Hey! I’m not an expert, but here are some thoughts and tips from my two airplane travel trips with my baby before he turned 4 months old.
My baby is 4 months old (as of last weekend!) and has already been on two adventures that required us taking him on an airplane. His first trip was to California when he was 2.5 months old to see his Great-Nana. Boston to LAX is a 5.5 hour flight, so this was a big feat. His second trip was to Atlanta, which was “only” 2.5 hours, but as I’ve learned, it doesn’t matter how long the ride is, just how prepared you are. HA.
Very helpful tools for traveling with a baby:
– A spouse/friend/grandma/responsible adult human that you trust: California was our first family trip so Nate was there, and my friend Amy was with me on the Atlanta trip. It was reassuring to know Julien had two pairs of eyes on him, and that I could easily hand him off if I had to use the bathroom or pump or just needed a break. I’m sure I could have done it on my own, but it certainly wouldn’t have been as smooth.
– Stroller frame (we have the Chicco KeyFit one since that’s the carseat we have) Quick, foldable, LIGHT, big bottom basket to store bags while walking around airport. Also, they aren’t suuuuper expensive, so if it gets dinged en route it’s not the end of the world.
Optional tools:
– Baby carrier: *if your baby already likes it and is content being it for a while* otherwise there’s no point in lugging it around. We lugged our to California because “maybe” he’d finally like it, but nope. Didn’t use it once. But I can see the advantaged for having a baby who likes it. Carrying baby in a front carrier through security instead of having him in the stroller and then needing to take him out would have been IDEAL. Julien was FAST asleep in the stroller when I was coming home from Atlanta and they still made me take him out and he screeeeeamed. It was not pretty :/
TIPS + TRICKS:
PACK LIGHT:
– The less stuff you have to carry, the better. Obviously it depends where you are going and how long you’ll be there, but try to be reasonable with how much you bring for your baby. He doesn’t need 10 toys or 20 onesies for a 3 night trip. Pare down (for the adults, too!) and you will save yourself the trouble of lugging way too much stuff AND a baby around the airport.
FEEDING: (I think this is the thing that brought me the most anxiety while prepping for my first trip as a mom. But guys, it was not as bad as I imagined it in my brain. You can do this. And once you nurse your baby on a turbulent airplane, you feel like you can conquer ANYTHING.)
– For airports, download the Mamava app the see where their private nursing pods are in each airport. The pods are passcode protected and are basically a private little space for moms to nurse or pump. They have clean seats, and one or two power outlets for pumping.
– Also check this resource for nursing room locations: https://momaboard.com/traveltip/airport-nursing-rooms-united-states/
– For the plane, bring more pumped milk or formula than you think you need, especially for baby’s first flight. For some reason Julien had trouble nursing on the plane when we flew out to California. It was his first flight, a new situation, and we were both kind of uncomfortable. So we went through my pumped stash real quick. I did try nursing him again at the end of the flight and he seemed to hate it less, and he didn’t have any trouble on the way home. By the time it was time to fly to Atlanta, he was used to it and nursed like a flying champ.
BRING THE CAR SEAT:
– But not the base! If you have a click-in base, there is no need to lug that around. It’s HEAVY! When you get to your destination, you can use the old school way of clipping the carseat into the car with just the seatbelt.
– Also carseat related: Go to your gate before boarding and ask if there are any open seats on the flight. If there are, and they are nice enough to let you move, you can bring the carseat on the flight and have a dedicated space for baby. We were lucky that this happened on our flight out to California and Julien got to take a few pretty nice naps. The other 3 flights we didn’t get lucky, so we lap-held him. It wasn’t necessarily hard because he was so tiny and not super squirmy, but it took him longer to fall asleep. (This would be another place that a front carrier would come in handy, if your baby is a fan of it.) (you could also buy your baby a dedicated seat for this reason, but unfortunately we didn’t have the funds for that.)
MISC:
– Wear pants with pockets. For real. This is a legit tip I am giving you.
– Ask the closest coffee shop or the flight attendant for a half-full cup of hot water to warm up bottles in.
– There *are* diaper changing tables in airplane bathrooms! Just bring your own changing pad and a small pack of Lysol wipes. Just to be sure.
REMEMBER THIS. MOMS + DADS. Your baby’s feelings might be big, especially in this very new and kind of strange setting. If they are screaming, and you are doing everything you can to console them, and they are *still* screaming, IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. Yes, people are going to comment or roll their eyes. But you need to keep your eyes on your baby and cuddle them and love them and let them know you are there for them. You are doing something so new and so wild and so good for your family. OWN IT. You rock.