Traveling with a 4 month old can seem daunting. Traveling has always been anxiety inducing for me so adding a baby to the mix, well, just kind of seemed like a nightmare.
Since our family is spread out all over the East Coast and most of our family had not met Easton yet, we knew we would have to fly with him at some point, so we kind of ripped the bandaid off and just did it in the Fall. Also, Vermont is absolutely gorgeous in the fall so I was excited to finally see the Fall foliage.
We left on a Wednesday night. We decided to take an Uber since my parents were out of town and we usually just find Ubers to be the most convenient form of transportation when traveling in general. Let’s just say that ride was fun... Easton cried for half of the 45 minute drive there. Our poor Uber driver. Tyler and I kind of looked at each other and said, “this is going to be fun.” Lol.
There are no direct flights to Vermont so we had to do a stopover in Newark. So a 4.5 hour flight (mind you it was a redeye) and then a 1 hour layover... then another 45 minute flight.
We got to the airport and the amount of bags we had was kind of a joke. But luckily we knew we wouldn’t have to check a thing and had planned to just use our stroller so we put most of our bags underneath/push that to the gate and check it there.
Security in general isn’t the most fun and I personally think is very stressful. Add a baby to the mix, and it gets a bit more complicated. You will have to take baby out of the car seat and walk with him/her through security. His stroller will have to go through and if you’re pumping like I was, then they will have to pull out your milk and inspect each bottle. They had gloves on but still, it seemed unsanitary to me.
Easton slept for some of the flight, which was great, but when he was awake, I’ll admit it wasn’t easy. Now that we are back from our trip we are so happy we did it and seeing family was 100% worth it.
I feel like I now know what to take vs. what seems unnecessary. Hope this helps you on your next trip with baby!
What to take:
-Stroller - we have the Uppababy Cruz Stroller - We debated not taking our stroller, BUT since you need to take a carseat if you will be going in any vehicle, you might as well take your stroller instead of awkwardly lagging around the carseat.
-Carseat + Adaptor - You will NEED a carseat that can travel without the base. The carseat we have can’t travel without it’s base!!!! So we had to get an extra for this trip/figured Tyler could keep the extra one in his car so we don’t have to move mine from my car all the time. We got this one for the trip and bought the adaptor to our stroller since they are different brands. We love the Nuna Carseat.
-Stroller/Carseat Bag for checking as baggage or at the gate - We checked our stroller at the gate and got a seat on the plane (so we took the carseat on the plane). NOTE: Easton on the flight there would only let us hold him so buying a seat was kind of pointless; however, it was nice to not have someone next to us while he was crying and also be able to have extra room for his diaper bag and our bags too. For the stroller, you will need to put it in a bag if you don’t want it to get thrown around and ruined. We bought this really inexpensive one on Amazon. If you don’t buy a seat, it is FREE for infants to sit on your lap.
-Diaper Bag - You’ll want a convenient diaper bag that is easy to carry.
-Extra outfit for baby - Also add a sweater just in case baby gets cold! Also something short sleeved underneath, in case baby gets hot. You know airplane temps...!
-Extra outfit for you
-Extra socks for baby (we somehow kept losing Easton’s socks - we found one 10 rows down from us while we were walking off the plane - don’t ask! haha)
-Baggies (For soiled clothes and diapers)
-Diapers (pack enough for the length of your flight) - we love these diapers especially for overnight or longer flights!
-Water Wipes - We love this brand of baby wipes!
-Changing Pad - You will want an easy (and small) changing pad you can bring with you to that TINY airplane bathroom.
-Gripe water: Didn’t think we would use this one but honestly when Easton would lose it and we tried everything(!) we would resort to the gripe water and I think it just tastes good/distracts them for a moment and made him stop crying. You don’t even have to give them a lot or the full suggested amount, just slowly give them a little and have them suck on the dropper. I quickly would replace it with the pacifier and he seemed to be better in just a minute. You have to get creative with a baby!!! :D
-Baby Tylenol: Didn’t need it but had it just in case.
-Blanket - I brought a blanket for Easton for the flight. We used it to block out light for when he was trying to sleep and then also when it got a bit colder on the plane. ALSO was useful when I was holding him so my arm didn’t get sweaty/sticky on his skin... Seems odd but a friend told me this might happen, and it did! The blanket can also be great to cover up while feeding baby or pumping.
-Breast pump - I took my fully charged pump. I love this one!
-Breast pump attachments (1 set)
-Breat pump bra - I love this one!
-Breast pump charger
-Soap - I took dish washing soap from home in a little tupperware so I could wash bottles at the airport and on the plane. It’s not ideal but much better than 1. not sanitizing and 2. using hand soap!
-3 baby bottles - OK, I was debating how many bottles to bring and 3 seemed like a good number. If you have room take 4 or 5 so you do less washing, but you can totally get away with 3.
-Ice pack - You’ll want an ice pack to keep your milk cold. I took some frozen milk with me in my pump bag and kept all of the bottles in there too. TSA will run it through security it as I mentioned before, but you are allowed to bring breastmilk and sanitized water for baby through security and on the plane!
-Frozen Milk - DO NOT put your frozen milk in a bag. I use frozen bags of milk in our freezer and I thought I could just bring 1 or 2 of those in my pump bag. WELL, the bag leaked and it was a nightmare. Just unthaw the milk and put it in a bottle with the ice pack to keep it cold! (Can’t stress this one enough! Don’t let my oops be your oops!).
-Formula - If you use formula, take more than enough formula for the trip. Plan it out beforehand based off of how much your baby drinks a day. Then add a few more scoops! :)
-Sanitized water (for formula) - Take sanitized water with you on the plane. The plane water is not sanitary and I would not give this to baby!
- Toys and teething toy - You kind of have to play circus to entertain baby on the plane... We took 3 toys for Easton and he seemed to be entertained with them in the car and plane.
-Extra pacifiers! - Bring extra! We also love these pacifier clips so that way they don’t all fall/you don’t lose them!
Optional:
-Baby Bjorne Carrier - We ended up using this once we got to our destination - had daytime activities with family/didn’t want to bring the stroller. Glad we took it but not 100% necessary.
Other tips:
-If you’re going somewhere you can do laundry - pack light and just wash/reuse the same clothes. It’s hard enough packing for 1 person, let alone 2 or 3, depending on how many people you’re traveling with + baby.
-Have baby drink milk while descending and ascending OR have baby’s pacifier in mouth. Helps with ear pressure.
-We tried to have E nap right before we got on the plane if possible... or at least sleepy. He hated when the plane wasn’t moving and we had to sit down (before take off). On the way home we kind of planned his nap and he actually was sleeping when we got on the plane until we were in the air.
-Wet wipes - Planes are full of germs. ENOUGH SAID! Great for baby’s hands too - they’re touching all sorts of things and then putting their hands in their mouth(!).
-Get up and walk around with them. No one wants to be sitting still for hours. Get up and walk around with baby.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY - DON’T STRESS IF BABY CRIES. People are surprisingly so sweet and compassionate. They will even offer to take your baby and hold him/her if you’re down for that kind of thing. Our flight attendant on the way to Vermont took Easton with her for a while actually. She has twins so we thought, 1. she’s not going anywhere/can’t steal him/we’re on a plane! lol and 2. sure, give us a break! ;)
Be sure to ask your flight attendant for a set of wings if it’s his/her first flight! Cute little memento.
(See Easton had fun too...!)
Hope this helps and I will add anything if I think of anything else.
Prayers for Hong Kong. This is getting out of hand. #4months 📷 @nicklankester (at Hong Kong) https://www.instagram.com/p/B07bAd7H33b/?igshid=ga47h7uh3oiy
