Traveling with a baby by plane

The first airplane travel with a baby is incredibly overwhelming. Adding a newborn to the equation changes everything even if you have traveled a thousand times before. When my son was born, it took me weeks before I even took him outside for a stroller walk. That’s how stressed I was, overthinking every little thing. Is he dressed too warm, too light? What if he didn’t like the stroller bassinet? What if he cried? Looking back, It wasn’t a big deal at all! But I vividly remember begging my husband to return every minute of our 15-minute walk.

If I hadn’t had a good reason, nothing would have made me get on an airplane with my son. But my husband’s family and mine live on two different continents than us. We wanted them to meet our baby. So we booked the tickets, and I started to do what I always do to feel back in control—meticulous research and planning. Two years later, here’s what I learned about traveling with a baby by plane.

baby Packing essentials

Travel essentials will vary depending on many factors. One is the baby’s current feeding style (nursing, formula, pumping, combination) and whether the baby has started solids. Accommodations at our destination (hotel, room at family’s house, rented apartment) might offer different arrangements and features. If the bathroom has a bathtub or a shower with a thermostat, the inflatable baby bathtub might not be necessary. We simply hold the baby when showering. But in our apartment’s shower in Lisbon, the water temperature would change uncontrollably from cold to scalding hot. The travel bathtub was necessary.

We always consider our destination’s season and weather forecast. Whenever we go to Brazil, the southern hemisphere is in the opposite season, so I need to purchase a whole new wardrobe for my son! The countries we visit in Europe are usually very similar to New York weather-wise, so I can go through what we already have. Although I love going there, I dread the time difference and its consequences. It takes time to adjust the sleep schedules, and all the good independent sleeping skills my son gained seem to go through the window each time.

Sleeping arrangements

A perk of visiting family is that we can ask them for some favors. One of them is buying things before we get there, such as baby diapers, wipes, food, and milk. That can help shrink our luggage nicely.

It’s essential to figure out the sleeping arrangements for the baby at the destination, whether it’s a bassinet, travel crib, co-sleeping, etc. Maybe someone at your destination can borrow a crib from family or friends. Baby gear rental companies might also be available in some destinations.

The crib might be unnecessary for co-sleeping families. However, there might be other considerations. The mattress might be small or need to be removed from a tall bed frame and placed on the floor for safety.

I’ve heard parents use their en suite bathroom or book a hotel suite to put the crib in the living room. Both parents and the baby were used to sleeping in separate rooms at home, so they needed to recreate it.

If your baby has no problem sleeping in bright surroundings, great. My son is used to sleeping in a dark room, so portable blackout shades are necessary.

Many hotels offer cribs that can be delivered to the guest’s room. However, I advise approaching it cautiously and confirming what kind of crib they have before the stay. One hotel we stayed in brought a pack’n-play that looked like it would collapse into itself at any moment. Instead of a (flat and firm, ideally) mattress, they threw two fluffy pillows inside. The crib was unsafe, and there was no way I could use it.

Guava Lotus infant travel crib

We knew we’d travel regularly, so we got a travel crib called Guava Lotus. It is an excellent product because it’s relatively lightweight, has a zippered side for easy access, and, most importantly, folds into a backpack-style bag. We put my son to sleep in Guava at home a few times before the trip so he could get used to it. And I like always knowing I can put him in a safe place to sleep once we arrive. Guava takes seconds to put together.

Not all travel cribs (pack n’ plays) are equal. Most are big when folded and more suitable for car travel and short-term visits to grandparents. Guava Lotus is the most compact and packs into a backpack-style bag for easy carrying. My son has never been a great sleeper, but the travel crib’s design was really helpful to us. I often used the side mesh zippered window to lie down with him and nurse. It also helps with laying down a baby already asleep in my arms. However, the zipper makes some noise, so it’s good to wait at least 5 minutes until the baby gets into deep sleep.

Packing checklist

Feel free to use my packing checklist for a baby and adjust to your needs:

I’ll be frank – I completely overpacked the first or two times we traveled with our baby. I had no idea exactly what I would need, and I brought too many toys and clothes. We didn’t use the baby bathtub or the carrier. But there was just no way of knowing that beforehand. When we travel more often, we learn what works and what doesn’t for our family. And the fun part is – our baby grows, and their needs change too. So I try not to stress that much anymore. After all, wherever we go, there are probably stores too.

dOCUMENTS

A baby does not need a passport to fly domestically in the US, but you might still need a birth certificate. However, a baby does need a passport to travel abroad. A letter of consent is required if the child travels with only one parent or other guardians¹. A passport picture of the baby does not need to be taken professionally and can be done at home, but there are a few requirements, like having a white background ².

Baby passports expire after 5 years, which makes sense considering how much children change. So it’s worth double-checking those dates and keeping them up to date before travels.

baby Tickets

There are two options for the flight with a baby less than 2 years old:

a) You can fly with an infant on your lap for free or at a highly reduced cost. Every airplane has its own rules, so you must check beforehand.

b) The baby gets its own seat, which is usually around 60% of the adult price. You can install the car seat on it, but it needs to be airplane-approved.

In both scenarios, the baby needs to have their own ticket.

Having an extra seat is much more comfortable for the whole family. So I highly recommend buying it for those long flights if you can afford it. And being strapped in a secured car seat is the safest way for a baby to travel. But honestly, my son would not stay in the car seat the entire time. He was uncomfortable and wanted to roll onto his belly when asleep. So he mainly slept on me or the extra seat. But it gave us more room to stretch our legs and adjust our positions during the long flights. And you don’t need to worry about poking other passengers or making them uncomfortable.

For long-haul flights, I recommend booking overnight tickets that approximately align with the baby’s night sleep schedule. It will not be perfect, but entertaining a baby for nine hours on a plane is a feat I don’t want to undertake.

Some smaller domestic airplane seats on short flights did not fit our car seat. We had to hand it to the crew to gate-check.

Baby bassinet

Some flights offer the bassinet attachment, making traveling with a baby way more comfortable for everybody. It’s available for lap babies and babies with their own seat purchased. But you need to book it in advance if possible. They also might be given on a first-come, first-served basis or as needed (if someone has twins or a smaller baby, etc.). They might also not be available on all domestic lines. Bassinets are usually attached to the wall in front of the bulkhead seats, so there are only one or two per flight.

The bassinet attachment has a weight and height limit. My 4-month-old was at 99% for height and almost barely fit in. But he slept well in there. That meant I was able to get some sleep as well.

On our first trip, on the way back home a very unpleasant situation happened when the other couple sitting next to us on the bulkhead seats claimed they booked the bassinet for their 9-month-old daughter. They did not want to let us use it, although it turned out our reservation got confirmed, and theirs hadn’t. The attendants helped us resolve the situation, and I gave away our full seat to them so the family could sit their daughter there, but the vibe was still very…hostile. I recommend confirming all the booking details twice.

At the airport

I’m a visual learner, so this is a schematic chart of our step-by-step at the airport.

Carrier or stroller?

Lots of people recommend using the carrier to move the baby around the airport so your hands are free. You might have to take the baby out for the security check. However, this is not the most convenient for me, as getting the baby in and out of the carrier for things like diaper changes drives me a bit crazy and is tiring on my back. It makes things like eating and using the restroom much harder.

We prefer using our full-size stroller, which might not make the most sense initially. However, it’s been great for us. It keeps our son comfortable and gives a ton of storage. Our stroller’s (Cybex Gazelle S) storage basket holds a car seat, two backpacks, a diaper bag, and our jackets. We just need to roll our luggage and the travel crib (Guava Lotus that comes with a backpack-style bag) at the airport. If the baby falls asleep in the stroller, we can relax or enjoy a meal.

Using the regular stroller works very well when traveling with a partner. My husband is responsible for folding it and putting it in a bag at the gate. I would have to ask someone for help if he wasn’t there. I would probably try the carrier or a travel stroller for solo travel with a baby.

Gate check, Ticker counter check or overhead compartment?

We then check in everything except the stroller, backpacks, and diaper bag. Often, the car seat (if not used in the plane seat for the baby) and the travel crib must be brought to an oversized luggage check-in. Since they are baby-related items, there is no additional cost.

Baby gear like strollers, car seats, child carriers, and booster car seats can all be checked for free at the gate or ticket counter.

I try to keep my son in the stroller as long as possible, all the way to the airplane door. We get a tag for it at the gate counter and tie it to the empty stroller bag. From there, we walk to the airplane door, where we fold the stroller, wrap it in the designated bag, and leave it with an attendant who gate-checks it. It’s usually ready to pick up at the end of the flight next to the airplane door. However, one time (I think somewhere in Europe) our stroller wasn’t there, and we had to carry our son all the way to the oversized luggage pickup area. It was very inconvenient, but it might happen.

Some smaller travel strollers can even be stuffed into the plane’s overhead compartment. But they must fit within the airline’s carry-on dimensions.

Bringing the car seat

If you haven’t dispatched the car seat at the oversized luggage check, you can gate-check it or bring it into the plane to install it at the seat if you purchased an extra one for the baby. Staying in the car seat is the safest way for the baby to travel in case of rough turbulence. But in our experience, the car seat might not fit some smaller domestic plane seats.

Diaper bag

The diaper bag doesn’t count toward the passenger’s baggage allowance. You can bring it to the plane for free along with your personal items. Remember never to check it. Have everything the baby might need for the flight in the diaper bag, plus some extras for possible blow-outs and messes—spare clothes for the baby and the parents. Popular advice is to bring Ziploc bags or a waterproof bag for dirty clothes, etc.

However, on the first travel, I highly overestimated how much stuff I would need, so I try to keep things more minimal now.

Security check

I believe everyone is aware of the limits on the items that can go into the carry-on luggage and the personal items we carry through the security check. The maximum liquid amount you can bring in your carry-on bag is 3.4 ounces (100 milliliters) per item.

The good news is that this doesn’t apply to diaper bags. Everyone traveling with a child is allowed to bring one. You can bring breastmilk, formula, water, ice packs for them, baby food, pouches, baby creams, and even medicine in the quantity that you need. We always travel with a little Benadryl bottle for potential allergy-related incidents. You can also have a breast pump. Just ensure it’s all in the designated diaper bag, not a carry-on.

However, be aware that the TSA may test the formula (without touching it), water or milk to confirm it’s not a prohibited substance.

Usually, we are asked to remove our son from the stroller, and the security officers check the stroller with a hand scanner. Meanwhile, one of us walks with the baby through the body scanner, and they hand us the stroller on the other side.

Little perks for parents

In general, traveling with a baby is much more difficult and stressful than traveling solo. But a few perks are available for parents designed to ease the hustle. They are airport/airline dependent, and there isn’t a lot of them, but they can make all the difference when available.

Most airports have designated ADA lanes for passengers with disabilities, older people, and families with kids. The security lanes are wider, and the wait lines are usually shorter. Family or nursing rooms/pods might also be available throughout the airport. We even encountered an airport with kids’ strollers ready to use at no charge.

If you speak with the gate counter attendant, you can usually board the plane before the others. It might be smart for the person with the baby to stay as long as possible in the waiting area and for the other to go gate-check the stroller and take the seats. So if the plane takes forever to take off or is delayed, you don’t get stuck in those tiny seats.

However, we have not been using this tactic. We all go to the airplane door together, where I grab my son, and my husband deals with the stroller. Then, we arrange everything on our airplane seats.

Baby on the plane

We usually change the baby’s diaper one last time before the flight and use the restroom ourselves. Changing the baby into the clothes it sleeps in might also be a good idea, especially for a lap infant. The seat and airplane bathroom space is very small, and doing anything there is hard.

The popular advice is to nurse or give the baby a pacifier at takeout and landing to help with the ear pressure pain. I tried that, but the pressure didn’t affect my son, and he wasn’t interested.

It’s a good idea to bring some new toys to occupy the baby (even super cheap ones from the dollar store) so it’s a novelty for them. My son used to enjoy this popular spinning suction toy. But babies can be interested in anything, like airplane security booklets, empty bottles, keys, and other random objects, so I try not to pack too many.

Sleeping like a baby

Everyone who has a baby knows this phrase is often used entirely wrong. Unless it’s supposed to mean sleeping “adorably,” not “well.” One issue we have been struggling with each time is that my son won’t sleep until the crew switches the bright plane lights to night mode, no matter how late after his usual bedtime. Sometimes, it takes a long time, as the crew needs to serve dinner and clean up afterward. We usually rig a cover with a lightweight blanket above the bassinet or the seats, which helps. And we supervise him well when he’s under it. There’s this portable airplane and stroller blackout cover called CoziGo, but we haven’t bought it as it felt like we wouldn’t be using it long enough to justify the cost. My son outgrew the airplane bassinet after just one time.

I had to learn to let go of any sleep schedules and go with the flow, and this DOES NOT come easy to me. But every time we flew overnight (usually 9 hours), my son got at least 6-7 hours of sleep (with few wakeups in between), which I consider a success.

Keeping calm

The good news is that traveling with a newborn is actually easier than a mobile baby or toddler!

I think we’ve all been on a flight where a child cried or had a tantrum. It is not pleasant for anyone. We don’t want to be that family. During boarding, you might get some displeased looks from nearby passengers once they notice the child is close to their seat.

But it’s important to remember that babies are part of our society, families are spread throughout the globe now more than ever, and babies are…simply babies. They cry, especially in new, uncomfortable surroundings like an airplane, often overtired, with their routine thrown out of the window. A little kindness and understanding can go a long way. I mean it both ways. And a crying child is not a reflection of us being bad or helpless parents.

Our experiences have been overwhelmingly positive so far, with attentive staff and friendly, kind neighbors. Once, we were assigned separate seats, and the passenger next to me was very accommodating (not to say eager) and agreed to switch with my husband so we could sit together as a family.

Our son has loved watching new faces since he was a baby, smiling and waving at everyone. We even received a few relieved congratulations at the end of the flight.

Having the tools ready

I must say, with my son rejecting bottles and pacifiers, I was grateful to be able to breastfeed. Breastfeeding, bottle feeding and pacifiers are powerful tools for calming down a baby in any circumstance, especially during the flight.

The noise of an airplane works as a sound machine, but I also recommend downloading the calming magic of a song like Over the Rainbow that is ready to play offline (very quietly, of course). Between the crying baby and a relaxing song, I believe other passengers might appreciate it too. It’s the second year in a row, and it’s my most-played song on Spotify, according to Wrapped. And I don’t even particularly like it.

My son used to get calmed by a vibrating hedgehog toy, so bringing a stuffy or a child’s favorite lovey is a good idea.

Little luxury?

If you can afford it, or one of your credit cards comes with this type of benefit, I recommend going into one of the airport lounges with the baby while waiting for the flight. In addition to complimentary food and beverages, the lounges offer comfortable, private seating areas, bathrooms with no lines, and very often nice nursing rooms. Some lounges even have sleeping rooms/nooks. Our American Express card came with a free lounge benefit, completely changing our comfort level while traveling.

This airport lounge had many different seating areas, some offering a bit of privacy. The mother’s room (or family room) was amazing, with a comfortable nursing chair, changing pad, and dimmable lighting. There were outlets and a side table if you need to pump. My son could only nurse and fall asleep in complete darkness at the time, but getting mad at nursing covers, so it saved our trip.

Global entry

If you often fly internationally from one of the big airports in the US, getting Global Entry³ for the whole family might be worth it. It allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States. That means no waiting in those huge customs lines.

Additionally, you automatically have access to TSA PreCheck lanes at security checkpoints when flying domestically.

However, Global Entry does not have a minimum age, so infants must also be enrolled in the program together with their parents.

But it’s worth it, especially after a long, tiring flight, when you want to get home quickly.

Enjoying the trip

I could write a whole post about how it is to actually travel with a baby, but I will keep my insights here short. These have been my experiences, and obviously, everyone is different.

I am not exactly the most flexible parent, and having a schedule helps me ease my anxiety. I feel like a predictable routine is also best for my child. But there is just no way of keeping a rigid schedule when traveling, especially between time zones. I had to force myself to hit the pause button mentally and just let things go, hoping they would eventually settle themselves. And they did (-ish). My son slept way less during airplane travels; his naps were short, and he was a bit more cranky than usual.

But once we arrived at our destination, I tried to give him a semblance of our normal routine while staying flexible enough so we all could enjoy our trip and time with the family.

Visiting family

Surprisingly, my biggest struggle when traveling with a baby is maintaining healthy boundaries and safety standards, which means advocating for myself and my son. The infamous “we did this, and the kids were fine” is a universal statement made by older generations of parents, regardless of the place around the world.

For example, there are cultural differences in parenting between me and my husband’s family. It’s been solely my experience, as I don’t want to speak for the whole country of Brazil, but they are much more laid back and flexible, the babies are meant to adjust to the adult schedules and plans. The kids are brought everywhere regardless of time, loud music doesn’t bother anyone, and the approach to sleep is often “they will sleep when they are tired.”

As a first-time mom, I received a lot of (often unwanted) advice and felt a bit judged for my “rigid” parenting style. But my son is my absolute priority, and while I think you can still travel and enjoy life after having babies, things will and should adjust to accommodate the kids’ needs. So, I try to be respectful and appreciative of advice given to me by more experienced parents, because I know they come from a good, kind place. I also keep doing my own thing, stay confident in my parenting choices, maintain my standards (car safety is non-negotiable for me) and comfort levels, and have a spouse to advocate for me if needed. Thanks to that, we can focus on enjoying our time, showing our baby the world, and making beautiful memories as a family.

References

1. https://www.usa.gov/travel-documents-children ↩︎
2. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/photos.html ↩︎
3. https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry ↩︎