Flying With an Infant Part 2...

Last time we talked about preparing for a flight with an infant, packing, and navigating through the airport. Read about that here (https://livingthebishopfamilydream.blogspot.com/2017/08/flying-with-infant-part-1.html) Today we are going to talk about when to book the flight and surviving the actual flight.

The first time I flew with R she was only 7 weeks old. At that age babies pretty much sleep, eat, and maybe sit there for bit. So flight time really doesn't matter. They will probably both sleep and eat on the flight regardless of the time. I would try to arrange it so you aren't trying to worry about feeding the baby until you are through security if you can. The next time we flew she was 3 months old and had more of a defined schedule as far as naps go. We chose to fly later in the evening so she would sleep for most of it. We did the same thing when flying at 5 months. At 9 months I flew alone and tried to fly during her nap. It was a nightmare. She was a lot more distracted by her surroundings and i had to really fight her to go to sleep. It was overwhelming for me and even though she wasn't crying that much I was really worried about bothering the other passengers. I think at this age flying after a nap would have been a lot better. It's a lot easier to keep a kiddo entertained then try to keep and overtired baby happy. We are flying in a few months for Christmas and we will give this theory a shot.

My three sleeping loves (look closely and you'll find Koda in plaid)

Something to keep in mind is layovers. I prefer direct flights for obvious reasons but 2 of the 4 trips we've taken with Raelyn had a layover. The first trip she was 3 months and the next she was 5 months  old. She was still pretty much in the eat and sleep stage so it wasn't too bad. Now that she is almost a year the thought of a really long layover sounds terrible. Mostly because she naps so terribly when its crowded and noisy. But I think I would still take a layover if it saved me a couple hundred dollars. One miserable day of travel and then its behind you haha.

Hanging out during our layover.

Now how to survive the dreaded take off and landing. The change in altitude can be very painful on little ears. As adults we know to swallow or yawn or chew gum to help with this but its up to you to help your child pop their ears. The easiest way I've found to do this is by sucking so either a binky or eating.

By our first flight together at 7 weeks I was exclusively pumping so I had a bottle pumped for take off and landing and some formula just incase. I obviously don't have a lot of experience with breastfeeding on a plane but I would say its cramped and not a lot of privacy so if breastfeeding is iffy at all then I would have a bottle just incase.

My first flight I was really anxious about this and even tried to wake her during landing to feed her. She of course was basically in a coma and not even really sucking on her binky and she was totally fine. When we flew at 9 months she was getting over an ear infection and still did fine.

My last piece of advice is really going to differ from baby to baby. Flying can be loud and overwhelming and scary and this is when your baby's individual comforting techniques come in handy. For R she loves being worn and snuggled, she LOVES her binky, and can't live without one of those light weight cotton swaddling blankets to snuggle with. She loves being sung to and bounced. Keeping these things in mind before the flight helped boost my confidence in my ability to comfort her. And remember... worst case scenario your baby cries the entire flight and life moves on.

Waiting to take off