Flying with baby

Geralyn - posted on 07/13/2009

Lucienne, we are back from our flight with our 15-month-old. Our flight was broken up with one layover, and the first leg was about 1 1/2 hours and the second leg was about 4 1/2 hours. It went pretty well, although on the longer leg, after several hours, he would start having a difficult time cooped up in that little space and not being able to get down and move. I did nirse him when he was having difficulties and that seemed to help. On the way back, he took 2 long naps, which helped both of us. I must say that I CANNOT imagine 16 hours straight on a plane. I hope that your little one does well on the flight so that its not stressful for him and you. The one think that helped was that we brought our portable DVD player with us. My son loves watching animal and bird documentaries, so we brought a DVD to keep him entertained. It definitely helped. Good luck to you!

Geralyn - posted on 06/20/2009

Marcy, you are so funny! Those carriers do have a way of squishing out things! We are flying to the East Coast (MA) in early July with my soon to be 15 month old. It should be interesting! He'll probably be approaching everyone seated on the aisle and running up and down. I already feel bad for those unsuspecting passengers! Lol! Thanks for the death glare advice though! I still can't imagine changing a diaper on the plane.... especially if its No.2. Yikes....

Lucienne - posted on 06/20/2009

funnily enough thatsonr habit my son has.... peeing and pooping on his dad.. HA HA HAHAHAHAAAAA



serves him right!.



all this advice is so great!!

Marcy - posted on 06/17/2009

Hi All-
I have travelled with our son 4 times already and he is going to be 3 in July. 3 times were when he was under 2 years of age. I have to tell you that most times he was a gem. There was this one time though that he cried pretty much the entire trip (5 hours). I nursed him, rocked him, did everything I could think of but he was just not a happy camper. You can just prepare yourself as much as possible and then keep your fingers and toes crossed.

On one trip (this one I took with my hubby) I had been nursing him pretty much non stop for 3 hours. He was so happy sitting in my lap eating away. I honestly thought my nipple was going to fall off he nursed so much. When we got to Denver airport my husband was so "impressed" with how our son did on the flight he put him in the front baby carrier and off we went in to the airport. As we were walking I looked down and drops of brown liquid was splashing all over the floor. I had nursed him so much and he was tight against my husbands chest that he pooped through his diapers, clothes and all over my hubbys pants and on the floor. I just about lost it I was laughing so hard.

The best thing you can pack is a large supply of "sense of humor" and lots of diapers.

We are headed back to the East Coast in July but we have an overnight flight. I am hoping he sleeps through most of it. I had to pay full fare for his ticket this time so we will have 3 seats across which makes things easier.

P.S. Feel free to give the "death glare" back to those passengers who are staring at you if you run in to a problem. Its kind of fun :)

Jennifer - posted on 05/29/2009

My husband has changed them in the bathroom but wet diapers I just changed in the seat.

Geralyn - posted on 05/29/2009

I was just thinking about our trip next month. Where the heck can you change a diaper on a plane? Those bathrooms are disgusting, and there's hardly any room to move. I can't imagine changing the diaper at my seat.... Yikes... Thanks, Jennifer, for the tips. It made me think about things. Despite the fact that so many people have children, our society does very little to accommodate families...

Jennifer - posted on 05/29/2009

I have flown several times with my girls. If possible fly during times he would normally sleep. I held mine but once they hit 18 months it gets harder to handle. Make sure and take lots of snacks and things to chew on, any favorite toys, and breastfeed as often as you need to, and don't forget lots of diapers, wipes and pain relievers like gas drops, Tylenol and teething tablets just in case. I'm not suggesting that you drug your child, but my oldest decided to cut teeth on her first trip and the baby had gas on hers. Just be prepared.

Geralyn - posted on 05/29/2009

Yeah, me too! We'll have to post on how attachment parenting and baby wearing worked on the flights! We have such good-natured little ones... they will most likely be fine on the flight....

Lucienne - posted on 05/29/2009

ha ha



i think its pretty funny the three moderators are all commenting on this question!

Lucienne - posted on 05/29/2009

Nice idea Carissa with the seating arrangment!

yeah car seats are a massive hastle BUT my mr baby will probaby have some issues sitting in the seat all the way, same with the sling or harness



look lets not worry too much, its only a brief experience, im just going to take a car seat and the sling and ...well trial both of them ha ha

HOPEFULLY it will all go smoothly.

Geralyn - posted on 05/27/2009

I wrestle with the car seat vs. holding my little one.... I just worry that I'd never get him in his car seat,,,,

Carissa - posted on 05/27/2009

I went back and forth on buying a seat for him and decided to just keep him in my lap. He doesn't really like to be harnessed into anything unless we are actually moving in the car. I don't think he is going to feel the motion in the plane, so I have a feeling he would just cry if I tried to keep him in a travel seat. I took a gamble and booked one aisle seat and one window seat, leaving the middle open. Right now our flights aren't full, so I'm hoping maybe we just end up with the whole row to ourselves. If not, I'm sure whoever it is would rather not sit in the middle anyway. Then I'll have to decide whether to sit on the window for BF'ing privacy or aisle so I can get up with him. AHHHH!

Lucienne - posted on 05/27/2009

Well we are headed from Australia to Canada to visit the grandparents (my partner is canadian), so a nice summer away from the bizarre winters we have here will be nice.



I have NO idea what to do about the seating arrangement, I was going to take his harness on board to wear so if he gets scared I have the option of holding him. Otherwise I dont know, it will be hard to nap and eat and things if he is in the harness the whole time, perhaps the car seat is the way to go??? for comfort and ease??

eeeep!!!



I wish i was going to san fran or LA instead!!!! I used to live in Santa Cruz and loooove california so much

Geralyn - posted on 05/27/2009

Lucienne! You are brave! I have not flown with Noah yet, but I think there is a great advantage to breastfeeding during take off and landing (to unblock and blocked little ears) and then whenever needed on the flight. Of course, 16 hours of breastfeeding would be a challenge! lol... Let us know how it goes. I hope that you are traveling to an exciting destination for vacation purposes!



I have to fly in July from San Francisco to Boston with my son. That should be interesting because he's walking already and loves to move, and he'll be weaned (unfortunately) by then, so I won't have that added assistance to soothe him during the flight...



One question that I was wondering about.... to both of you... are you going to purchase seats for your little ones and use your carseats or are you going to hold your little ones?

Lucienne - posted on 05/27/2009

ha ha ha yesssss im not the only one!!!

yeah, im wigging out. Hes doing that transferance thing too, he takes on everyones emotions...so god forbid there is acrying baby on that flight.



p.s looks like a tasty baby foot in your pic

Carissa - posted on 05/26/2009

Oh Lucienne, thanks for posting this!



I just booked a flight from LA to NYC in 2 weeks. I'm so nervous about flying with the baby. I just have this vision of him screaming for 6 hours straight. I think I will mostly feel bad for the other passengers!