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Flying with a Baby Tips

I am by no means any expert, but here are some things that worked for us to avoid not having the entire plane stare us down and roll their eyes due to our screaming child.  At least this plane trip.

1.  Give a bottle or nurse during take off and landing.  This helps with babies ears due to changing air pressure.  It also helped to relax and distract Finley when the plane got very loud and intense during take off.  I honestly don’t think he had any ear problems.

2.  Pack a good amount of milk, just in case.  We only had a four hour flight, but we had 2 bottles of milk, and two frozen bags.  I would nurse, but he gets crazy in public and wants to show the world his food sources, so I bring a bottle.  He normally just drinks one 6oz amount in 4 hours, but he had two on the way over, and 3 on the way back.  They let you bring milk even though it’s liquid, they just scan it to make sure you aren’t smuggling a hatchet.

3.  Bring a video you can play:  Finley doens’t watch TV, but for the flight we got prepared.  As you may remember, we won an iPad, so Andrew uploaded some baby video onto it.  He totally sat still and watched it on the flight.  Andrew also downloaded baby apps, were were super cool, but they only equated to about 45 total seconds of Finley entertainment.  I think he’s too young still.

4.  Make a cheerios necklace.  Fun and simple.  We made a couple for him mid flight.  He loved it and it slowed down his eating.  I even think it helped his fine motor skills!

5.  Bring Comfort items.  Blankies, binkies, etc.  If you can get your kid to sleep at all, it will be the most amazing thing of your life!   Heck, if you can get your baby to sleep, bring a magazine for yourself!

6.  If your baby starts crying, don’t stress.  Just before Finley fell asleep on the second flight, he was getting a bit fussy.  Everyone around us was super nice, and at the end everyone commented on how great he was during the flight.  Your babies cries are usually louder to you.

7.  If your baby is small enough, bring a carrier.  If Finley was smaller, he would have been in the Moby wrap most of the time.  No–the whole time.  And most likely sleeping.

8.  Get an umbrella stroller:  We borrowed one just for the trip.  Those things are awesome!

9.  Bring some of those squeezy baby foods.  No heavy jar, no spoon.  They are perfect for travel.

10.  Have FUN!  Honestly, it was kinda fun to be cooped up for so long together, just the 3 of us!  Relax and enjoy.  Your baby picks up your signals and they’ll know that it’s scary or cool by how you are feeling.  Sing songs, read silly books, etc.

Have a great flight!~

xoxo

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  • Lou November 4, 2011, 3:54 pm

    Love this – having finally made our move to SoCal, my 2 boys had to fly fort he first time. They are 12 and 13 and I thought flying would be a fantastic adventure for them, especially having 2 long flights – Manchester to Newark & Newark to LAX.
    According to the boys flying became very mundane and boring after the first take off, and I was left wondering whether perhaps I am more of a child than they are. I love take offs and landings – I love really bad turbulence that makes you feel like you are on the worlds biggest rollercoaster – but my boys? They just say ‘Meh – boring Mum!’

  • Angela November 4, 2011, 11:37 pm

    I love reading people’s posts about traveling with babies! Great ideas! I’m so glad he traveled well!

    I’d love it if you’d participate! http://angelasfavthings.blogspot.com/2011/11/30-days-of-thankfulness.html

    xo,
    A