Traveling With A Baby
Piper and I are back from our trip to Washington D.C, and it was AMAZING! I love, love the east coast. It reminds me so much of England, and I love all of the history. There's just a different vibe out there and I'm supes into it.
This was the first time I've flown alone with Piper, and I was preeeetty nervous about it. She's been on quite a few planes before to Arizona, but it's only a 1 hour 20 min flight from Utah, anddd I've always had Jordan with me to help a sista out. This trip to D.C was her longest flight (1 hour 30 min to Colorado and then 4 hours to D.C.) and she was such a trooper! I am NOWHERE near an expert on babies haha, or traveling with them, so I feel a little silly even writing this post, but I've had a few requests for tips and tricks that worked for me. I hope it helps!
#1 BABY CARRIER/STROLLER
Having a baby carrier AND a stroller with me in the airport was the best decision! I had Piper, her diaper bag, our carry on, Piper's blanket, the stroller, and her car seat to juggle...so it was a liiiitle crazy at times - especially when trying to find my ticket or phone *gulp*. I strapped Piper into the baby carrier so I had my hands free, and threw everything else into the stroller which helped big time! If you're flying alone (or even if you're not), bring a baby carrier! I used an Ergo Baby carrier which made life 1000x easier because I could slip her in and out. I actually put her into it during the night flight on the way back, stood at the back of the plane for a little bit, and she fell asleep really fast.
I'd also recommend getting a travel stroller! They get pretty battered with being gate checked and my baby jogger is rather heavy. I use a City Select Mini stroller which I could open and fold with one hand. That also made things a lot easier!
#2 OPEN SEATS
Before boarding, I asked if the flight was full and if there were empty seats available. They happily switched my seat a couple of times so Piper and I had a little more room! On the longer flights, I was able to get into an aisle seat which was helpful because I could easily get up and down to rock Piper at the back of the plane. There was also more room for Piper to play at my feet! If you can, ask to move to the empty seats, or at least get an aisle seat.
I chose to check the car seat during check in because I didn't want to deal with another thing, but you can take it on the plane if they have empty seats and let your bub sleep in there. If the flight is full, they'll check it at the gate for you with the stroller!
#3 SNACKS ON SNACKS
Okay, this snack was mine for the plane. I don't go ANYWHERE without a G2G Bar. I mean it.
Piper likes to feed herself and it entertains her for a good amount of time, so I brought lots of different snack options for her (and me obviously because, well duh). She had superfood puffs, Annies crackers, cut up apples, roasted sweet potatoes, and Happy Tot squeeze packets.
#4 TOYS
Piper doesn't really care for her toys. She prefers roaming the house and playing with random objects haha. I only packed one toy and she didn't even play with it. She LOOOOVES books though, so I packed a couple of those and she spent most of the flights looking at those. Something that helped me was bringing one thing out at a time, and letting her use it until she was 100% done with it, and then bringing out the next thing. It's obviously draining, but it kept her busy and prevented her from crying the whole* time (just part of the time...*eye roll*). I also bought a water bottle when I got through the gate and she loved playing with that. I don't know what it is about babies and water bottles, but they love that noise!
I am trying not to have Piper watch screens until she is 2 years old, but to each their own! If your bub likes that, download a bunch of shows onto your phone/ipad!
#5 CHECK MY INSTA COMMENTS FOR MORE TIPS
I asked for tips on my Instagram a couple of days before leaving, and there are lots of good suggestions from other mamas in the comment section! Read through those if you're looking for more advice! **post is HERE.
I hope this was helpful! Again, I'm noooo expert, and I only have one baby, so take what I say with a grain of salt. These all helped me a lot, so if you try them out, I hope they make your traveling experience a little less stressful too!
