Earlier this year our family took a trip to Texas to go visit one of our closest friends and see some National parks. The travel was hectic- there were no direct flights to our destination, so we needed to take two flights each way and have a layover, we also had JR with us who at the time was 7 months old, we had to pack a carseat, the list goes on. I was very nervous- I did not want to be the mom flying with a screaming baby! To my delight baby did great, we even had one passenger tell us they didn’t even know he had a baby sitting behind him. Below are my top tips to keep your sanity and keep baby happy while flying.
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Feed baby during takeoff and landing
Feeding baby during takeoff and landing is one of the best ways to help your little one’s ears pop. This will help keep them more comfortable and in a better mood. This is true whether your baby is breast or bottle fed. If baby is old enough to drink from a cup that is also an option. JR has so much energy and was interested by all the new things going on around him, he did not want to lay back and breastfeed. I gave him his straw cup with water, and it worked perfectly! I love this straw cup from Mason Bottle- they are a great company that makes non-toxic feeding products in the USA.
Bring baby ear protection
I don’t know about your babies, but mine hates loud noises! We found this out the hard way at a German restaurant with live polka music. Since then, we always carry a pair of earmuffs in our diaper bag! With JR’s track record, we knew ear protection would be a must while flying. I use these baby bantz infant earmuffs and am more than happy with them. From my research they are one of the only baby earmuffs on the market that actually block noise.
Bring baby friendly snacks
If your baby is eating food, I cannot stress how important it is to bring snacks! There was one instance in particular where peanut puffs kept baby occupied long enough to avoid a meltdown. I love these not only for travel snacks but also as a way to introduce peanuts to your baby since they are one of the big 9 allergens. If you decide to take peanut puffs, I highly recommend Puffworks as they are organic and also have an almond butter option.
Baby wear whenever you can
During our travels I babywore quite often. Babywearing helps keep baby calm, keeps strangers from touching baby, and also gives you two free hands. I brought my kinderpack which I cannot recommend enough while flying. I love that you can use it for both front and back carrying. If baby had been smaller, I would have used a stretchy wrap like the solly baby or the boba wrap. I used both these stretchy wraps when JR was tiny and the boba wrap was my favorite of the two.
Bring baby’s favorite toys
We were able to make it through 4 whole flights without using a single screen! As a parent, I counted that as a total win. We weren’t 100% against using screens while flying but wanted to use them as a last resort. JR love’s books so we brought this busy book, and this book with flaps which he loves. We also brought his favorite blanket and his binky. Some toy cars and a chew toy and we were set! Oli and Carol make great teethers and bath toys, this broccoli teether made the trip to Texas with us.
Gate check your carseat
Figuring out how to fly with a carseat was a big source of anxiety for me. Do we buy a seat just to travel with? Should we just rent one? Do you check it like a bag? So many questions. Since we had connecting flights, we didn’t want to check our carseat like regular luggage and take the chance of it not arriving at our final destination. We decided to gate check the carseat. This meant it was put under the plane right before the flight, and then we were able to pick it up right after exiting the plane. Gate checking carried a much lower risk of losing our carseat, it was less likely to get thrown around, and we didn’t have to wait for it in baggage claim. The con to gate checking is you have to carry your carseat all over- a great job for loving husbands!
Pay extra for assigned seats
This is something I didn’t do and totally regret. We flew American Airlines and to pick seats where me and my husband sat together it would have cost us upwards of another $150 to choose our seats for all four flights. Me being my frugal self, we decided to wing it and ended up sitting together on two out of the four flights. It worked out fine, but in hindsight I would go ahead and pay extra for the assigned seats just for the extra set of hands while flying with a wiggly lap infant.
Leave the house before you think you need to
I cannot stress this one enough! Leave at least 30 minutes before the time you think you need to. We live about 20 minutes from our metro airport- it took us an hour and 20 minutes to get there. I was shocked. We missed boarding for our first flight by a total of 4 mintues and ended up having to switch to the next flight. This wasn’t a big deal as we didn’t have to pay any extra and we only got to our final destination a few hours later than originally planned, but again if I could go back and do it all over, I would leave earlier and save myself the stress!
Those are all my tips for flying with a baby! What are your thoughts? What kind of content do you want to see? Leave a comment below or contact me by email with your suggestions. If you liked this content share it with your friends!