Air Travel with a Baby Under 6 Months Old
Scout got her wings! She’s a travel pro now, both road tripping and riding on an airplane all before 6 months of age.
In this post, I’m sharing with you some travel tips and what we packed for our plane ride. If you would like to know how to we traveled by car on a road trip, click here.
Background
Scout was five months for her first plane ride. Initially we planned to have her in the air at two months, but I decided not to go on the trip so she stayed home with me. I don’t believe it is hard to travel with a baby and we only needed limited gear.
This trip was a weekend getaway (Friday – Sunday).
What We Packed
Disposable Diapers (20 count)
Looking back, this wasn’t the very best idea. Scout is cloth diapered and quite honestly it would have been easier to just have her in those. The cloth absorbs a lot more and from my experience, doesn’t lead to major blow outs. Though she didn’t have a “blow out”, I did have to change her clothes a few times due to the diapers leaking.
Since this was a short trip, the turnaround would have been ok for cloth diapers (duly noted for the next time).
Car Seat + Base
Whether it was a rental car or an Uber all weekend, we knew we would have to be in a car and she would need to have a seat. I purchased a car seat bag from Amazon and hubby carried it through the airport, checking it at the gate so that it was there for pickup right when we got off the plane.
Diaper Bag
Inside of the diaper bag I packed all of her disposable diapers, a few extra onesies, burp cloths, her wooden ring and Moose toy, wipes, and of course the changing pad. I also packed her Baby Banz earmuffs (purchased from Amazon) to mute out any loud sounds throughout the airport and while on the plane. She ended up throwing them off so that she could sleep comfortably on my chest.
Carrier
Y’all know I love to baby-wear (and so does Hubby), so I packed the ErgoBaby carrier for the weekend. I ended up wearing her majority of the time and it was so easy to go through airport security with her in it. Boarding was also a breeze and she was comfortable enough to sleep on my chest without a lot of adjusting.
Additional Tips
Non-stop Flights
It’s already a lot to deal with baby gear, so if you can help it book a non-stop flight to your final destination. We had a three hour flight each way so she was sleep majority of the time. When she wasn’t sleep,
Pack Light + Smart
A baby doesn’t need a lot, just essentials: milk (she’s exclusively breastfed and I was there so no bottles), clean clothes + diapers, a couple toys, car seat and a way to carry them when you get to where you’re going whether that be a stroller or a carrier (or your arms if you’re about that life). That’s really it.
We co-sleep so there was no bassinet or play pen necessary, but if you do not co-sleep a travel bassinet would be clutch for this trip. And yes, all her little clothes fit within our one and only carry-on for the trip.
To Pre-board or NOT to Pre-board…
I think it all boils down to preference.
The first flight we were late to the gate and one of the last to board (lost track of time 😩). There was no room for our carry-on which was really no biggie because the plane itself was small so we would have probably had to check it anyway. By the time we got on the plane it was pretty much ready to take off so we put on her earmuffs and nursed. She was inquisitive at first, but since it was a night flight and it was past her bedtime, she drifted off to sleep with no issues.
The second flight was in the morning and we arrived early to the gate. We decided to pre-board so that we could establish ourselves and have a place for our luggage. Though we were on the plane for a longer time, she was still ok and content. We put on her earmuffs, nursed just as the plane was taking off, and she found sleep soon after.
Either way was fine. The end result was always her sleeping so it didn’t matter either way!
Give Yourself Time
Arrive a little earlier than you would if you were just traveling alone. We found ourselves struggling to get the car seat base out of the car once we arrived and were thankful for the extra time we padded in our journey for the “just in case”. Also, running through the airport with an infant isn’t a good look so …
How do you air travel with a baby? What are some of your essentials?
