Flying with Baby

Sleeping in Daddy's arms on the plane

We took our seven month old bambino to Portland, Oregon, over the holiday break to visit his west coast family. It was his first time on an airplane and I was not looking forward to the plane ride, which is exhausting enough without a baby. Luckily, it went fairly smoothly. Here are a few things we learned: 

Choosing a seat: 

We flew United's (only) direct flight from Dulles to PDX. Babies fly for free in a caretaker's arms until they are two, so we held our bambino throughout the flight to try to make things easier and cheaper.

If you do book a seat for your infant, he needs a car seat. We asked at the gate if there was an empty seat for him (there wasn't) before we gate checked his stroller and car seat combo.

Admittedly, we booked a widow and aisle seat hoping that no one would book that middle seat. Someone did each time and we simply switched with that person (who wants to sit in a middle seat, especially between two parents holding an infant?) Luckily, on the flight home, the person next to us switched midway and we did end up with some extra room.

Feeding:

Since I’m nursing and supplementing with formula, we packed plenty of travel sized liquid and powder formula. At security, I was surprised that they only inspected one small bottle of the liquid. We were prepared to buy bottled water if they took the liquid formula and we needed to prepare the powder.

The doctor suggested feeding (nursing or bottle) our bambino during take-off and landing to avoid his ears from popping. Since he didn't cry during either (or afterwards), this seemed to work.   

Luggage: 


Our carefree days of traveling without checking luggage are over. To help lighten the load (somewhat), we ordered diapers, wipes and more to be sent to his grandparents' house so they were there when we arrived. 

We gate checked our infant stroller (both parts: the car seat and the base) in these bags. Maybe that was overkill, but we wanted to make sure that they stayed intact and safe for future use. (One stroller we saw returned at the end of the flight had a broken wheel.) The stroller bag worked well as a laundry bag throughout the trip.

Toys:


Friends recommended bringing a new toy on board. We did bring a new teething ring and he seemed quite interested in it. An old favorite toy probably would have worked at this age. 

Changing Diapers: 

Some friends warned that their babies needed to be changed very, very often on the plane. We brought enough diapers and wipes for an hourly changing (and more, in case of delays.) We didn't find that we needed them all, but I'm sure every baby is different (and different at different times in his life.) We did find it very useful to have disposable underpads and lots of plastic bags to collect garbage. Our flight did not have a changing table in the bathroom, so we changed the bambino on our laps. 

This website does a wonderful job of summarizing what you may need and the Mayo Clinic addresses other safety issues. What other advice would you add?