Infant Travel Tips

Before the Airport

· Try to pack everyone’s stuff into one suitcase. This will make it much easier when you get to the airport and have to carry baby, carseat, stroller, diaper bag and suitcase inside. Bring 1 diaper per hour of travel in diaper bag, but then buy the rest at your destination so you aren’t taking up precious suitcase space.

· Delta will actually let you check an additional bag if for free if you are traveling with a lap child (in case you need more than 1 suitcase). Just another reason I love Delta.

Get protective bags from Amazon for your carseat and stroller. Not all ticketing counters have plastic bags for your carseat and this will help protect it and can be labeled with your name. No more worrying about accidentally grabbing the Smith’s Maxi Cosi carseat. This is the one we use!

Getting around the airport

· I’ve heard some debate over this tip, but my goal is to make the airport as least stressful as possible. Check your stroller and carseat at the ticketing counter upon arrival to the airport with your suitcase and wear your baby. This way you have less things to juggle through the airport and are handsfree to grab your necessary coffee 😉 I watched a dad carry a carseat and stroller down the jetway and he did not look to be enjoying vacation!

·

Wear your baby! Again, this keeps you handsfree through the airport. You can also go through security with baby strapped to you, which makes that stressful part of traveling a little less stressful.

· If you can afford it (you should be able to if you’re traveling often 😉), get TSA PreCheck. It’s $85 and is good for 5 years. No more having to bend down to take off your shoes, take out your liquids, and electronics from your diaper bag! Just walk right on through and breathe in a sigh of relief.

· One tip that I recently learned with TSA is around water bottles. If you’re traveling with an infant, you can bring a filled water bottle. No more having to buy a $5 bottle post security! Just let the officers know it’s for an infant. They’ll swab it and give it right back to you.

On the Plane

· Give baby a bottle, boob, or pacifier when taking off and landing to help them pop their ears.

· TRY to preplan diaper changes. Depending on how long the flights are, you can sometimes get away with changing them right before takeoff and once you step off the plane. You obviously can’t predict when they are going to poop, but this lessens the likelihood of having to change them in the airplane bathroom.

· Did you know that most airplane bathrooms have a changing table? It’s usually right behind the toilet, but feel free to ask a flight attendant if you can’t find it. Makes changing their poopy buns a little bit easier.

Feedings

· If you formula feed, separate serving sizes of powder into snack size Ziplock baggies. This will save time and stress trying to make a bottle in the airport or on the airplane. I tend to take one baggie per hour of travel so that I’m extra prepared, food wise. You never know when you'll get delayed traveling. I reuse these baggies throughout the entire trip so we aren’t bringing the big container everywhere we adventure.

· You are also able to bring breastmilk on the plane for your little one. This again will just be quickly swabbed at security. We saw a lady in security with a gallon size Ziplock baggie filled with bags of breast milk. It was very impressive and she was very prepared!

· Buy a big thing of formula once you get to your destination, so you aren’t taking up precious space in your diaper bag or checked baggage. Same goes for diapers and wipes. Bring some on the plane for the actual travel (I do 1 diaper per hour of travel) but wait to buy the majority once at your destination to save space.

And lastly, try to keep a relatively similar schedule on the road as you have at home. Kids love routine, and it's one of the easiest ways to make traveling with a kid easier. Keep your bedtime routine as much as possible.