By no means am I an expert on flying with babies. In Cal's short 6 months of life I have flown across the country twice by myself. Also, we have two more trips planned in the next 2 months! Here are some things I've learned along the way that have really helped make the whole experience bearable.
1. Baby Wearing! (we have an ergo carrier, I can't live without it!)
Ditch the stroller! I checked mine with my carseat so I didn't have to deal with it until I got to my final destination. I've made the mistake of bringing my stroller and trying to juggle baby, diaper bag and collapse the stroller. Let me tell you, its not a pretty sight. Sometimes people offer to help, but other times I think people watch in amusement! Also, you can take the escalator and not have to hunt down an elevator in the airport!
2. Stoller Bags
My sister told me about these, every major airline sells them, as well as amazon. We bought ours the first time I flew with Cal at the southwest ticket counter. They are re-usable so you only have to buy them once. My carseat/base and umbrella stroller fit in one bag, but some people prefer to bag their carseat and stroller sepratly. They protect your stroller from wear and tear, loosing pieces and they will keep everything dry if its raining!
3. Standard Size Pillow
This was a life saver for me. A five and a half hour flight with a lap baby is not for the faint of heart. There is only so much room on your lap! Bringing a pillow allows for baby to lay flat and play with toys or sleep, also it great for nursing! This depends on the size of your baby, when they get to big the pillow is useless.
4. Disposable changing pads
I'm a little bit of a germ freak and flying is a germ breading ground! Munchkin Brand sells disposable changing pads that are awesome. Here is the link for amazon, you can also buy them at target! If you, God forbid, have to change your baby on the airplane these are great germ barriers :-). Also I carry mini lysol spray in my diaper bag to disinfect everything, yes I know I'm a freak.
5. Hands free Diaper bag
A back pack diaper bag is best, but a cross body strap works too. It really makes a difference!
6. Paci Clip (even if your baby doesn't take a paci)
I am envious of babies that take a paci, are little boy has refused one pretty much since birth. The reason a paci clip is awesome, is you can connect any toy to it to keep it from falling on ground! What ever toy Cal was play with I would clip to him, so when he let go of it, we didn't loose it in the great abyss of the germ invested airplane floor.
7. Feed the babe during take of and landing, and any time in between!!!
Feeding on take off and landing helps their ears get adjusted, its similar to us chewing gum! Also, Cal is on a pretty stricked eating schedule, but when we are flying everything goes out the window! I feed on demand to soothe him when needed!
WHAT NOT TO DO:
Don't over fill your diaper bag! It's hard enough to reach down and get into it with a baby on your lap anyway. Pack three toys maximum! When you overstuff your diaper bag it become useless!
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