As anyone who has ever traveled with a baby or toddler knows, it’s incredibly stressful and it’s kind of a crap shoot. You could prepare a million which ways, and at the end of the day, if your child is in a ~mood~ or your flight gets delayed, it can all go to shit. My kids have all been pretty good sports, but the ages of 8 months to 24 months are really the hardest. Everyone told us to travel when James was an infant, but we didn’t do that much traveling because we were scared and tired and still trying to figure out life with a new baby. Of course, then when we felt more comfortable in our parenting and cabin fever started to set in, we learned the hard way about the worst possible time to fly with a baby/toddler (I still can’t just type toddler — once they’re on the move basically but too young for iPads. No matter how old your baby is, I think you have to prepare yourself for the fact that it’s going to be hard, messy, and your kid will probably annoy some people, and you will sweat a ton, and that’s OK. You can only do the best you can do. But… there are an array of tips I’ve gathered from my years of flying with a baby that has made it easier and made me more willing to fly with a baby and two little kids now too.
Check Your Bag … and Carseat
You have enough to carry/push/chase after, so try to lighten your load as much as possible when flying with a baby. Don’t try to lug bags around and shove them in the overhead compartment. Yes, it’s a pain to wait for your bag at baggage claim, but unless you’re going for a day, you probably will need to bring enough to fill an entire suitcase anyway and maybe more. Less to carry will make it that much easier for you and it’s nice to let the kiddo run around or to feed them and change them while your bag is making its way to that conveyor belt, especially if you have a drive ahead of you once you land. If you’re bringing a carseat etc., check that too. Then it’s all there in one place for you to pick up and you don’t have to lug it from the gate check all the way to baggage check. Those carseats are heavy, and you’ve got kids and carry-ons and diapers and a stroller.
Use a Backpack Carry-On
I resisted the backpack diaper bag for a long time. I love chic totes. But if you’re flying with a baby or toddler, you are probably holding them and reaching down a lot, and you don’t want to worry about one strap falling off or being lopsided. The backpack makes life so much easier and frees you up to carry other things, especially if you’re not checking bags. This is the one I love — it has a changing mat attached to it so you can change the kids on the floor, bench, anywhere as well as insulated bottle compartments, the perfect amount of pockets, a good size, and its lightweight and comfortable.
Rent a Car with a Car Seat
I know people will probably have strong opinions on this, but I find that we almost always rent cars now and it’s just been easier for us to rent ones with car seats rather than lug our own, especially now that we have multiple children and need multiple seats. There is some debate re: the safety of those, but we do our research and call ahead to make sure the car seats are ones we feel comfortable with. With the beat-up it will take being checked etc., refitting it into another car, and the fact that the car company has to provide a car seat that meets the same standards, I’m not convinced that it’s better to BYOC over rent one. I’m not an expert though, and there is nothing more important to me than safety of your children, so do what makes sense based on the research you do and what you feel comfortable with. Since the safety of car seats can vary, if you’re renting one, you need to make sure it’s a new model, hasn’t been recalled, is in good condition, and you can safely install it. If you’re not getting the information you want in advance, I’d bring your own.
Wear Your Baby
Hands free is so much easier when flying with a baby, even if you’re bringing a stroller, I use the carrier to wear the baby getting on and off flights and usually we use the stroller to push around all the gears or the bigger kids these days. Even as the babies got bigger, I still brought our carrier. The one time I didn’t and flew alone with him to Utah, he made a run for it when I was folding up his stroller at security, and it was chaos. I don’t think I’ve ever sweat so much in my life (notice a theme here with the mom sweating? Sorry but I’m just keeping it real so when you find yourself in a sweat after your baby/toddler charges security and no one stops him but they stop you from running after him, you won’t feel alone.) I ended up transferring him to the carrier when he fell asleep at the end of the plane ride, and then putting our carry-on bags in the stroller to push which worked out well. The carrier is also great to have on the plane to hold your babe when they fall asleep, or if you want to walk the aisles and bounce them.
Invest in a Foldable Travel Stroller
I am not usually one to promote buying more baby gear, but we are obsessed with our YoYo stroller and I consider it a must have when flying with a baby. It’s a great travel stroller, and best of all, it folds up and can go in the overhead compartment so you don’t have to worry about it getting broken or wait for it when you’re getting off the plane. I know it’s only a few minutes of waiting at gate check, but sometimes something happens or your kid pees on you during the flight and you just want to get out. And with a cranky baby, the faster you can get out of that airplane area and get your bags, the better. If you have a younger baby (under one) and want to bring less, we love the Doona for flying with a baby too because it converts to a car seat so you don’t have to bring all the things. I honestly love the Doona for every day use too so I think it’s well worth the investment.
Feed During Takeoff and Landing
You’ve probably been told this by everyone, but feed your baby during takeoff and landing, and especially takeoff. This is supposed to help with the ear popping since they don’t know to swallow to pop their ears. With James, we usually freaked out way too much about the timing and Andrew always jumped the gun and told me to do it too early and then we would get delayed on the tarmac or be 20th in line for takeoff or whatever, so I would say wait until you are on the runway and you start speeding down it. But either way, it seems to work when flying with a baby. I am pretty modest so nursing in public is stressful for me, but I bought a nursing cover and now I can easily do it on the plane without flashing everyone. But as I said, it’s not when I feel most comfortable, so it took some getting used to for me. But honestly, no one is paying attention on the plane, I had Andrew block me, and I used a cover and my jacket and about ten other things, so other than being really hot (yep, I was sweating again), it was really easy to do and by my second or third flight while nursing, I couldn’t have cared less. You can also pack bottles with dry formula to use and buy bottled water after security to fill it if you’re not nursing. If your kid refuses to feed during those times, you can also try a paci.
Bring All the Snacks
One of the best ways to entertain a baby who is eating solids or a toddler, is snacks. I will pack a few pouches for the baby to make feeding easy and then I do puffs and teething crackers for them to munch on and play with. For the older kids, I bring new snacks that they don’t normally get to eat: Amy’s bunny and graham crackers, Amy’s fruit snacks, Pirates Booty and some other things that aren’t the worst things in the world to eat but certainly aren’t the beacons of nutrition. These are a fun alternative to his usual puffs (though I bring those too) and a good way to keep him busy and from getting cranky when flights are delayed and we’re late for his nap. I also like to do some organic fruit pouches and yogurt pouches — they usually let you through security with them but sometimes you can buy at Starbucks too.
Bring a Bag of New Toys
I’m not saying buy all new toys for one trip, plus, there’s space to worry about, but I like to bring some new, small toys the kids have never seen, plus, some oldies that I will hide for a week or two before the trip so that they’re excited to play with them again. I go for small toys that light up and play music (it’s better than screaming so I figure other passengers can deal — plus, they’re not that loud so it’s hard to hear over the plane engine noise). Even older babies like to try coloring so you could bring a toddler coloring book. I also learned to bring books. I usually bring their faves, including some tactile ones where he can tough stuff, because he really doesn’t have the attention span for books he doesn’t’ know right now. Other things we have used to keep babies entertained on planes: Playdo, stickers, washi tape, cups and puzzles. I know babies are usually more into things they shouldn’t than toys, but I like to use this approach when flying with babies too. You want to have some fun things to entertain them in a pinch or distract them when they get antsy. Plus, it’s great to have for the hotel or restaurants when you land.
Making a Portable Diaper Changing Station
My mother in law bought us a travel diaper changer that’s a lifesaver — I keep it in my purse when we’re on the go. Our diaper bag has one built in but I like this for trips to the airplane bathroom and when we go out etc. Before we leave, I’ll pack it with wipes, enough diapers for the day (in case we get delayed or there’s some issue), and diaper cream. Then I can just grab it out of the bag and take it with me to the bathroom to change him without lugging our huge bag or getting it dirty in the airport bathroom etc. I also toss in some extra diapers in our carry-on and an extra pack of wipes in case our bag doesn’t make it, we run out of diapers, or there’s a spill, which there always is.
Pack Extra of Everything
I always include an extra outfit or two and extra socks as well as an extra shirt for me when flying with a baby. I use the wet/dry swim bags from summer to put their clothes in and then I can use them for any wet suits that we have to bring home. I do toss in an extra big Ziplock or two to throw in any dirty clothes that get spit up, poop, applesauce, whatever all over them. Additionally, I always have an extra thing of wipes and at least 5-10 extra diapers on top of the ones I packed in our changing station. I like to pack two blankies/swaddle blankets — somehow you always end up needing them. I pack one plastic bib with the pocket to catch food and one cloth one that packs easily and I can whip out easily. Extra socks are key because they always kick them off and they go missing. I also like to pack an extra sweater for each child in case the kids get cold, or an additional light jacket and a spare pare of PJs in case the bags don’t make it.
Download Some Age-Appropriate Programming on the iPad
We only let the kids use the iPads on planes and sometimes at restaurants or on very long road trips. I generally use it to keep our bigger kids occupied, but there are some videos for babies you can use to help get through a flight and honestly, can save you when flying with a baby. Babies of all ages (and older kids) love Cocomelon so I usually download a bunch of those episodes and Baby Einstein and that type of programming.
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