After becoming a parent, travel becomes a bit difficult in the first couple of years. I am saying this on the basis of my experience of travelling with my son. He was just eight months old when I planned a road trip with the family. The best part about that trip was that I had enough space to carry everything associated with my son and I stopped wherever I wanted to make him feel comfortable. And the worst part was he didn’t sleep while coming back home. So it was 5 hours of drive with the fussy baby on board.
That was my road trip but now I am about to board the flight with my son. The only difference is my son has completed a year now.
I have started the preparations and there are a few things which I need to keep in mind.
Preparations
Ear Pressure
There will be air pressure on the ears of infants during take-off and landing which causes pain in the ears of children. To release that pressure, the child needs to keep swallowing something. So if your child is still of breastfeed or liquid then you should carry milk in the feeder or in the child’s milk bottle. If your child has started eating then you can carry baby food in a tiny container. These things will help your child in handling ear pain better.
I am saying all these things on the basis of research and survey I have done.
Milk/Liquid
There is a limit of 125 ml liquid if you are travelling with new born but I asked the airline company and they told me that you can carry 250 ml liquid in the feeder. If you plan to take a 500 ml bottle or container then you won’t be allowed. Remember, take milk or liquid in the child’s container only. Standards bottles might get thrown away.
So I have planned to carry liquid and milk in two different feeding bottles and I hope to go through with both.
Food
My son has started eating, so keeping that in mind I have included food in my tickets. I hope that it will keep him busy because he is at the stage where he tries to get taste of anything and everything around him. So I feel food will definitely keep him busy during the flight. Fingers crossed!
Handbag
Apart from food and liquid, we have planned the handbag which will help us not only during the flight but the whole trip. The bag will be full of things like napkins, diapers, pairs of clothes etc. and these things will help us keep him clean and hygienic.
This will be a new experience for us (parents) as well. When you are travelling with a newborn, it is all about finding out what works and what doesn’t.
After a road trip, I am doing air travel with my son. And as a father, I would love to try the remaining modes of travel as well.
Traveling with small kids’ needs so much preparation and I am glad that you shared your first-hand experience which will surely help many parents.
Yes, that is the purpose of sharing as many parents don’t know the amount of preparation they need to do for air travel.
Your post has remind me the time when my girls were little. I had a hard time during travelling with them. you have shared great air travel tips in this post for new parents. I believe pre planning can help a lot in reducing travel related stress.
Exactly pre planning reduces a great amount of stress.
I have traveled with my daughter to India (on a 21 hours flight) when she was one and a half years old. And also traveled with my son to India the very next day he turned one. But pre-planning and most important keeping my sanity level at par helped to sail through the flight time. Whether it be air travel or road trip, being flexible and planning well always works. And most important not loosing our calm.
I agree, pre planning can do wonders. Moreover, I think the airline staff also helps in keeping your nerves calm.
Yes right, Ear pressure hurts infants. I remember during our first visit with my son the staff suggested we feed him or give him something to suck it was all good after that.
This post reminds me the days of mine when we travelled first time with our 9 month old son. And I absolutely agree that travelling with infants or toddlers needs lots of pre planning.
There are so many things we learn once parenthood begins. It’s important to understand our kids’ needs and plan accordingly. No compromise there.
They are so important. I have never tried to travel with kids. but your points will be really helpful.
Travelling with small kid is really a big planning. THis is just a first step after few month you have to carry engaging games or toys for the baby so you can keep them engage. Enjoy parenting
Travelling with kids is very challenging and I completely agree that pre planning is a must. My anxiety levels used to increase as the travelling date approached.
Traveling with one year olds or small kids could be a big challenge. This post reminded me how we used to get ready when daughter was young. Very useful for the great post.
With the travel window, opening many are planning their travels. This is a very helpful post with some great tips.
Air travel is convenient to use and safe also. It’s better to wear light pants and long outfits. Very useful and beneficial tips.
I as a traveller myself had avoided air travel while my son was about 1 year. But to my surprise he coped well and the authorities were very helpful. Thanks for letting us know the current norms of Milk one can carry while travelling.
These are essential tips you have mentioned for traveling with a baby. Keeping them comfortable and well-fed keeps them happy and less cranky. My son used to hate long flights but he was also good at sleeping on flights. So we managed it without too many incidents!
One side my flight was smooth but on other side I felt the pain in ear myself. So I can’t complain about my one year old.
I have been there and I can understand how tough it would have been. For me feeding while takeoff had helped more than anything