Tips on how to travel with a baby

So this past thanksgiving I did the unthinkable…I flew with an infant.

Okay, okay, Im being dramatic buttttt it is extremely intimidating to fly with a baby for the first time am I right?

Our little guy was 5 months old at the time and you know what? He did INCREDIBLE. I was way more nervous and crazy than he was. haha. Honestly, I underestimated him.

The first day was my concern. We were waking him up at 4am when he normally would wake up at 6:30am and then our flight was at 6:30am. We made sure and picked a non stop flight that was just under 4 hours. I was hoping he would fall back asleep in the car ride but being woken up at 4am is exciting so he didn’t wanna miss a thing. haha. The main concern was because when we landed in Seattle at 8am their time he wouldn’t be able to sleep in a crib until almost bedtime. Little guy is sleep trained so we stick to sleeping in crib with a certain enviroment 98% of the time.

So…. my top tips for traveling with a baby are:

Stay on schedule with wake times. Yes, everything will get jumbled around but if you focus more on the babies wake times vs. what time is it back where we live it will be wayyyyy easier. Their wake times will obviously get pushed a bit and thats okay 🙂 We also chose to stay on midwest time since we were only gone for a week. We had to make some sacrifices when it came to nighttime activities but for my sanity it worked.

FLYING: Feed baby during take off and landing. This is what EVERY MOM told me. So we did this. First flight he fell asleep nursing before we even took off. By the last flight on the way home he was a pro and didn’t even need to nurse for landing.

FLYING: What to pack on the plane:
DIAPER BAG
- MILK: If baby is drinking formula bring a couple bottles and formula.
- Toys: Bring 2-3 toys for them to play with. Anymore than this is uneccesasary
- 2-3 hardback books
- Pacifiers (if you use them) and bring extra!!
- Lovey
- Blanket from home that is familiar to them
- Diapers
- Wipes

FLYING: What to bring on plane vs what to check: Perk of flying is your carseat and stroller are checked for FREE. Now where you check them is up to you. We borrowed a friends carseat cover backpack and it was a lifesaver!!! It is worth every penny. You will want and need it! We checked carseat at check-in. Then we checked our bob Revolutions SE stroller at the gate. We used stroller to walk through airport so if he wanted to sleep and we could load it up with stuff. Only bummer is you will have to take baby out of stroller and collapse it down when you go through security. For us though we preferred having the stroller as opposed to baby wearing through airport. To each his own though. Honestly, I would never travel without our jogger. It is so easy to move around downtown, airport, sightseeing. It was a lifesaver.

FLYING: What to wear: The planes can be cold so I suggest a long sleeve onesie and a fleece sleep and play outfit or pajamas for baby. If you’re breastfeeding then do whatever works for you. I swear by the two shirt method. I am not willing to sacrifice style for breastfeeding. I personally wore a couple extra layers to stay warm and comfy on plane ride so I could nap if I wanted too.

HAVE FUN!! Find a balance that works for you.

Remember, people get that babies cry. You don’t need to make a care package to say sorry my baby might cry. We’re all adults here. We get babies cry. We will live through it. Odds are though, your little one will do great, daddy will sleep the whole way and you will look like a crazed mama trying to keep it together. Or wait, maybe that was just us. haha. regardless, take a deep breath and don’t stress.