Flying to San Diego with My 5Mo Old!!

F.,
I too am a stay at home mom and a military wife my husband is in the Marine Corps. Flying is not easy with a little one. If you are going to be holding him a passie is a good thing if he only nurses that way he can sucj during take off and landing or anytime ears should pop. This worked for me when I flew for the first time with my boys when they were 6mo and 1 1/2 years old. Any blanket or toy that is comforting to him is a must! As for what to do with him just play and talk to him. Most people are very helpful with very little kids on planes. Hope this helps you out.

Hi F.,

I took my boy on a flight when he was six months old and had no problems. You're right to have a bottle ready, pacifier if he uses one, and maybe a larger receiving blanket to drape over yourself while nursing. That may help with the distraction factor.

Don't be nervous, as he will pick up on that. Just know you're going to have a wonderful adventure, and he'll feel that way too!

Hi F.!
I flew with my son when he was 1 months, 3 months, and I am going to fly with him again in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure how long your flight is but the last one we were on was a 4 hour flight. He did pretty good..getting a little crabby when we took off and landed. What I did was try and play with him and keep him pre-occupied. My biggest worry was nursing him. I still nurse him full-time and I was afraid one of the other passengers would say something to me. We were also flying south so it was pretty warm in the plane and I didn't cover him with a blanket because that just wasn't comfortable. But the flight attendants were helpful and they actually came to our seat and played with him. My biggest advice is not to make the trip a big thing. My sons mood reflects mine alot so when I flew with him I tried to stay calm and relaxed and he followed suit.
I hope you have a good flight and a nice time in Boston.

I haven't flown yet but have friends who have and here are 2 things that stuck out in my mind after hearing about their trips: 1) for nursing, my friend wore a shawl- so it looked very stylish but gave privacy for nursing- the lady next to her didn't even notice. 2) Be sure you have LOTS of diapers on the plane with you- my friend took a few but checked her main bag and then got stuck on a changeover without her luggage and only had 1 diaper left. Happy travels!

I flew when my son was 4 months and so he slept most of the flight. HE did scream on take off and slept through landing. My advise, even if he does NOT take passies, bring a couple different types, he may start. Bring a nice light weight blanket to cover him to nurse. And the other thing I would do is buy a couple gerber bottles with the WIDE opening. The nipple is truly shaped like a "real" womans breast. You may be able to get him to take a bottle if you start trying now. We used isomil formula to supplement. It is work, but it's worth the try. And I can tell you my saving grace was the Playtex hip hammock. I was able to keep my little man VERY close to me and have my hands free. It slips on and off so easy! Much easier then pushing a buggy through an airport looking for elevators etc. And the hip hammock is NOT like a sling. Good luck and enjoy your trip.

I've flown many times with my kids (including Europe twice)and this should be very managable for you. Here are some things to consider:

1) Do you have a Graco bucket car seat? If so, they easily strap into a car or plane without the base. Other seats do not. If you don't have a Graco, see if you can borrow one for the trip. It will make your life much easier.
2) when you get to the airport, ask if the flight is full. If it's not, then ask them to "block" the seat next to you (for your baby). They will do this if the flight's not full. Then carry the baby in the Graco seat onto the plane and just strap the seat in the seat next to you without ever taking your son out.
3) if the flight is full, then you will want to check your car seat, and carry your baby in the Bjorn or sling. It will make it much easier for him to sleep if he's strapped next to you, and it will be easier for you to carry him, and all of your gear.
4) gate check your stroller- bring it to the gate and walk down the jet-way with it. Put your son in the Bjorn and fold up the stroller. When you get off the plane, then they will bring the stroller to you back on the jet-way as you exit. you really need the stroller in case you need to put the baby down, or in case you get stuck in the airport for an extended period of time. I learned this the hard way!
5) toys- don't go overboard with toys. they will just get lost. Try to bring things that clip onto rings, or something similar. I can't tell you how many times things have ended up on that dirty floor!
6) contingencies - if you use formula, be sure to have pleanty on hand. my kids were known to drink twice as much on travel days than when we were at home.
7) TIP - if you connect, and you need to wash bottles go to the airport bar and ask them to put your bottle in the disheasher. It takes just a few minutes, and then you know your bottles and nipples are clean.

Good luck! this is a good time to fly with kids... it's a whole different story from 12-24 months... after that it's fine again!
-B.

I actually flew to Philadelphia with my daughter when she was 4 months old! I know what you are going through. You definately have the basics as far as toys and sucking go for take off and landing. One extra note on the toys though- bring something brand new that he has never seen before. It will be more likely to catch his attention and keep it for a longer period of time. Another thing you could do, at five months he is getting close to solids, but even if you haven't started them yet, the 'puffs' that gerber makes are great tasting (and distracting treats). They melt in the mouth and are generally safe for little ones about the age of your little one.

Finally, I was also breastfeeding on our plane trip. It wasn't easy but I made it work. Bring with you a pretty good sized baby blanket and some safety pins. Sit on the inside seat next to the window (hopefully you can trade with someone if you are not on the inside already), and use the pins to pin the blanket to the seat in front of you and to yours to create a little privacy, then close the shade over the window. Don't forget an extra blanket if you still want to drape it over you and him as well. This worked great for me and I managed to get my daughter to nurse on take-off and/or landing. If you are still worried about privacy and getting him to latch on with all the commotion, a last option is to bring a long a great hand pump (I suggest Madela's Harmony) in a little plastic zip-lock baggy) and hand pump in the bathroom before take off so that you have a bottle with you!

Hope this helps and good luck!!

hello,
just wanted to tell you that i flew with my son when he was 5months old (earlier this year) went to alabama, and unfortunately had two layovers! i was soo nervous, as i know flying hurts my ears and i didnt want him to be in any pain. but you'll be happy to hear that in my experience, it went super well, it didnt even seem to phase him :) i breastfeed also, and i just informed the people sitting next to me right away (as delicately as i could word it) and if they were uncomfortable, then ususally there was a seat they could move to, but i think only one actually moved. i just put a blanket over myself so that no one could see (had started doing that when there's distractions anyway so my son would stop pulling off as much while nursing .. ow!!) and yes, i was told to nurse while ascending and/or descending to help his little ears, so i did as much as possible but usually he was asleep and twice he was awake and not hungry, and he didnt even seem to notice anything different. dont know if it helped that he's a pacifier addict though :)
hope that helps!
jen

Hey Girl,
I flew with my daughter when she was 7 months old and even had to change planes. I was TOTALLY freaked out!! I don't know how active your son is, but one thing that I made sure to pack was some anti-bacterial wipes. As soon as I sat down I wiped everything down that I thought she might even attempt to touch. It was a great relief for me to not try and constrict her from looking out the window or playing with a toy on the tray or whatever, knowing that 99.9% of the germs where gone! I guess I am kinda a germ-a-phob! But like you, I like doing things naturally. One thing I did with my daughter is try and keep her up before the plane ride, as well as during the lay over. Then, by the time we got on the plane, she was too tired too care! It actually went so much smoother than I ever expected it to! Try not to get too tense (cause your son will sense that) and just relax! Babies don't know how to pop their ears, so give plenty of suckies (boob, binky, whatever) during the pressurization of the cabin. If you have any other questions or concerns, please let me know! No question/concern is too petty or silly! Good luck!
Oh, and P.S. try not to drink too much yourself, because it's really hard to use the bathroom when traveling alone! Don't totally dehydrate yourself, but think about the fact that if it goes in, it must go out! Take small sips of water throughout your travel time, not large amounts of liquid at once!
R.