9 | How to survive your first flight with an infant

Have you been feeling overwhelmed and scared at the thought of taking your first trip with your baby? Worried that your baby will cry throughout the journey and that the trip will end up making you feel even more exhausted?
 
In this episode, I walk you through everything you need to know about traveling with an infant for the first time. Drawing from my own experience of an 18-hour journey from Mexico to Europe with my 11-week-old daughter, I will share practical tips and insights from the equipment needed to the logistics of baby travel to help make your journey smoother. 
 
 Topics covered:

• Consulting with paediatricians, vaccination timelines, and how to help ease ear pressure for your little one
• What items to bring
• Managing security checks
• Using carriers, nursing pillows, and keeping your baby entertained.
• Understanding bassinets, seat selection and handling layovers.
  
  

Traveling with a baby can seem daunting, but it’s absolutely doable and can be a wonderful experience. Tune in for all the tips you need to make your journey smoother!
 
Join the Partners Beyond Parenthood Facebook group to connect with me and other parents. Share your stories, get tips, and support each other on this parenting adventure!

I'd love to hear what you thought and if you're curious about any topics that you'd like me to explore, you can email me at hello@partnesbeyondparenthood.com.

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Transcript

Speaker: 0:00

If your baby's like ours, then you'll want a few outfit changes. Be prepared for the blowout and know that airplane changing tables and the bathrooms are teeny tiny. It's not a fun experience. So have the wet wipes, enough diapers, and the change of outfits easily accessible. Hello, and welcome to Partners Beyond Parented, the podcast that helps new parents thrive without losing themselves. My name is Sabah Buzunur and my mission is to help new parents gain clarity on what their priorities and needs are. With this episode my goal is to inform you of the things you should take into consideration or what you can expect when traveling with an infant for the first time on a plane and how you can best prepare. As avid travelers, before our baby was born, we were determined for that not to change. We of course expected it to be less, but somehow we still managed to keep up the pace, and by the time our little one was one year old, she'd already been to 14 countries. Now, for this episode, I will talk about our first trip ever, where we traveled with our daughter when she was 11 weeks by plane on an 18 hour journey. We made the move from Mexico to Europe. I say Europe, because we did not have a fixed destination in place, and wanted to travel around for a few months. My father's reaction was, Really? Traveling with a baby that is still so young? Don't you want to wait until she's at least one year old? A friend who is also a pediatrician said that, It's not good to travel before then. This made me second guess the move. I definitely want what's best for her, but I had once again found quite a bit of conflicting information. Now, my first thoughts were, who is this pediatrician friend of my dad's? He may just be old school. There is a plethora of change since their days of being parents. Ultimately, we spoke to our pediatrician about our concerns. Out of all the people, she would likely have the best insights. And we had two main concerns. One, is it safe to travel at this age due to her still undeveloped immune system? And two, how can we best avoid her getting blocked ears? Is it even possible? She reassured us that at the time we'd be flying with her, she would have had all the necessary vaccines and time for any reactions to take place for her age. Yes, of course there are going to be a lot of people, germs may be everywhere, but with the pandemic there seemed to have been measures implemented to ensure better and cleaner airflow in flight. All right, so that was one less thing to worry about. For her ears, she instructed me to breastfeed during takeoff and landing since the sucking and swallowing action would naturally help her balance the pressure. For those not breastfeeding, giving a bottle would be the equivalent, and sure enough, it works. I've traveled quite a bit since and have done this each time and she's been fine. That said, It is really difficult to time it right. If your baby's hungry, she's hungry. You can't really say, wait 15 more minutes till takeoff. In our case, we had a slight delay. Yes, always factor that in because you truly never know. In fact, I barely remember the last time a flight left on schedule, even if it is only a few minutes. So if that happens, you're in trouble. Just feed them. Best case scenario, they will pass out. You just want to make sure that if it is close to takeoff that they are buckled up right. Otherwise, the staff will tell you to do it, even if it means waking up the baby, and that's not fun. Having them sleep during takeoff, at least in my experience, had no effect on her ears whatsoever and made the experience very smooth. We had addressed the health concerns. Next, what baby items can you take with you? If you're traveling with a stroller and car seat, you can check those in for free with most, if not all, airlines. Always double check though, um, as it may be tied to the fare class, but in most cases when you're traveling with an infant, this is the case. You'll usually get allowance for an extra bag, diaper bag usually, and maybe even checked luggage. Again, check with your airline. The stroller can be taken right up to the gate and in the best case scenario you have a travel stroller that can be folded with a click of one button, and if not, it's fine. It's not fun, but definitely manageable, particularly if you're traveling with your partner or someone else. Otherwise there will always be someone to help. It's also good practice to ask if the stroller will be provided. Once you exit the plane or on the conveyor belt, this changes depending on the airport and sometimes even the airline I've noticed onto essentials for your baby. If your baby's like ours, then you'll want a few outfit changes. Be prepared for the blowout and know that airplane changing tables and the bathrooms are available. are teeny tiny. It's not a fun experience, so have the wet wipes, enough diapers, and the change of outfits easily accessible. Toys at this stage are not so important, but you can have something to entertain them with if you'd like. A black and white toy, card, or something of the sort. Something that makes sound and can distract them for a few moments at a time. If you don't have a toy, it's also okay. They'll most likely sleep most of the time at this stage, particularly if you can time more or less around the time they usually take a nap, which Yeah, it's a bit laughable. You'll want an age appropriate carrier. This gives you your hands back, and your little one a chance to get some skin on skin, some intimate time with you, and can nod off as well. We used the Ergobaby 360, and in all honesty, just a few days before the flight, we really didn't know what to do. Because she got hysterical every time we tried to put her in there. I think, and I don't know, but magically about two days before the flight, she just accepted it and stopped crying. So, tip there, test the carrier with your baby to make sure you won't have a hard time with it. The next recommendation is likely more a personal preference, but I couldn't imagine having done the trip without a nursing pillow. Super easy for breastfeeding and perfect for them to doze off to while still being comfortable for you. When you're at the airport, try and arrive with A little more time than you usually do, particularly if this is the first time flying with an infant. It can all be a little overwhelming, especially for your baby. Security lines may be long, and depending on the airport, you may or may not have a family line. Always make sure to ask. They're generally better equipped. I've had moments where I've traveled solo with our daughter, and they were quite friendly and helpful. In another instance where there was no family security line, I felt like there was generally less patients and they even flagged wet wipes because of the water content. Pretty crazy. They will also be better trained with regard to your liquid allowance. For instance, you are allowed to take more than 100 milliliters of water, milk, etc. since your baby will need this for the flight. Once your baby starts solids or purees. You're also allowed to take this in containers above 100 milliliters. The last item I'd recommend for travel is a backpack that can be pulled out to form a mini mattress for your little one to lay in. If you want a moment to eat and they may not be having it in the carrier, it's a good hack to have them just lie down or even practice some tummy time. Finally, it's not always possible, but when it is, I 10 out of 10 recommend getting a direct flight. If it's not possible, try and get one with a layover that is not too tight. Dealing with potential delays and potential loss of luggage will just add unnecessary stress. I'll say no more as this is frustrating enough even without kids. We flew from Mexico City to Berlin via Frankfurt since there were no direct flights. The first leg being a 12 hour flight. Now you may be thinking, how do you survive a 12 hour flight and stay sane? It probably goes without saying, but you want to take that first trip with your partner. If you can't, it's always good to have someone there so you feel less overwhelmed. There are so many things you'll think of. Or not, but I certainly did. Are they too hot or too cold? The general rule of thumb is that keeping them cooler than too warm is better to avoid SIDS, which is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Other thoughts that crossed my mind? Will I hear her if she cries through all the white noise and fairly loud sounds on the plane? The answer is Yes, there seems to be a very strong instinct to be wired to their cries. The first little noise and I was already getting up to check. A good thing to know is that you will usually be charged 10 percent of the flight fare on international flights. Domestic, there is usually no charge for an infant under two. At this age, you're probably less concerned about them fitting in the bassinet, but you always want to make sure you check the dimensions as airlines tend to have different sizes. And then of course, you want to make sure you request the seats with access to the bassinets. Adding an infant on lap does not automatically assign you those seats, and also depends on availability. So you want to do that as soon as you can. Another thing to be aware of is that if you book an additional seat for your baby, you will be required to have a legible car seat that is approved for air travel. And an even nastier surprise, make sure that if you plan on using that seat as their car seat in your destination country, that it has been approved in that country. I once read that a mother had bought a car seat in Germany. You'd expect German quality control to be pretty universal, right? She'd bought it specifically for the plane, just to then find out that it was not approved for the roads in Canada. So, double check that. In any case, we got the bassinet, and to our surprise, and probably even more so the passengers, she actually slept through most of it. We had an overnight flight, and by this stage, she was sleeping longer stretches, which was Great. I was prepared for the worst, but she woke maybe once or twice for a top up where we also changed her, but she then dozed off again. So it was actually a pretty smooth experience to conclude. I know that's been a lot of information travel with an infant at the ripe age of about three months is definitely doable and can even be enjoyable. If you've always loved to travel, but have been feeling overwhelmed to take that trip. I strongly encourage you to try. It doesn't have to be a long flight, or even a flight at all. You can do a short road trip, or go by train, but travel with a baby is possible and such a wonderful experience. People often say, Your baby won't remember. And this is where we often need reminding. We will remember. We deserve to have and create the memories with our little ones and our partners. If you have identified as a traveler in the past, you do not need to rid yourself of that identity or passion. So the question is, when is your next trip? Thanks so much for tuning in. I hope this episode has inspired you to take your next trip. If you have any questions or want to share your experiences, feel free to join my Facebook group, Partners Beyond Parenthood. Thank you so much for tuning in and sticking around to the end. If you've just watched and enjoyed this video, I'd be so grateful for a like. And if you'd hit the subscribe button with your support, I'll be able to invite bigger guests and provide more value. If you're listening to the audio only, make sure to follow this podcast to get tips on parenting and partnership and hear inspiring stories from other parents as well. See you next week.