How to Survive Baby’s First Flight

Alright, friends, let’s talk flying with a baby. Every traveler at some point or another has gotten to their gate, seen a baby, and hoped that they weren’t going to be seated next to him/her. Before I had a baby, I did it myself! I like to catch up on sleep on planes, after all. But here’s a secret, even if no one wants to sit next to your baby, you can have the little guy or gal that doesn’t make a peep all flight long!

Now that Baby L and I have six flights under our belts, including two solo (without daddy!), we’re sharing the skills needed to inspire fellow travelers call your little one, “the best baby ever!” This actually happened to us on our last flight, and it can happen to you, too! Here’s how.

Booking Your Flight

Keep the Flight Short

First step to flying with your baby is to decide where to go! I recommend making baby’s first flight short haul, ideally less than three hours. You’re inevitably going to be a bit anxious about how your little one will react. Having it over with quickly will help assuage your concerns and help baby get used to plane travel.

You’ll also have to choose if you want to buy baby his/her own seat or have him/her on your lap. We recommend traveling with him/her on your lap and wearing him/her in a chest carrier (more on that later!). This one is our favorite–you can also add in this infant insert if baby is less than 15 pounds. Keep in mind that some flight attendants might ask you to unclip it during takeoff and landing (this happened to us on only one of six flights), but you can just take down the shoulder straps.

Travel During the Day

Don’t mess with bed time! There’s no quicker way to a cranky baby than to mess up bed time routine. To make sure you’re at your destination with plenty of time to get that baby to bed, make sure your flight is during the day. We’ve traveled both early morning and in the afternoon without much difference in Baby L’s behavior.

Travel with a Companion

If you can, plan to travel with a buddy your first time. Not only will it help to have a buffer against any baby haters in your row, it also helps logistically. Babies come with a lot of stuff, and things are easier with an extra set of hands. Plus, you can take turns holding baby on and off the plane, using the bathroom without having to worry about your stroller, and take turns entertaining baby pre-flight to get the wiggles out.

Select the Best Seat

I know, I know, you have to pay extra to choose a seat. There’s no better time to splurge and get the seat you want with your travel partner than when flying with your baby for the first time. Try to pick a row as close to the front of the plane as possible. The rows in the front are generally closer to the bathroom in case baby needs a diaper change. Plus, you can usually get on and off the plane first, which helps with your extra bundle in tow.

For the actual seats, choose a window seat if you’re planning to nurse your baby on the plane. This will give you some more privacy since your partner will be seated next to you. If you plan to bottle feed and/or if baby is more mobile, go with an aisle seat. You’ll be able to get out more easily to walk the aisles, bouncing baby to help keep him/her calm during the flight.

Before the Flight

Play Airplane Sounds

Play airplane white noise for your baby during naps for at least a week before the flight. This will help baby associate the airplane white noise with nap time and help him go to sleep once you’ve taken off.

Prep Your Carry-on

Your carry-on is most likely going to be a diaper bag. In addition to ensuring that it has plenty of the typical things you’d carry (like diapers and wipes), here are some must-have specifically for your flight:

• Change of clothes for baby–dress baby in a long-sleeved footie sleeper; planes are cold!
• Change of clothes for you and your partner–at least a shirt in case baby throws up (it’s his/her first time dealing with air pressure changes)
• 3-5 Small new toys that baby has never seen before attached to pacifier clips–you don’t want to be digging for dropped toys on a plane
• 2 Pacifiers on a clip–one for the flight and a spare
• At least 2 Burp cloths
• 2 Bibs–one for baby to wear and one spare; you want any drool or spit up to go on the bib while you’re wearing baby or holding him/her in your lap
• Food for baby–ideally this is just breastmilk or formula in a bottle, but you can also bring teething crackers or squeezies
• Wet wipes to wipe down the armrests, tray table, bathroom, and anything baby is going to touch
• Travel changing pad
• Lightweight baby blanket–this will come in handy to cover anything you don’t want to put your baby directly down on like the chairs at your gate
• Scented plastic bags to dispose of dirty diapers

At the Airport

Car Seats & Strollers

Nearly every airline lets you check a stroller and car seat for free either at the ticket counter or at the gate (bonus!). If you can, we recommend checking both at the gate. Your car seat will get much less banged up at gate check, and it’s super helpful to have your stroller to get around the airport. We recommend putting your car seat in a car seat bag to protect it. This is the one we use, and it’s proven to be damage-proof. If you do decide to check your car seat at the ticket counter, take advantage of the extra space in your car sea bag, and stuff it with additional lightweight items for baby like diapers.

Keep Baby Happy

A fed baby is a happy baby! Make sure you stick as close as you can to your current feeding schedule. For us, that sometimes meant feeding Baby L before leaving the house, in the car once arriving to the airport, in a nursing pod after going through security, or at an empty gate. Whatever works to feed baby when he/she is hungry it what you should aim to do. If you’re not sure where the nursing pods are, ask at information. Nearly every domestic airport has one now. You can also usually find the information ahead of time on the airport’s website.  

Change baby’s diaper before you get on the plane. Not all planes have changing tables. Even if they do, those plane bathrooms are tiny. Generally, for a short haul, you can get away with changing baby before you take off and once you land, avoiding changing him/her on the plane altogether. If you do have to change baby on the plane, and there’s no changing table, the easiest way to do it is as follows:

1. Wipe down the sink top with paper towels, followed by your wet wipes
2. Put your changing pad down on the sink top and put baby down on it. Make sure to stay close to keep him/her safe. You can get close by putting down the toilet lid and resting one of your knees on it, while standing in front of sink top. If the sink top is really gross after wiping, put the lightweight blanket down first, then the changing pad, then the baby. Try to keep baby from touching anything.

Getting Through Security

If you’re traveling with a lap infant, you almost always get TSA Pre-Check automatically, but it’s worth signing up for it just to be safe. Your bags will go on the X-ray conveyor belt as normal. If you are traveling with breast milk or formula (either liquid or frozen), notify a TSA officer that you have milk that needs to be inspected. You are allowed to travel with any quantity of breast milk/formula and are not beholden to the 3 ounces of liquid rule. They will tell you to put it through the X-ray conveyor belt and will quickly look it over–it’s a very simple process.

Your car seat will need to come out of the bag. The bag will go through on the X-ray conveyor belt, while the car seat will usually be taken to the side to be hand inspected (if the X-ray machine is large enough, they’ll tell you to send the car seat through as well). If hand inspected, it will be wiped with a special cloth that exposes explosives residue. Your stroller will go through the same process. They will ask you to roll it over to a side area and leave it open, so it can be wiped down.

When it comes time for you and baby to go through the metal detector, you will have to carry him/her. Your stroller will already be off to the side being inspected. You’ll have to hold baby until all of your items have been inspected and returned to you. This is another time when having a buddy comes in handy. It can be hard to juggle getting your stuff back together while holding your baby.

At the Gate

As soon as you get to the gate, go up to the gate agent to let them know you’re traveling with a child. People traveling with small children get special assistance, including early boarding. If you’re going to gate check your stroller and car seat, some airlines also give you additional tracking tags, which you’ll have to get before boarding. For safety, also put your own luggage tags on your car seat bag and stroller just to be safe.

While you’re waiting for your plane, don’t just sit around. Take baby for a walk in your arms, narrate what you see in the airport, do as much active play as you can to help him/her burn off some energy. This will help baby be calm and, hopefully, sleep on the plane.

During the Flight

Wearing Baby

As mentioned, keeping baby close to you by wearing him/her in a carrier is going to be the safest and most comfortable way to fly with your baby. You don’t have to worry about juggling him/her in your arms, and baby will be comforted by having his/her head close to your chest. My son loves this position so much that he almost always falls asleep as soon as I get him in it.

Since you’re going to have baby close to your chest, it’ll be hard to bend down to get the things you need out of your carry on. Try to put anything you urgently need in the seat pocket in front of you, and push the rest under the seat in front of you. Put anything you won’t need in the overhead bin–you’ll need the extra space sharing a seat with your little one. Have your partner help you get anything out of your bag during the flight.

Takeoff and Landing

I can’t stress this enough–you must have baby suck on something during takeoff and landing to ensure his/her ears pop. The number one reason babies cry on planes is because of pressure and discomfort. To keep baby happy, keep him/her sucking. A pacifier is easiest if your baby will take one, but a bottle or nursing also works. Make sure to also give baby lots of reassurance. Patting, shooshing, kissing, and soft singing are all your friends.

You can set your baby up for a lifetime of loving travel with a little preparedness and a whole lot of optimism and patience. If the first time doesn’t go well, no worries! You’ll learn from it, and get it right the next time. The best thing you can do is acclimate your little one to plane travel now, so he/she’s a seasoned traveler in no time. Then you can all travel more as a family.