incredibly broad shoulders and I eventually had to give her my emergency formula because we just couldn't get comfortable trying to nurse.
On my second flight I learned that apparently you have to bring a copy of the birth certificate until they are two. (at least on Southwest) I thought since they already her to DOB in the system we would be fine but they said actually they charge $50 if the child looks like she could be close to two years old. Luckily DD doesn't look that old so they just gave me a warning but it was good to know!
I have flown about 10 times with my kids.
You can bring as many liquids as you want/need, but they will check them, so have them available.
Don't change your baby's diaper on your lap on the plane. It's extremely unhygenic and highly frowned upon.
We have never purchased an extra seat for a child under two, but airlines like SW (with open seating) may have an extra seat that you can use for your child. It never hurts to ask. If it's not a full flight, it's definitely an option. We have had luck more than half the time getting an extra seat.
I'm almost positive you cannot wear a baby in an ergo (or any carrier) on the plane.
New toys, snacks, and something to watch a movie on always works for us.
GL!
I started nursing as we went up and he slept the whole way. We flew about his bed time so that helped. We checked his stroller at the gate. Change the diaper as close to boarding as you can.
You'll be fine
True! The flight attendants told us he had to come out of the Ergo once we got to our seats. Obviously we had planned on that since we did the car seat thing, but don't plan on wearing her during the flight.
We have flown 6 times with LO between 5 weeks and 12 months. We always buy her a seat. We tried the lap thing once, and it was awful.
Always feed on take-off or landing. I gate check the stroller. I bring her favorite snacks (Cheerios, Goldfish, etc.)
I change her during layovers and only if necessary on the plane. I bring a few changes of clothes for her. And yes, a special toy or two can't hurt. Good luck!
It's my understanding that you CAN wear your baby during the flight. You just cannot wear them in a carrier during take-off and landing.
If you're flying Southwest, even if they say the flight is full, put your baby down in their own seat, and keep them there until every person is on the flight. If they only have 1-2 empty seats, they'll say the flight is full so that people don't try to reserve empty seats, because everyone will try. But in the end, there are usually a couple seats - if you have a semi-mobile baby, you can use that seat more than just about anyone else, so do whatever you can to hold on to it!
I carry Lysol wipes and wipe down our area as soon as we sit down - the tray, arm rests, window, walls, etc.
I like the window better than the aisle - baby can look out te window, and it's easier to keep him contained.
At the end of the day, yes it will probably be a somewhat or very unpleasant few hours, but then it'll be done, and spending extra time stressing about it isn't going to make it any better... Just live it.
About to take DD on 4th plane ride today. Here's what works for us...
I wear her in the Ergo. Security doesn't make me take her out. They do have me step aside to swab my hands for explosives. On the plane, the rule is that you cannot have LOs in a carrier for take-off/landing, but this is not always enforced.
I try to nurse DD on take-off/landing or offer a paci.
I use a backpack instead of our diaper bag because it has more room. I use zip lock bags to organize everything (one for diapers, one for toys, one for extra clothes, one for pacis). This way I'm not taking everything out to find one thing.
I pack hand and face wipes. I'm not sure if they are different from changing wipes, but it is nice for quick clean ups.
Some airports have family play areas. Check out their website before hand. Look for family restrooms. They make diaper changes much easier.
Most of all, be flexible. Travel and babies don't know your schedule. You'll get there when you get there. Do the best you can, and the people around you will appreciate that you are trying. Good luck!
I don't know your reasons for not taking the pack n play but I was just going to tell you that some airlines don't charge you to check any baby items so it might not cost extra to take it. We've always taken ours plus his crib sheet/blanket from home and it seems to help him sleep better with familiar things.
I've taken DD 4 times now as a lap child and I second what pp said about Southwest and the extra seats. It doesn't hurt to ask on other airlines if there are any extra seats available if they will let you bring the carseat. I've gotten lucky about half the time.
With a baby you can take bottled water and baby food through security without any problems. Good luck!