How many months should baby be before you can fly?

OP,

Have you discussed with the pediatrician?

How old will the baby be?

OP - I don't know what your circumstances are, but I just want to say that I would not travel by plane with a newborn. I had an emergency that required us to travel when DS was 10 days old. Our ped advised against a commercial flight due to the germs on planes. Your child has no immunity and the odd of catching something are high. If he/she ends up with a fever, a spinal tap is mandatory. I ended up not flying commercially as a result of the information I received from a lot of sources (ped included), but did make the trip. And, the trip was hard. We were trying to establish breastfeeding, my c-section incision wasn't healing properly, I was in a daze from lack of sleep, and 1000 other things. I had no choice in making the trip and would say that it's not worth it unless absolutely necessary.

most questions have been answered.

for the pump, use the pump wipes, medela makes some great ones.

Anonymous wrote:What should I bring? Does the baby need an ID to board the plane? Is it better to bring a car seat or rent one when we rent a car? Is there a checklist of what we should bring somewhere?

Would you check stroller, or just carry baby in a carrier?

If I need to pump, how should I sterilize the pumping equipment?

Don't need an ID, but if you have the birth certificate, not a bad idea to bring it along just in case.

I recommend bringing *either* a car seat or a stroller, but not both. What sorts of activities are you going to be doing when you get to your destination? If it will be mostly driving and then a little walking back and forth, bring the car seat and a wrap. If you will be mostly traveling by foot/transit, consider your stroller.

Bring on the plane;
one diaper for each hour of travel
mini pack of wipes
fold up changing mat
a bunch of gallon size ziploc baggies
an entire change of clothes for baby, a clean shirt for you
a blanket to keep on your lap so that if (when) the baby leaks, you don't get covered in it
a blanket to wrap over baby (I use small flannel receiving blankets for this)
enough water for yourself and something to amuse yourself with if you have a sleeping child on top of you
whatever you need for feedin

In terms of sterilizing pump parts, if you'll need to pump during travel, cooler & ice pack will keep the parts cold, and if the milk on them stays cold, they will be fine. Bring a small bottle of detergent with you and you can wash pump and bottle parts in hot soapy water (unless you have a particular compelling need to sterilize).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't do it.

+1 Not a good idea with a newborn.

Why would you bring a pump? It's easier to just breastfeed the baby.

Uhh because some people exclusively pump, judgmental much?

Anonymous wrote:Don't do it.

+1 Not a good idea with a newborn.

Why would you bring a pump? It's easier to just breastfeed the baby.

Don't do it.

Birth Certificate, stroller and car seat. See the car seat lady. She recommends kids get own seat in car seat.

Southwest requires a birth certificate.

to bring: more diapers and wipes than you thought were necessary and a change of clothes, possibly 2. if you're breastfeeding, the feeding part is easy. it's supposed to be good for baby to nurse on takeoff and landing to equalize their ears. if not, a paci and plenty of formula. in fact the paci is probably a good idea regardless. a kindle for while baby sleeps.

ID: no, unless its an international flight, in which case baby needs a passport

Car seat - some places refuse to rent them, for liability reasons. i always brought ours.

checklists. i consulted about a billion of these online before I traveled with new baby. i don't remember any of them being particularly perfect.

stroller - i always had a stroller and a carrier. stroller was useful for lugging stuff when baby was in carrier. and sometimes it was nice to be able to put baby down someplace safe and relatively clean in the airport. carrier was useful for soothing fussy baby and walking up and down the aisles.

pump - i would avoid pumping on the plane if possible. too much trouble. if not possible, just rinse the parts when you're done and store them in a ziploc in whatever cooler you're storing the milk in. wash or sterilize when you get where you're going.

ID -- No, you don't need one. For a lap baby, they have the right to check a birth certificate to verify age, but that would be ridiculous with a newborn.

car seat -- If you purchased a seat for the baby, a car seat is a great thing to have. It'll be more comfortable for you if baby can sleep in the car seat.

stroller -- I think that is more of a personal preference. Gate checking it is super easy though.

pump -- No idea about sterilization, but when I pumped at work, I just kept my parts with the pumped milk in a cooler bag. I only washed them at night when I got home. You can probably do something similar. How long is the flight? Can you get away with just bringing clean parts and only pumping once?

What should I bring? Does the baby need an ID to board the plane? Is it better to bring a car seat or rent one when we rent a car? Is there a checklist of what we should bring somewhere?

Would you check stroller, or just carry baby in a carrier?

If I need to pump, how should I sterilize the pumping equipment?