Best way to carry newborn on a plane

lafayettegirl · September 2012

We're trying to adopt and it is very possible that we will have to travel on a plane with a newborn. Other than placing the newborn in a car seat in an actual seat, is there a baby carrier/slip/wrap that might be a better option? Children under 2 can be held in an adult's lap on planes, I just have no idea what I would need to use to keep both me and Baby comfortable.

Thoughts?

maybridetobe04 · September 2012

FYI for some reason you can't use the sling when you are on the plane or at least they told me I had to take my lap child out of the ring sling. My favorite sling was a ring sling but when the child is so little I felt nervous using it efficiently until I got practice afraid I would suffocate her or drop her. At the newborn stage I used baby Bjorne. Probably better bet when you ate getting use to holding your lo

shootingstars00 · September 2012

I've never heard of not being allowed to babywear on a plane.

I used an ergo sport on the plane no problems. You could get the infant insert. I saw at least two other people with the ergo in the airport and they had wee babies.

Personally I would not use the moby. It is such a long piece of material and if you have a newborn you probably aren't an expert in wrapping. I found it to take a good amount of practice to be able to do it in public and in small spaces.

Temp123197812503460 · September 2012

The (IMO) good reason you normally aren't allow to wear the baby during take off and landing is that in the event of some kind of accident you want someone to be able to take the baby if you are somehow stuck in your seat or otherwise incapacitated. It's not just some annoying rule, it's an issue of safety (which sure is unlikely but still).I've always felt safest flying with our LOs in carseats as there are cases where in turbulence children have been injured when they weren't secured in a sear.

penguingrrl · September 2012

You should use the carseat on the plane for a few reasons. The first is that it is safer. The bigger one is that it is never recommended to check or gate check a carseat as they often sustain damage that doesn't show up until the seat fails in a later accident. Also, none of the wraps or carriers are FAA approved so some flight attendants don't allow their use (technically it's illegal to use them on the plane).

orangecurls · September 2012

Beco gemini would be a great carrier for a newborn and new mom.

1026pumpkin · September 2012

I've used the Ergo with a slightly older baby and really love that my hands are truly free in the airport- you can use receiving blankets to pad the bottom so that a smaller baby will fit or use the insert....they might ask you to take the baby out for take off and landing, though. I would recommend holding baby in your arms- make sure there is a pillow between baby's head and the arm rest or plane wall in case of any bumps, and feed with a bottle during take off and landing to help with ear popping.

If you have a long flight, it's nice to have them in their own car seat, and a newborn will probably sleep for most of the flight. Just FYI- if you have a seat for them, they HAVE to be in it for take off/landing and if you give a bottle, you'll have to do it in the car seat. If you haven't purchased a seat for the baby, talk with the gate agent when you get there and see if they have any empty seats- if they do, they are usually very happy to allow you to bring the car seat on board for free. DH and I usually reserve an aisle and window seat in the same row and hope the middle stays open, if not, one of us just trades seats with the middle seat person.

bearkatjen · September 2012

mj.reilly:
Moby wrap for a newborn! ETA... When we flew with a newborn we just had to hold, ie no wrap, during take off and landing. No one said anything any other time. As far as other carriers. Beco, Ergo, and Boba are often recommended. Most recommended to stay away from Bjorn, aka crotch danglers.

The moby worked well for us, but I was also instructed to take DS out for take off and landing, which honestly pissed me off, because he was a lot more secure in the moby, than just relying on me holding him. It didn't interfere with the seatbelt either, so I really didn't get it.

freezorburn · September 2012

We flew internationally when DS was 4 months old. He was in my lap for takeoff and landing, and the crew gave me a seat belt attachment that looped into my belt and then around DS.

We got bulkhead seats, and there was a panel that flipped down and they strapped a bassinet onto the panel, so DS could sleep flat in that. They offered us the option of a baby travel seat, which we will probably do next time. This was on British Airways, I don't know what other airlines offer. It pays to research ahead of time.

We brought our car seat and Chicco Caddy, and gate-checked them. If I had to do it over I would have gotten a travel bag for the Caddy, as one of the axles got bent in transit. It still works, but it got banged up a bit.

Some kind of carrier that you wear is not a bad idea, just make sure to practice getting it on/off first. DS was not liking our carrier the week that we flew, so it would not have worked for us.

gracenjoy · September 2012

Just returned from a trip to KC from CA. LO is 11 weeks and we carried him in the airport in a Beco Gemini and brought his car seat. He was a lap child, so we held him in the first leg of one flight (sold out) but were able to use his car seat in the other flights. We didn't take our stroller with us as I didn't want to worry about it getting damaged when checked in. We gate checked the car seat for the leg in which the flight was sold out, and we put it in a car seat bag (definitely recommend) and it was obviously tossed around as the car seat bag (new before this trip) had scuff marks and a few holes worn into it after just one leg.

I have a Moby but didn't use it because while you can wrap it beforehand and "pop" baby in and out, but I've never mastered that. He didn't want to stay in the Beco Gemini during the flight anyway (had legs out, and it's a bit awkward where to put his legs when the adult is seated). Loved having the carrier instead of dealing with the stroller, it was easy to get him in and out of the plane and deal with the connections without having to wait for the stroller and/or be concerned about it getting damaged. That being said, if you have a lot of luggage/bags with you, I've heard having the stroller to help carry bags is helpful.

Taking the car seat for an actual seat is nice - LO definitely slept much better in his car seat (entire leg) than in our arms.

Nicolewinsbingo · September 2012

The reason you can't wear your baby during take off or landing, as I understand it, is because it is a liability to the airline if there is turbulence. You have a 8 to 20+ pound baby strapped to you and it can cause serious back injuries if there is a sudden jerk. Your baby would be safer, but you wouldn't be. Apparently the possibility of sustaining a serious injury to your back from fairly minor turbulence puts the airlines at risk for being sued, so they won't allow it.

penguingrrl · September 2012

gracenjoy:
Just returned from a trip to KC from CA. LO is 11 weeks and we carried him in the airport in a Beco Gemini and brought his car seat. He was a lap child, so we held him in the first leg of one flight (sold out) but were able to use his car seat in the other flights. We didn't take our stroller with us as I didn't want to worry about it getting damaged when checked in. We gate checked the car seat for the leg in which the flight was sold out, and we put it in a car seat bag (definitely recommend) and it was obviously tossed around as the car seat bag (new before this trip) had scuff marks and a few holes worn into it after just one leg.
I have a Moby but didn't use it because while you can wrap it beforehand and "pop" baby in and out, but I've never mastered that. He didn't want to stay in the Beco Gemini during the flight anyway (had legs out, and it's a bit awkward where to put his legs when the adult is seated). Loved having the carrier instead of dealing with the stroller, it was easy to get him in and out of the plane and deal with the connections without having to wait for the stroller and/or be concerned about it getting damaged. That being said, if you have a lot of luggage/bags with you, I've heard having the stroller to help carry bags is helpful.
Taking the car seat for an actual seat is nice - LO definitely slept much better in his car seat (entire leg) than in our arms.

I would be worried about the safety of that carseat. If the brand new bag got scuffed up that badly, what kind of forces did the seat experience? I'd be worried that there were microscopic cracks in the shell that would cause that seat to fail in an accident.

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