FL vacation

jcieply

We booked our spring vacation! We will be staying at a condo in Sandestin FL. Now travel moms how do I travel with a baby?! We are checking stroller and carseat. Will be renting a crib and maybe a bumpo type seat. Packing toys. What about the airport and bottles? She is formula fed. Take water bottles? Also DH wants to leave on a 6am flight which I totally understand so we don't waste an entire day but that will through her off! she sttn and doesn't nap much so would this ruin her whole schedule? Any tips will help! We have a layover boo but no choice. Hoping it goes smooth!

By the way she will be 7 months but is a 6 week early preemie so milestones are delayed. 

Wally3

I would gate check the stroller so you can use it to haul your stuff through the airport.  Put all baby formula food in a seperate cooler that you can easily hand to tsa - I found that they will basically let me take anything through for baby.  I like to do afternoon or late morning flights.  DS always went crazy if we did an early morning flight.  For a 6am flight you need to be at the airport at 5am leaving the house around 4ish getting up around 3:30ish - that short wake night always through ds off and he was a good sleeper. 

jnnfrrose6

We just took our first trip (unplanned family funeral), but it did allow me to just go with it and not over plan.  My little guy is 5 months and did great.  I agree about checking the stroller at the gate, especially since you have a layover.  We also took the car seat to the gate and since it wasn't a full flight, we were able to keep him in the seat for the flight (we would have gate checked it otherwise).  The flight out was around 10am, so we didn't have the issue you'll have, but I think one day off your schedule won't throw the little one off too much.  I did make a point to feed him as soon as we boarded and by the time the plane took off he fell asleep to the white noise of it all and the motion.  Slept until landing and even overheard another passenger comment during de-planing they didn't even know there was a baby on board!  Flight home was a little tougher because it was end of the day, but just feed him a bit earlier than I normally would when we boarded and he slept again.

Not sure about the formula as we are EBF, but the TSA website says baby food is an exception to their limits, so you should be good there.  Just bring the bottles you normally would (I suspect they'd prefer baby bottles over water bottles as proof it is actually formula).

 We limited the toys to a few we know he loves and keeps him occupied.  The hotel provided a "crib" but it was actually a pack and play.  No big deal except I brought a crib sheet, not a pack and play sheet, so confirm that. Lastly, we checked just about everything except what we would definitely need on the plane.  That was tough as we always tried to do carry on in the past to avoid fees and waiting at baggage claim, but getting through the airport with the baby and all those accessories was enough. 

 Most importantly (though hardest) is just remember your baby goes off of your energy, so if you're stressed they will be too.  Good luck and have a great trip!