Link of the Day: Flying with an Infant

Here's a good and clear explanation of what is allowed (and more importantly, what is not!) when flying with an infant. Part of having a good experience while flying is acquainting yourself and following the rules (whether they make sense or not, unfortunately).

Car seats and flying part 2

As a tip, if you are planning on taking your carseat on board the airplane and using it to restrain your child during the flight, it never hurts to print out the FAA's rules on doing so (found here) "just in case". We personally have never had a problem with using our carseat on the plane but I've heard from plenty of people who have had difficulties for one reason or another. If it's a rule-based issue, then having a print out of the document should help you navigate the issue (IF you're following the rules in the first place!). It also doesn't hurt to check your airline's website ahead of time and print their rules as well.

One thing to remember: you can only use a carseat on the plane for a seat that has been paid for. Now, some airlines will allow you to use the carseat in an empty seat on the airplane after boarding has been completed, but it's not always guaranteed and varies by airline by airline and by staff. Never assume if you haven't paid for the seat that you'll be able to use the carseat on the airplane.

So how did that trip turn out anyway?

So a while ago, I blogged about our absolutely nightmarish flight to San Francisco -- the first leg of our 30 hour journey to Singapore. That first flight was an eye opener for us because as I mentioned in that post, my husband and I are seasoned travelers and we had taken Baby on several flights prior to this one and they had all gone swimmingly. And yet on that particular flight, something had gone wrong.

I think it's worthwhile to take a postmortem every now and then and in this particular situation, we really wanted to avoid the hellish situation again. Did I mention we had 27 hours to go? And that at some point in the future, we'd have to return to the States? And that we were planning a trip to India that would be at least 19 hours one way? So yes, a postmortem analysis was absolutely necessary so we didn't repeat the same mistakes we made on that San Francisco flight.

Here's what I came up with:

1. We were tired. We were tired even before we began the journey. Knowing we'd have to leave for the airport before 6 am to catch our flight, we still didn't go to bed before 11 pm. And if you've ever had an early morning flight, you know it's next to impossible to sleep well because you're so worried about oversleeping and missing your flight. The lack of rest ahead of the trip made us cranky and stressed out and I think Baby caught on to our nervousness. On all of our other trips, we were laid back and so was she.

2. We had lots of little bags. We are light packers in general, but when you're heading overseas with a baby for an extended period of time, your bags fill up quickly with things like formula, diapers, and food pouches. That's all fine if you have big enough bags to consolidate the stuff into, but we didn't. My husband and I are business travelers and as such, we had lots of little suitcases. It made for a difficult transportation issue as with the Baby, we just never had enough hands to transport it all and it was just distracting to manage it all.

3. You can never time a bottle on the plane. It's a myth that one can do this, but it's not possible. On our San Francisco flight, we were delayed on the tarmack and so our timing was off. Baby was well done her bottle and agitated by the time we took off. This, however, was a "mistake" we repeated a few months later when we went to India as we were delayed on the ground for nearly 2 hours and as a result, our crabby Baby got her bottle well before take off. We didn't have a back up plan in case of The Delayed Bottle-Take Off Problem and to be honest, we still don't.

4. We were in a rush to get off the plane and didn't take a moment to compose ourselves. We only had a 90 minute or so connection and so we rushed to get off the plane and didn't take the time to double-check our seats and make sure we had everything we needed. The result was we left a piece of our car seat behind and I spent most of my time running between gates trying to locate the piece (which, by the way, I didn't; we ended up ordering a replacement when we returned to the US). We now don't rush off the plane unless we really have to; we take our time and catch our breath and make sure we got everything off the plane.


There is, however, a happy ending to this story. We were so exhausted after our frantic interlude in the San Francisco airport that we settled in nicely on our flight to Tokyo and Baby actually slept a chunk of the time too! We ended up having a nice flight (and a nice time in the Tokyo airport, which has play areas, yo!) and our connecting Tokyo-Singapore flight was also uneventful. I guess when you start from absolute chaos like we did that day, there's really nowhere to go but up (pun unintended).

More airline fees, but they say you'll like these (really?)

Came across this article today: Airlines promise return to civility, for a fee. The article covers a variety of new pay-for-service options airlines are offering such as bypassing the baggage carousel or renting iPads or extra legroom (which on most airlines these days is already an additional cost). It appears most of these new services are aimed at the business traveler but the skipping the baggage carousel and having the bags delivered to your final destination seems to be a good option for parents who are already traveling with strollers, car seats, etc.

Travel is like a box of chocolates

I think one of the reasons why travel with children can be stressful is you never, ever know what version of your child is going to show up. When we embarked on our first international trip, the husband and I were a bit nervous because it was, after all, a 30-hour trip from start to finish (one way!), but we felt comfortable that we had the domestic leg of the trip down. After all, before making this trip, we'd already made multiple trips across the country with baby and they had all gone swimmingly. So as we arrived at the airport on the morning of our big adventure, we told ourselves the trouble would start over the Pacific; the three and a half hour leg to California would be cake.

I still remember how frazzled we were the morning of our departure. Our flight left fairly early, before 8 am, and we were all cranky from not getting enough sleep and baby didn't like having been woken up well before her usual 7:30 am wake-up. On top of that, we had a lot of stuff. A LOT OF STUFF. After all, we were heading halfway around the world to Singapore and then after that to Japan and we would be gone for nearly two months. I thought we had packed relatively light, but I quickly reconsidered that as I watched the husband load suitcase after suitcase into the taxi cab. Five suitcases, one diaper bag, one backpack, a carseat, a stroller, a purse, camera bag and Go-Go Babyz Kidz Travelmate later, we looked at each other, kind of in shock: How the heck were we going to maneuver all this stuff AND a baby? We were both super relieved we had decided to call our trusty cab driver Louis to take us to the airport because there was no way we would have been able to fit everything into the long-term parking shuttle bus.

We made it to the terminal and lucky us, found a cart that someone had neglected to return to the rental station. We took this as a good sign and loaded all of our stuff onto the cart and headed over to the United counter to check-in. Since we have elite status on United, our bags didn't cost us anything extra, thank goodness. At that point, I was well ready to leave something (all of it?) behind. We made it through security fairly easily though TSA did give us some issues with the amount of baby food and formula we were carrying onboard the flight. We pointed out we were traveling 30 hours from here to Singapore and after some additional security procedures, we were allowed to pass.

We breathed a sigh of relief once we got on the plane and made ourselves as comfortable as possible. This was, after all, going to be the easiest part of the trip, right? RIGHT? Wrong. Things started going south almost immediately. The plane's departure was delayed and we had timed our fussy baby's bottle wrong. In our previous trial runs domestically (the most recent being just 3 weeks before to Myrtle Beach), we had done beautifully timing the bottle to coincide with the roar of the jet engines and the combination always made baby fall asleep. Not this time. Baby drank all of her formula and then refused -- REFUSED! -- to sleep. None of this would have been an issue if our sweet wonderful baby hadn't suddenly evolved into a banshee. Yes, we were THOSE people on the airplane, the ones every other passenger alternately feels furious at and then sorry for.

We figured baby was hungry so we gave her a food pouch which she promptly squirted all over herself and then over the seat and a bit on us, her completely perplexed parents. We changed her clothes and I was mentally congratulating myself for packing two outfits in her diaper bag so we had this. A few minutes later, we smelled the tell-tale stink of a poopy diaper. More screaming. I couldn't get down the aisle because the beverage service was in progress and so I started setting up on the floor of the airplane only to be reprimanded by the flight attendant (more on changing diapers on a plane here and here). So we sat there with our miserable stinky baby (but hey, at least her clothes were clean!) until I could make my way down to the bathroom to change the diaper.

By the time we made it to San Francisco, we'd been asked by half a dozen people what our final destination was and we could see palpable relief when they realized they wouldn't be traveling any further with us. A couple of people sympathized with us but yeah, it was mostly relief. We were among the last to drag our miserable selves off the plane and in our frazzled tired state, we didn't realize we had left part of our carseat on the plane. That led to whole 'nother "adventure" that involved running through multiple terminals and trying to get back onto our original aircraft, only to be told too bad, so sad; the plane had already been cleaned and our carseat attachment was on the other side of security.  We looked at each other, hot and sweaty, still weighed down by all our stuff, and tried not to dwell too much on the fact that we still had two planes and 27 hours more to go.

Another changing diapers on an airplane tip

We recently took another long airplane trip, this time to Hawaii. We knew ahead of time by checking the airplane configuration it was unlikely the aircraft would have NOT have changing tables available. Baby is now too big and squiggly to do the whole "changing on the toilet seat" (and ewwww, by the way) or on my lap and my husband and I don't like to change diapers on tray tables/seat cushions. We'd change baby on the floor of the aircraft but the last time we tried, the flight attendant told us we needed to use the restroom. Plus, unless you're in first class or economy plus, you're not going to have a lot of room to change the diaper on the floor.

Cue our solution: Huggies Little Movers Slip-On Diapers. We had originally bought these diapers because Baby is in the process of being potty trained and we thought it would be easier to use these diapers. How that worked out is another story entirely (hint: it didn't), but for plane travel? Perfect. I love these diapers because you can quickly remove them (the tabs are removable), clean baby up, and then slip on a clean diaper just like a pair of underwear. Once we got the clean diaper on, we usually just took Baby back to the seat and made the proper adjustments and put her clothes back.

Speaking of clothes... we usually go for one piece outfits with snaps at the crotch to make it easier to actually change the baby. A onesie and a pair of pants works too if you take the pants off at the seat and put them back on when you get back. My preference is always to take as little as possible into that airplane bathroom simply because it's so cramped in there and did I mention the ick factor?


You might also be interested in: Changing diapers on an airplane

Link of the Day

I thought this article was great: How to survive plane travel with toddlers.

What I like about it is that the author is completely realistic about what it's like to travel with a toddler and how difficult it is and no two situations are alike. Well put.

Link of the Day

It seems like I've been posting a lot of travel-related stories lately but I hope you find the information useful! Here's another story: New trick to get the best seat in coach. Not exactly kid-related but could have some information and product recommendations that you find useful.

One little point I will quibble with -- don't think you actually get noise cancelling headphones in first class, though for the amount of money airlines charge for first class, you certainly should! If you are looking for noise cancelling headphones that work great but don't cost an arm and a leg, check out Able Planet Clear Harmony Active Noise Cancelling headphones. I got these for my husband for a Father's Day gift last year and he loves them. Right now, they are priced at $129 but I've seen them as low as $89.

Looking for input

Have you ever used a breast pump on an airplane? In a car? Please share your experiences here in the comments! Please include any details you think would be helpful to other parents. Thank you!

If you're gate-checking a stroller or carseat...

Gate checking baby gear (i.e. carseats, strollers) on most airlines at the time of this writing is still free as long as the gear meets the airline's requirements for a gate check (for example, American Airlines requires any stroller over 20 pounds to be checked as regular baggage; check with your airline to make sure your gear meets their requirements so there are no surprises at the gate!). However, to save time, when you get to the gate area, talk to the gate attendant immediately about needing a gate check. They'll tag your item and will answer any questions you might have right there and then so you don't have to worry about the process while trying to board the aircraft.

When boarding the aircraft, step to the side of the ramp (just before the aircraft door) to fold your stroller or any other preparations you need to to do prior to leaving the gear, so other passengers can pass you easily. Make sure the gate check tag is clearly visible on your gear so the crew know it needs to be loaded on the aircraft.

When deplaning the aircraft, you'll need to stand on the ramp to wait for the gate check items to be returned to you. Most of the time, gate checked items are not returned to passengers with other baggage items, but at the aircraft door. Again, it's helpful and considerate to stand to the side so other deplaning passengers can move past easily while you're waiting for your checked items to appear.

If you have any questions about any airline's policy, do check with the gate attendant prior to departure or with the flight crew before you deplane.

A tip from a friend

A friend the other day shared her best air travel tip and it's so simple but so very awesome. I'm jealous I didn't think of it myself!

My friend advises families traveling together to split up before boarding the flight with Mom and kids (or Dad and kids or whatever permutation your family may be!) being the absolute last to board. Have another family member board on time with their boarding group to secure overhead baggage space and then speak to the gate attendant about being notified at the absolute last minute to board the aircraft. This way one member of the family gets the overhead space needed and the kids aren't on a plane waiting and waiting for everyone else to board.

My husband is always in the first boarding group so we always board together and the result is we sit on the plane for at least 30 minutes waiting for the entire aircraft to be boarded and baby is always antsy during this time as we can't pull anything down from the overheard bin for her to play with and she's pretty much exhausted all other options such as the flight magazine while we're waiting for boarding to finish. Following this tip means my husband is the only one who sits on the aircraft waiting while baby gets an extra 15-20 minutes to run around in the gate area before we board.

If you try this, let me know how it works for you! And remember, key to this plan is to let the gate attendant know what you're up to, so they know to tell you when the aircraft doors are about to close.

Going to the bathroom while traveling alone with baby

Safaa raised the question of how to handle the call of nature while traveling alone with baby? Depending on the mode of travel, the question of bathroom usage can be very tricky. I've had experiences traveling alone with baby by air and also by car so hopefully my hints can be helpful to you. I will say that it's not easy and can be stressful.

First, traveling by air, I found a friendly flight attendant to hold baby while I went to the bathroom. I wasn't terribly concerned about asking someone on the flight to hold baby for me, but I definitely preferred a flight attendant and luckily, found one who was willing! Just be advised that you'll need to wait at least until all flight attendant duties are over -- i.e. meals and beverage -- before asking and when the seat-belt sign is off. If no flight attendant is available when you need to go, consider asking a fellow passenger who looks friendly and responsible; there is always a grandmother or a mom who wouldn't mind a few minutes of baby time on board. Finally, as a last resort, you can take baby into the restroom with you and seat baby on your lap while going. This last bit is awkward and clumsy but if you're concerned about leaving your child with a stranger, this is probably your best bet. If you baby-wear, that's another option as well.

Traveling by road is a little easier, but I would never ask a person I find in the bathroom at a rest stop to hold/watch baby. Too many escape routes. At least on an aircraft, you know it's very unlikely for the person you ask to watch baby to take off with said baby.

When traveling by myself on the road, I usually put baby in a stroller and then wait for the handicap stall to be available and then wheel baby in and then use the bathroom myself. In many cases, the handicap stall is the one that has the changing table in it so I can take care of baby at the same time. If you baby-wear, that's another option as well. And if you're really, really lucky, some bathrooms have stalls that are equipped with a child seat attached to the wall that you can strap baby into while answering the call of nature. IKEA stores, by the way, have this nifty seat as do some airports.

Above all, when you are traveling by yourself  with baby, be hyper aware of your surroundings, especially on the road. Know the route well, travel in broad daylight, and carry a cell phone to let your loved ones know where you are. If something doesn't feel right to you, don't take a chance and keep going until you feel comfortable and safe.

Link of the Day

Head's up -- airlines are charging even more money to change your ticket! United, for example, will relieve you of an additional $200/ticket for a change (not to mention, you may also have to pay any difference in airfare between your original ticket and the new one; for example, if your old ticket was $200 and the new ticket is $300, you'll be paying an additional $300 per ticket to change on top of the $200 you already paid, for a total of $500).

And check out the news about Frontier charging $100 for certain carry-on bags. Since traveling with kids necessitates traveling with a lot of stuff, this new move to start charging for carry-on bags is a bit disturbing.

More details are available in this WaPo story: Fee-happy airlines raise the bar again

Mom humiliated on American Airlines flight

American Airlines apparently stopped a woman from using her Medela pump during a flight. I'm posting this story here in the interest of sharing, but keep in mind that some of these experiences reported in the media are not typical. Complete story: Breast pumping mom humiliated on flight.

Rules & Regulations for Children on Airplanes

Here is a good summary of traveling on airplanes with children. Additional information provided by TSA can be found here. I know a lot of parents will print out the page on carrying food for children to show TSA "just in case" there are any problems at security, especially those carrying a breast pump and breast milk; personally speaking, we've had ZERO problems with TSA when carrying formula powder and food pouches through security. They just require us to remove them ahead of time for some additional scanning. Still, if it's a concern, it's worth having a copy of the regulation on you.

Travel toys!

We just returned from a 10-hour round trip transatlantic flight. We weren't concerned about going over to Europe as our flight left at bedtime and sure enough, a few hours after we took off, baby fell asleep and promptly slept most of the flight. Coming back though, we knew would be a completely different story as it would be broad daylight and our baby isn't the greatest of sleeper when removed from the 'comforts' of home.

When looking for entertainment for an airplane ride, here are some of the things we are looking for:

1. We want a quiet toy so we don't bother other passengers. To be honest, more and more people are using noise cancelling earphones (my husband uses Able Planet noise cancelling headphones
2. We want a toy that doesn't roll away when dropped. The last thing we want to do is chase a toy all the way down the aisle, especially if the flight attendants are in the aisle with beverage/food service. 
3. We want a toy that doesn't have a lot of pieces that can get dropped/lost/render the toy inoperable for the duration of the flight.
4. In the past, we wanted a toy we could use with a lanyard (we used Baby Buddy Secure-A-Toy for this purpose; worked great with pacifiers, but not so great with the type of sippy cup we used -- handles left a gap for the lanyard to slip out!).

A couple of toys that have worked well for us in the past for both airplanes and cars include the Bright Starts Clack and Slide Activity Ball and Freddy Firefly. We've always had decent luck with our Kindle Fire as a diversionary tactic, but while overseas, our child become unbelievably fascinated with the Kindle and constantly wanted to watch 'Elmo'. I was able to stream short bits of Sesame Street on the Kindle, but I knew that would be an issue while flying home. So while I was able to download Elmo Loves 123s (Kindle Tablet Edition) "just in case" and many other apps, I knew Elmo and the Kindle wouldn't last the full 10 hours home!

We also knew Baby had pretty much outgrown the toys I mentioned above and so I wanted to get her something new for the trip. Before we left, a friend recommended stickers as a good toy for an airplane. We loved the idea and set about searching for an appropriate book. The friend had suggested a Melissa & Doug sticker pad set and we liked that idea because right now we're trying to keep Baby as free from 'commercial influences' as possible (a losing battle as all parents know!). Because I didn't have enough time to get the set from Amazon and couldn't find a similar Melissa & Doug in stores, I ended up getting a gigantic -- and I mean, gigantic! -- activity book with 1000+ stickers, sketch pad and 'scene pages' from Costco for $12.99. It was Disney-themed, but we decided to let it go for now given the shortness of time.Best $12.99 we've ever spent as Baby spent much of the flight pointing to stickers, sticking them on the 'scene pages', resticking them and occasionally decorating us and the seats around us with the stickers.

Since a sketch pad was included, we also picked up triangle crayons from Crayola; they don't roll AND they are washable! The latter became especially important when Baby decided all she wanted to do was color on the tray table! It didn't take more than a single swipe of a baby wipe to clean up the mess and baby was completely happy. Also, whenever she dropped the crayon, no matter where, it stayed put. Love, love, love. We will definitely be using these again.

The items kept her occupied enough that I didn't have to break out the Kindle for entertainment purposes. This was definitely a concern as I wasn't able to fully charge the Kindle before leaving the hotel and also because I knew Baby would protest mightily when we had to take it away during take-off/landing. I'm still glad we had the Kindle and the apps/videos on it as back-up, but am really glad we didn't have to use it at all for this particular flight.

Strollers and American Airlines

When flying with children and the 'special equipment' that comes with them, ie the car-seat and/or stroller, it's always a good idea to check the baggage allowance requirement first. Airlines have been really cracking down lately so it's best to be prepared. I'm bringing this up because of an American Airlines' policy that recently came to my attention (as a note, I do not typically fly American Airlines so I have no direct experience with this policy or how it would affect travel).

According to American Airlines' policy, which can be found here, strollers that are large, non-collapsible or over 20 lbs. must be checked at the ticket counter. There is more detail here and the good news is that it looks like checking a heavier stroller won't incur baggage fees, but you have to check it at the counter. This means if you were counting on using a jogging stroller or a double stroller through the airport, you'll have to come up with a Plan B.

Movie Complaints Leads to Flight Diversion

Parents complained about the movie showing on a United Airlines flight on the overhead screens; plane was eventually diverted and the family removed from the plane. Complete story here.

Link of the Day

Today's link of the day: Airlines launch child-free zones

Changing diapers on an airplane

If you're on an airplane for any length of time, you know you're going to have to change a diaper. Our standard operating procedure is to change baby a few minutes before boarding and then hopefully she can hold out until we land (provided the flight is 3 hours or less). However, we all know this isn't always possible.

I've heard different schools of thoughts on changing diapers on planes and there is a certain segment that advocates changing the baby right on the airplane seat. Let me stop you right there. Don't do it. The flight attendants won't like it (and one actually stopped me the first and only time I attempted it with a stern "No"), the other passengers will not like it, and finally, it's simply not sanitary. Remember, those planes are only cleaned in the most cursory manner between flights so any bacteria etc left behind from the diaper change will be traveling along with others long after you're gone.

The best place to change the baby is in the airplane restroom and most airlines do have changing tables. Trust me, I know it's not easy to move in one of those bathrooms, I know you have to wait in long lines sometimes because not all of the stalls on an airplane have changing tables, and I know those bathrooms are not always clean and sanitary. Still it's the most considerate and hygienic thing you can do for your fellow passengers and the best part is, you have no issues actually disposing of the diaper and wipes as the trash can is right there.

Here are some tips to make the diaper change on an airplane easier:

1. Undress baby as much as possible at your seat.

2. Take only what you need into the bathroom. Leave the diaper bag behind and carry a changing mat, a small pack of wipes, diaper rash cream, and a diaper into the bathroom. On one super long flight, we made individual baggies holding supplies for the diaper change, including disposable changing pads, and when it was time for the change, that's all we took into the bathroom. We then put the wipes, dirty diaper, and changing pad into the baggie and disposed of the whole thing right there.

3. If the wait is really long for the stall with the changing table, do ask the flight attendant if they can help you. We once waited 15 minutes and finally asked the flight attendant for help.They called up to First Class, found out the bathroom was empty, and promptly escorted us there for the diaper change.

4. Handle any change in wardrobe at your seat. It's easier and most people aren't going to get bent out of shape by seeing a baby receiving a wardrobe change.

While most airplanes do have a changing table that folds out from the wall just behind the toilet, there are a few models of aircraft that don't. United Airlines' 757-200 series of aircraft do NOT have changing tables in any of their bathrooms and it makes for a very, very uncomfortable diaper change. I put the cover down on the toilet and changed baby there. I hated every minute of it and so did she. I've flown that particular model of aircraft twice in the last two months and every time, I've dreaded the diaper change. In the most recent flight, a flight attendant offered me a blanket to lay over the toilet and while I didn't take her offer, in retrospect, I should have. I'm still looking for good ways around this situation, so if anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them!