Hello loves ♥ Hope you’re all doing well! I’m so excited to share this blog post with you all. I’ve gotten a ton of questions regarding the topic and I thought I’d share our experience with you, so here we go!
Our first time traveling with Liam and boy was I nervous!? Honestly, I’ve read so many articles, blog posts and even watched videos about traveling with a baby and I still felt overwhelmed and anxious; and not all my questions were answered. So in this blog post, I will try my very best to included everything that we did prior and during. Hopefully it helps you guys, who are traveling for the first time with your baby. I do want to say that some of these might not apply to you or your baby -every baby is different. Also consider the different airports and airlines etc. Really, just brace yourselves hehe.
Let’s start off with what we brought. There’s my husband and I, and our son. We managed to fit everything in two suitcases, 1 large (28″) and 1 small (22″). Here’s suitcases similar to what we have. Our diaper bag is just a backpack -mine’s the YSL City Backpack. I actually did a “What’s in my Carry On” video. So check that out to see what we packed in it for IN FLIGHT must haves.
Next, since we’ll be having a car rental during the trip, we brought our car seat with. We have the Evenflo Pivot Modular Travel System but decided we only needed the car seat itself (without the stay-in car base). This made traveling with the car seat easier, for it’s much lighter. As for stroller, we went brought our Pockit Stroller because it folds up so small and super light! It fits amazingly in the overhead compartment on planes or even under the seat in front of you.
What did we check in?
We flew with Delta and we checked in our car seat (FREE), they also provided a nice cover for the car seat -it’s a large plastic bag free of charge. We also checked in our large suitcase.
Regarding strollers, if your stroller doesn’t fold small where it fits in the overhead compartments, you can check it in at the Gate upon boarding your plane (FOR FREE!).
Our In Flight Must Haves
Did you watch the video above? In that video you’ll see everything I packed in my diaper bag -from diapers to formula to wipes to snacks, everything! But here are the FOUR items that helped a LOT with keeping our little on calm and content during the flight. Keep in mind that it’s different per baby. Think “What does your baby love to cuddle when sleeping? What keeps them calm?”
Cleanliness: Ya’ll, airplanes are dirty. So the first thing I did before sitting down in our seats is wipe down everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! Our seats, the back of the seats in front of us, even the wall/window. Babies touch everything and they like to put their hands in their mouth so doing this just makes me feel a bit better about germs and such. We used Wet Ones to wipe down everything.
Take Off/Landing: I read a lot online that during take off (and even landing) that it’s best for your baby to suck on something -ie. Bottles, breastfeed or a pacifier. It helps with the popping of the ears.
With our experience, Liam got hungry literally minutes before take off (lol) so that didn’t work. He did have his pacifier, his favorite, Mr. Giraffe from WubbaNub. Though to be honest, he didn’t even want it during take off. He literally just sat there so relaxed and looked out the window while I held him sitting on my lap.
Comfort: Liam is a pretty calm baby all around, but to really sleep he needs his blanky. Once he lays down with his blanky and paci, he gets calm and sleepy right away. (Here’s one of his favorite Blankets -We love the brand Hope & Henry hehe). If the little one isn’t sleepy, we have toys (1, 2, 3, 4) and his iPad to keep him occupied. Oh, we also had these Noise Canceling Headphones on hand in case he was sleepy and couldn’t sleep because of the noise around him. Luckily with Liam, we think he likes the sound of the plane engine haha! He literally knocked out during our flights.
Your questions, answered ♥
What do you pack on a carry on that’s airport approved?
Everything I packed in our diaper bag is all good.
For more information, I suggest reading TSA: Traveling with Children.
Were you able to bring the stroller inside the plane?
YES, the Pockit Stroller folds up really small that it fits in the overhead compartment or even under the seat in front of you.
What did you do with Liam’s milk? Did you bring your own water and boil etc?
Liam drinks formula so I just had his in the formula dispenser and I had packed bottles. I purchased a large bottled water once we got through security. Liam likes his milk room temperature so no need to warm anything.
Was it easy to feed Liam on the plane?
Yes. 🙂 I just had to mix his formula which is easy to do and we fed him with the squeezy food pouches.
Which seats did you get?
Tom and I got economy seats as close to the front as possible. We had short flights so it was really no big deal.
Do you recommend purchasing a separate seat or just lap sitting for baby?
I think this depends on the baby. We didn’t know how Liam would be on the plane, but we do know that he LOVES cuddling so we thought on our laps will be fine and it worked for us. Though I think if it’s a long flight, like more than 4/5hrs, I suggest a separate seat.
Where did you put him to sleep in?
On my lap or my husband’s. 🙂
How was the time differ for Liam?
Florida is only an hour ahead so it was really no big deal 🙂 He was still on schedule/routine during our trip.
Did you have to wait until he was vaccinated for the measles before travel?
No, baby’s don’t get the measles vaccine until 12/15months of age. He’s scheduled to get his a few days after his 1st birthday.
I believe that wraps up this blog post ♥
If have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below. I hope this post is helpful. Thank you so much for stopping by. See you in my next post!
