9 Tips For Traveling With A Baby

Hello, there! I've a fun line up of guest posts this week. Instead of the usual "let's talk about our birth stories and how much we love our babies" theme for when a newbie baby has arrived, I've put together a series of how-tos, motherhood essentials, and mama style posts from some of my most favorite fellow mamas. I am crazy excited to share their tips and blogs with you. If you don't already read them, I guarantee you will. They are marvelous examples of how beautiful motherhood can be!  

First up, we have Lindsay from the blog, Deer Lindsay. I first found Lindsay on Instagram and became enamored with her charming life off the bat. I do not exaggerate when I tell you her little man, Wesley (two thumbs up on that name!) is seriously one of the cutest babies I've ever seen. Like, I love him and want to borrow him indefinitely. She and her husband go on adventures and capture the simple details of life in the most charming way. Today she is here to give us all some tips on how to seamlessly travel on a flight with a baby. Enjoy! 

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i’ve loved to travel ever since i was a little girl. my very first plane ride was to hawaii when i was eleven years old and i was hooked after that. every summer we would road trip ten hours to see my grandparents and i’d dream out the car window of living on a farm someday. once in my teenage years, i flew back and forth from california to arizona often to visit friends after my family moved. not only did i love flying, but i loved flying alone. getting quick through security and talking to strangers on the flight has always been exciting for me. there is something that ignites in me when i explore and learn of a new culture and world other than my own. luckily my husband loves adventure too, so we travel and road trip a lot. we are always making plans for a trip somewhere. we’ve committed to living this same way as we have children and hope that our kids will be as eager to see the world as we are. 

when my son was born i was anxious to take him on his first trip. i didn’t wait long and flew the two of us to arizona when he was just two months old and then to california a week after that. it was so much easier than expected, but there are some tips i’d like to share. and remember, this was my experience with only one child (and an infant at that). multiple children and older children might change the game a bit. 

print boarding pass and bring birth certificate i always print my boarding pass before to save time. sometimes they wanted to see his birth certificate and other times they didn’t.

use a passport holder something this simple will make things so easy when you already have your hands full with a baby. your boarding pass, ID, and birth certificate will be easily accessible all in one place.

check your bags i didn’t do this on one of our flights and it made it so much harder going through security and getting it in the overhead compartment. even if you have to pay, i think it is worth it. if you are traveling alone, it’s nice to only have your baby and a bag of diapers to worry about.

expect a pat down at security we had a total of four flights within those two weeks and every time we went through security we got a pat down. in our airports when your are carrying a child they swipe your hands and test it for any residue. if it comes back positive, they do a pretty invasive pat down.

use your baby carrier and leave the carseat lugging the carseat is such a hassle and the infant is going to sit on your lap anyway. if you can arrange to borrow a carseat wherever you are going, i would recommend it. when we went to california our friends had one in their car and we used that. it made traveling so enjoyable. also, having your child in a carrier leaves your hands free and able to do what you need to.

change diaper before boarding changing it on the plane is awkward in the small space.

bring a few binkies or lanyard i don’t use binkie lanyards much, but should have on these trips. either that or bring a few binkies because your baby will spit it on the dirty floor several times!

remember your nursing blanket i forgot my blanket in the overhead compartment and i was still new and awkward at nursing in public. the plane took off and i had to nurse him because he was hungry and i also wanted him to be sucking to avoid pressure on his ears while ascending. i was sitting next to a man and had to whip it out. oh well, i guess!

look out the window and enjoy the view once you sit down and realize you’ve conquered the world, enjoy the flight! wesley loved looking out the window and smiling at strangers.