I would never claim to be an expert BUT I have traveled by
plane, train, boat and car with my baby all throughout his first year and
continue too because I am a bit crazy and obviously sadistic (JK).
In all seriousness we have been to Seattle, Boston,
California, Paris, Switzerland, and numerous times to Houston all in his first
year of life, in total 18 flights!!!! The more shocking note to this is I have
only flown 5 of those times with my husband or parents. {I usually fly out earlier and get to stay a little longer then my husband and so we fly alone a lot} So Again, not an expert but a very
experienced traveler with a baby.
Here is what I have learned…
I was always taught you never bring more than you can carry
yourself when traveling. But this can be
a difficult rule to follow when flying alone with baby. I was reluctant at
first to accept help from fellow travelers but the more I traveled the more I
became relaxed and open to help. No need to be super woman at all times, you need help, allow people to
help you fold down that stroller, etc.
WEAR
Dress them in PJ's or long sleeves and pants. Easy clothes to get off and on, so when you are wrestling your babe in the tiny ass airline bathroom you don't have to fuss with his clothes. No need to get fancy with their outfit here. You want them to be warm but not sweating because if your kid is anything like mine when i am holding him for long time periods we both start sweating. I wear my workout clothes because flying alone with your baby is a marathon!
PACK AN EXTRA PAIR OF CLOTHES FOR BOTH OF YOU! The last thing you need is to have a blow out on the plane and then have to wear those Blow out clothes for the rest of the flight. Your fellow passengers will thank you too!
PACK AN EXTRA PAIR OF CLOTHES FOR BOTH OF YOU! The last thing you need is to have a blow out on the plane and then have to wear those Blow out clothes for the rest of the flight. Your fellow passengers will thank you too!
Once he started walking we put him in some Freshly Picked moccasins, they are great for traveling. Now that he is up climbing on top of me most of the flights these are perfect shoes to protect his little feet and not hurt me as he is standing and checking everyone out.
Flying with a active on the go baby is very different then flying with an infant but we will get to that another time.
We waited till Anderson was 3 months for him to take his
first flight. I flew alone on a midday 4-hour flight from Portland to Houston.
Luckily for me, I was upgraded to first class which is nice for a number of
reasons but not too worry if that isn’t your situation this is the easiest time
to fly with your baby.
Anderson's first flight, wearing the Solly Baby Wrap
BABY CARRIER
I can not recommend the Solly Baby wrap enough, it was a
must have for flying with your baby,!!! {Especially from birth to about
crawling age}. Once Anderson was really
crawling and getting around the solly wrap did not contain him as much as I
needed and then we switched over to the ErgoBaby360 carrier.
Solly Baby Wrap: 0- Crawling Age
Ergobaby360 Carrier: Crawling age – 1+
Once past security, I would put on my Solly baby wrap then
would pop him into the wrap just before boarding, so that my arms where free to
break down stroller/car seat at gate check.
I used this Gate Check red bag to protect my car seat from
weather/tearing/what have you at gate check. This is by far the most difficult
thing to do when you are traveling alone. Ask someone for help, I tried to do
this myself a couple times and I am sure it was comical to watch.
LUGGAGE
Backpack is the way to go! Any backpack is good but I
particularly love my Skip Hop backpack. For (one), it reminds me of the TUMI
backpacks and (secondly) it allows for hands free.
So you can just imagine, You have your baby in carrier in
front, backpack on your back and now you are free to breakdown your stroller
and send last SOS help text to your loved ones before plane takes off.
Once you get on plane I would take him out of the carrier or
if he was already asleep let him sleep until he woke up. The waiting before take
off just sitting on the plane is the worst time. I swear your baby can feel the
anxiousness of everyone on the plane and it can cause some freak-outs. Stay
calm yourself, Anxiety spreads and once the plane starts moving your baby will
most likely chill out.
MILK DRUNK
Get that baby milk drunk whether you are bottle-feeding or
breastfeeding. I would get on the plane, immediately start nursing by the time
you take off he was sound asleep. The plane white noise is perfect to lull your
baby to sleep. Anderson wouldn’t take a pacifier but this was another option
too we tried. Just be sure to have them sucking bottle, nipple, pacifier on
take off and descent.
Once he was milk drunk, i would slip him back into my Solly baby wrap and attempt to watch movie, eat, etc.
But really he slept most flights up until 7 months. So my best advice would be fly and travel as much as you want for those months, your baby is going to be just fine and so are you. Also, if it is a shit show take a deep breath and learn to laugh! ignore that other passengers looks and just take care of your kid.
You Got this!
