This last week, my husband and I had a conference for church down in Florida, and since my daughter is only 2 months old, we brought her with us! Now, our son has never been on a plane since our travels with him have all been in the car, so this was our very first time having a kid with us on the plane! Here is what I learned:
Different Airlines Do Things Differently
On the way down to Florida we took Sun Country and on the way back home to Minnesota, we took Delta. In doing both these plane rides within a couple days of each other with a 2-month old, I learned that with Delta you need an infant boarding pass whereas with Sun Country, we did not! We didn’t do anything different when booking these 2 flights (made it clear with both that we had a baby with us), but Delta gave us a boarding pass that we not only needed to get on the plane but we needed to show at security too. Not sure why, but we learned! Also, Sun Country counts car seats & strollers as a bag that needs to be checked (& paid for), but Delta lets all baby gear on for free!
Check Stroller/Car Seat at the Gate
So after the flights, I learned that you can actually check your car seat and/or stroller at the gate. We would’ve definitely done this if we knew since we checked our car seat (didn’t bring a stroller since it was a short trip) with our luggage and then took turns holding our baby through the airport before boarding. This would not have been ideal at all if we would’ve had our son with us too. Now we know for next time.
Nurse Your Baby During Take-Off
As anyone with a baby knows, it’s hard to plan feedings for certain times, but I tried very hard to wait to nurse my daughter until take off since I heard this helps with their ears. We haven’t noticed any issues, so I’m assuming this worked!
Change Diaper Right Before You Board
I did not change any diapers on the plane, but I have no clue how that would truly even work, so since our flight was under 3 hours, we changed her diaper right before we boarded, so we knew she’d be fine during the flight.
Keep Baby in Pjs
I had this whole cute outfit with layers laid out for my daughter for our first flight, but it was 4am and the last thing I wanted to do was to change her out of her pajamas only to be in an Uber and in an airport and on a plane all morning. So, I kept her in her pjs. Then, I didn’t have to worry about her feet getting cold or have a complicated outfit to change in a small space. This worked out great and made our lives easier.
I feel a lot better about traveling with kids now, especially since so many people do it. If you’re debating traveling due to having a young baby, rest assured, it’s not horrible like you may be thinking.
Tia Marie
tia marie 