Monday, April 18, 2011

Seeking Advice: Flying with a 3 Month Old

Friends, Family & Followers:

In the next 2 months, I/we will be flying with little Miss Abigail 3 times.  And I'm not talking a quick 1 hour flight down to LA...I'm talking cross country trips.

In less than 2 weeks, we'll be on our way to Washington DC (YAY for Alice's Wedding!!!)...the following week, we'll be off to Atlanta to visit Abigail's Aunt and Uncle...and then less than a month after that, we'll be heading back to Atlanta for another summer vacation...

That being said, I need HELP!

I have so many questions about flying with a baby...we can't pack her up like we did for our first family road trip*...


And while I've perfected the cross-town trip to see KiKi (stroller for a walk on the pavement...baby bjorn for the walk in the woods...excessive amounts of laundry so we don't have to use quarters at our apartment...diaper bag...etc), I'm a little nervous about the cross-country flight.
My questions:

- What is absolutely essential (beyond clothes, diapers and wipes)?
- Would it be a terrible idea to leave our stroller behind or will our baby bjorn suffice?
- Do we check the car seat and carry her on? 
- What other general tips/suggestions do you have from your experiences?

These may be terribly dumb questions that even I will look back on and say "really!?! You couldn't figure it out on your own?" but I have this feeling I'm not the only person who will benefit from some advice.

Thanks in advance!

Oh, and like my post on Stretch Marks, I promise to summarize all your tips in a (hopefully) helpful future post.  Who knows, maybe I'll even have a few tips of my own after all these trips! 

*remember...that was a joke for anyone out there who takes things too literally...

7 comments:

  1. Advice from Auntie Mindy for your much anticpated ATL visits:

    My boss has generously offered to let us borrow all of her old baby stuff. Let me know what you need me to get from her. I would say though that I am pretty sure you are going to want to bring her car seat/stroller combo so we can drive and walk her around!

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  2. You may want to think twice about checking a car seat. If they get tossed around (as luggage NEVER does) it can void their warranty and make them unsafe in the event you were ever actually in an accident. We didn't take the chance and rented car seats when we flew. Also, we gate checked our stroller and it totally got damaged with a huge gash in it. But if you really do want to take a stroller, umbrella strollers are lightweight, fold up small and only cost about $15 brand new.

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  3. Definitely take your stroller! It will give you a break at the airport from carrying your little nugget around. Also, bring a big blanket on the plane. We travelled at x-mas last year with our 12 month old and it made nursing easier. Nursing helped a lot! She passed out for a while after that. Only problem was sitting with her in my arms, but at least she got some sleep! If your baby in your arms for the flight, then grab some snacks you can eat with one hand. It was quite a challenge trying to eat the meal with one hand.
    One more thing about the stroller, I would actually spend some money on an umbrella stroller. Your baby is only 3 months old so she will probably nap at the airport before you go. So if you have a nice and comfortable stroller for her, then she can have a nap and you have room at the bottom for the diaper bag, bottle of water, food or anything else you don't feel like carrying around.

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  4. Check out a post my friend Natali did about traveling with babies:

    http://mommybeta.squarespace.com/blogs/2011/3/24/baby-globetrotter.html

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  5. ugh!!! i just made a long response with lots of stories from my experince flying with scarlett at 6-8 weeks, 4 months and then 9 months but they were lost to the internet.....

    main advice, nurse/feed her as much as she wants en flight...and bring only the bare necessities...dont bring a carseat if you are taking pub transpo or walking the whole time. and dont bring your fanciest stroller as it will get jacked up when the peeps put it in the cargo space. good luck!!! stay strong, the babes can handle it as long as the mammas remain calm and collected :)

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  6. We have always traveled with the car seat and stroller and checked them at the gate. If you are lucky enough to have an empty seat (which they can tell you when you check in) next to you, they will let you bring the car seat on the plane. Definitely nursing during take off and landing helps! If you are staying for longer than a couple of days and staying at a friends house, you can also order diapers, wipes, baby food, etc from Diapers.com and have it delivered there instead of hauling it in your luggage. Changes of clothes for the baby and you! Never know what could come out when you get up in the air on them and you! Good luck!

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  7. Wow, thank you all SO much for the advice...sounds like I need to head out and pick up some sort of cheapie stroller for our trip...my BOB is a LITTLE big for the trek! :)

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