We recently took baby boy on his first airplane ride: TO HAWAII! At 7 months old he went to Maui for a whole week on vacation. If only he could remember it, ha! 🤪
A lot of you were interested in tips for flying with a baby, so I figured I would share what worked for us. As always…every baby is different. Don’t be hard on yourself if your little one isn’t having a good time, and don’t fret over others feelings. It is JUST a plane ride and that is it—you will survive!
1. Nurse/Bottle Feed During Take Off
Every blog post you read about flying with a baby will say this, but it’s because it’s true. I nursed during take off both there and back, and he passed out for 30 minutes each time. Landing however—both there and back, he was wide awake. Nursing on and off but for the most part, very distracted! I think he could sense my excitedness though. I was excited to be landing in Hawaii to start our first vacation, and I was also excited to be home after a week. But this leads me to tip two…
2. Babies Feel Your Feelings
If you’re anxious, panicky, feeling frightened, chances are baby will feel like that too. I’ll be the first to admit that I 100% have flight anxiety! Especially with all the added restrictions of going to Hawaii, that added on even more feelings of panic. So I laugh at myself for saying this, because it’s way easier said than done, but try your best to stay calm. What helped me on our flight was remembering that after the flight took off, there was only one place to go—the final destination. And to just focus on the countdown. That might make some feel worse, but it helped me!
3. Take Up the Whole Row
Worth every penny. Even though we didn’t pay for it. So, our plane was only two rows, left and right. There was no middle section with 5 seats or anything. I wanted a window seat because I get motion sick and it helps me to look out, so we booked a window and middle seat. Both there and back the aisle seat was never taken, so we got to spread out! If we fly anytime soon I’ll probably pay for 3 seats depending on how long the flight is.
4. Bring toys that aren’t REALLY toys
This simple trick kept Lorenzo entertained the whole flight. Things he loves that he plays with but aren’t really considered “toys”: empty wipe pack, empty water bottles, tv remote (with batteries taken out of course), food wrappers. Other than that, we brought all the small things we had that fit in our bag that are considered sensory toys. Our boy loves those, so focusing on what he plays with/goes for most helped!
5. Switch Off Every 30-45 minutes
Taking turns also makes the flight go by much faster. When I looked at the flight based on turns vs. 6 hours, I only had 5 ish turns of keeping him entertained. Easy peasy! The breaks are also nice to eat, stretch, get water and just be hands free.
TRAVEL BAGS:
These aren’t really “flight tips” but since it does have to do with flying and babies, I figured I would include these in this post.
1. Check in stroller at the gate
We took our stroller through security, and were able to wheel it around throughout the airport. Keep in mind however, you do have the option to check it while checking your bags before you go to security. We decided to check ours at the gate simply because our stroller can carry so much. We each had a bag for the plane ride (backpack, diaper bag) then random things like carriers and what not for Lorenzo. Not having to hold everything throughout the airport was really nice! And I would recommend doing the same if you have a lot of bags and things to carry. Which is basically everyone with a baby, lol!
2. Uppababy Bag
If you have this stroller, this ones for you. Purchase this bag and make sure to register it as soon as you get it! This bag ensures that if for some reason your stroller is damaged while traveling, uppababy will take care of it! But ONLY if it’s registered. That’s the most important part! Ours was good, but the peace of mind knowing that we had that “ticket” if you will was reassuring.
3. No Car Seat for Plane
Not necessary in my opinion! We didn’t bring our carseat at all, actually. I should note though that since we went to Hawaii (super crowded and rental car expenses through the roof), we didn’t need it. It would’ve cost over $1,000 just to rent a car for the week–not including gas, overnight hotel fees, and more. When we got to the Maui airport, our driver was waiting for us and they were able to provide the carseat. We just told them beforehand that we needed one! Highly recommend Primo VIP if you are traveling to Maui and need a ride to and from anywhere.
