My family will be flying to DC for Christmas. However, my husband will be flying standby with a free Southwest ticket while I will be flying American with my son in my lap. I was wondering if you ladies had any advice for me traveling by myself with a 3 month old.
At this age it's actually easier (for my personal experience), because baby is still rather young and will not want to move around or go up & down the seat. Here are a few things I did when I travel with my 2.5yr & 5mo back during April:
Enough food - make sure to bring enough milk/formula, snacks, baby food etc to last throughout the flight. Carry more than usual because being at a night altitude will make them more thirsty so will require more liquids than usual.
Drink/suck during flight - when the plane is taking off or landing, let baby suck on something: paci, bottle, breastfeed. This will help prevent pressure that hurts the ears.
Dress in layers - The temp changes throughout the flight and is different from the temp outside so dressing in layers will help to make it more comfortable when the climate changes.
Extra clothes - Have 1 or 2 sets of extra clothing available. We had a bad experience where my daughter leaked through her diaper & clothes during the flight...luckily I had an extra set of clothes in the diaper bag otherwise she wouls be soaking & eventually stinky by the time we land.
Favorite toy - Bring baby's favorite toy (if it's not too big or noisy). It'll help comfort him being in the flight with new faces and different environment.
Have your son breast/bottle feed or suck on a pacifier during take off and landing. Make sure you have 1-2 changes of clothes just in case, a warm blanket (it gets pretty cold in the planes during the winter. If you have a sling, I would recommend having it with you. They won't allow you to have your baby in it during take off or landing but during the flight it's great! You can also check your stroller and car seat at the gate so you will have it to get through the airports. That's all I can think of that I really needed when I flew with my dd. She was 4 and 6 months when we flew and she did great both times. She slept through most of it, especially when she was 4 months. GL!
I flew 8 hours with my lo when he was that age and it was SOOOO easy at that age....stroller and ask for help thats all I'll say....i know going through security when u have to take shoes off and fold up the stroller and all that business be sure to ask for help....and like the first person said a bottle when taking off and landing but I never really did that and didnt have a problem all babies are different. Ur LO will prob sleep the whole way at that age
I also think the sling is a must-have for flying. It really saved me when I flew with my then 5-month-old from NYC to Florida to visit my grandmothers. I could walk up and down the aisle (he didn't sleep at all) with him and not wear out my arms. I used a lightweight stroller in the airport and checked it at the gate.
I also found that wearing a small purse/bag across my body helped a lot too -- that was I was sure to keep my wallet, plane tickets, keys, etc. close by and not lose them. Also wearing shoes I could slip in and out of helped when going through security.
Have a safe trip!
-- Elizabeth
Adorable Boy-Girl Moment, or Too Close for Comfort?
Do you ever reuse empty wipe box containers?
- MrsLittleFratto
on Nov. 23, 2009 at 4:45 PM