Flying with baby

yogahh · July 2016

i mentioned in the random thread that I am flying solo with LO this month. Any advise or tips to make the trip as smooth as possible? I'm mainly worried about airtime, especially ear popping. Total plane time is about 2 hours, and we are flying late morning- i.e. Nap time! So anyone that has pointers to make the trip a piece of cake (mmmmmmm, cake!!) would be appreciated.

vinerie · July 2016

Good luck! We are flying in August, so I need some tips, too!

evalynn24 · July 2016

I spoke with my pediatrician about flying in August and he said to make sure I nurse or feed him on take off and landing to help with ear popping (the sucking helps).

Bellodomani · July 2016

2 hours on a plane with a tiny will totally be NBD. I flew solo with baby back & forth between Portland, LA, and the Bay like 8 times in the first year of my son's life and it was always a cinch. He never had trouble with the ear thing- I always offered to feed him at takeoff & landing and sometimes he ate, sometimes he didn't, didn't seem to matter either way. I always wear baby in the carrier thru the airport, makes security a breeze, and gate check stroller + car seat (esp easy if you have a snap & go that attaches to car seat) because having the stroller gives you a place to put all your shit when you need to go to the bathroom or get coffee. They won't let you keep baby in the carrier during takeoff & landing, but the rest of the time I just wore him and he would sleep. Not sure how mixing bottles will work on the flight, but in my experience everyone goes out of their way to help you when you have a baby on a flight so I bet flight attendants will give you whatever you need (e.g. hot water) to make that happen. The only flight during that stage where I can remember my son being cranky, I must have looked overwhelmed because this elderly black male flight attendant with a voice like James Earl Jones asked if he could take my baby for a walk, and he proceeded to walk him up and down the plane saying hi to everyone for like 30 minutes while I drank my coke and it was the sweetest thing ever.

Now, the absolute worst time to fly with baby is after they start walking and before they are interested in the iPad. Then it's just hell on wheels from takeoff to landing!

mcb2016 · July 2016

We took our baby on a 4 hour plane trip when he was 8 weeks old. We did feed on take off and landing if he was awake and hungry. He mostly slept the entire trip. He was much easier than my 11 year old whose movie didn't download on his iPad. I'm planning in taking both of my kids solo next month to visit my family.

yogahh · July 2016

So, food really is the answer to everything!!!

Pascal86 · July 2016

I haven't eaten enough today and you said the word cake. Now that's all I can think about.

dancingsphinx22 · July 2016

(Lurking from April)

We just flew from Phoenix to Orlando (4 hrs), then Orlando to Hawaii (12 hrs), then from Hawaii back home to Phoenix (12 hrs) with our 2 month old.

It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.

My biggest tip - check your airline's policy on traveling with infants. You'll want to know the rules ahead of time to avoid surprises

We flew American Airlines, and had baby on our laps. You can buy a seat ticket if you want to, but we knew she would be happier in our arms.

Other tips:

1. Get a wrap/carrier. I used my Baby K'tan carrier the whole time. They didn't make me take her out for security. They just swab your hands.

2. Get travel bags for your car seat and stroller. Buy Buy Baby has them. It keeps them from getting dirty and scratched. Also, we checked our car seat and stroller at the desk instead of at the gate. It was easier.

3. Security cannot throw away your breast milk or pre-made formula. You just have to declare it to one of the security personnel. We use formula. I put powdered formula into bottles beforehand, then I bought a bottle of water in the airport (after security) to use on the plane. Our baby is used to room temp formula.

4. I kept the baby in the wrap on take off and landing with no issues. They didn't tell me to remove her. We flew Ameican Airlines, but another airline might have different rules.

5. I used a pacifier or bottle during take off/landing without any issues.

6. Get an aisle seat. This will make it easier to get up to change the baby, or to walk around if he/she's fussing.

7. Remember that airports and airplanes get COOOOLD! I put our baby in a short sleeve onesie, pants with feet (who has time for socks?! Haha!) and a sweater. Once she was in the wrap, I took off the sweater so she wouldn't overheat. You could consider long sleeve footie pajamas, but I liked being able to remove or add layers when needed. On the plane, I just wrapped my sweater around us, or used her blanket. She was very cozy.

8. A diaper bag doesn't count towards your carry-on limit, so load that sucker up! Haha!

9. We asked to pre-board. Some airlines will let you, some won't. It was easier for us to pre-board because we had a few carry-ons, but others recommend waiting to be last in case your baby gets fussy. That way you're not stuck on the plane the whole time, and can walk around the waiting area to calm them down.

10. Just Breathe. It maybe seem daunting, but it's really a piece of cake. Most people are willing to help if you need it, and the stewardess can be very accommodating.

Good luck!

Bltbear82 · July 2016

Everyone covered it pretty well. The only things I'll add that I don't think were mentioned are - get disposable changing pads for the airport and plane, I like Munchkin. Also ziploc bags for used bottles, clean or dirty clothes so you can easily toss things in your bag and deal later, and I've actually worn a swaddle blanket as a scarf to avoid carrying it. And if you decide to bring the stroller get stroller hooks if you don't have any.

Good luck! The first flight is unknown but it will be ok.

juliemay623 · July 2016

A few more suggestions: bring spares!

1) make sure to have extra clothes for LO and you in your carryon. Nothing worse than baby having a blowout on the plane all over you and having nothing to change into.

2) If you are bottle feeding, have extras of those too with you just in case of a delayed flight or some other delay. We once had to get rerouted to another airport to refuel due to bad weather conditions. It made a 1 hour flight turn into a 3+ hour flight on an already long travel day. Wouldn't want to be stuck in the air with no food for baby.

Also as PP said definitely bring pads to change baby on. Some planes do not have a changing table in the restrooms and the ones that do are tiny! You might be ok to not change LO on a short 2 hour flight, but I once changed my baby on a pad on my seat because it was a 6 hour flight and there was no changing table in the restroom!

Good luck!

Bellodomani · July 2016

Oh yeah, I forgot about bringing extra clothes! And more diapers than you thought you could ever possibly need. Every time my son was in disposables for traveling he would blow out his diaper at every takeoff and landing! He once went through 3 outfits in a 2 hour flight. It was not great.

mcb2016 · July 2016

I believe the official rule is the baby needs to be out of the carrier for take off and landing. I wore my son in the ergo for our return flight and the flight attendant asked me to unhook the carrier during take off. It was nbd with the ergo.

Also we brought our own bottled water on to the plane to make bottles with. For security they just checked my waters and asked next time to not have them inside the bag.

i don't always preboard with a baby. If he's fussy I'd rather walk around outside of the plane as long as I can.

kitandcat · July 2016

Someone told me that if it's a wrap they will let you wear baby through security but if it's one of those sturdy front/back carriers then they'll make you take LO out. Idk how official that is :-)

yogahh · July 2016

Do I need to take baby out of the stroller to go through security? I'm assuming they need to scan the stroller and car seat?

Im planning on throwing formula in a ziplock bag, and just making her bottles as needed (will buy a bottle of water at the airport). Knowing my luck, they will think it's drugs or something. I'm that person that always gets detected for explosives and even had pat downs in the security room in the past.

mcb2016 · July 2016

Yes you will need to take her out of the car seat or stroller. I took forumla in a zip lock to the pool the other day and it was a disaster. Should have packed the scoop. They make a sectioned container to carry formula, I've seen it at target. I still prefer to bring a small container of formula with me.

Bltbear82 · July 2016

yogahh said:

Do I need to take baby out of the stroller to go through security? I'm assuming they need to scan the stroller and car seat?

Im planning on throwing formula in a ziplock bag, and just making her bottles as needed (will buy a bottle of water at the airport). Knowing my luck, they will think it's drugs or something. I'm that person that always gets detected for explosives and even had pat downs in the security room in the past.

I like this formula dispenser because you can take the top that has a little funnel thing and put it on each stacked portion as you need it, you end up spilling less. Bring extra but for balancing baby, bottle etc while pouring this one makes it easy to do one handed.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001IDQ2TQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1468079699&sr=8-1&keywords=zoli+formula+dispenser&pi=SX200_QL40

juliemay623 · July 2016

Yes, you have to take LO out of the stroller through security. They have made me try to stick the stroller through the scanner machine and I'm like, "uh guys, this definitely won't fit..." They will also swab down the stroller and your hands and test those. Plus they have opened my pre-made formula bottles before to test those, so probably easier to buy water after security and make them up on the plane.

One more thing, and this may be more for when you have a little bit older child... It's definitely safer to have LO in a car seat on the plane. But a lot of people don't want to pay for them to have their own seat when they are under two and it's not required. So if possible, bring your car seat through security and ask at the desk if there is room to have baby have a seat next to you. I've heard that the attendants can be super nice to you if you're polite, and if the flight isn't full they are more than happy to give you a seat for baby for free. I was able to get a seat for free on one flight and that was the smoothest one we ever went on... Baby slept the whole 2 hour flight and it was her longest nap ever at that point! It doesn't hurt to try and you can always gate check your stroller/car seat so it's nbd if it doesn't pan out. It's a little bit of a pain to bring the car seat on but you'll have more room and baby is safer, so worth it.

camillaandcarson · July 2016

mcb2016 said:

I believe the official rule is the baby needs to be out of the carrier for take off and landing. I wore my son in the ergo for our return flight and the flight attendant asked me to unhook the carrier during take off. It was nbd with the ergo.

This is true, unfortunately. Enforcement varies from flight attendant to flight attendant.

camillaandcarson · July 2016

Kit&Cat said:

Someone told me that if it's a wrap they will let you wear baby through security but if it's one of those sturdy front/back carriers then they'll make you take LO out. Idk how official that is :-)

Countless flights and never had an issue with being forced to take LO out during baby or toddlerhood with the ergo.

Bellodomani · July 2016

camillaandcarson said:

Kit&Cat said:

Someone told me that if it's a wrap they will let you wear baby through security but if it's one of those sturdy front/back carriers then they'll make you take LO out. Idk how official that is :-)

Countless flights and never had an issue with being forced to take LO out during baby or toddlerhood with the ergo.

Ditto- have used soft wraps, slings, and structured carriers thru security and they have never made me take baby out. They just send you through the other line and swab your hands. You do however have to take baby out if you bring them in a stroller which is a total pain because then you have a baby in your arms but you still need to fold up your stroller and get it onto the conveyer belt. That's when I start looking for sympathetic travelers who might be willing to lend a hand

dancingsphinx22 · July 2016

I put a pre-measured amount of formula into the bottles, and put all of the bottles into the diaper bag (5 bottles total.) When baby was hungry, I only had to add the water. It was easier that way.

Since we were on a week long trip, I stored the rest of the formula and the scoop in a tall Tupperware container with a screw-on lid. This way it stayed fresh and didn't make a mess.

I want to add that you should also think of your own comfort. Bring a neck pillow, or something to rest your head on. I held the baby for most of the flights, and it was hard to get comfy, especially when she fell asleep and I didn't want to move and risk waking her. Pack easy to eat snacks, too.

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