Baby Globetrotter

Yep that's my Daddy snoozing away behind me! What is the in-flight movie? Baby Mo is nearly 8 months old and he has been on 12 flights. He is a little globetrotter!

I know new mommies can be scared of traveling with small children but I am here to tell you that it is not that hard. On a recent flight, Clayton and I even saw a man traveling alone with his 2 month old son. I was so impressed! If he can do it, anyone can!

Here is my secret to successful traveling with a baby: be organized and be calm. For goodness sakes, be calm! On a recent flight from Arizona, a young woman said to me, "You are the most laid back mom I've ever seen." I beamed with pride!

Since I have become so adept at traveling with the baby, I figured I would share a few tips on how to make the situation painless. Jennifer's tip about earplugs and chocolate for seatmates is great but I have yet to make time to get those just before a trip. Preparing for a family flight means frantically running circles around the house for the preceding 24 hours but preparation is key! Here is my checklist:

One day before flight:

• Wash diapers and wipes (if you are a cloth diaperer)
• Pack diapers (if you are a 'sposie user)
• Make fresh batches of food (if you are a homemade baby fooder)
• Buy enough food (if you are a store-bought fooder)
• Make sure your ice packs are frozen to transport baby food (Note: The TSA will relax your liquid allotment for baby food but tell them when you go through security that the bag in question contains baby food. Since you will have a baby in your arms, they won't give you too much grief. Now, if you were carrying baby food sans baby, that may be a different story.)
• Pack feeding supplies including bottles, bottle brush, spoons, bibs, and sealable bowls or cups
• Pack blankets and towels (I don't want Baby Mo using hotel linens or even the linens at family's homes that were not washed with baby-friendly products)
• Pack at least 2 outfits per day since, as we all know, sh*t happens

Day of flight:

• Make sure baby is well fed
• Pack food in travel bag with frozen ice packs
• Book early flights so baby will be sure to sleep on the plane after being awoken early to catch the flight
• Pack diaper bag with the following: diapers, wipes, wet bag (if applicable), small toys, hooter hider (if you're nursing), burp cloth, blanket, bottle, food, bib, spoon, tissues, pacifier for ear pressurizition, and any medicine you think you might need.

During flight:
It does get tiring to hold your baby for the duration of the flight and I do miss sitting there with a good book and zoning out but here is the silver lining: you get to cuddle with your baby sleeping on you for a few hours. I would say that is more of a golden lining actually!

Fellow mommies on the move, did I leave anything out?

Comments

[Stacey]

Love this - thank you SO much for all of the tips! I haven't traveled yet with my baby, but I'm bookmarking this page for when I do in a few months.

[Jennifer Nichols Parnell]

Great tips Nat! I've found that purchasing supplies at my location is a lot easier than packing in some cases. For example, I bought a set of bottles just for my parents so I don't have to worry about packing all those. Same goes for diapers and wipes - I either purchase before I get there via Amazon and have them shipped or purchase them upon arrival. As for food, it probably depends on where you are going, but again, if I'm visiting my folks I can make a batch of food so I'd take enough to get through the first few days, but then grocery shop upon arrival and use the containers for the new batch...or just buy containers to have my parents so that I could use those. As for the chocolates and ear plugs, that was daddy's assignment. It's funny how daddy's just assume that mommy's have all the packing down but they want to help too (and they're much more apt to remember things since they don't have baby brain.) My main words of advice...always have all your medicine and thermomenter and PLENTY of diapers...maybe twice then you'd think you'd need. Also, I highly recommend a paci clip since you have to worry about it falling on the ground all the time. Our next flight home will be our 12th too!

[Kimberly Goode]

Thanks Natali! I appreciate this post. Your advice is great. I will try to remain calm! Love the picture too!

[Sandra]

Great tips, thanks! What do you think of red eye flights for babies? Do you think it would be the same as early morning flights so they sleep a ton?

[thschmid]

If you are traveling with small children or toddlers and are attempting a trans-atlantic flight (or any other longer flight), bring Children's Gravol.
Long flights in economy class aren't fun for adults, never mind the little ones.
Drug your kids of you have to. Your kids look better asleep than you do yelling and cursing at them when they act up 'cause they are bored or hyper.

Word of advice: don't give them too much Gravol. It's side effects include irritability.

We traveled to Europe twice, both times with 3 children under 6.
The first time was a trip from hell. The second time we knew better, and the kids ended up sleeping through half of the trans-atlantic flight.

[Hillary]

Just took our 3 month old Ellie on her first flight. I was terrified that the airline would trash our nice stroller and we'd be without wheels on arrival. I bought a lightweight cheapie $50 stroller base for her car seat figuring if it got broken, I wouldn't be totally devastated. We gate checked both and it worked out great. We're going on trip #2 this week and feeling like it was well worth the spend for all the extra use we'll get out of it and to not worry about our "nice" stroller getting destroyed.

Oh yeah, I also read to feed on both ascent and descent to help their ears equalize. Seemed to work for us!

[3boys]

I always take a bunch of supermarket plastic bags so you can always get rid of things right away. The flight attendants usually can't get back to you very soon after drinks or food. You can take the trash from the tray and toss it in the bag so they don't play with it. This is more useful as kids get to be in the 3 to 10 range. On Lufthansa always ask for the child's meal when you book and come up with a diet restriction for yourself while you're at it. They bring the special meals first so your child will not get agitated by the food smell and waiting. They also give you activities for the kids.