Tips for Flying with a Newborn

Okay, let’s just start this off with the truth: I am no expert on flying with a newborn (meaning a baby who is under 3 months). I flew with my child as a newborn for a total of 21 hours, and a total of 4 flights: Seattle to Reykjavik, Reykjavik to Paris, and back along the same route. Buuuut, after each flight I had people turn to me in shock and say, “I didn’t know there was a baby on this flight!” So I’ve got a few tips of what worked for me. Here they are:

1. Consider your baby’s temperament to decide if it’s worth it. I started plotting to go on an international trip with my newborn while I was pregnant, but I didn’t book the trip until she was born. Why? Some newborns are fussy and really challenging. I planned to travel with my newborn only if her temperament was average-to-easy. A colicky baby with 21+ hours of flying for a one week trip would not be worth it for me.
2. Stick with a feeding schedule. In normal life, I would wait for L to cry or fuss to let me know that she was hungry. On a plane, I didn’t want her disturbing the other passengers. I kept her on an eating schedule, meaning that I fed her every 2 hours while awake, and every 2.5 hours if she was asleep. If she was sleeping, I’d wake her by sticking my boob in her mouth. She’d eat and fall back to sleep. With a feeding schedule, she didn’t get hungry, and therefore didn’t get upset, and didn’t cry at all. (I breastfed, which made this particularly easy, but I have lots of experience taking care of bottle-fed babies, and feel this would work fine with bottles as well, though).
3. Use cloth diaper covers. I’ll never forget our first trip with L. She was 5 weeks old and we took her to Walla Walla, WA. We were at a beautiful vineyard sipping wine when suddenly I felt something warm on my leg. It was a poo-splosion. I was horrified. I had never experienced this before (and hadn’t packed enough clothes for this problem!). The reason it had never happened before? We cloth diapered when we weren’t traveling. Cloth diapers don’t leak the way disposables do. At the time, I already had our tickets to Paris booked and I was SUPER stressed about having a poo-splosion on a plane while alone with my newborn (but obviously wasn’t going to cloth diaper her on a plane or in Paris). Finally I came up with my most brilliant newborn travel hack: Cloth diaper covers! Basically they’re the plastic shells that are snapped around the cloth part of the diaper for people who use the old methods of cloth diapering. BUT they can also be easily snapped around a disposable diaper to keep things contained when using disposable diapers, which is what I always did while traveling with L when she was still wearing diapers. Seriously, if you listen to nothing else in this post, this is the one to follow!
4. Use an infant carrier (Like a moby or a lillebaby or an ergo – But not while taking off and landing). I will admit, I’m pretty biased about carriers generally; unless you have a kid who hates being held, carriers make life as a parent so much easier. As a flight attendant I’m always shocked by the parents who struggle to get themselves and their babies on the plane because they’re trying to carry both their baby and their luggage with their hands! Carriers mean you can have 2 hands available for use while carrying your baby! On a long flight, carriers are even better because you will probably be tired. Can you imagine accidentally drifting off to sleep while on an 8 hour flight? Yep, it would be easy to do! But what if you were holding your baby while you fell asleep? You might drop them! Carriers are great once at cruising altitude. You can also eat, go to the bathroom, etc while “holding” your baby in the carrier. I found wrap carriers to be most comfortable while in flight, but soft-sided carriers are generally best for all other travel contexts (like airports, walking around cities) I actually brought both a Moby and an Ergo with me when I went to Paris because I wanted the Moby for the plane and the Ergo for sightseeing.
5. Wear a nursing shirt and nursing bra if nursing while flying. I’ve been stuck in a middle seat in Economy with a nursing lap infant between two men before. It’s awkward. But, wearing a nursing shirt meant I didn’t have to pull my breast out in front of strangers, and meant that I didn’t have to pull my shirt up to show my tummy. It was still super awkward and uncomfortable, but much less so than if I hadn’t been wearing a nursing top/bra.
6. Go in with a plan. Parents are often quite anxious about traveling with their newborns. I’d encourage you to think through the phases of travel and the specific concerns you have for each phase, and then plan for them. I was worried my baby would cry and disturb others, so I planned a feeding schedule to keep her calm. I was worried my baby would poo all over me, so I brought extra clothes and used cloth diaper covers. You should recognize that delays are possible and bring enough supplies (diapers, formula, bottles, etc) to last well-beyond the hours you think you’ll be on the plane. You should think through your feeding options and have a plan. (Sometimes parents think there are microwaves onboard aircraft; there are not. Basically you can have hot water; that is your main option. If you need hot water to warm a bottle that’s already filled, you’ll need to provide a container to put the hot water in…) Just go in with a plan, and you’ll do okay!
7. Remind yourself that it’s okay! I found that there were two main types of people I’d interact with while traveling with a newborn: People who were SUPER nice, or people who were SUPER rude. In either case, I didn’t have to worry about them. The nice people would give me grace, and the rude people didn’t deserve my kindness or respect, so I didn’t worry too much if my baby was bothering them.

I personally feel that traveling with a newborn is at least 10x easier than flying with an infant or toddler, and it was super enjoyable! Get out there, and go!