1. Make sure the airline you're flying has infant changing tables in the restrooms on domestic flights! I'm guessing the CEO of Delta has never tried to change a baby's diaper on a toilet seat lid. Seriously...international flights only??!
2. Eat a good meal before you leave because with a squirmy nearly-toddler baby in hand the entire flight you may not even get a chance to grab the granola bar in your carry-on, much less accept the in-flight beverage service...because where in the world are you going to put it when everything in your personal bubble is within baby's reach? Oh, the woes.
3. Dress your little one in a super cute outfit so that you charm everyone before s/he starts crying :)
4. Take lots of books (if your babe enjoys books like Em).
5. 3 words - portable. DVD. player. (Does DVD count as one word??) I wasn't able to make this happen on our trip this weekend since I flew alone and couldn't quite juggle that many gadgets...but I can totally see how it would have been an absolute life saver.
6. Although this may be inevitable depending on the length of your trip, if your little one is at a super alert age, avoid times when they'll be very, very tired. Emma's definitely not in a fall-asleep-in-your-arms- easily-stage anymore and our flight home went way, way past bedtime. Not fun.
7. The younger the baby, the easier the flight!!! I've now flown with Emma at 3, 7 and 13 months. The first two were by far and away the easiest.
8. I totally get early family-boarding and appreciate the gesture, but I'm all for waiting til the last possible moment to get on the plane. For one thing, it's comical to watch how crazy people get trying to board...as if the plane's going to go somewhere without them. And secondly, why in the world would you want to sit in a tiny box any longer than you have to?
All in all, Emma did pretty well. I think I just ended up being exhausted from feeling like I was wrestling with her for 5 hours trying to keep her from invading everyone else's personal space. She wanted to walk and crawl and touch everyone and I did my best to be a respectful and responsible flyer. Although most people were very gracious, I don't think the stoic business man next to us on our last (and longest) leg even gave us a sideways glance...or opened his eyes for that matter.
It wasn't horrible and we made it. But I won't be doing it by myself again anytime soon!!
3 comments:
these are great tips! thanks friend!
All too true! FYI . . . the infant changing tables are typically hiding above the toilet on domestic flights. They open up over top of the toilet, which still leaves very little room for changing a diaper. Especially if you have robust children like ours. :) Anika now "gets" her own seat but prefers to sit on one of our laps much of the time since Amira gets to sit on one of our laps. I completely agree that the younger they are the easier it is to fly with them. Hope all is well!
Katie - I've usually found the changing tables there too, but on one of our flights there were NONE! And she said it's only guaranteed on international fights. Crazy, huh?!! Hope you guys are doing well too!
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