I admit I never really worried about it. After all, I am a very experienced traveler, and I have a very easy going husband. My control-freakness is always balanced out by his mellow-yellowness. We had the perfect combination of preparedness and positive attitude. And we needed it!
I’ll cut to the chase: it was not bad, we learned a lot, and the most stressful bits had more to do with the airport experience than the fact we were traveling with a 3 month old. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy these tips that helped us keep our sanity:
- Preparation: expect the unexpected, but learn quickly from what works and what doesn’t.
Before you pack, MAKE LISTS! You should start thinking of these a couple weeks in advance. What does the baby use every day? What does he use every night to sleep? Every morning to wake up? Every day while he sleeps? While he’s awake? How many diapers does he go through in a day? What calms him down when he’s fussy?If you’re anything like me, you just packed your whole baby’s room into a very heavy carry-on bag. Here’s where the learning comes in: after day 1 of travel is over and you start packing for the trip back home (and for any future trips, for that matter), only pack the things you ACTUALLY used and stop saying “but what if?” Be practical. The baby WILL survive with just diapers and the clothes on his back. Everything else is gravy.
I had 2 carry-ons: one backpack that would be accessible during the flight, and one rolling small luggage that would go in the overhead bin. The contents of each were:
First day of travel:
- Backpack: pump, pump accessories, expressed milk container with 2 full bottles, hooter hider, blanket, sheet, 10 diapers, wipes, changing pad, monkey toy, my netbook and power cord, my husband’s tablet.
- Rolling Luggage: baby björn, camera, some of my husband’s and my clothes that we packed at the last minute.
On the way back home:- Backpack: removed all these things: netbook and power cord, pump, pump accessories, milk, and monkey toy. SO MUCH LIGHTER!
- Rolling Luggage: expressed milk, camera, netbook with power cord.
Everything else went into a checked bag. As it turns out I did not get the opportunity to use my computer on the plane because the baby was on me the whole time, I did not need to pump while on the go, and we used the car seat to carry the baby, so the björn was just taking up space. - Pack things that remind your baby of home
Before you put the baby’s entire toy collection in a bag, really identify a couple (3 TOPS) of special toys that remind your baby of home. The plane, the airport, the place where you’ll be staying, are all strange places to your little one.I, for one, made sure to bring his favorite musical star (familiar sounds are very soothing), his favorite rattling monkey, and his bedtime Hush, Little Baby book. Which segways nicely into my next point:
- Continue the bedtime routine
This may be a vacation for you, but your baby doesn’t know that your life is compartmentalized into work/home/vacation. He only has ONE little life, and changing things around by surprise can really throw him off. So let this not be a vacation from your baby’s routine. Yes, he will see new faces, new places, and even stay up later than he normally would, and sometimes we just can’t help it. However, it is YOUR responsibility as a parent to advocate for your baby’s needs no matter how inconvenient they may seem at the time. If your baby needs to nap, you will find a quiet place for him to do it (bring a white noise maker, or download a free one on your phone — they are magical at blocking noise!). If it’s your baby’s time to go down, you will make sure you do so in a consistent manner each day you’re in that new place. Change is not your friend! So you must mitigate its effects with as much consistency as possible!In our case, we borrowed a pack-and-play from a relative, and that’s where the baby slept every night. It was very different from his usual Nap Nanny. The pack-and-play doesn’t even recline! I established a routine on the first night: say good night to all his little buddies (the monkey, the star), then read his book, sing him a song, and leave him. The first night was the hardest one: he cried his lungs out. By the second night, he knew what to expect, and he was an angel at bedtime the rest of the week. This also worked out well for us at home, since now that he had no choice but to sleep on his back, we were able to move him straight into his crib for the first time! No more nap nanny! Anyways, routine ALWAYS does the trick.
- Get an in-flight system down
Sounds really obvious, but you should remember to GO TO THE BATHROOM BEFORE TAKE-OFF!!! With the hassle of getting to the airport on time, going through security, and making it to the gate in time for the Priority Access boarding (which you’d get automatically traveling with an infant), you may not want to stop the freight train… ooooh, but you really should. Here’s what happened to us:Our trip was comprised of 4 flights in total: 2 going, and 2 coming back, 3 hours each. On the first flight, after I had sat down at the window seat on a 3-seater, after I had attached baby G to my breast for the take-off (wearing that handy hooter hider I had packed in my backpack), after the baby fell asleep peacefully on me, and the in-flight movie was well on its way, I decided I really needed to use the facilities. Also, baby G had some poop and it would be a “good” time to change him. So I made everybody move, I woke up my sleeping baby, went to the bathroom, maneuvered the confined space to put the baby down on the changing table, then do my business, then change him, and finally wash my hands and come back to the seat. BIG MISTAKE. Baby G would NOT go back to sleep!!! We spent the rest of the flight trying to soothe him. Lucky for us, there were 3 other babies around us and they were making more noise than baby G was, so the angry passengers were not so angry at us in particular. I actually think that the other babies were making baby G even more upset. Anyways, not our finest 3 hours.
For the second leg of this trip, I got a system down: I would board and give my husband the car seat (to check at the gate), and the rolling luggage, and I’d take the baby and the backpack STRAIGHT into the bathroom ON THE PLANE while my husband settled down at our seats. I changed baby G and did my business. By the time we had to take off, baby G was able to nurse and fall asleep, and so he stayed for the rest of the flight! It was marvelous.
For the trip back, I ran into the problem of: should I go to the lavatory EVERY TIME I need to change him? It seemed like such a drag. Then my mother suggested I changed him right there on the seat. I thought the smell and the sight of it would be too much for other passengers to handle and I was skeptical… but the guy sitting next to me was so peacefully sleeping that I did not want to have to wake him up 5 times. I just couldn’t do that to him. So I bit the bullet and had my husband help me change the diaper. I managed to get it down to 30 seconds! I put the changing pad under him, took the diaper off very quickly and handed it to my husband to fold, while I wiped and put a new diaper on. I was a PRO. We managed to do this for the rest of this flight and the next.
Did you know that the vomit bags are ALSO meant to be used to put dirty diapers in them??? It says so right on the bag!!! I never noticed that before!
So there you go. Things you never thought you would do, you are doing now. In short, I learned to: board first, go to the lavatory to use the facilities and change the baby, nurse during take-off and let the baby sleep the flight away, and should he soil himself during the flight, change him right then and there without disturbing others. Boom. Flight mastered.
- International travel considerations
If your child is less than 2 years of age, you will be required to pay the taxes on a ticket (for approximately 10% of the price of a full ticket). This is because the airlines need to know that there are children traveling out of the country. You’re still not buying a SEAT, though, so be prepared to hold your little bundle for the duration of the flight.Yes, your baby will need a passport, so head over to Walgreens to get his tiny picture taken and submit an application at the post office. Both parents must be present to apply (unless one of them provides a notarized affidavit). If your baby doesn’t have a social security number yet, you can put all zeroes in the application (I have confirmed this with the State Department). So, no matter what the post office clerk says, you do NOT need a social security number to apply for a passport!!! Plan on waiting for the passport for 2 months, but really you’ll get it a lot sooner than that.
I signed up baby G for American Airline’s rewards program so he could start accruing miles, but they said that only ticketed passengers could earn miles. Since you’re not technically buying a ticket for your infant, but just paying for the taxes on it, your baby might not be eligible to earn miles on your trip. Check with your airline!
We did not have to travel with a birth certificate or anything like that. Baby G’s passport was enough to get us out of the US, into Venezuela, and back into the US. No fuss no muss.
- Enjoy your baby’s new experience!
Try not to get too bogged down by airline staff rudeness, airport inconveniences, and the general stupidness of traveling. This is your baby’s first time on a plane! It’s an exciting time and a great opportunity to bond with your significant other and work as a team. I know I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the support and help of my husband. We made each other laugh and we had a great time acknowledging how EXHAUSTED we were. Nothing better for the soul than another soul who loves you and understands you. Hurrah for happy families 🙂
Hope your travel plans go well, and remember to not sweat the small stuff!
ina