Tips + Tricks for Surviving a Flight with a Baby

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Wyatt was exactly four weeks old when we took our first flight with him (I can hardly remember those newborn days…black hole). We flew from San Francisco (where we were living at the time) to San Diego- Tim had to be there for a work conference, so we made a trip out of it. We wanted to try out a short flight before we attempted any of the cross-country flights that were inevitably in our future…holidays, family events, and friends.

I remember being anxious leading up to it, and obviously over-preparing as I do, just incase. A four week old can be pretty unpredictable, so although Tim and I have been on a million flights, we now had this new variable that was, let’s be honest, totally out of our control. Flying with a baby for the first time is one of those things that is scary before you do it, but once you’re in it, it’s not so bad (or at least it hasn’t been for us yet, knock on wood!)

Luckily, Wyatt crushed the flight and slept the whole way, and since then we’ve taken TWENTY-FOUR more flights in the subsequent nine months that he’s been alive, and haven’t looked back! We’ve flown in coach, “even more space,” and first class, over half of our flights with a baby have been cross-country, most with delays, and one where our plane had an emergency landing and the whole plane had to stay the night in Denver. I’ve flown with Wyatt by myself on over ten flights, and have learned a lot about surviving a flight with a baby!

I apologize in advance, but this is a LOOOONG post. This is something I’ve had countless people ask me about, and I’d rather give as much info as I can to help a mama out!

Flying with a baby for the first time is one of those things that is scary before you do it, but once you’re in it, it’s not so bad.

1. Booking your baby on a flight. For babies under 2 years old, you do not need to book them their own seat. You need to book them on your flight itinerary as a “lap infant” when buying your tickets, but there is no charge. You can always add a lap infant to your itinerary after the flight is booked as well (we had to do this when Wyatt wasn’t born yet, but had to book tickets from SF to Boston for Christmas- we didn’t know his name or birthday yet, so he couldn’t be added to our itinerary, but after he was born we called and added him.)
2. Best flight times to book. If your schedule allows and you’re booking a flight over two hours- I like to book flights for the evening when my baby would normally be sleeping. Night flights are often easier for babies to sleep on because they dim the lights and there isn’t as much action to distract them from sleeping, and your baby is used to sleeping in the nighttime hours (hopefully by the time you fly for the first time!) even if they’re not on a specific nap schedule. For flights under two hours- it’s such a short amount of time that I recommend just booking whatever time works best for your schedule! Also look at booking flight times depending on departure and arrival cities- especially if multiple time zones are a factor. When I fly from the west coast to the east coast, I usually prefer to fly red-eyes with my baby (sounds crazy, I know!) but again, he is used to sleeping at that time and I’m not spending six hours trying to entertain him! One more factor to consider is that the early morning flights are usually more often on-time for departure, less chance of a delay = less time in the airport = happier family.
3. Choosing seats to book. If you fly on an airline where you can select your seat, I like to select certain seats based on if I’m traveling alone with Wyatt or with my husband as well. When I travel alone, I choose an aisle seat that is close, but not too close to a bathroom or area that you can stand up in (or bounce your baby in). I used to book window seats when I was alone because I wanted privacy when breastfeeding, but after a few flights of having to ask my seatmates to get up so I could bounce Wyatt or change his diaper, I learned my lesson. When I’m traveling with Wyatt and my husband, we book an aisle, and a window in the same row (like seats A and C, or D and F if there are 6 seats in a row). We try to look for a row thats closer to the back of the plane, we’ve found that the seats at the back are usually the last to be booked, if they are at all (people prefer to be at the front of the plane), and middle seats are also last to be booked. So, in many lucky instances, by booking a window and aisle, the middle seat has not been booked and we end up with a whole section of a row, and a place to put baby things or for Wyatt to stretch his legs into if he’s laying on our lap. If someone is booked in the middle seat, we can then offer them the window instead of being between us (we’ve never had anyone who didn’t prefer the window over the middle.)
4. Pack a smart carry-on or diaper bag. What is normally in your diaper bag might not necessarily be what you need to be bringing on the plane. I like to pack even MORE diapers, wipes and changes of clothes than I have in my everyday diaper bag, trust me (literally when Wyatt was tiny, in one cross-country flight he had THREE blow-outs and we only brought two pairs of clothes…so he deboarded the plane with nothing but a diaper on, whoops!)  For diapers, I like to put him in the next size up or nighttime diapers to make sure he can last as long as possible without a diaper change- the bathrooms on board have a drop down changing table above the toilet, but obviously not an ideal situation. Bring plane friendly toys (ones that aren’t noisy and are small or lightweight- some of my favorites are this, this, this, and this)- and dare I say it- some sort of screen, for emergency purposes (ipad or similar) depending on the age of your child, remember this is how to SURVIVE! Don’t forget any comfort objects your baby has- paci, lovey, etc.
5. FOOD. Have a lot of whatever your baby eats on hand. This might be solids, formula, pumped breastmilk, or your boobs. According to the TSA guidelines,  you can carry-on liquids if they are for the baby (forumla, breastmilk) so bring it if you’re not planning on nursing during the flight! Wyatt is now able to snack on things like Cheerios- and basically whatever Tim and I are eating (thank you Baby Led Weaning! More on that in another post to come!)- so I usually pack a container of Cheerios, some Little Yums, and a sippy cup. I primarily breastfeed, but I supplement with formula occasionally (like when we’re taking an hour long uber ride from JFK to the Upper East Side and Wyatt is losing it) so I also bring a few of these handy formula packets and a bottle -and make sure I have a water bottle with some water for mixing. Read about why I supplement here!
6. Get TSA Pre-Check. This is just a general tip for everyone (seriously, get it), but it’s especially nice to have once you’re traveling with a little one in tow. Instead of waiting in a long AF line to take my shoes and sweater off and pull my computer out of my bag, all while dealing with a baby, I get to flash my tix that say TSA Pre Check like a boss and breeze through security with as little disruption to my precise (over)packing as possible. Another note about security- you have to take the carseat off of the stroller frame, put the car seat onto the scanner belt (making sure the carrying bar is pushed down so it will fit), take your baby out of the carseat (obvs do not let them go through on the belt), push the stroller over to the scanner to go through the handicapped area, and then walk through holding your baby. This is a good time to accept any help from stangers (see tip #11).
7. Gate-check your carseat and stroller combo. Get tags at the desk at your gate. There is no charge to gate-check these items and you will want the stroller in the airport up until the minute you board the plane! You probably used your carseat to get to the airport and will need to to get from the airport whether you drove or took an uber, so if your child is not in a convertible carseat yet, use the carseat with your stroller frame! Some people use the gate-check bags that you can purchase like this, or this, to protect their stroller and carseat from scratches, but I do a lot of traveling alone with Wyatt and these are just one extra thing, not to mention having to put the stroller and carseat into the bags after breaking everything down, all while holding or wearing a baby…no thanks.
8. Bringing the carseat on board. If your baby likes sleeping in their carseat (we were not blessed with this), there’s a chance you can bring it on the plane for free if there’s a seat open next to you. When you get to the desk at your gate, ask if there are open seats on board and the attendant might be able to help you. Alternatively, when you’re breaking down your stroller and carseat at gate-check, the flight attendants on the actual plane might be able to help you figure out if you can bring it on board. We’ve never had any luck with this, but I know people that have- to be fair, we haven’t made many attempts because, as mentioned above, Wyatt doesn’t love being in his carseat to begin with!
9. Use a carrier. This was a lifesaver when Wyatt was small, now that he’s 10 months, he’s not interested in being in a carrier unless I’m moving, so this depends on the age of your little one. The carrier was awesome when I would travel alone and could put him in it to board to the plane and then also to be hands-free while he slept in it during the flight- some carriers you can even breastfeed in. We have three styles of carriers, and my favorite for airplane travel is a wrap carrier, we LOVE our Solly Baby, this is similar style.
10. Board the plane LAST. This is a personal favorite strategy of mine. There is no way that I want to be on a plane for a longer amount of time than I have to be, especially with a baby, so I do NOT board when they call boarding for families with small children. I wait until they make the final boarding call and make my way over and try to be one of the last ones in line. This serves two purposes: not having to be stuck on the plane for longer than you have to be, and to also take the stress out of the whole breaking-down of your gate-checked items process (unloading your items from the stroller, taking the carseat off of the stroller frame, folding the stroller up, collecting all of your things, all while holding or wearing your baby- HINT: leave your baby in the carseat till the last possible moment after you take everything out and fold the stroller, and THEN carry or put your baby in a carrier). When there isn’t a stream of people passing by as you do this process, it makes it far less stressful and most often the flight attendants and/or other employees can then see you and usually offer to help.
11. Accept the help of strangers! This is one that was hard for me at first, I like to be self sufficient, and do things on my own, but I’ve learned that sometimes it is just easier to say yes to someone offering help, especially when traveling alone. People are nicer than you think, or at least they are when you’re with a cute little babe. 🙂
12. Keep calm. Your baby can sense stress and that usually doesn’t calm a screaming baby down. On one of our first flights I was flying from New York to San Francisco solo, Wyatt was five weeks old and still in a stage where he’d just cry for no reason, (who am I kidding, that still happens…when do you start using your words?!?!) anyways, for the last hour of the flight he was just super fussy, crying, and nothing was helping. It felt like I was on display and like Wyatt was being so loud, but after the flight so many people complimented him on how great he did and how I was doing such a good job (obvs they could tell I was a new mom!) People are more understanding than you think (maybe I underestimate the human race?), so just worry about keeping your baby happy and yourself calm and you will survive!
13. Breastfeeding. If you nurse your baby, don’t be shy about breastfeed during a flight. It was a little weird at first to whip out a boob on the plane when you’re literally sitting next to a stranger, (I’ve even had a drunk guy comment about it on one flight…like really?!) but usually no one even pays attention, and if you’re comfortable with it, go for it! I’ve told Tim that for so many flights I was basically just a human paci, but you gotta do what you gotta do! Some babies might be more comforted nursing during takeoff and landing because of the change in pressure as well. I’ve found that if I wait until we physically take off to nurse Wyatt, he falls asleep pretty easily with that, the white noise of the engine, and movement of the plane. If you have your baby on a schedule, don’t feel like you have to focus on following it when you’re flying, you’re more or less in survival mode, so if your baby finds comfort in nursing, but they just ate 45 minutes ago and are losing it, offer the option again, you can get back into your routine when you’re not 40,000 feet in the air with a plane full of strangers. Two words: Human. Paci.
14. Germs. My husband and I are not germaphobes, and think a little bit of germiness if good, but we all know airplanes are gross. We usually wipe down the tray table if our baby is going to be putting his hands on it, or put a sticky placemat on it (those are also good for messes if your baby is snacking inflight!), other than that we don’t stress about it- think about how gross playgrounds are, there’s only so much you can do!
15. Don’t rush to get off the plane. You have to wait for your stroller to come up from being gate-checked anyways, and for any checked baggage too, so instead up standing by the gate-check area holding all of your things and your baby, while people deboard, just sit tight on the plane, collect your things and let other people deboard, and by the time you get off the flight, your things will be waiting for you!
16. Get a drink and know that you can do this! It doesn’t have to be alcohol, in fact, chances are that if you’re on a long flight you don’t want to have to get up a million times to go to the bathroom, so watch out for drinking too much coffee or wine (although both might help you get through the flight), but at least have some water on hand because you want to take care of yourself during the flight as well!

Good luck and bon voyage!