Flying with a 6 Month Old

Hi A.,
I hope your flight is straight through, and no layovers.Allow time for them to check your carry-on- especially if your bringing food/formula. Check with the airline/airport for security measures for baby food--etc. If your not flying first class, make sure they know you have an infant so they will seat your either with first class or shortly after. You will need the extra time to get settled. Especially if your bringing your car seat. Make sure he is fed before boarding--in case of delays and have a favorite toy handy for the flight. Be careful in the hotel room. Check the bed for bed framing (I stayed in an older hotel once and the bed was on a platform frame-which was hidden by the comforter and set his play yard near it and he fell and his his head on the framing through the mesh of the play yard). Good luck and have a safe trip!

Be sure to request a bassinet on your flight. Most good overseas carriers (unlike US based ones) have bassinets for infants which clip onto the bulkhead in front of your seat. We found good ones to be KLM, Lufthansa (w/o United codeshare) and Austrian Air. The perfect way to travel with small infants! So sane for them and you and other seatmates...Be sure to take bottles with pre-measured powdered formula to which you can add bottled water in flight, or cans of sealed prepared formula you can pop open when needed if you are not nursing. Jet lag, per se, is not an issue with an infant. Call hotels ahead to be sure they have a suitable crib waiting, or arrange to take a folding one of your own.We usually traveled with our own crib, as well as a carseat for each age/weight, an umbrella type stroller and a sturdy infant backpack for walking and sightseeing. Even with the extra luggage items, traveling with an infant is far, far easier than at any other time <smile> and for sure before they can walk or need their own seat on a long plane ride...oh yes, or become a teenager dissatisifed with nearly anything they did not plan!!

Also be sure to pack any POSSIBLY needed medical supplies and medicines for you, your husband AND your baby--not all countries are the same nor have the same formulary; know the translation for dosing of very common OTC meds, like paracetamol which is the acetaminophen (Tylenol) of most other countries. Have your physician give you an rx for anything you MAY need while gone and get it filled here to take with you. Most doctors are fine with such a procedure and recognize it is better than guesswork in another country. They also will have suggestions about what to take depending on where you are going and how long you intend to be gone. Immunizations are often suggested for other than most western EU/UK areas. After you check out all of this, you will be ready to just have fun!

There is a lot of information on the net about flying with children. The air pressure in the cabin can cause them discomfort so try to make sure he doesn't have any ear infections before he goes. Having stood for ten hours with a crying 17 month old who had an infection we didn't know about, I can tell you it wasn't a fun journey. Standing was the only thing that comforted him. Something to suck on often helps babies so a pacifier or a bottle should be included in his bag.

Apart from that things to keep him occupied as if on a long car journey. Toys and books.

As he is so young he shouldn't have jet lag as he will sleep whenever he wants and will adjust fine. As for hotels it rather depends on the hotel. Most are accommodating and you should be fine. He won't be getting around on his own so safety shouldn't be a problem.

Have a great time.

The other responses have covered most of what I would say but I would really second the one that said try to go on an airline with bassinets. We flew Lufthansa home from Germany last summer with our one-year-old and they were wonderful--our son slept soundly almost the whole way in the comfortable bassinet in front of us and we still had plenty of room in the bulkhead seats they automatically give parents with babies. My son could also sit up in the bassinet to eat and watch Baby Einstein videos (probably beyond a six month old, but they can sit and play in the bassinets and you can change their diapers in them--they are wonderful). I don't know why US carriers are so ignorant b/c this is the best solution for everyone. We had no real problem with jet lag but I'd just recommend not planning a crazy itinerary the first couple of days after arrival so your child can nap whenever he is tired (or build in car rides during which he can sleep). It is indeed much easier to travel at this age than older. My son is now 20 months and we flew from East Coast to Hawaii--nightmare! (And once we arrived, he woke us up at 3:30 each morning!) Oh, also I agree you should bring baby Tylenol or Motrin. Our son ran a fever on the return flight from Germany and we had nothing as he'd never had a fever before but were lucky a pediatric nurse was on-board with her own baby and she let us use some baby Tylenol. To reduce ear pain from pressure, nurse or bottlefeed your son during landing and take-off and read the TSA website on traveling with a baby--you can bring liquids for your baby, just read the guidelines. Good luck!

When traveling for long hours with my kids, I would always make sure to have things for the kids to play with. On planes, I have always had a seat for the children, with car seats that they are familiar with, their own. It's nice for when they take a nap, you want to eat, or they want to eat. You never know what you, or they, will need unitl after the first trip. It's like everything else with kids, you learn as you go, because no matter what advice you get, or think you need, every child is different. My 3 have very different flying moods, one gets up and walks the aisles, one sits and plays games and one stares out the window the entire time, making pictures of clouds. So have fun, prepare for a bad flight and little sleep for you, but realize that you may have a FANTASTIC flight and your child will love flying. Enjoy the trip!

One suggestion is to get a good baby carrier before you go if you don't have one. With a wrap, pouch or Mei Tai (no metal parts) many airports will let you carry baby right through security on you. it will also make napping while you are traveling easier if you can get him accustomed to sleeping in a carrier on you. We would not travel without one!
K.