Philadelphia Nesties
just_JRM
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Flying/traveling with a baby and boobs
TSA website stinks and doesn't give real world advice.
We have a family wedding in FL in May. DS will be 6 months and I plan to still be nursing. I also have the Spinning convention a few weeks later, in FL again. MIL seems to think that's too many plane trips for baby. But, we're definitely going in May. Is that too early to make him a frequent flier?
So how do we do this? I literally know nothing about traveling with an infant.
Did you buy a seat or lap hold? What do you do with your pump? Pack or carry (then you're already down one carry on). If we stay with my 'rents, they have no crib.
I'm a blank slate. Hit me with all of your advice.
TIA!
Re: Flying/traveling with a baby and boobs
I am pretty sure E-ring's spawn has some frequent flier miles so hopefully she will chime in.
I know nothing about boobs and pumps. But an infant you would just hold unless you want to buy a seat and use a carseat. Which brings up another point, you will need to bring a carseat and I think it can be gate checked. Unless you are renting a car with one but I don't think I can trust that. I know you can also gate check a stroller so it is there right when you get off the plane.
Can you maybe buy a cheapo PNP and have it shipped to your parents to leave there for when you visit? Honestly, I would probably co-sleep if it is only a night or two.
We are traveling to FL in March and will need to bring both carseats and the double stroller, I am kind of dreading it.
Jonathan Dean 4.5.08
Anna Capri 5.4.11
plan to do it. he will be fine. ds went to boston at 12 weeks as a test run for dublin (16 weeks) and we were in la in january (8 months).
- lap infant all the way. those flights are short enough where it won't be too cumbersome.
- pump and large diaperbag were my carry-ons. most airlines do not charge to check the car seat and stroller. if you, dh, and ds can share a carry-on, great. if not, a checked bag fee is way cheaper than an extra seat for ds. i had no issues with tsa and my ice pack and all that stuff for my pump.
- check the car seat and stroller at the ticket counter if ds likes to be worn. so much easier. plus wearing ds on the plan left my hands free to read a book or nap when he napped.
- nurse during take off and landing (my ds won't take a paci)
- plum organics pouches are amazing for food. no need for a spoon and way less mess.
- see if your parents can rent a crib or let ds sleep in the car seat if it isn't for too many days. we also lived dangeroulsly this last trip and had ds in a queen sized bed with pillows on either side of him because our friends didn't have a crib. no sheets and blankets and the pillows weren't too close.
- ziploc bags are your friend for organizing food (tell the tsa agent in advance), toys, medicines, and diapering stuff.
if you have more specific questions let me know. i promise, it really isn't that bad.
ErinG covered it. I have a few more tips.
If you have a carseat/snap n go combo some airlines (not all) will consider that your one piece of baby equipment that you can check at the gate for free. Then you can check or ship your car seat base.
ETA: if you don't have this option, you can rent a car seat with a rental car to prevent lugging too much equipment with you to the airport.
Unless you need the pump I'd plan to travel without it. Hand pump would be better for traveling.
I put all baby food/snacks/bottles in a separate large plastic bag. Security didn't give me an issue for liquids but I wanted to make sure it was all together in one place.
I planned flights to coordinate with nap time. As in, we would be in air during nap time, so no crankiness leading up and he slept on me the majority of the flight.
I'd ask your parent to buy a pack n play or rent a crib.
Good stuff so far, thanks ladies. I'm saving this post for future reference.
I fear the nurse-in-public-thing but have a cover and could do it.
We have the infant car seat (Britax - it's a monster and he is too so it's heavy) and snap-n-go combo. But I wasn't sure about lugging it all. At least I will learn to pack lighter for myself!
#1 12.11.11
#2 10.23.13 EDD
We took Emma to Florida when she was 12 months. We ended up getting her a seat because Southwest was having some ridiculously cheap prices. It was so worth it because she fell asleep in her car seat waiting to board and we just carried her and strapped her in. She slept the whole flight and we could sit and play monopoly on the ipad. Plus since Southwest has the 3 seat sections, we had a row to ourselves and didn't have to share. So in that case we gate checked the stroller and brought the carseat on board.
If we were going to do a lap seat, we would have checked the carseat at the baggage counter and gate checked the stroller.
We rented a crib as well, they are really cheap to rent and nice quality usually. We just brought down a crib sheet.
Anyone traveling coming up that would need to cart a carseat around the airport, I highly suggest this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009RNXNA/ref=asc_df_B0009RNXNA1890094?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395093&creativeASIN=B0009RNXNA
It fit our Graco Snugride 35 and base just fine.
I agree with others, we had no problem with liquid formula and baby food going through security. They have some kind of tool that they scan it with. I think the general rule is just be up front and point it out to them right away so they know it's there. I pulled it out of the bag and put it separate in a bin next to her diaper bag.
I think you'll be fine. I think it's harder to travel with a toddler, get the traveling in now.
I haven't taken the girl on a plane so I can't speak to that.
However, I have NIP a gagillion times so I can offer advice there. This sounds weird, but practice at home first. Practice in front of a mirror with no nursing pillow, just as if you were in public. I always found wearing a zip hoodie over a nursing tank made it so much easier. You can either bring a large lightweight blanket like Aden+Anais OR you can wear a pashmina and cover baby with that.
Also, before you decide on the carseat, check out the prices to rent the seat. I think they're kind of high - like $15 a day or something. If you're going to visit family you could have them buy a seat and install it themselves for almost the same price.
Ering covered pretty much everything I was going to say. We have always checked both an umbrella-like stroller and car seat at the gate when DS was a baby and we plan to do the same with Danica on the 25th of this month. As for the car seat, We have a Britax as well but there is no chance in Hell that I'm going to bring that with us. I purchased a cheap car seat from Walmart and we're bringing that. Sure it's probably not as safe as the Britax but if it gets lost or beat up, I'll only be out $35.00 rather than $280.00. We checked DS's good car seat once when he was little and I still to this day regret it. It came home all busted up. I was so pissed.
I looked into renting a seat for Cayman and it was $5.00 a day. Not expensive at all but by the time I paid that, I just bought this cheapy one instead. If the cheapy one comes back looking fairly nice, I'm going to give it to my mom to have for her car for emergencies. Also, if you rent a car seat, they are on first come, first serve basis so you may not be guaranteed a car seat.