Flying with a Baby – Some Essential Tips

Flying with a baby has its challenges for sure, but we’ve compiled these useful tips below that should help make the whole experience easier and therefore much more enjoyable.

Milk/food/snacks

• Take as much milk/food/snacks as you can possibly manage. We nearly always run out despite packing way more than I think necessary.
• Breastfeed or give a bottle on take off and landing – this has always calmed our babies during this time and helps to keep them happy on your lap whilst their seatbelt has to be on.
• When flying with a baby, you can take milk/liquid though security but be sure to take this out of your bag so they can scan it for you.
• If your baby is weaned onto food, take tidy, preferably slow to eat, snacks to keep them entertained. Don’t rely on the food service as this can take forever to get to you when you have a hungry baby!

Entertainment

• When flying with a baby, entertaining them can be hard work. Take a note of what keeps them happy at home and if this is suitable, try to take this on the plane with you. Our daughters have both loved pop up books so we take a few of these on each flight.
• Take any toys that they particularly like – generally I don’t take noisy toys as this would get irritating for everyone!
• We took a packet of sticky notes once and our 11 month old had a fantastic time sticking them everywhere…and then doing it all over again. It was a simple thing but it worked.

Naps/down time

• We have always taken a blanket or sleeping bag if we think that nap time will fall during the flight, as flying with a baby is much easier when they’re asleep!
• Comforters or cuddly toys will help settle them if they need to go for a sleep.
• Try to make it as much like your home as possible, if you cuddle them to sleep at home do the same, if they sleep in a sleeping bag at home, do the same. And so on.

Getting to/from the plane

• For the vast majority of the flights we’ve taken with our girls we’ve been able to take the buggy up to the plane door which is always a huge help. If the check in staff don’t offer this, ask them. It will save you very achy arms!
• Whilst families can often board first we tend to hold back and try to board near the end – we want to minimise the length of time on the plane where possible. However it is worth bearing in mind that you might not get overhead cabin space if you do this (we always store our bags under the seats in front of us for easy access).
• Sometimes our buggy is waiting for us when we get off the plane – it’s fairly rare though. In some airports (London Gatwick for example), they have loads of public buggies available so you can borrow these until you get your buggy from arrivals.
• Oversized bags (car seats, buggies etc) tend to come out at a different place to regular baggage. Don’t panic if you can’t see yours – its probably elsewhere in the baggage hall.
• Take a sling/baby carrier if you have one. This helped us immeasurably when walking from the plane to baggage reclaim, especially if the passport control queue was long.

Anything else?

• Take a mini bag with just wipes, nappies and nappy bags in. This makes it easy to dash to the toilets rather than drag a full change bag with you.
• Spare clothes for your baby and even you (especially if your baby has reflux like my youngest!)
• Muslins are great for mopping up spills, using as a pillow, extra blanket etc.
• With our eldest, who was on the move from 6 months we always bought her a seat despite her not legally having to have one until she was 2 years old. This really helped as it meant we always had a complete row of 3 and a bit more space for her to move around. She still had to sit on our lap for take off and landing but it saved our sanity during the flights.
• All airlines we’ve flown with have let us pre select our seats for free when traveling with an infant. Do this as soon as you can so that you get a choice of seat and can definitely get ones all together.
• Try to relax – you’re on holiday! 9 times out of 10 the flights are not nearly as bad as you think they’ll be. And even if the worst happens and baby cries, the vast majority of people have nothing but sympathy for you.