I made the following 7 Essential Tips For Flying with a Baby when I was preparing for that first flight.
When we first flew with my son, I remember distinctly being in my seat sweating profusely while holding a crying baby. We had boarded early (see Tip 1) and were nervously watching people board the plane. “Please leave soon, please leave soon,” I kept thinking to myself. In my mind, it would be better as soon as we took off.
Then the worst happened. He had a blowout.
I was aghast. I held him up in the air to keep the mess from getting on my clothes and baby carrier. I couldn’t get to the bathroom because people were still boarding. Eventually I was able to run to the bathroom right after the doors closed but had to rush because we were taking off soon. By the time I got back to my seat, my son had stopped crying. He had a clean diaper. I was happy.
The rest of the flight was relatively uneventful. Because it was a flight going to Nashville, everyone was drunk on a 10am flight and pretty rowdy. That made it a lot easier (see Tip 7).
These 7 essential tips for flying with a baby helped me stay sane on that flight and every flight since then.
1. Fly direct and board early
If at all possible, get a direct flight. Even if it’s a longer flight (we flew from Boston to Denver on a five hour flight), it’s still worth it. There’s just so much involved with boarding, getting off the plane, running to a real bathroom, finding and going to the next gate… Even though airplane bathrooms are the worst, I find that if I know I’m going to be on a plane for a while, it’s easier than the actual process of getting off a flight and getting back on another one.
The sub-tip is to board early. Now I’ve typed at length on my love of lounges. Even though I used to be opposed to getting to the gate early, now I get there early enough to not miss family boarding. That was a mistake I made on my first flight with my son – we got there late and missed family boarding! Even though we asked and were able to skip the Southwest boarding line, it still added a ton of unnecessary stress to our experience. Board early and get to your seat early. That’ll give you plenty of time to relax. Once you’re on the plane, there’s nothing to do but wait to get there!
2. Do a morning / mid-morning flight
This is especially useful if you really do need a connecting flight. It’s better to get everything going and leave plenty of time in the rest of the day to get to your final destination. You don’t want to be scrambling at 9pm for your next flight or to figure out how you’re going to get to the hotel while your baby is napping. When you take a morning or mid-morning flight, you can get where you’re going by late afternoon at the latest. This gives you plenty of time to settle into your hotel, set up your sleep situation, and relax before putting the baby to bed.
3. Minimize luggage
The parallel to this is only bring useful items (like the Doona and Guava Lotus). This is incredibly difficult when flying with a baby. There’s so much you have to think about and pack. But really try to bring as few things as possible. Do you really need that many diapers or can you get more there? I’ve found that four bags are sufficient: 1) Luggage with clothes for both me and my wife, 2) Luggage with clothes, diapers, formula, swaddles for the baby, 3) Diaper Bag, 4) Guava Lotus. It’s definitely tough to fit all our clothes in one bag between me and my wife but I rather rewear the same things than bring one extra bag. Combined with the Doona, that makes it so there’s one free set of hands for boarding passes!
4. Feed during takeoff and landing
Babies don’t have the same control over their ears popping as we do. We can’t just tell them to chew gum or open their mouths. Feeding during takeoff and landing keeps their ears comfortable. Plus it gets them sleepy for the flight or ready to get off the plane. It’s an easy tip but a complete lifesaver.
5. Bring diaper kits
What’s a diaper kit? It is a ziplock bag with a diaper and a couple wipes in it. This is so much easier to manage compared to your full diaper bag by your feet on a flight. Instead of grabbing the diaper from one pocket and the wipes from another pocket then the changing pad from the same pocket, you can just grab the changing pad and diaper kit. This saved me when my son had his blowout because once you get him out of his dirty clothes, you can just throw those in the ziplock! Easy peasy.
6. Baby wear on the flight
I’ve found it is so much easier on my arms to have my son strapped to me rather than hold him in my lap. In my lap, he moves around, my lap gets numb, I become really uncomfortable. When he’s strapped in, I can use both my hands to do other things like read a book or play on my phone. Plus when he has a blowout (which your baby will absolutely do), he won’t be directly in my lap. The carrier might get dirty but that’s way better than wearing a soiled outfit!
7. Remember: You’re the only people on the plane
My last and favorite tip. A friend told me this when we were mentally preparing for our first flight and it’s stuck with me ever since. You’re the only people on the plane. This is my favorite mindset, especially when it comes to maximizing comfort. Most of the anxiety comes from inside myself.
“What if I’m annoying someone?” “Do they hate that there’s a baby sitting near them?” Like I’ve mentioned before, I frequently fly Southwest which means that you choose your own seats. I’ve had many people sit next to us, comment on how cute our son is, talk about how difficult it is to have children and on and on. These are the people I try to focus on when I’m on a flight. Yes, there may be some jerks who hate having babies near them. But tough luck. It’s their own fault for not having a private jet.
You’re the only people on the plane. It’s a great mindset both on planes and in life.
Conclusion
It’s easy to be nervous when thinking about flying with a baby. But think about why you fly. To see the world, visit family, have new experiences. This is more true when you’re flying with your baby. You can create new memories together and teach your baby your love of traveling.
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