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Well, I had grand plans to get this posted in time for spring break travel but apparently Texas and probably other places are already on Spring Break.
Forgive me, I don’t live in a world where “Spring Break” exists anymore and there was snow on the ground just 5 days ago. It’s taking me a minute to catch up with the seasons.
This was me in a world when Spring Break did exist. Life was very hard then. I’m second from the left reading Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, which is HILARIOUS and a terrific beach read.
I digress.
Back to babies and planes and things you need to know.
I flew with G this time last year for “Spring Break” aka “Maternity Leave and I need to get out of the house” when she was 2 months old. Like any good first time mom I asked her pediatrician for permission. His response was basically, “Well yeah, that’s fine. Unless you don’t want to go, in which case you can tell whoever you need to that I said no.” That’s also the moment when I was 100% sure that we’d made the right call when it came to our choice of pediatrician.
Flying with a 2 month old can be really daunting, but it was infinitely easier than I had imagined. 2 month olds are so portable, ya’ll. It’s really terrific. We brought along a lot of stuff. And some preparation was certainly necessary. But all in all, totally doable.
10 things You Need to Fly With an Infant:
1. A good wrap or carrier
I’m a big fan of baby wearing, and especially when it comes to flying/navigating airports. I was able to get us through security (stroller and all) with no help because I was wearing her. It was such a breeze. I really loved my Moby wrap when G was this little (Update: I switched to and loved the ease of the Maya ring sling for baby #2). Added bonus? When you’re wearing a baby people are less likely to put their hands in their faces, since, well, their faces are directly on your chest. Very few people are that awkward. Oh, and when you wear/carry your baby through security they will do a swab of your hands, it’s no big deal, but just thought I’d throw that out there so you’re ready for it.
2. Several wardrobe changes
And not just for the baby. Throw an extra shirt for you in the diaper bag because you never know. When we flew last spring I packed 1 extra outfit for G and she was wearing it before we even took off for our first flight. Okayest mom alert right there. Thankfully we made it through the rest of the trip without a hitch but I half wondered if she’d be wearing just a blanket by the time we made it to our final destination.
3. Diapers. All the diapers
I overpacked on this, to be sure, but I kept having visions of being stranded overnight somewhere and WHAT would be worse than running out of diapers? Nothing, probably, except…
4. Food
You need your boobs or formula or breastmilk – all of these things are a-okay to bring through airport security. Formula & breastmilk are considered “medically necessary liquids” but the TSA could do extra screening on it.
5. Car Seat
You have 2 options here: buy an extra seat so your baby can sit in a car seat, or gate check the car seat and add the baby to your ticket as an “infant in arms”. I did the latter and it worked out great. Frankly, I nursed her during take off and landing to help her adjust to the air pressure changes so I’m not sure when I would have put her in the car seat. Hypothetically, if there’s an empty seat on the plane you can ask the gate agent to move you next to it so you can put the car seat there even if you didn’t purchase the extra ticket…but I just never had that luck.
6. Car Seat Base
I just didn’t want to deal with learning how to install the car seat without the base. I just packed the base in a suitcase with diapers and other necessities and checked it. I know you can check it on it’s own but for some reason I just felt better knowing it was with my luggage.
7. Whatever Comforts Your Baby
We lived and breathed by our WubbaNub pacifiers at this stage of the game. God bless ’em. I packed several.
8. Blankets
I had a soft blanket for G as well as an aden + anais blanket to use as a nursing cover and used the heck out of both of them. **UPDATE** 2 years and another baby later – I’d still recommend the aden & anais for your baby but if you want a nursing cover, get yourself one of these from Covered Goods. So soft. So many pretty patterns. And you can wear it as a scarf while you travel. ALL the win right there.
9. Paci Clip
I know I just said we loved our WubbaNubs, and we did. But I kept a paci clipped to her shirt with this because I knew that way I would always have one that wouldn’t hit the ground.
10. New Toys
New toys always win. When she got fussy I had a few things I had stashed in my bag that I could pull out and use to distract her. I love this Haba Triangle Toy. The bright colors grabbed her attention and it was great. I’m also a fan of anything Wimmer-Ferguson for little babies and their Travel Activity Toy was one of my best ever purchases. We STILL, one year later, play with that on car trips.
Enjoy your flight…and your vacation!
(I snapped this at some point after I realized, OMG, she just might sleep the ENTIRE flight. And she did. Glorious!)
Posted by Kelly & filed under Motherhood, Travel. This post has 6 comments.
I love this tunic. Perfect to wear with dress pants or jeans. And easy to dress up or down with jewelry.
Simply put: These are the greatest pants in the history of pants. They are great with boots, heels, flats, etc. An absolute wardrobe staple. They also don’t need to be dry cleaned, hello, this is a huge bonus. If you don’t own these, shame on you. Get yourself a pair. Go forth and shop.
I have been looking for the perfect work tote for a long time now, and I think this just might fit the bill. Since having a baby, my standards for a purse have gone way up. I need something with structure and that still looks nice. Check and check. Also you can monogram this, so that automatically moves this to the top of my wish list.
I love a flat. These are great for a pop of color with a black pencil skirt & sweater or even just to keep in the car so you can wear them to pick up your kids from school.
This tunic is a great item to be dressed up or down for work or play. It comes in other colors and patterns too. I see this with skinny jeans for running errands on the weekend and belted with pixie pants for work.
