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| Surprise! |
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| Getting to know each other |
I was a nervous wreck leading up to the flight. Would we remember everything? Would we have enough diapers/clothes/wipes/bottles/formula for the five hour flight? Would we be able to transport everything easily? Would his little ears hurt??
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| All smiles when we landed |
In the meantime, here are a few things that helped make flying with an infant manageable!
Best three bucks I've spent in a long time. Meg Collins is the brains behind LuciesList.com, which has the best email subscription ever for expecting and new moms. I love the info she gives and the way she gives it so when I saw that she wrote an eBook about the ins and outs of flying with baby, I knew it'd be worth a gander. I felt so much more at ease and prepared after reading her book (which I did in about 20 minutes while the bean napped) and can't recommend it enough if you're flying with a baby anytime soon.
This thing is ingeniously made. The way it zips up and is able to be thrown over your shoulder is awesome. And the velcro flap that allows you to either wear the boppy on your lap or make a little bed for your baby is especially clutch. We ended up being able to make a little bed for Owen and he napped soundly until the little girl behind us let out an ear-piercing scream.
Ok, fine. This is a luxury. But if you get lucky enough to be on flight that isn't full, you can ask the flight attendant at the counter if some rearranging can be done. We wouldn't have been able to make a bed for him unless we had an extra seat. And on the way there, we did. Some poor couple missed their flight and we reaped the rewards. A kind fellow passenger switched rows with us when her seatmates didn't show up and we were able to spread out. On the way back, no such luck. The flight was overbooked. But we did luck out and had a very nice and understanding seatmate which made things a little easier. She volunteered to hold the boppy so I could get up easier and didn't mind when we had to change his diaper (more on that soon). Also, Owen had a crush on her and would not stop smiling and flirting when he was awake. Mini-Casanova, this one.
They say to try to feed your baby at take off and landing to help alleviate the pain from their ears popping with the pressure change. I wanted to make sure that we were prepared so instead of needing to measure out the formula mid-flight, I went ahead and made up baggies of formula and labeled them. He's doing about a 5 oz bottle every time now but occasionally just wants a snack so I made both 5 oz baggies and 2 oz baggies. I even color-coded them with the marker I used to label them. One adjustment I would make next time is to bring a small pair of scissors . You are allowed to bring scissors with blades shorter than 4 inches in your carry-on, according to the TSA website. This way I could have cut off the tip of the bottom of the baggie and been able to pour the formula into the bottles more effectively. Pouring through the ziploc part was more difficult than expected! I tried it at home with snipping off the edge and it worked like a charm.
5. Changing Mat
Ugh. Our planes did not have changing tables in their lavatories. And Owen made a mess on the flight there. Baby Boy's poos are not for the faint-hearted and I worried that the fumes would make people want to parachute out if I changed his poopy diaper in the cabin. So to the bathroom I went. The flight attendant gave me a large plastic bag to place over the closed toilet seat lid. I had my changing mat with us to lay on top of that. It still was one of the more harrowing experiences I've had yet with baby. He was slipping and sliding in there and I was scared to death he was going to fall on the ground. He could tell I was stressed and started crying. But we got it done. Luckily on the way back he pooed right before we boarded and I was able to change him at the airport! Pee diapers though? Watch out fellow passengers, I'm laying this changing pad on the seat and I don't care what you think. I'm not reliving the plastic-on-toilet-seat-slip-and-slide experience again if I can help it.
6. Extra Outfits
Houdini-Pee struck again and we had to do a costume change mid-flight. But even if he didn't pee through his sleeper, you never know when a massive spit-up attack or poo-explosion could happen. So I had an extra sleeper, an extra onesie, pants and socks packed in our diaper bag...just in case. And it's a good thing I did! I also had an extra shirt for myself in case any of the aforementioned bodily fluids got on me.
This was a last minute purchase. I read Meg Collins' eBook and she mentioned that her stroller got broken twice due to gate checks and there is nothing you can do about it. The airline isn't responsible. She recommended leaving your fancy/jogger/bulky/expensive stroller at home. I'm glad I listened! Having a lighter-weight, simple stroller made a huge difference. It's definitely going to get its use and then some, on subsequent trips and even on trips to Target, I'm sure!
Owen slept through security strapped onto me. I was able to walk through, hands-free, and they just do a hand swipe to check for explosive residue. Plus, while he was awake, he loved looking around and checking out all of the new sights.
And those were the key things! Big thanks to my friends Michaela and Jes, who have both flown with their infants recently and gave advice that eased my mind. They both agreed that flying with baby was relatively easy and now I agree with them too! Now, we'll see how it goes in July when Baby Boy may be mobile. He started turning over on this trip - both from back to belly and belly to back. And when I told my mom this news, she sent me a page from MY baby book. Turns out I mastered crawling at five months old...looks like Owen might take after his mama! Should make for an interesting flight in two months...
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