My husband and I spent the past three years prior to having our son doing a lot of traveling, both domestic and international, and we were unsure of exactly how having a baby would change that pattern in our lives. We knew the obvious changes that would take place and we were ready to face the notion that put simply- we no longer would be jet setting around all the time.
We recently took our 3 month old on trip to South Lake Tahoe and flew from Chicago to Reno. I was very stressed prior to the trip thinking about the amount of baby items that we would need to pack (ie. car seat, car seat base, stroller, diapers, etc) and still have enough room for Mom and Dad's stuff. I was also dreading the airport; hauling all this stuff in, deciding what to check at the counter or take to the gate, and getting through security without getting yelled at by their less than friendly staff.
Well the good news is that the trip ended up being a great success. I spent some time searching the internet to find tips on traveling with an infant but I was unable to find many sites with clear cut advice. Here's what worked for us:
We recently took our 3 month old on trip to South Lake Tahoe and flew from Chicago to Reno. I was very stressed prior to the trip thinking about the amount of baby items that we would need to pack (ie. car seat, car seat base, stroller, diapers, etc) and still have enough room for Mom and Dad's stuff. I was also dreading the airport; hauling all this stuff in, deciding what to check at the counter or take to the gate, and getting through security without getting yelled at by their less than friendly staff.
Well the good news is that the trip ended up being a great success. I spent some time searching the internet to find tips on traveling with an infant but I was unable to find many sites with clear cut advice. Here's what worked for us:
1. We took the car seat and attatched it to the base and then zipped them up in a car seat travel bag. We then checked this at the desk when first arriving at the airport. This worked out perfectly- the airlines we flew didn't count the car seat as part of our personal luggage so we still could check our own suitcases without paying additional costs for extra luggage. On the way home we were able to stick some stuff into the travel bag along with the car seat that wouldn't fit in our suitcases so that was helpful too. The car seat travel bag was also nice to have to protect the car seat from getting dirty and scratched during transit.
2. We debated on whether or not to take the stroller that goes with our travel system vs our compact umbrella stroller. We decided on the umbrella stroller and I'm glad we did. This is what we used to roll Caiden around in the airport, it was easy to fold up and put through the x-ray at security and then at the gate before we boarded they would take the stroller and store it under the plane and when we got off the plane it would be sitting there waiting for us. I felt the travel system would have been just a bit too big for us to manage, I did see other families that had their's in the airport and they seemed to be working out fine. I guess if you have a long lay over and a baby that will sleep in their stroller, the travel system stroller would be nice because you can recline it and free up your arms. I would still opt for the umbrella stroller on our next trip.
3. I was very nervous about Caiden's ears on take off and landing, I have horrible ear pain when I fly and I actually have to wear "Ear Planes"- which are specially designed ear plugs that even out pressure, I honestly cannot fly without them. On take off and landing, I nursed and this worked perfect. Caiden showed no signs of ear pain and the sounds of the plane lulled him to sleep. What a relief!
4. I found that flying with an infant has some perks too. Getting to board the plane first is a huge advantage and even the security lines had shortcuts for families with strollers and children. This kept us moving and Caiden happy!
