Flying The Long Haul With a Baby

Baby in SkycotThe first time we did the 24-hour jaunt back to South Africa with our three-month-old son Tau, we learned a few things about flying with an infant:

Airport securityAmerican writer and blogger Maggie Mason recently travelled with her older baby Hank to Argentina.

And last week, she posted two sets of tips: One for hassle-free travel with a baby and a second for getting through international airport Security with a baby, the pram, nappy bag and all the other necessary paraphernalia.

A sample of Maggie’s outstanding tips:

Keep your pram with you. They’ll give you luggage tags at the gate, and you just leave it outside the door of the plane. We travel with a Kolcraft car seat stroller so we can check the wheels and take the car seat aboard if there are empty seats. (Editor: We do the same with Tau and it works brilliantly.)

Ditch your nappy bag. This smallish Samsonite tote is Hank’s travel bag. (On sale for $20! The hell?) We use it as his carry-on instead of the diaper bag because it has more room, but still stows under the seat. The extra pockets and U-shaped top zipper also make things much more accessible.

Load the conveyor belt judiciously. That means:

Make friends. Be extra kind to every crew member you encounter. When you board the plane, show the flight attendants your baby, introduce them, take your baby’s hand and help him wave. Flight attendants are awesome, and they’re your allies in keeping the little one quiet and happy. They’ll heat bottles, bring extra blankets, supply cup lids, you name it. But only if you’re pleasant.

More Info: Long Haul Flights with Small Children and Babies

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Posted: January 28th, 2008

Categories: Kids & family, From around the world, Travel & leisure


3 Responses to “Flying The Long Haul With a Baby”

  1. Erika says:
    January 28th, 2008 at 6:34 am

    I’ve flown with my son Lane a several times and have lots of tips but here are two key ones:

    1. Couldn’t agree more with the “make friends” thing. I spent an entire flight hanging out in the back of the plane — i.e. standing — chatting with the attendants. Hard on my feet/back but just the thing for a squirming 10-month-old.

    2. When Lane was 4mo we took a long flight, just the two of us. I didn’t want to check bags because of multiple tight connections. I got a backpack suitcase (ricksteves.com) and a messenger bag (stylish, roomy, and shoulder-slung), which left my hands free for pushing the stroller.

  2. Dizzy Dee says:
    January 28th, 2008 at 11:16 am

    These are really helpful tips! I only travelled with babies ONCE, and that was as an au pair, luckily only a 4hr flight. Still it was rather challenging to keep them entertained, as they were ages 1 year & 2 years old. The older one watched a bit of Cat in the hat, but got bored of it quickly, while the baby didn’t even once pay attention to the screen.
    We had some small toys for them to sit and play with, but it was still rather frustrating for them. They also sat in their car seats, but luckily we could let them walk around a bit, look out the windows etc. to keep them entertained.
    Finally they were able to take a nap, and woke up a bit less grumpy, and was very happy when we got off the plane! :)

  3. Monica Gaba says:
    March 3rd, 2008 at 6:01 pm

    I am flying to India in a couple of weeks time and have a 18 month old baby. This will be his first flight and i’m worried about how to keep him entertained for 9 hours. Please can someone give me some advice.

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