Air travel with a baby is not the most relaxing of experiences, no matter how prepared you are. So the sooner you realize that and are okay with it, the better your perspective and attitude will be! You will get to where you are going eventually, whether everything goes perfectly smooth or falls apart. Here are a few of the tips that I have picked up through my many adventures on an airplane with one or more of my babies that you might never have heard before.
- Take his pants off before boarding the plane. Most airplanes are overly warm, and a hot baby equals a fussy baby, and a hot fussy baby equals a stressed out mama! Plus, this makes the “shirt-pull-maneuver” in tip #2 way easier! I would always make sure my baby had on a long sleeve onesie and socks, but wouldn’t replace their pants after the last diaper change right before boarding the plane. The outfits on A Great Baby are perfect for plane travel since they are soft, comfy, and the shirt is just as cute as the pants! So the top is all you need for an adorable outfit.
- If the plane is chilly, make sure you have a blanket packed to cover up his legs. When you feed your baby, unsnap and pull the onesie up. I don’t know about yours, but my babies pooped most often WHILE they were eating, especially when they were nursing. So when I had to feed my baby on the plane, I would unsnap his onesie, pull it most of the way up his back, and hold him with a blanket over my arm. So, if he DID happen to have an, um, explosion while eating, you didn’t have to change his outfit as well as his diaper in the very tiny tiny tiny airplane bathroom. If he makes a mess on the blanket you are holding him with, make sure it is one that’s easily washable once you get to your destinations. The swaddle blankets on A Great Baby, like this aviation one, are super easy to wash with all your other clothes since no special laundering is required. Plus, you can wash them over and over without the colors ever fading! These are also super soft, so if you are lucky enough to not have a messy situation on your hands, you can use it to cover your baby up for a nap, play peek-a-boo, or drape it over your shoulder to have an instant nursing cover or burp cloth. Plus, the personalization on these blankets helps you get it back if you happen to misplace it somewhere along your journey!
- Have a pacifier clip to attach it to his clothes. Nothing is worse than having a pacifier hit the floor and not having a clean one to replace it! Prevent the whole situation by securing it to his shirt with one of the many clips sold in almost any store.
- If your baby is formula-fed, I suggest bringing an empty thermos and having a coffee shop put hot water in it before boarding the plane. Have the single serving formula powder tubes available with empty bottles in your diaper bag. A few minutes before feeding time, pour the right amount of hot water into the bottles and let it cool off to a warm temperature. (ALWAYS TEST THE TEMPERATURE BEFORE FEEDING IT TO YOUR BABY) Empty the formula into the bottle and shake. (If you can’t find the single serve packs, there are products like this that allows you to measure several servings of formula out ahead of time.) This prevents needing any kind of a bottle warmer. My babies were super picky on the temperature of their bottles… don’t you dare try to feed them cool formula, or you will have a major protest on your hands! So if yours is anything like this too, this tip will be a big sanity saver for you!
