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Babies: 6 - 9 Months
Anyone Who has flown(recently) with their LO...Or with any Tips on flying!
Good Morning!
We are planning a vacation and we will be taking the LO. I've heard some stories about the new TSA scans/pat downs....So Im wondering what do they do with you and the baby? the thought of flying with DD...ughh...thats how I feel lol. So I have many questions! lol.
What was your scan/pat down exp. like?? Did they check your LOs diaper?(I heard thats how far they go....?) What did they do?
Did you wear your LO? And in what kind of carrier?
Did you gate check your stroller AND car seat?
What are some things you brought on the plane to keep LO occupied?
ANY tips or advice you have would be greatly accepted! lol
My daughter will be 8.5 months when we fly...
TIA!!!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Anyone Who has flown(recently) with their LO...Or with any Tips on flying!
What was your scan/pat down exp. like?? Did they check your LOs diaper?(I heard thats how far they go....?) What did they do? It really wasn't a big deal. They did the pat down of me and since I was carrying LO, they briefly took their hands down her belly and back. They did NOT check her diaper.
Did you wear your LO? And in what kind of carrier? She was in her infant carrier and snap-n-go stroller (6 months). We're traveling again in Feb and we'll have her in a backpack.
Did you gate check your stroller AND car seat? We gated checked her carrier and snap-n-go stroller (6 months). In Feb she'll be in a backpack and are not taking her carseat.
What are some things you brought on the plane to keep LO occupied? Nothing really. A few things to hold in her hands and some bottles.
Advice: Get to the airport early so you aren't rushed. Don't freak out when you have 10 bins full of stuff going through the x-ray machine. Kids require a lot of stuff but just take your time and you'll be fine.
We flew last month and had no issues with the scanners. I removed DS from his carrier and I carried him through the scanner. I was sure I was going to get chosen for further scanning because I had all kinds of issues with my carry on's but they were very nice because it was all baby stuff : )
We took the stroller and car seat and gate checked the stroller, because the plane was not full and there was an open seat between us, we took the car seat on the plane and DS was in that most of the flight. Even though we had the stroller, I still carried him in his Ergo through the airport because it was easier.
I brought a few small toys in his diaper bag and that was enough. Most the time he slept for looked out the window or just watched the people. This was his second time flying and same thing both times.
My biggest piece of advice would be to see if the plane is full and if not see if you can get an open seat with you and take car seat on the plane (assuming DC likes their car seat and its plane approved). Having the seat made it so much easier to put him down and also we were able to use to seat to change him vs. having to use the silly changing tables in the plane bathrooms.
DS has flown twice so far. The first time he was 7 weeks old and DH was with me, the second time he was 6 months old and I was by myself.
As for going through security we had it pretty easy since both of the airports we checked in at were smaller airports. I put all of our things through the scanner and held DS as I walked through the metal detector. They didn't take us aside or look through DS's diaper. While I was waiting for our bags to come through I did see the TSA guy open the diaper bag, but he never took anything out.
I didn't have his seat with me because DH had dropped us off and my parents were picking us up and they had a carseat for him in their vehicle. I gate checked the stroller so that I could have it when walking through the airport on our layover. It was much easier for me to have the stroller since I was by myself so I could put DS down if I needed to. Not to mention I didn't have to carry all of the bags.
For the plane, I brought DS some small toys and Baby Mum Mum's to keep him occupied along with bottles for the day. I brought extra bottles with me just in case we were delayed at any point during our travels. I also had one blanket with me for when he fell asleep, which he did for only 30-45 minutes.
One piece of advice that I received was to feed him on takeoff and landing. This will help with his ears to prevent the popping.
Are you allowed to bring a carry on of your own AND your diaper bag and pump bag? and purse? lol
we've flown 2 times in the last 2 months.
1. we didn't get a pat down - when they saw i was carrying the baby they just let us go through the metal dector
2. i thought about having her in the beco carrier, but since we brough her carseat and stroller it was just one less thing i had to worry about
3. we gate checked the stroller and carseat (free of course) when you get to your gate just go up to the counter and tell them you'd like to gate check it
4. we brought 2 toys (ones that didn't make noise) and puffs/mum mums kept her quiet. she also likes the cups and ice they hand out during the flight
They did a pat down of me because I requested they hand screen my breast milk, so they said they would have to hand inspect everything, including me. No biggie, I handed DD off to DH and it was fine. I carried her in the Ergo and didn't bring a stroller or car seat so we didn't have to check any extra equipment (we were flying to my sister's who had both things for us to borrow while we were there).
For the plane we had a couple of her favorite toys plus the iPod loaded with Sesame Street and some cartoons just in case. We ended up not needing it, she did great. The noise of the engines kept her asleep most of the time and she LOVED the turbulence! Oh, I should add, it was a six and a half hour flight.
They did a pat down of me because I requested they hand screen my breast milk, so they said they would have to hand inspect everything, including me. No biggie, I handed DD off to DH and it was fine. I carried her in the Ergo and didn't bring a stroller or car seat so we didn't have to check any extra equipment (we were flying to my sister's who had both things for us to borrow while we were there).
For the plane we had a couple of her favorite toys plus the iPod loaded with Sesame Street and some cartoons just in case. We ended up not needing it, she did great. The noise of the engines kept her asleep most of the time and she LOVED the turbulence!
we didnt get a pat down, so no help there.
We checked the car seat and gate checked the stroller. didnt wear her, just pushed her in the stroller through the airport.
DD loves books, so a few of those, Sophie, paper (crinkly). THe flight was 4 hours and she did pretty good.
What was your scan/pat down exp. like?? Did they check your LOs diaper?(I heard thats how far they go....?) What did they do? I didn't have any problems and I was never searched other than walking through the metal detector. I carried dd through. You only get searched if you beep or there is some other reason. I didn't beep. I made sure I had nothing on me that could set it off or be a problem.
Did you wear your LO? And in what kind of carrier? I chose not to put her in the bjorn. I had the snap and go with the carseat so I could use it on the plane and when we got to our destination.
Did you gate check your stroller AND car seat? Yes, the plane ended up being full on our departure. On our return, we brought the carseat on and checked the stroller.
What are some things you brought on the plane to keep LO occupied? Toddler- toys. Infant- nothing except the pacifier. The engine puts her to sleep every time.
ANY tips or advice you have would be greatly accepted
The biggest piece of advice I tell everyone is---bring a change of clothing for your infant AND for you. There is nothing worse than sitting in a puke filled shirt for the rest of a plane ride b/c your kid puked. When my son was 11 months old, we flew for Thanksgiving. Turned out my son had a stomach bug and it manifested itself about an hour into the flight by puking all over me. There was nothing I could do - and the people around me weren't happy smelling it for the next 2 hours either. Lesson learned!
The whole build up of flying with kids is much worse than the actual process once you are at the airport. TSA is used to dealing with infants/kids. Just be ready in line to take off your shoes, fold your stroller, and put your stroller and carseat on the conveyer belt (yes- it goes through).
I also took my bottle (a whole ready to use bottle of Similac) out of my bag and put it in a bin so they could see it easily. I had my hand sanitizer and Desitin in a ziploc baggie and took it out of my carry-on and put it in the bin. No one said a word. It's only when they can't see something or think you're hiding something that it becomes a problem. If you're like- "here's all my formula/stuff" they won't bat an eye about it.
Definitely have a bottle ready for the baby or a pacificer for the take-off and landing. If they're sleeping, they will swallow naturally so you don't have to worry about their ears.
Babies love the sound of the engines. Both my kids sleep on planes the minute the engine starts to rev.
Good luck!
IUI- BFN IVF #1 -BFP! Allie is our 2nd IVF baby. Born at 36 1/2 weeks after pre-e again
Did you wear your LO? And in what kind of carrier? Yes, in a wrap
Did you gate check your stroller AND car seat? No, I checked the carseat when I checked my luggage. On our return flight I checked the stroller, too. It was a PITA to lug around and wait for and easier just to wear her.
What are some things you brought on the plane to keep LO occupied? I brought a number of her favorite toys. She ended up sleeping most of the flights. (From NY to CA)
DD2 8.22.13
MMC 1.4.17 at 16w
Expecting #3, EDD 1.29.18
THANK YOU LADIES! You all have been soo helpful! And Im def starting to feel good about this. lol