Air Travel with 2mo old

[Anonymous]

Can anyone give me any advice on travelling with an infant this small? I am breastfeeding but DS is also taking a bottle or 2 of breastmilk per day. Can I bring breast milk onboard? Also, we have a peg perego viaggio car seat. Should we get a lighter one for the airplane? How difficult is this going to be realistically? The flight is from DC to Miami. We welcome any helpful suggestions!

[Anonymous]

Ah - traveling with an infant is so much easier than an older baby or toddler!!

You can take liquids on board for children. Just let the TSA know when you go through security. They may take you aside and do a chemical test on the bottle - they wave a paper over the open bottle, they don't touch it. You have a right to open it yourself so that they don't get their hands on your baby's food. Some of them are mean, some nice. Just try not to get too upset by them!

I don't know your carseat, but if it fits in a snap-n-go or other stroller, you shouldn't have a problem. You gate-check the stroller and just carry the seat onboard (I'm assuming from your post that you bought a seat. Good idea).

If your baby is awake, a pacifier or bottle at take-off and landing is good for the ears. If he's sleeping, let him be. They tend to nod-off as soon as the engines rev.

Bring extra diapers incase of a delay and you'll be fine!!

[Anonymous]

I have a lot of experience traveling with both my kids at very early ages. Miami is a quick flight - so that is good. I breastfed and had bottles ready. I brought powdered formula ready in a bottle and just added room temp. water if I needed to do bottle. I think most babies get lulled by the engine noise and motion - so hopefullly he/she will nap. The hardest part is going through security - if I remember correctly - they make you take the baby out of the car seat, even if sleeping. Don;t know about if you have the baby in a sling. Anyone?
Traveling with infants is much easier than toddlers - that is for sure! Good luck. You should be fine.
As for car seat - can you bring one of those things that you pop the car seat into? They can check it at the gate so you will only be carrying the carseat onto the plane at the last minute......

[Anonymous]

I would also bring an extra shirt for you. When my dd was young, I always managed to spill things on myself when traveling with her. Or in case your baby spits up.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Just a quick question- to the 15:10 poster, do you mean did I buy a seat for baby? Or did you mean the carseat. It didnt even dawn on me that I would have to buy a seat for DS..DUh to me. That would be instead of carrying baby in my arms or in baby bjorn? I am starting to hyperventilate. Maybe this is going to be way harder than i thought.

[Anonymous]

Oh my goodness - 15:10 here! I did not mean to upset you - of course, you only bring the carseat if you want the baby to be in his/her own seat and then - of course - you buy the seat! We did that a few times on long flights. But for Miami - you would just hold the baby! Sorry to scare you!
We did it for long flights so we could stretch out ourselves and we also figured he would sleep better in his car seat and also - to guarantee that we had the whole row!

[Anonymous]

15:09 here.

Yes, if you want your baby to sit in his carseat during the flight, you must buy a seat. If there are empty seats available, they may let you put your carseat in it, but there is no guarantee.

You are not permitted to use a bjorn during flight; it is not FAA approved. You may hold your child in your lap until the age of 2 years, at which point you must buy a seat. However, it is much safer and more comfortable for everyone if you buy a seat from day 1. You wouldn't drive to the corner with your baby in your lap, I can't imagine why you would on a 2.5 hour flight.

Don't worry - it's really not hard. Just leave yourself extra time to get through security. You do need to take your baby out of the stroller and hold him to go through the machine. Bjorns are allowed at security. You will have to fold up the stroller, which is tough if you're by yourself and juggling everything. Depending on how nice security it, you'll have to take shoes off your baby too, so pack the cute Robeez and let him go barefoot or in socks

Good luck!!

[Anonymous]

wow- i've had my baby in the bjorn on three different flights and no one every batted an eye.

[Anonymous]

I just flew with my 2 month old (also to Florida) and it was no big deal. The sling/bjorn is a must--especially through security. I was flying by myself on the way there with the baby and we got my husband a gate pass so he could help us through security. Only problem was that the flight attendants were NOT helpful in assisting me in installing the car seat. We did purchase a seat for the baby but Miami is a short flight. Good luck and you'll be fine!

[Anonymous]

I flew to Memphis (2 hours) with my 2 month old. It was NOT a big deal. We did not buy a seat. On the way down there, the flight was pretty full. I nursed her on the way up from DCA and then she fell asleep. On the way back, we did get a seat for her, so we brought the car seat on with us. You just need to check with the attendant at the gate when you get there. I did get us seats at the back of the plane to have a better chance of having an empty seat. On the way back, DD was awake but the flight was delayed slightly so I nursed and then we were done by the time we took off! But she sat in her car seat and was totally fine.

I would suggest some deep breaths if your baby is crying on the flight. You can only do what you can do and the flight will end. I found that getting stressed out about it only stressed my baby out more. But, like I said, I found flying with the baby only slightly more hassle than flying alone. Just give some extra time to get through security--they didn't let me carry her through in the baby bjorn, everything had to go through the scanner.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

On more thing, OP-- when we traveled with our baby at 2 months, even when the plane was almost full, no one sat with us. We had the whole row to ourselves because the baby made everyone nervous!

We didn't buy a seat, but had an extra one anyway. That being said, having the extra seat made life a lot easier--we had a place to change her and all that. Traveling with her filled me with anxiety in advance, but it was a breeze. Good luck!