Travel anxiety

twoitalians · June 2013

We are going on a 10 day vacation in a few weeks and I'm already starting to get anxiety from it. This is our first major trip with DS. I'm nervous about navigating the airport. I'll be fine the way there cuz me, DH, my parents, and my sister are all taking the same flight there but it's just me and DS the way back. I still want to find an umbrella stroller to take on this trip and I'm debating if I want to take the ergo. Does airport security let you wear LO in the ergo through the security lines? I'm worried DS will get bored and throw a fit on the plane. I'm hoping that he is so fascinated with everything new that he forgets about being in one spot for 3 hours. Once we get there, as with every vacation from here on, I know our sleep schedule will be thrown off. I'm concerned that DS will never nap or sleep because he hardly naps if we are out and about and busy here. Nighttime I wonder what that will be like cuz although we did CIO, he still has nights that he cries for 30 minutes. I know these are normal worries for traveling with a LO but I'm fearing the worst is going to happen. Screaming on the plane, no sleep, and cranky fussy baby 24/7. Plus I'm already dreading the list I am making in my head of all the extra things we need to pack. I'm good to buy some stuff "on the other side" once we get there.

Talk me through this. Travelers, what do you do to make it easy besides bringing extra toys for the plane and such? How much food/formula do you pack for just travel days?

MeredithML · June 2013

You will be fine!! Take a deep breath and get excited!
I hadn't ever flown with DS but we frequently drive 3 plus hours to visit our parents. The first time I had to pack for him I took a day and literally wrote down everything I used for DS. Seeing it all on paper really helped me know what we am essential and what I could leave behind.

sdlaura · June 2013

You will be fine. Kids are really adaptable, I promise. Just accept that everything will not be exactly the same as it is at home, but it will work out.

I really like having a stroller at the airport. It is really annoying if you just have him in the ergo and have to go to the bathroom. Security will make you take him out of the ergo to walk through, so it's easier to just take him from the stroller and hold him.

We have traveled a ton, mostly on 5+ hour flights because our family is far away. You will find that everyone, including TSA agents and flight attendants, will want to help you.

Our last cross-country flights were a couple weeks ago and while it is a little more difficult to entertain DD than it was a few months ago, I just brought a ton of food, some new toys, and let her play with things like the in-flight magazine, the beverage cups, etc. Worse comes to worse you can slowly walk up and down the aisles and let him smile at everyone.

Did you buy your baby a seat? We do, so that we have more space. If you didn't, I would still bring your carseat through security and see if there is a free seat on the plane. If not, you can just gate check it. I can't imagine being cramped in one seat for a long flight and trying to keep DD from infringing on the space of the person next to us

We also find it way easier to have DD sleep in her own room when we travel, since we do that at home. I never sleep well when we try to share a room.

Neener73 · June 2013

I used my Ergo to wear DS through security. It just resulted in a hand swab for me. It wasn't a big deal.

I haven't flown with a child your LO's age, but I flew with DS when he was 5 months old, and we flew with our foster children (2, 3, 7). What we envisioned was always worse than it was. We bought some new books and toys just for the flights, so they would be interesting for the kids.

I packed 4 of the single serving formula packets for DS and some Puffs and Mum Mums. The single serving packets don't take up much room, and I wanted to make sure that I had enough formula in case we were delayed somewhere. (I breastfeed, so the formula was just for backup.)

When I flew with DS, the flight wasn't full, so I was able to bring his car seat on the plane. That helped because he went right to sleep soon after takeoff and slept for 1/2 the flight.

If possible, send as much as you can with the others on the way back. It is definitely easier if you can travel light when dealing with a LO.

Ms. Lisi · June 2013

Bring your Ergo. I never travel without my baby carrier. DD has been on like 6 flights with me, two were just the two of us, the other four were with DH, myself and DD, and I will tell you that you zip through security with that thing on. They wipe your hands to make sure that there is nothing explosive or anything like that. Make sure you have something for LO to swallow during take off and landing, and you will be golden.

If your LO gets restless, walk him a little bit, there really isn't much more you can do if he doesn't want to read books or play with new toys. The easiest thing to do is travel while LO sleeps. But if you can't do that, bring toys and new books... things they haven't played with before.

The more stressed you are, the more stressed he will be. Once you are at the airport, things are just going to be how they are. There is not a whole lot you can do except try to wear LO out before you board. Make sure he has a clean diaper, etc.

If you are worried about what to buy or that you may forget something. There are plenty of online services that let you order stuff and ship it to where you are going. That way you have all the same products you would use at home.

Neener73 · June 2013

You probably won't be allowed to have LO in the Ergo during takeoff and landing. I had one flight attendant who check to make sure that I wasn't wearing him during takeoff. I was breastfeeding DS under a cover, so the flight attendant couldn't tell. I think he was a little embarrassed when I told him I was just breastfeeding.

Cbarajas08 · June 2013

I could have written this post myself. I am going in vacation tomorrow with DD and the rest of my family but I am freaking out. I don't want to be that mom on the plane with the crying baby. Good luck!

twoitalians · June 2013

L12541:
You will be fine. nbsp;Kids are really adaptable, I promise. nbsp;Just accept that everything will not be exactly the same as it is at home, but it will work out.I really like having a stroller at the airport. nbsp;It is really annoying if you just have him in the ergo and have to go to the bathroom. nbsp;Security will make you take him out of the ergo to walk through, so it's easier to just take him from the stroller and hold him.We have traveled a ton, mostly on 5 hour flights because our family is far away. nbsp;You will find that everyone, including TSA agents and flight attendants, will want to help you. nbsp;Our last crosscountry flights were a couple weeks ago and while it is a little more difficult to entertain DD than it was a few months ago, I just brought a ton of food, some new toys, and let her play with things like the inflight magazine, the beverage cups, etc. nbsp;Worse comes to worse you can slowly walk up and down the aisles and let him smile at everyone.Did you buy your baby a seat? nbsp;We do, so that we have more space. nbsp;If you didn't, I would still bring your carseat through security and see if there is a free seat on the plane. If not, you can just gate check it. nbsp;I can't imagine being cramped in one seat for a long flight and trying to keep DD from infringing on the space of the person next to us :We also find it way easier to have DD sleep in her own room when we travel, since we do that at home. nbsp;I never sleep well when we try to share a room.nbsp;

We didn't buy him a seat but I plan to gate check our car seat. We are flying Southwest so there aren't assigned seats, how usual do you think it is for there to be extra seats? If we were able to bring the car seat on board for him, does it still go RF?

Neener73 · June 2013

I flew Southwest with DS. I just ran an online check of our flights the night before to see if there were seats available for purchase. There were for both flights.

When we got to the gate, I asked if the flight was full. I was told it wasn't, so I asked if I could use DS's car seat. No problem. On Southwest, families with small children are allowed to board after the "A" group. We chose seats about 3/4 of the way back, since most passengers sit in the front. That gave us time to get situated before our area started to fill up.

If you do use the car seat, LO has to sit near the window to allow everyone else a way to exit. When we flew with our foster children, we didn't have convertible car seats, so they both front-faced. I have read that you can rear-face a convertible car seat on a plane.

sdlaura · June 2013

twoitalians:
L12541:
You will be fine. nbsp;Kids are really adaptable, I promise. nbsp;Just accept that everything will not be exactly the same as it is at home, but it will work out.I really like having a stroller at the airport. nbsp;It is really annoying if you just have him in the ergo and have to go to the bathroom. nbsp;Security will make you take him out of the ergo to walk through, so it's easier to just take him from the stroller and hold him.We have traveled a ton, mostly on 5 hour flights because our family is far away. nbsp;You will find that everyone, including TSA agents and flight attendants, will want to help you. nbsp;Our last crosscountry flights were a couple weeks ago and while it is a little more difficult to entertain DD than it was a few months ago, I just brought a ton of food, some new toys, and let her play with things like the inflight magazine, the beverage cups, etc. nbsp;Worse comes to worse you can slowly walk up and down the aisles and let him smile at everyone.Did you buy your baby a seat? nbsp;We do, so that we have more space. nbsp;If you didn't, I would still bring your carseat through security and see if there is a free seat on the plane. If not, you can just gate check it. nbsp;I can't imagine being cramped in one seat for a long flight and trying to keep DD from infringing on the space of the person next to us :We also find it way easier to have DD sleep in her own room when we travel, since we do that at home. nbsp;I never sleep well when we try to share a room.nbsp;
We didn't buy him a seat but I plan to gate check our car seat. We are flying Southwest so there aren't assigned seats, how usual do you think it is for there to be extra seats? If we were able to bring the car seat on board for him, does it still go RF?

There are often empty seats. Especially if you're flying on lighter travel days like not Friday or Sunday. Yes, you can rear-face. The person in front of you won't be able to put their seat back, but in my opinion that person would prefer that the baby behind them be more comfortable and less likely to kick the seat or whatever . If you call Southwest, they'll tell you how full your flights are.

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