Flying may be one of the most intimidating types of travel to consider when bringing a baby along. The thought of packing everything for any type trip of trip can seem daunting, but packing for a flight adds a whole other layer. Then thinking about getting through TSA with the baby's milk and/or food is another layer of uncertainty. Finally, to top it all off, trying to survive the flight without a meltdown or blowout. And then all the usual day to day stuff (like baby's sleep schedule, eating, having adequate play time, and so on) is somewhere in between. It is A LOT.
I am sorry if I am already making you reconsider your next trip. That is not my intention. From my experience, once we have made the journey and arrived at our destination, every flight we have taken with our daughter has been completely worth it. And honestly, I would rather take a flight that is two or three hours than ride in the car with her for 20 hours or more, and that is if my husband drives fast. HAHA.
Flying with a baby is totally worth it, so if you are planning a trip that requires you to take flight then you either clicked on the right Pinterest pin or Google link. In this post, I am going to discuss my experience and tricks I have learned from taking multiple flights with my daughter, including one I had to do without my husband.
In total, my daughter has taken eight flights before she was 13 months old. Her first flight was when she was five months old and her most recent flight was just after her first birthday. All of the flights have been around two to three hours of in-flight time; however, overall we have spent probably three to four hours in the airplane due to taxing, delays, or because they had to de-ice the plane. Her and I also took a flight without my husband when she was just shy of seven months old. It was not the easiest flight we have taken, but thankfully some kind strangers along the way made it a little easier.
Lets get started. I am going to go through the process from beginning to end. Tips and tricks for packing, all the way to getting into the car after arriving at your destination. Here we go!
PACKING
The first and most important rule: MAKE A LIST I know it sounds silly or may take extra time, but it really does help. I have used the same list for every flight (or trip) since. It also helps as we are heading out the door to the airport. I do one last check of the list before walking out. I also try to organize it into sections (Feeding, diapering, clothing, bathing) that way it is easy to skim and double check. As you probably already know, things can get chaotic with a little one so having a list is always helpful.
Baby's Clothes Baby clothes are pretty small so luckily they do not take up too much extra space. Our daughter does not have her own suitcase yet for multiple reasons. Mainly because airlines only allow a certain amount of bags to be carried on and I don't want to give up a regular carry-on for a kiddy bag. So my solution to that is I pack her clothes into a reusable bag (like one from grocery shopping) and then put it into my carry-on. This keeps our clothes from getting mixed together and overall organization. There are plenty of variations you can use, but the main idea is to keep her clothes separate from mine. Also pack a spare set of clothes for baby and extra pants for you in the diaper bag incase they have a blowout during the plane ride. (Thankfully, this has not happened to us yet).
Baby's Liquid Items Check your local dollar store, they should have some travel size bottles you can use to store your kiddos liquid items. For every trip I take these items in travel size bottles: bath soap, Dreft laundry detergent, dish soap, and her lotion. I also put them into a Ziploc bag to prevent them from making a mess on her clothes.
Baby's Milk or Food
Here is the TSA website and page related to bringing formula or breastmilk through security. Pretty much they have to allow it, but read over these rules for more details. They will probably do some additional screening if you bring liquids greater than three ounces through, so just plan some extra time for that. My daughter breastfed and took formula. So when we would fly I would use this dispenser to portion out formula and take an empty thermos through security, then ask a coffee shop to fill it with hot water. Then I would just mix hot water and bottled water together for her bottles while we were at the airport or midflight. Now, this is not what I would do on a normal day at home, but it got us through a day a travel. Also if your little one likes snacks, don't forget to bring extra snacks (incase of delays).
ARRIVING AT AIRPORT
Our airport has three terminals so it is not too intimidating like Atlanta Airport for example. So arriving at our airport is a breeze, but it can still be stressful when it comes to unloading the bags, getting our checked bags processed, and so forth. Here are a couple things we have done in the past that have been helpful:
1. Drop one adult and baby off at the departures area then have another adult go park the car. We also have unloaded our checked bags and I waited with our daughter and the bags while my husband parked the car. One time, I was able to check our bags and was ready to go through security before he got back from parking the car.
2. Purchase a travel stroller that is lightweight. We found our travel strollers on Facebook marketplace. We initially purchased this Summer stroller, but needed a little bit more space underneath so we then decided to go with a Baby Jogger Stroller. I highly HIGHLY recommend taking a stroller. Your arms and sanity will thank you later.
GOING THROUGH SECURITY
I kind of already touched on this earlier (see #4 in packing) but here are a couple more things that worked for us when going through TSA.
Get everything onto the conveyer belt before taking baby out of the stroller (if you're using one). My husband is super helpful when it comes to getting through TSA. We pretty much get everything ready to go through the scanner, then I hold our daughter and walk through the metal detector while he handles the stroller and any last minute stuff.
Once we are through the metal detector he will retrieve the stroller and unfold it for us then I will get our daughter situated while he grabs the remaining items off the conveyor belt.
One time I traveled solo with her and a gentleman behind us offered to fold up my stroller then he even unfolded it once we were through. Throughout that entire solo trip there were plenty of folks who would offer to help. I think when others see you traveling alone with a baby they empathize, especially if they have been in your shoes before.
BOARDING THE PLANE
Ok, so we are almost to the halfway point. Now all we need to do is get on this plane and make it to our destination.
First, before boarding begins, do one last diaper change. I normally try to do this about 15 minutes before the boarding process begins.
Once our daughter is in a clean diaper, I will put her in my ErgoBaby Carrier to free up my hands during the boarding process. This carrier was super helpful when I was traveling solo with her. If the airline allows, I will also wear her in this the entire flight in case we hit turbulence. Some airlines do not allow it, which I completely disagree with but rules are rules. One flight she even fell asleep in it and that was amazing! If you haven't checked out this carrier follow this link. The carrier is super breathable and easy to use.
3.Keep the diaper bag under the seat in front of you. I promise you are going to need the diaper bag at some point during the flight. The last thing you'll want to do is rummage through the overhead bin with a baby in your other hand.
TAKE OFF AND IN-FLIGHT
Feed baby during take off. Whether this is from a bottle or breast feeding, the sucking motion will help keep the pressure from building up in their ears. We also give our daughter a pacifier and that has seemed to help too.
When our daughter was under nine months old she would sleep for some portion of the flight. For those flights I would bring my Boppy Pillow to place on my lap to hold her while she slept. I also purchased an extra pillow cover so I could change it out after we were off the plane.
As she has gotten older it is almost impossible to get her to sleep during the flight. There is just too much going on and she is interested in everything happening. So I started bringing some toys that she hasn't played with in a while to help occupy her. One of my friends didn't have toys with her so she got some napkins from the steward and her daughter had a ball playing with them.
Snacks, snacks, snacks. Chewing snacks also helps our daughter relieve the pressure build up from the altitude.
DEPLANING
This is another moment I need both of my hands free. So once we land and the seatbelt sign is off I put on the ErgoBaby Carrier for my daughter so I can gather everything and breeze down the aisle to deplane. Then myself or husband will grab the stroller (that we checked at the gate) on the gangway. I head straight to the restroom to change her diaper and clothes then my husband meets us and I put her in the stroller.
BAGGAGE CLAIM AND LOADING CAR
If we are arriving at our home airport:
-I will wait for the bags while my husband gets the car. Then by the time he arrives with the car I have our bags and we are ready to go home!
If we are arriving somewhere other than home:
-We all wait for the bags together.
-We usually rent a car. Most rental car companies have car seats available upon request. However, we had a horrible experience with using a rental car company's car seat. The head rest was missing a piece and our daughter was so uncomfortable.
-There is an awesome website called BabyQuip that rents car seats, strollers, pack and plays, and more. They will even deliver the item directly to you. If you are used to a certain type of car seat, chances are BabyQuip has it. So instead of wondering what kind of car seat the car company will provide, you can just rent from BabyQuip and know what you're getting. They also have an app! You can get $40 off $200, if you follow this link to download the app and use code: HAPPY at checkout.
There are so many benefits to traveling, specifically flying, with your baby. From my experience, it has allowed our family to make memories together, visit loved ones who live more than a car drive away, and have new experiences together. Throughout the process, we have learned what does work and what doesn't. We are more confident about taking another trip in the future. The idea of flying with a baby for the first time or the hundredth time can be staggering. But I promise you it is worth it. There will probably never be a "perfect trip" but there can be a lot of great trips. Like anything, the more and more you do it, the easier it will get.
Until next time!
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