Whether you are heading to the beach this spring break or to the relatives during the summer, air travel can be the most painful part of your vacation. Those of us with a baby or small child dread it, and need I say- so do all the passengers around us?
I asked readers for some tips on air travel with babies, and I got some fabulous ideas. If you have any to add, please post them in the comments.
Getting them to Sleep
I recently traveled with my son (long haul) and took with me the Kiddapotamos sun shade (it’s the stretchy one that you usually see on Maclaren’s) and attached it to the Britax car seat that they give you in the Cot seats. Whilst it didn’t entirely work it did at least shield him from the plane lights a little and offer some chance of him sleeping (worked a bit like a horse’s blinkers). It folds up relatively small so is easy to take. Just thought I’d share.
-Naomi (mom to Theo)
Eating and Drinking
When I went to france with my 11 month old daughter, she drank more milk out of a bottle than I have ever seen her drink. And she was still breastfeeding. I breastfed her on takeoff and landing, which was great. But in between she was crying and crying and nothing was helping — they wouldn’t let us walk around or put her in the bassinet because of turbulence. Anyway, finally we asked them to fill up our bottle with milk, though she had already drank a whole bottle. And this immediately calmed her down. Maybe her ears were bothering her. This happened again on the way back. So if your child drinks out of a bottle, I would recommend being prepared. When there wasn’t turbulence, the ergo was great for walking up and down the aisle. Also, snacks are very helpful. Raisins, cheerios, cubes of cheese, dried fruit, banana, and lots of food. I just brought a few small toys. The most popular was a little measuring tape from MOMA store that she pulled out and then we snapped it back and it provided a lot of distraction but fit in our pocket.
-Alex
Baby supplies delivered nationally and internationally
I’d like to add that baby travel item websites can be great — we recently used jetsetbabies.com for baby food (organic, too), diapers, wipes, etc. — and can thus eliminate at least one bag at the airport. You need to order a few weeks ahead, but jetsetbabies will deliver internationally and do a great job following up with your hotel to make sure that the package was received and is waiting at the front desk. Babiestravellite.com is another good site
-Kerrie
Good luck to all travelers!A little bit of everything
We just went on vacation in Brazil and a couple of things we learned from a long trip- definitely bring the portable high chair! A lot of places had them but the times they didn’t and we didn’t have ours were not fun! It is very difficult to enjoy a meal with a squirmy baby! Bring the stroller – light weight one – it’s easier. you might not need it everywhere but he can nap in it even if it doesn’t recline and you will be thankful to not have to carry him all the time. BUT, bring the ergo or what ever you have because in the cobblestone streets, you will want it and the Ergo can be used on the back too and is much smaller than a Kelty. Babyfood – they will have it, but probably harder to find organic. I always bring a couple of days worth to get started and then pick up the local stuff – it’s just too heavy to carry 10 days worth. But you don’t want to have to run out right away to find more either. Don’t assume they will have all the comforts of home in terms of meds, soap or lotions – I always take what we use here – also avoids sensitivity issues. I
always have tylenol, calendula -for skin issues, baby soap and lotion.
-Michelle
Traveling with our 10 month old to Europe
We used the Ergo to walk up and down the aisles- and that helped relieve tedium for us and him. We got the bulkhead seat (front row) and requested a bassinet. We got both luckily. I liked having the bulkhead seat as Birch had a place to crawl around without disturbing a lot of the other passengers. He wasn’t crazy about the bassinet as he was a large 10 month old and couldn’t turn in the bassinet. Birch drank so much formula I couldn’t believe it- he didn’t want to eat solids very much- either on the plane or on the trip. In hotels we reserved cribs and they seemed to be fine- but we couldn’t have lived without our small white noise maker– otherwise he never would have slept with all the noise from the street and hotel. We brought a Kelty backpack that was wonderful for cobblestone roads- though he never did fully sleep in the backpack well. His head was always lopping forward to the side- despite stuffed shirts and rolled towels as headrests. We did bring our own organic baby food- I am glad I brought enough for the first few days, but really they have tons of organic baby food over there. (They sell it in pharmacies in Italy). We rented a car seat- and it was great- no problems- we had to install it for insurance purposes. We brought a lightweight stroller that was promptly lost at the airport so had to buy a new one when we arrived. A royal pain! We didn’t have a luggage tag on it with an email address which would have helped avoid this nightmare. Oh, have to add: bring extra bottles, a bottle brush cleaner in a ziploc bag, your own dish soap in travel bottle size (you will be washing out bottles in sinks), and lots and lots of formula (if your child isn’t drinking milk). I also love this site: http://www.flyingwithbaby.com/index.html. Also, if you are a single parent or traveling alone, etc this site is helpful: http://www.singleparenttravel.net/
-Karen
First, check out what seats you will have by going to www.seatguru.com to see what kind of seats you have and what you can request.
Here is a checklist of suggestions:
1. If breastfeeding, nurse during take-off and landing (landing is the most important)- or give a bottle- to help relieve any ear discomfort.
2. Bring Infant Tylenol with you (Infant Benedryl, which some suggest, can have the opposite effect on children so test before using it)- you can give it half hour before take-off if you are concerned about an existing cold or trying to get the child to sleep.
3. Request bulk-head seat- for international travel- try and get bulk-head with bassinet.
4. Bring extra clothes and blankets.
5. Take snack packs.
6. Take extra baby food in case of a flight delay.
7. Bring a highchair for restaurants (I like the Phil&Ted’s MeToo the best)
8. Bring a baby carrier like a Bjorn or Ergo or sling.
9. Bring a few burp cloths or cloth diapers for sopping up messes.
10. Bring a new toy or book.
11. See if you can get the window or middle seat as the aisle seat does not allow you to put up the armrest and makes sleeping for the baby really hard (not to mention nursing!)
12. Bring a ton million! pacifiers.
13. Bring some handiwipes for wiping off a pacifier or toy that falls to the floor.