How to fly with your baby – Checklist !

On his return from a recent business trip, my hubby seemed very much worried and the first thing he told me was ‘ There was a lady with a small baby in the flight ,during the takeoff and landing the poor thing screamed its lungs out , and his momma also started crying at the end with him as things got out of control. Felt real bad for both, though I asked the airhostess to make arrangements for her ! ‘

His words took me back to the time when we came from Kerala to Mumbai first time with our three and a half month old baby. We were so nervous as we were very much concerned about  the cabin pressure difference which could hurt her ears. But we made sure all the arrangements & preparations were done in advance  for her first flight.

Here are more insights of our preps 🙂

1. Before booking your flight tickets, make sure you have online seat locator facility available.We checked if bassinet seats were available in the flight. Usually bassinets are found in International Airways at the bulk head seat. Ours was a domestic one ,so bassinet was not available, but the executive at the boarding counter gave us three seats with the middle one vacant so that our baby shared our laps and the seat throughout the journey 🙂

2. If your baby is breastfed , make sure you feed him/her or bottle feed the expressed milk during flight take off and landing . The airhostess will mention this to you beforehand.

3. If your baby is formula fed , make sure the bottles to be used are ready and is fed during take off and landing.

4. Keep a pacifier handy in case your baby is not hungry and doesn’t take a bottle , sucking pacifier can reduce ear discomfort.

5.Make sure when travelling you are in a comfy cotton front open wear with no sequins/fancy work as it could hurt the baby when breastfeeding.

I did the mistake of choosing a kurta with a sequence of buttons and a fancy ghungru hanging from one side of my kurta. My baby made sure that she took it out literally with her hand when I fed her at the airport :P.

6. Take a well arranged  bag for your baby with adequate number of diapers, 2-3 spare infant wear, wipes,1 or 2 plastic covers, towels, her first aid kit,pacifier,feeding bottles,her/his favourite toys .

7.Last but not the least have a bottle of warm water,1 spare top wear for you ,wet wipes and healthy snacks so that you feel refreshed during the journey.

I breastfed my baby during takeoff and during landing she was fast asleep.During the journey , she played ,made faces with the fellow passengers and fell asleep at the end .Thus we were relieved of our tension regarding our baby’s first yet wonderful flight !! 🙂

Share your experience of your flying with your baby ! 🙂

Image source : 1,2,3