Over the holiday Baby Max and I hit a major milestone. We traveled by airplane! I had heard so many horror stories about how this could all go down. I was so nervous. I made lists (an embarrassing number of lists actually) beforehand in hopes of being prepared for whatever could be thrown our way! Fortunately, we were prepared for everything that we encountered! Here are my tips for traveling by plane with an infant!
1. Wear the baby. I cannot tell you how amazing it was to have my Ergo on our trip. I strapped him on the second we got out of our car and wore him through everything! It gave me both of my hands for lugging the diaper bag and Max’s bag that was going to be checked.
2. Bring chew toys. Max is teething which means I have to be prepared for him to have something to chew on at all times. We absolutely love our Chompy Chic Chewlery. We have a piece that straps onto our Ergo and I have a necklace that I wear when little Maxer is not in the Ergo. These pieces are fun to chew on and fun to play with!
3. Wear clothes that are easy to travel with. If you are nursing make sure you wear clothes you are comfortable nursing in. I wore a nursing tank, long sleeve shirt, vest, and scarf. Max refuses to be covered while he nurses so I have to layer up to keep everything contained! We were not going to have any escaping boobies on this trip. Ha! Make sure you wear shoes that are easy to slip on and off, this makes the security line so much easier.
4. Bring at least 2 extra outfits for the baby and an extra shirt for yourself. There is nothing worse than an explosion when you don’t have any back-up outfits. Enough said.
5. Pack as many diapers that you can possibly fit in your diaper bag. I have a fear of running out of diapers when there are no back-ups! I also brought disposable changing pads to help keep germs off the babe during our airport bathroom changing sessions.
6. Schedule flights around naps. Traveling will mess with your baby’s sleep schedule no matter what, but trying to keep a little bit of normalcy through the chaos of traveling is easier on everyone.
7. Check car-seats and strollers at the gate. You always have the option of checking your car-seats and strollers with your bags at the ticket counter, but checking them at the gate eliminates the chance that they get lost!
8.Bring your paci. Or two. Or Ten. We don’t leave our house without our monkey Wubba-Nub and all of his friends. If your baby does not take a pacifier, bring whatever makes them comfortable!
9. Nurse during take-off and landing. I worried so much about little Max’s ears during take-off and landing. We nursed during both to (hopefully) eliminate any pain! It seemed to work because he did not make a peep!
10. Bring a blanket. Airplanes can be uncomfortable, brink a blanket or anything that will help comfort your baby while hanging in the plane! We used our muslin swaddles to keep us warm and comfortable so that he could nap! It worked!
Here is a picture of exactly what I had in my diaper bag.
1. Extra Outfit
2. Disposable changing pads
3. Anti-bacterial wipes
4.Honest diapers (as many as you can fit!)
5. Honest soothing bottom wash (for those nasty poopy diapers)
6. Burp clothes.
7. Muslin Swaddle
8. Bourdeauxs butt paste just incase we have a diaper rash situation.
9. The infamous Wubba-Nubs
10. Changing pad (that is included in the diaper bag)
11. A bib! Bibs save so many of our outfits with all of our drool going on!
If you have any tips that have worked for you and your little one please leave them in the comments!
Happy traveling!!
These Crazy Montanas 