Tips for Flying with a Newborn Through the First Year
Traveling with a baby can seem so overwhelming but I’m here to tell you, it is doable! Shoot, even enjoyable! No one should let having a baby stop them from traveling. Sure there are adjustments to be made (packing more and everything takes longer) and there will be mishaps (blow outs and crying), but after the trip is done you’ll be left with wonderful memories. We have been traveling since our daughter was born in 2013, and now that we have 3 kids we have plenty of trips under our belts. We haven’t done it all, but we have done a lot! This post will focus on traveling with babies 0-12 months old. Throughout the article I have linked the best baby travel products that will make your life easier. Want to skip straight to the products? You can see them all in my Amazon Store HERE! So here it goes, how to fly with a newborn through the first year!
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How Old Does a Baby Have to be to Fly?
This is one of the most Googled questions, and the answer is: there is no set age, but you should discuss your travel plans with your pediatrician. Much of the decision will be based on your comfort level. Some things to consider:
-Your recovery after giving birth. If you have a C-section your recovery will likely take longer. Most doctors will want to see you at 2 weeks post-delivery and then again 6 weeks post-delivery. Everyone is different and every recovery is different. It’s hard to predict how well you will be feeling after giving birth. Not to mention the lack of sleep and general upheaval to your whole world!
-Passports. If you are planning to travel internationally your baby will need a passport. Turnaround time for an expedited passport in the U.S. is 2-3 weeks according to the State Department website. Otherwise, it’s a 6-8 week turnaround time.
-Vaccinations. When your baby is first born it will not have had a full set of vaccinations. You may choose to wait until after the routine vaccinations at 2 months, or you may feel comfortable traveling before that time. The biggest concern is potential exposure to germs. You can mitigate your baby’s exposure by wearing them in a baby carrier and not allowing anyone to touch your baby.
-Time of Year. If you’re considering traveling during cold & flu season, it’s another potential risk. You have to decide how you feel about it based on your baby’s health, age, flight duration, destination, etc.
Beyond this, actually flying with a newborn is quite easy. They will most likely just eat and sleep on the plane. They don’t have to be entertained, and you don’t have to lug a bunch of toys on board.
Do Babies Fly Free?
When you book your airline tickets, you will need to decide if you will be traveling with the baby on your lap or if you want an extra seat for the baby. Airlines typically allow children under 2 to travel as lap children. Some airlines will automatically book a baby as a lap child when you enter their birthdate. It depends on the airline whether you will be charged some type of infant fee or not. Budget airlines are notorious for charging an infant fee, most of the time it is a fraction of the full priced ticket, but be sure to check the bill before you purchase.
If you want a seat for the baby, you will need to buy a full priced ticket. If the website is not allowing you to book an extra seat for the baby, you may need to call.
Flying with a baby! Tried and true advice on flying with a newborn all the way up through the first year. What to bring, what to expect, and the best ways to make your flight with a baby as smooth as possible.
Flying with a Car Seat
You can only use a car seat on the plane if you purchased the baby their own seat. If your baby travels as a lap child, you will have to check your car seat with the luggage or gate check it. There is a lot of concern out there about how your car seat will be handled (and potentially damaged) when it gets checked as baggage. If you will be checking your car seat, I highly recommend you buy a protective bag for it. The small price to buy a bag is worth it to protect your car seat.
If you will be bringing the car seat on the plane, you must make sure your car seat is FAA approved for use in an aircraft. Most seats will have a sticker on them stating that they are FAA approved. You should know where this sticker is, or have proof ready on your phone to show a gate agent if asked. Screenshot the manual where it says it is FAA approved and have it ready to show. I ran into some difficulty with this in Europe once or twice.
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When you choose seats during the booking, the infant seat must be the window seat. This is so the car seat will not block anyone from getting out of their seat in case of an emergency. If you are booking a center section of seats on a large aircraft with a 2-aisle configuration, plan to put the baby seat in the middle and not in an aisle seat. A baby seat can not be in the exit row. Also, be careful about booking a row right behind the exit row. Sometimes these rows don’t have as much legroom which can make it hard for the car seat to fit.
Most babies have an infant bucket seat which is easy to connect to a stroller to push through the airport. If you have a convertible seat for your infant and will be using it on the plane, I suggest buying a set of wheels to attach the car seat to. It is so much easier to wheel a seat through the airport than trying to carry it. You could also purchase a backpack bag to put it in, but I already carry a backpack diaper bag, so I prefer to have the car seat on wheels.
Be prepared for a flight attendant to tell you to take your baby out of the car seat for take-off and landing. Though it makes no sense to me and the FAA says babies can stay in their car seats, I have been told on occasion that I must use the lap belt and loop belt to buckle the baby into my seat belt for take-off and landing. You can politely tell the flight attendant that the FAA allows babies to remain in their car seats, or even have the regulations saved on your phone ready to show them. But make sure you follow all crew member instructions or you will be at risk for being removed from your flight.
**The FAA only governs flights in the United States, so when traveling internationally there may be different rules and standards.**
Read my guide to visiting Baku, Azerbaijan (pictured above) with kids!
Bassinet Seats
On certain airplanes, there is an ability to book a bulkhead seat where a baby bassinet can be clipped into the wall. This can be a nice alternative to traveling with the baby on your lap the whole time. I have seen different variations of bassinets on different airlines, some are like a traditional flat baby bassinet and others look like an infant car seat.
To book these seats, you will want to call the airline directly. Call as far in advance as you can. These seats are very limited and it will be a first-come, first-served situation.
There are also size limits for the baby on the bassinets, so you will want to check with your airline to verify that your baby is under the height and weight limit.
Getting Through Security with a Baby
Security lines are a hot mess for everyone. Shoes on or off? Laptops out. Liquids in a bag. Tickets out. Empty your pockets, etc. In Europe, we have often been ushered to a “fast line” or “family line” which is much shorter than the normal security line. This is such a Godsend! I wish more airports would adopt this.
You should be prepared to take your baby out of the stroller and out of the baby carrier in order to walk through the metal detector. Sometimes the security staff will help you by holding the baby or setting your stroller back up. They all tend to have their own systems and ways of doing things, so just ask them how they want you to do the stroller, car seat, and baby carrier.
You are allowed to bring food (even in liquid form) on board for the baby. I have brought tons of pouches, formula, medicine, and water bottles on board and never been questioned about it when it is for the baby. I like putting all my snacks in clear gallon-sized Ziplock bags. I pull the bag of snacks out to put it in the bin for screening instead of digging around for 5 pouches and loose snacks in my diaper bag.
Boarding the Plane
I always use my baby carrier when boarding the airplane. Even if I have a seat for the baby and am bringing the car seat on, it is still easier to wear the baby. Most of the time I am gate checking a stroller so I wear the baby and push an empty stroller down the jetway. When I get to the end, I package up the stroller into a gate check bag (often with help from my husband or the crew). We then carry an empty car seat (if we have a seat for the baby) onto the plane while I continue to wear the baby.
Always bring your baby carrier onboard, and never gate check it with the stroller. I learned this the hard way. Sometimes even if you gate check your stroller, the stroller will not be delivered to the gate at your destination. If you accidentally leave the baby carrier with your stroller, you’ll be left having to carry the baby in your arms through the airport. This can be especially frustrating if you have to wait in any long lines like customs or if you have a long connection in the airport. This is one of the most important things I have learned from traveling with a baby!
I also suggest storing your diaper bag under the seat in front of you versus putting it in the overhead bin. It’s just way more convenient to have your bag right at your feet if you need something. This won’t be possible if you have a bulkhead seat though. Just something to be aware of!
Take-Off and Landing with a Baby
If you brought a car seat on the plane, your baby should be able to remain in the seat for take-off and landing. However, there have been times when I have been told I have to take the baby out of the seat and sit them on my lap.
If you have the baby in a baby carrier, you will most likely be told to take the baby out. In Europe you will be told to use the lap belt and loop belt to buckle the baby to your seat belt. Sometimes they will let you keep the baby in the carrier if you can show them you still buckled the baby in. This works for me with my Ergobaby carrier but I don’t think it would work in a wrap style carrier.
With the Ergo, I am able to slip the belt in between me and the baby and then buckle it on the outside of the carrier. This is nice when the baby is sleeping because then I don’t have to wake them up to take them out of the carrier.
A tried and true trick for helping babies with the change in pressure upon take-off and landing is to either nurse/feed a bottle at that time or make sure they have their pacifier. If my baby is sleeping and not sucking on the pacifier I just let them sleep and I haven’t really had any problems.
Changing Diapers on a Plane
There should be at least one bathroom with a pull-down changing table on a plane. You may have to ask the flight attendant which lavatory has it, but often there is a picture symbol on the bathroom door. The table usually folds down over the toilet. Bring more diapers and wipes than you think possible to use in your carry-on. You never know if you’ll have a flight delay or some blow-outs and you don’t want to get stuck in a messy situation. Also, bring a wet bag and at least one extra outfit for baby in case you need to store soiled clothes and change their outfit.
How do you use the bathroom? If you are traveling with another adult it is easy to pass the baby off, but if you’re traveling alone with a baby and have to use the bathroom on the airplane you may have to ask a flight attendant to hold the baby. The ones I’ve asked have always helped willingly as long as I wasn’t trying to go during meal or drink service. If the baby is sleeping in the car seat, you could also ask a flight attendant to just stand near your seat while you go.
Feeding Baby on the Plane
There are lots of different ways and stages of feeding your baby so this area has a lot of variables. I always try to bring more food than I think I will need. You never know if you will get delayed or run into some issues and the last thing you want is to run out of food. This is particularly important if you are bottle feeding, using only purees, or if your baby has a special diet as these things may not be easily found on board a plane or in an airport.
Nursing
If your baby is exclusively breastfed, congratulations! You don’t have to worry about packing much! Baby’s food supply is there and ready to go without you having to plan out how much you will need. Nursing is great for take-off and landing to help with the pressure in baby’s ears. Breastfeeding on a plane can be uncomfortable because of the tight quarters, but go on and do your thing mamas.
Bottle Feeding
If you are bottle feeding you have to think more about how many supplies you will need and how you will wash the parts. I bottle fed my second child, and we only did a handful of shorter flights when he was that age but I would bring multiple bottles so I didn’t have to try and wash them on the plane. I waited until we got where we were going to wash them.
These formula containers are great for packing formula and also double as awesome snack containers as well when baby starts eating finger food. These are also great formula dispensers. You can bring bottled water through security for bottles too.
If you are pumping, you will need either a handheld pump or a battery-powered pump to bring with you. I opted for the hand pump because it was smaller and easier to manage than my normal pump.
Baby Food
Baby food can be brought onboard the airplane and you do not have to worry about the amount. I have never been told I have to get rid of anything for the baby. I try to pack all my baby food into a clear gallon-sized bag so it is easy to remove for security. Some airlines are amazing, like Turkish, and will provide you with baby food on the plane.
Pouches are great in terms of ease of feeding and packing. Try these tops that will prevent baby from accidentally squeezing the pouch contents everywhere.
One other important thing to note also is how you will feed yourself! If baby is on your lap, it might be tricky for you to eat. If you have a travel partner to hand the baby off to, it helps. Also having a seat for the baby will make it easier for you to eat. If you’re alone and have a lap baby, you may want to consider packing yourself some energy bars, or something you can eat with one hand. In my experience, once the baby is over about 6 months and on your lap, you’re not eating until baby is asleep!
Entertaining a Baby on a Plane
If your baby is between 0-6 months they likely need little to no toys or entertainment. They should eat and sleep the majority of the flight. Once your baby gets a little older it will start to become more *interesting* to keep them happy and entertained.
I am not a big fan of bringing a bunch of baby toys. It takes up too much room and you have to bring enough stuff as it is. Babies also like to drop or throw toys and that gets old really quick. I like to give my baby the safety card, a cup from the drink cart, and maybe one favorite toy from home to play with and that’s about it. For a long-haul flight, I would bring a couple more toys from home, but still, I keep it to a bare minimum.
Games like peek-a-boo, paddy cake, and singing songs tend to be winners too. Sometimes babies like to be walked up and down the aisle or even walk themselves with assistance. I only advise doing this when drink and meal service is over so you aren’t disrupting that and fighting with the carts in order to move up and down the aisle.
Help baby sleep on the plane by giving them some playtime at the airport if there are play areas like this one in Tel Aviv.
What to do if Your Baby Won’t Stop Crying
Babies cry. It’s part of the deal. We all know that, but it doesn’t make it any easier when it’s your baby who is screaming in an airplane full of strangers watching you. Try to remember that most of the time people aren’t really looking at you. If they are looking, it might be out of genuine concern. If they are looking at you with judgment...forget them. Either they have forgotten what it is like to have a baby, or they’ve never had one and therefore have no right to judge! Traveling with a baby is work! Obviously, as the parent, you don’t want them to cry either and you’ll be trying to do what you can to help them.
Focus on your baby, do what you can, and forget the strangers. You’ll never see them again anyway.
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I hope this has helped answer some of your questions or calmed some worries you might have had about flying with a baby. It is a little intimidating to think about at first, but like anything, the more you do it the more comfortable you will get. You’ll learn what works for you and your baby. What did I miss? What are your other tips for flying with a baby? Leave them in the comments to help out other parents!
The first year flies by, take advantage and take your baby on some adventures you’ll never forget!
