Welcome to my Tuesday Travel Tips! Before I went on my Spring Break 2021 trip, I scoured the internet for tips on travelling with a baby. Most websites were just grossly trying to sell me products or were just copy-and-paste repeaters of the same useless info. So I'd like to share my own experiences with you to hopefully calm your nerves (because mine were frazzled before I even stepped onto the tarmac) and to help you prepare a bit before you have a "situation".
Tip #1 - Almost all airline carriers allow you to bring a carseat onto the plane if your baby has a ticketed seat. My experience - we lugged the heavy and awkward carseat all the way to the gate ready to install it in the ticketed seat. Then, baby decided to fall asleep in our baby carrier and we decided to dump the carseat at the skybridge to be picked up at our destination. You might want to check with the ticketing agent to see if you can get a refund or credit for changing your child from a seat to a lap, but at this point it might be too late.
Tip #2 - Secure the carseat in a sturdy gate bag and check it. My experience - I tried several options to drag this heavy contraption all over the airport (belts, a dolly cart, carry bag) and none of them worked for my busy family. It was soooo much easier just to check the carseat and forgettaboutit. If you find a decent carrying bag or backpack - please share with the rest of us! So far, none of my contraptions worked well enough.
Tip #3 - The carseat might not fit in the security conveyer belt x-ray machine. My experience - the TSA agent pulled the carseat aside and manually inspected it. Luckily we dumped the nasty cherrios out before we entered the airport.
Tip #4 - You may be allowed to keep baby in the carrier when going through security. My experience - they allowed us to keep baby in the carrer (she was asleep) and we went through the whole-body x-ray machine without any issues. This probably depends on your TSA agents. The airport guide said they can ask you to remove your baby from the pouch. Gasp!
Tip #5 - You cannot keep baby in the carrier while riding in the airplane. My experience - despite a sleeping baby, the flight attendants asked us (on each flight) to remove the baby from the pouch due to TSA regulations. We just unhooked the front pouch thing.
Tip #6 - Not all babies cry from air pressure. My experience - my baby did not cry during takeoff or landing (and we had 3 flights for this trip). Other babies and children did cry, so it depends on your child (and probably if their ears/noses are stuffy). Be ready to offer drink or pacifier or something to suck on to relieve the pressure.
Tip #7 - You can change a diaper in the lavatory. My experience - I asked the flight attendant for help putting the changing table into place. The front lavatory featured this option. I only change dirty diapers on planes since my baby isn't bothered too much by wet ones. I would never use the tray table (it's too small) for this task. Hard to believe people try that. The changing table is a bit flimsy. The bathroom is TINY. I put the dirty diaper in a ziploc bag and put it in the flight attendant's trash bag on my way out.
Tip #8 - You can bring milk/formula and baby food on airplanes. They may or may not check it depending on your carrier. My experience - I kept the baby food in a quart-sized bag at the top of the diaper bag to be removed as needed.
Tip #9 - Breast pumps don't count against your carryon limit as they are medical devices. Feel free to use them as additional storage as well. There are rules against different types of freezer packs - so be sure to look those up ahead of time.
Hope that helps you with some of your planning needs!
