My dance studio has an annual recital after school lets out for summer, and I head to Atlanta to pick all of the costumes every October. Having to take a work trip away from my boys is one thing, but leaving my nursing 8 week old baby for a weekend wasn’t going to happen…mama bear kicked in! So, I decided to take him along with me. Here’s the 5 biggest things I learned with my peanut taking his first flying trip:
Use a Backpack or Backpack Diaper Bag for Baby’s Stuff
This is the newest technology in “hands-free” for kiddos. I had two hands completely available for boarding passes, my driver’s license, and even holding a smoothie! My shoulder strap diaper bag would have been slipping down as I tried to navigate check-in and boarding the plane.
Baby-Wearing is Your Best Friend
This may not always work with toddlers, but I found it so helpful! I’m a big advocate of baby-wearing in general (as you can tell from my instagram Here and Here), but this was even more amazing to do in the airport. Baby was kept close to me (and away from touchy feely hands, coughs, sneezes), and I was able to keep him content while we waited to board the plane. I did have to take him out and hold him for flying – it’s the rules – but then I strapped him right back on to get off the plane. It definitely made things smoother.
Find Out the Family Boarding Protocol Ahead of Time
The airline we used had three groups for boarding, and families with children under six were allowed to board after the first group. This was a short flight from New Orleans to Atlanta, so it didn’t matter that we were towards the middle of the plane. But if were flying for longer time, I’d probably want to be closer to the front. Had I checked into this ahead of time, I may have opted to pay the upgrade fee on my tickets.
Prepare for Pressure
New Orleans is below sea-level, so anytime I’m flying out of or into the city I have a tremendous 
amount of pressure (and pain) in my ears. Years ago, I found these awesome earplugs called Ear Planes and have used them every single flight since. ( You can check them out in my ears and my moms ears in this photo). They regulate the pressure in my ears so I don’t experience any pain. My peanut, however, couldn’t wear these little plugs of joy, so I was worried he would have issues with the pressure as well. The solution? Try to nurse your baby as the plane is taking off so that he is continuing to swallow and unplug his own hears. A pacifier also works well for this – we didn’t have any issues with ear pain for him.
Pack Light
It’s simple. The more stuff you have, the more you will have to carry. Add to that your baby being worn on you, a diaper bag on your back, and dragging luggage…sheesh! Packing light will help you lighten the load. Some ideas to consider – buy travel sizes in your toiletries and plan your outfits out ahead of time to avoid over packing. For baby, put each of his/her outfits in individual ziploc bags and grab what you need each day. It keeps your bag neat and tidy and it also stops me from over packing for my kids every time. I wish they sold baggies big enough for me to do that with too!
I’m sure I’ll have more to add to this list as we travel home in a couple of days. What are your biggest tips for flying with your baby? Leave your comments below! I’d love to chat with you.
As always, until next time ya’ll!
