5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Flying with a Baby

My little one just turned 1 and it would be her 3rd flight in her life. I should have started a frequent flyer account for her, she would rack up some good miles for herself! I thought since our family has done an 8 hour flight, 4.5 hour flight, and 2.5 hour flight, I could hopefully share some words of wisdom for you mommas nervous about flying.

Everything is of course relative to how your baby’s disposition is, the timing of the flight, and other factors that can’t be controlled, but the things that are in your control can help you tremendously if you have the right mental headspace. I’ve listed my top tips for each length of flight below that I wish I knew before and during our adventures!

1. Timing nap time

2. Strategize Nursings/Bottles

3. Pack smart

4. Check for Free

5. Stroller tips

Number 1: Work nap-time best you can, if you can keep them awake for a while before the flight, then they can sleep on you or in the bassinet for a good chunk of the flight and you will be able to actually have some time to yourself! One one trip, we had a two hour delay so our daughter clonked out right at take off, so it gave us a stress-free start to the flight.

Number 2: Time your nursing to the baby’s benefit. Two out of the three flights I was tempted to nurse her too soon. I have now learned to wait until you are actually taxing and moving in the plane before utilizing your secret weapon. If you’re not breastfeeding, hold off on the bottle until the taxiing too. This helps with the pressure difference as you get up into the air. I also tried to nurse as we land, but that is mainly to help with the pressure difference. If you're nursing, be mentally prepared to be used as a human pacifier. My baby was not a cluster feeder by any means, but nursing calmed her and kept her quiet, so I had to sacrifice a lot of comfort where my husband simply couldn't do much. On the shorter flights, I tolerated it more, but on the long flights, I made sure to give myself breaks and pass her on to whomever you are traveling with.

Number 3: Pack smart. Bring a boppy pillow. It is the one baby thing that is big and bulky, but totally worth the inconvenience of transporting it everywhere. The way it can lay around your waste allows you to comfortably hold and nurse, while also very comfortable for the baby to sleep in your arms without you getting tired or sore.

Toys and books are not that helpful. When they are so young, they don’t get entertained as much by toys and books. The attention span is a mere few seconds, a couple minutes if you’re lucky, so if you’re tight on packing space, forget “plane” toys. When she got older (around 1) We brought books, a travel fine motor board, and a water painting book but what really helped was snacks and her playing with objects that we had with us, like headphones, seatbelts, and strangers making smiling faces.

This may seem obvious, but whatever diapers and wipes you plan to bring, ensure that it is enough and also have a changing pad. I usually double what I normally need in a day for that amount of time. For example, for a 4.5 hour stretch at home I would normally go through 2 diapers, but I would pack 4 diapers for the stretch just to be safe. I don’t know if it’s stress of traveling, but they always want to poop at the most inconvenient times and double what they normally do! (Or maybe that’s just me, if so, lucky you!)

Tip number 4 is to check as much stuff for free as you can. We have really been able to take advantage of the free baby-equipment deals that Delta has, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a normal policy for airlines in general. You can check car seats, strollers, and anything baby-related for free. You can even skip the long checked luggage line and go straight to the oversized baggage line (usually much shorter). We bought a stroller “protection” bag for our stroller, we were able to fit our baby backpacking backpack and the stroller, plus other stuff in the bag like blankets, toys, jackets, whatever! So if you’re limited on storage, this is a great hack to get those extra things checked for free. You can also check that stuff at the gate, but we found it much easier to walk around with as little as possible.

My final tip is to buy a cheaper umbrella stroller. They make very good quality ones these days with sun protection and even a little storage on the bottom. I love my bubaboo fox, but, it’s just not practical for travel. Our travel stroller is light, compact, and collapses in seconds, to see what I use, click here. It is the other necessity besides the Boppy Pillow that I won’t travel without. You could check bigger strollers at the gate and such, but if you really want that big stroller, for your trip, I recommend checking it at oversized baggage and have an additional travel stroller for the airport.

Those are my suggestions for traveling with an infant! These tactics worked for all three durations of the flights my little one has joined us on. Hopefully you found this helpful and if you have any other suggestions, feel free to comment! Keep wandering mommas!