Novalee went on her first plane ride last week! We took a trip to visit the extended family up in Washington, and she did a wonderful-ish job on both the ride there and back. The only time she fussed was when we were trying to rock her to sleep, protesting as soon as she was in the cradle position. So as long as we let her explore with the arm rest, seat belts, tray tables, and skymall magazines, she was utterly content. It also helped that she’s very food motivated. But damn…I never knew how exhausting it could be to continuously watch someone for 3 hours straight. And you know what’s even more exhausting? Traveling with the kid overall.
People really weren’t kidding when they say to get all your travels pre-kid. Even without kids, it’s already hard to fully relax on travel, but with one who’s always on a strict routine, it really throws a wrench in the works since we were working around other people’s times. In any case, I should just appreciate that it really could’ve gone worse. While this is our very first trip by plane, and probably our last for a while, I’ve compiled a list that I’ve found helpful for this and future travels.
TIDBITS FOR BABY TRAVEL:
- Use a carseat bag for the carseat. You can stash away a lot of more items inside the bag along with the carseat itself–we were able to shove a whole gym duffle full of formula, diapers, wipes, and baby’s clothes. And the best part is, this piece of check-in luggage is FREE. Be warned though–that shit gets heavy.
- If you need large items, order online and have them shipped to your destination. Helps if you order items that are returnable <wink> if you only need them for the trip. Items such as baby bathtubs, sound machines, pack ‘n plays if the hotel you’re staying at doesn’t already provide one.
- Pack milk/juice and lots of snacks. This will be extremely helpful for during take-off/landing to help the little ears pop.
- Bring a pack of travel anti-bacterial wipes, especially if you’re a germaphobe like I’ve been known to be. Tray tables, arm rests, and seatbelts on the airplane are extremely filthy, so if your baby is in the exploring phase, he/she will want to touch everything and repeatedly. Also, they come in handy if you’re staying at hotels because we all know there is absolutely NO disinfecting going on in there.
- Bring a light stroller. Depending on the TSA, you might need to collapse it and stick it through the conveyor belt for scanning. You can check the stroller at the gate so baby can be in it navigating through airport traffic.