First of all, congratulations on your newborn baby! Compared to childbirth, travelling is easy. Lol. I’ve had to travel twice with newborns in the last few years. The first time was in March 2016. Daniel was 7 weeks old and I traveled alone. It was generally uneventful but I had a lot of things to handle: diaper bag, stroller, hand-luggage. Imagine trying to carry a stroller with a baby strapped in down the never-operational escalator at MMIA. Thankfully, I survived the experience with lessons that helped me in my next trip. The second time around, I was ready. Alvaro was a little over 3 weeks old when I returned to Nigeria, and I had one less layover. I also had an extra pair of hands in my mother-in-law because I travelled with Daniel too. It was honestly easier to handle Alvaro than Daniel.
My experience has been that newborns are easier to deal with than older babies. There are exceptions to the rule; for instance if your baby has a bad case of colic. But generally, newborns are better because they don’t move a lot and you can keep them nicely bundled. They’re less likely to annoy fellow passengers, as long as they don’t cry too much. And even if they do, just remind yourself that you will most likely never see any of those people again. 😀
So maybe, like me, you’ve given birth in the US, and now have to travel back to Nigeria with your brand-new baby. Or you’re travelling for another reason. Either way, here are my top 12 tips for travelling with a baby.
Comfort
1. Dress baby in layers so that you can easily cool them down or warm them up, depending on the temperature of your departure, airport, airplane and destination. For me, this meant a body suit, a sleep suit and a sweater with hats and socks.
2. The change in air pressure might build pressure in baby’s ear. The best way to combat this is by giving baby something to suck (pacifier, bottle, boob) during take-off and landing.
3. Wear slip on shoes that you can easily take off and put on. Saves time at TSA screening.
Convenience
4. If you’re getting to the airport super early, or you have a long layover, find out ahead of time where the airport nursery is. Some airports have really cool nurseries with changing pads, rocking chairs, cribs and everything a mama could ever need. It’s peaceful, quiet and private.
5.Your baby might poop a lot more than usual. I think the air pressure does something to their digestive systems but man, I had to change three really dirty diapers between the US and Nigeria. In those annoying airplane toilets with their limited elbow room. Sigh. Just brace yourself for it.
6. Keep your hands as free as possible. I’d recommend using a diaper back pack, and carrying all your hand-luggage in it. Your bag should have at least 6 diapers, a full pack of wipes, two simple outfits for baby, one blouse for you, 2 or 3 bibs and baby’s food. It should have space for your travel documents, wallet and the bare necessities of travel.
Carrying Baby
7. Stroller vs baby carrier? I’d pick baby carrier. Strollers have to be scanned in the x-ray machine and it’s so stressful having to take baby out, collapse the stroller, pull it back up and strap baby in. Newborns are typically less 6kg so wearing them at the airport isn’t that bad. For a bigger baby or toddler, you might want to use a stroller, though.
8. If you’d be interested in having the airline set up a cot for you on the plane, you should let them know as early as possible. They sometimes get multiple requests and they practice a ‘first come, first serve’ policy. My babies didn’t like the cots so they slept in my arms. Which brings me to the next consideration.
9. Should you carry baby on your lap or buy a seat? For many people, this is a no-brainer. Carrying baby on your lap is cheaper especially when you consider that some babies prefer to be carried and so might reject the idea of sitting by themselves all flight long. But if your baby sleeps well in his car-seat for instance, and you’d like that extra bit of independence and convenience, then you should consider buying a seat for your baby. Just remember that you have to bring your own car seat and make sure it’s FAA compliant. Some car seats won’t fit in regular airline seats.
Hygiene and Feeding
10. Hand sanitizer is king, mama. Especially for yourself. You know that you should wash your hands when you use the bathroom but do you know that the air vents and the food trays on airplanes usually harbour even more germs? So hand sanitizer for you and anyone who offers to carry baby.
11. Because yes, people will offer to carry baby. You need all the help you can get, so if the person doesn’t look crazy, you can hand the baby to them while you eat or use the bathroom. Air hostesses are usually very helpful in this regard.
12. Feeding baby: My default option was to breastfeed on demand but I had three bottles of pumped milk as back up in an insulated bottle bag with an ice pack. It required a bit more screening at TSA but that’s okay. If you’re using formula, then you can just pack the sachets or tins and some bottled water to make up the bottles. For older babies and toddlers who’ve started solids, I’d recommend dry mixes (e.g. cereal and milk in a bowl that you can add water to). If you must, you can carry proper food in jars that the air-hostesses can microwave for you.
Hope this helps someone. And if you liked, please share with someone who might need it. 🙂
