Connect the Dots Ginger | Becky Allen: Tips For Traveling With A Baby

Monday, January 23, 2017

Tips For Traveling With A Baby

This past weekend Elyse and I traveled to Utah for my grandfather's funeral. It was a last minute trip, and a very short trip. We left Friday evening at 6:10pm. Arrived in Utah at 11pm local time (so 1am our time). Funeral and family time was the next day. Then flew out of Utah at 6:10am on Sunday morning.

It was such a short trip and I was concerned about flying with a baby so small. Mason's first flight, he was 9 months old. Collin, he was 5 months. Elyse, 3 months. Here are some tips to help you feel a little more comfortable traveling with your little one.
1) Feed during take off and landing. Each flight I actually didn't feed Elyse until that little "ding, ding" happened overhead. That meant, Elyse was SCREAMING at me to feed her from when we sat down in our seat and for a good 10 minutes of loading and taxi time. And I am sure she scared the CRAP out of every passenger on the plane around us. Don't feel bad about this. My thought process was, let her scream now and then once we get going she will sleep! And it worked!

2) Don't feel bad about nursing your baby. 2 out of the 4 flights, I actually had a seat between me and the other passenger, or even the whole row to myself. That was nice. But the other 2 flights, I was next to at least one person. My last flight. I was sandwiched between two older males. And I personally don't cover to nurse. It is uncomfortable for the baby and I like being able to see her. Next to the men I did put a blanket over my shoulder to create a barrier for privacy to cover any "side boob" but that was it. I tried to be as modest as possible. Let your neighbors know that a nursing mom and leave it at that. You can always ask the flight attendants for a window seat if you want and they can ask if a passenger is willing to trade. I asked for the last flight because I knew I had a middle seat and was told another seat prior to boarding but that seat was actually taken and I didn't care at that point. Don't feel ashamed for having to nurse your baby or feel required to cover to nurse. You have a right to feed in public any way you choose. 

3) DO NOT APOLOGIZE or feel guilty for having your baby on the plane. You and your baby have every right to be on that plane flight as anyone else. Keep in mind that the travel time is only just a fraction of why people are on that flight anyways. It is just for a few hours. People can suck it up!
4) Crying and/or fussiness happens. Just like adults. No one likes to feel confined for long periods of time. Babies are just the same. Staring at the back of a chair or a small area is no fun for anyone. Get creative. I use the sun to refract light through my right and made "sparkles" for Elyse to enjoy! She loved it! Try to entertain as best as you can.

5) Don't get frustrated, because when you get frustrated your baby will feed off of your emotions which can cause them to get more upset. Again, travel time is just a short amount of time for the real reason why you are traveling.
6) Get up and walk around. If you are on a long flight. It is ok to get up and walk down the aisle. Especially if the baby is fussy, this might be the way to calm them down. Change of scenery for the baby might be what they need.

7) Depending on the length of your trip try to stick to your baby's schedule. If you are going on a longer trip. Keep your baby on their schedule, but in the new time zone. So if baby usually naps at 11:30am, do the nap at 11:30 per the time zone you are in. If it is a short trip like ours was. Don't. I let her sleep when she could. She was quite popular with family and got to meet a lot of them. And she put on a beautiful smile for everyone. She was awake more than she usually is. Today already, she is sleeping a lot to recover.

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