Tips for short-haul flying with a baby
Things were a bit quieter in the Tin Box household last week as the baby and I went on an adventure.
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| Seasoned plane spotters will notice this is our plane at Glasgow rather than Southampton! |
Contents - jump to what you'd like to know
Don’t wear anything too fancy
If you’re feeding a baby on the go without a high chair or a dish cloth close to hand then you are going to get covered. Even though our flight was short we still fitted in three baby meals times either at the airport or in the air. I had two muslins, a large bib and a nice new shirt (!) to catch the spillage.
Baby wear
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| Bathroom baby wearing selfie – the norm when bloggers travel! |
I changed my mind about taking the pushchair to the departure gate about five times in the 24 hours before our outgoing flight. On the morning it was raining and I decided it would be horrible trying to pack the chair away in the drizzle by myself if we had a walk to the plane. So I went for the wrap. It totally worked. We hung out in Costa for brunch and the pushchair would have just gotten in the way. I did exactly the same on our return flight. It made the airport a breeze.
Wait to board
Let everyone else board first. You won’t get caught up in the scrum for locker space and if there are any spare seats you can bag some extra room before you get settled. We managed to get two seats both ways thanks to this tactic.
Feed at take off and landing
This is the scariest part of flying for any parent. No one likes to hear a baby in pain while their ears pop. Tin Box Baby saw her bottle just before we started to taxi, latched on and was quite happy until we levelled out. She then had a little play with a toy and fell asleep – perfect! Just don’t hand over the bottle or boob too early, make sure you account for taxiing. On the way down TBB was happy to suck on her dummy.
Take some distractions
No matter how young your baby is or how short your flight, take a couple of their favourite toys to distract them when you see the bottom lip begin to wobble. TBB has a few teething toys that came in a lot during our journey.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
TBB prefers her bottle slightly warm but on our return trip I didn’t have time to find somewhere to warm it at the airport. The lovely Flyby cabin crew helpfully offered to pop it in a cup of warm water before landing so I could give TBB her 4pm feed just how she likes it.
What are your tips for flying with a baby? If you’d like more experts tips of flying with kids I can recommend reading Life with Baby Kicks, Mini Travellers and Flying with a Baby family travel blog. Carrie at Flying with a Baby is a former flight attendant and has two very well travelled girls. When it comes to boarding planes with children, she knows her stuff!
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Some great tips here! We travelled to Hong Kong last year (12 hour flight!!) and it was just awful! M was overtired as it was late night flight (he was 18 months old) and he wouldn't stop crying as we were delayed flying out by 45 minutes. Thankfully he finally stopped when the plane started taxiing. When we've flown we've always been allowed to board first which makes the process easier but it does then mean you are waiting longer to fly! #ParentingPicks
Hurray I'm so glad it went well! How cute are TBB's feet in her tights popping out the bottom! I agree on absolutely all of these, especially feeding on take off and landing – it keeps them nice and distracted and so far (touch wood) haven't had an issue with sore ears yet when we've flown. Thanks so much for linking up to #ParentingPicks lovely! Mim x
Totally agree with these tips. Our tot is quite well travelled with 12 flights under his belt at 1 year 3 months, several of those long haul. For older babies I'd say snacks are key. He's a pretty slow eater so a bad of pretzels or breadsticks can kill most of a short haul flight. I agree that buggies are more hassle than they are worth. Carriers are lighter and compact and keep you tot up out of reach of strangers 🙂
Thanks so much for linking up with #fartglitter xxx
Great tips. We have flown with both of my kiddos alot since birth on long haul flights so I always look forward to the fun short haul ones. Your little one is adorable!!! Making me broody! lol Thank you so much for linking up to Share With Me. I hope to see you again this week for another great round of #sharewithme
Totally! If there's anything that can be done it's always better to ask for a hand 🙂 x
I'm so glad I did. If I was still boob feeding during the day that would have been my solution too 🙂
I flew with my, then, 7 month old this summer and can highly recommend all of your points. Especially not being afraid to ask for help. Everyone would much rather help out and not hear a crying baby.
Vix x
#fartglitter
Awesome tips. 😀 I used to baby-wear 100% when travelling. It's so much easier then. 🙂 And the children were popped on the boob so never really made a noise hehe.
It sounds like you've got travelling with a baby cracked. The only extra thing you need to factor in is the changes in air pressure. If you've been able to keep a five month old entertained during long days in the car then you'll do fine flying. Getting as much sleep out of them as you can is the key 🙂
That's good to hear. I'm glad I've been able to help 🙂
Yes! Do lots of reading before and go with the flow on th day. It's difficult to plan your journey around naps and meal times when you are on a long flight – they just have to happen when they happen – but don't let this put you off having a great adventure! Good luck! X
This type of wrap is quite tight and I wasn't able to wear my first daughter in it for very long because she didn't seem to like being so confined. However Tin Box Baby enjoys it. My wrap is a Moby wrap and they have lots of tutorials online about how to wear their fabric sling as your baby grows. The wide straps make it really comfy when you are wearing a larger baby. Tin Box Tot is now nearly 18lbs. I hope that helps a bit and good luck with your flight! Let me know how it goes X
These are great trips! I'll be flying with my then 3 month old in November for a quick trip to Frankfurt. The flight is only 2 hours so I'm hoping it will go well! Also, how do you get that wrap to work? I've been trying to figure out how to tie it and get the baby in, but it seems like he is too big for it or it is too tight. Any suggestions?
I've not flown yet with our daughter. It's posts like this that reassure me that it can be done. #sharewithme
Such cute photos 🙂
We are debating flying our children long haul next year (they are 4 and 1) to the States and Im a bit scared! I think preparation is going to be key.
I have not had to fly with my son yet and quite honestly, the thought is terrifying for me! I have taken several car trips with him though and he does great in those. When he was about 5 months old, we did a long day trip down to Key West. My husband and I are cyclists and there was an event he was participating in to cycle down to Key West. We followed by car and waiting for him at the rest stops along the way. In all, it was about 7-hours of driving each day, and there was two days worth of driving. He did really well and at each stop I took him out of the car and wore, fed him, changed him, etc. Thankfully at that age, they spend most of their time sleeping, so there was a lot of sleeping in the car and not much fuss.
My biggest tip to traveling with a baby or toddler is to plan it around sleep schedules. Trips go a lot smoother when they're sleeping.