Traveling with Baby

We just took our first flight with baby C. I was so nervous preparing for the event. In my head I pictures a screaming baby having a major blowout while others glared angrily at my for hours on end. thankfully, that was not the case. We eased into flying with a short 1 1/2 hour jaunt. Even with just this one adventure under my belt, I found a few things that helped me have a smooth flight.

1. Baby Wear- I wore Christian in the Moby Wrap through the airport which allowed my to have my hands free to help with the luggage, stroller, pack n play, wedge, carseat... man babies need a lot of stuff! (side note: our limit of 1 bag for our family was very helpful too!) I could wear him through security, they just had to dust my fingers for explosive materials after going though the metal detector.

2. Travel Nursing Pillow- Before leaving I ordered an inflatable My Brest Friend (seriously... what a name) pillow from Amazon. It inflated in like 3 breaths and then deflates and fit nicely in my diaper bag. It also has a removable cover which just happens to be super cute! This was so nice not only to have on the trip but also for nursing on the plane and it made it really comfortable. Plus everyone says NURSE, NURSE, NURSE while flying to help calm baby and to relieve any ear pressure.

3. Travel Changing Station- I had a separate changing pad that I could grab to use in the airplane bathroom if needed (which we didn't need thankfully!) and Kerry also used it to change C in the men's room at the airport. Great for being out and about!

4. Extra clothes for the ENTIRE family- I had heard that babies tend to have major blowouts while flying- maybe something to do with the pressure. Well C was a champ and didn't have this problem during the flight but he DID right before each flight while we were still in the airport. Both times this required a complete change of clothes for him. Keep an extra shirt for Mom and Dad as well in case you are snuggling your sweet little one while this happens! :)

5. People are really either helpful or indifferent but no one was super crabby or rude about us having a baby on the plane. Both women we sat next too didn't look up from their books the entire flight... total indifference. While another lady, just my luck, was a lactation consultant who wanted to give me all sorts of personal advice about breastfeeding. (At 7 months, I think I got this down! Thanks though...) The flight attendants were also more than eager to hold a fussy baby for us :)

No the flight wasn't perfect. Yes C did cry. But it really was a whole lot easier than I expected!