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How to Survive Airplane Travel Solo with an Infant: Try These 9 Amazing Tips!

Are you planning a trip soon? Maybe you have to fly somewhere for an important event, but you are completely dreading the traveling to and from part because it will be your first time traveling with an infant, and to top it off, it will be just the two of you on the plane ride.

I get. Believe me. The idea of traveling alone with an infant can be very daunting.

There are so many things to pack and keep track of when it’s just you and now you have to add in all things that come with having an infant.Β 

It’s a wonder that you don’t cancel the trip altogether. After all, who really wants to put themselves through all that?

Now, before you go calling the airplane to put a stop to the whole thing, let’s just talk it through first. Take a breath and we’ll just lay it all out there.

Traveling with an infant is a lot, but it’s totally doable and you get the added perk of it being free until they are 2 years old, as long as you travel with them on your lap.

All you need to do to make the process less intimidating is to plan ahead, prepare for what to expect, and be ready for the unexpected.

I flew with my son on 3 different trips before he turned one year old. I’ll break it down for you, and give you all the tips and tricks I’ve learned.

How to Survive Airplane Travel Solo with an Infant: Try These 9 Amazing Tips!

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1. The Packing List

Grab a notepad or if you’re like me and want to keep it handy digitally, make up a quick word doc or spreadsheet. I opted for the spreadsheet.

I just feel like it keeps things more organized with its handy columns and rows, you can color code it, and highlight items when you finish packing them to keep you on track with what’s done and what’s left.Β 

I did separate sheets for my stuff and one for my son’s stuff because let’s be real, we both need a lot of things to travel.Β 

For his sheet I created a column for each bag for him:Β 

  • The Suitcase
    • Clothes – plan for at least two outfits a day
    • Shoes/socks
    • Diapers
    • Wipes
    • Travel bath and baby towel
    • Baby toiletries – shampoo, body wash, lotion, any creams or ointments you’ll need
    • Outerwear – depending on the time of year and climate that you’re traveling to
    • Bottles and bottle brush
    • FormulaΒ 
    • Breast pump, parts, bottles, storage bags, small cooler (if you’re breastfeeding)
    • Pacifiers
    • Toys and books
    • Extra blanket
  • The Diaper Bag
    • Pack a couple of extra outfits in here
    • Toys
    • DiapersΒ 
    • Wipes
    • Diaper cream
    • Bottles
    • Formula
    • Pacifiers
  • The Carry-On Bag
    • A new toy – this is important! You want something that your baby is unfamiliar with/hasn’t played with before
    • A blanket
    • An empty thermos (more on this later)
    • A copy of their birth certificate (details on this in a bit)
    • Snacks – puffs or something similar

For my sheet I broke it down by:

  • My Suitcase:
    • clothes/footwear
    • toiletries and makeup/hair things
  • What I Needed in the Carry-On Bag
    • Nursing cover
    • Snacks for mom
    • Empty water bottle
    • Headphones
    • Travel purse with essentials (pack your bigger purse, if needed, in your suitcase)

The suitcases will get checked, you’ll store the diaper bag in the overhead bin which will still give you relatively easy access to it, and the carry-on will be the basic necessities in a bag that you’ll keep under the seat in front of you.

Now, I know what you’re thinking…how am I supposed to carry all of this and baby through the airport? Queue the trumpets.

2. The EquipmentΒ 

You’ll need a few key things to help make the traveling from the car to the plane door much easier.

The Stroller

As your baby gets older and becomes a toddler/preschooler it may be recommended to use an umbrella stroller, but with an infant, you want the heavy-duty stroller, and here’s why.

Your stroller will double as a carrier for your baby if they are old enough to ride in it without their car seat and it is also great for storage. Let your stroller be your concierge and carry your load aka the diaper bag and carry-on bag.

You can have this with you throughout your entire trip through the airport, up to the plane door. You can leave it right outside the door and the crew will have it stored in the plane below and it will be right there when you deboard the plane.

And the best part is it’s free! Just be sure to get a pink tag from the airport personnel at the gate to attach to your stroller, so you can track it in case it gets lost.

I recommend buying a protective bag for your stroller. Just tuck it in the bottom storage area of your stroller until you need it.

This one is awesome. It’s protected my stroller on every plane ride, has straps for you to haul it on your back (if need be), it’s huge so it will fit any size stroller, and has a handy spot to put your information in case it ever strays.

But what about the car seat? Won’t you need that when you arrive at your destination?

The Car Seat

Did you know that you can check your infant’s car seat for free? Yep! Most airlines do not charge for this, but double-check with your airline to be sure this is something they provide.

You’ll also want to keep your car seat safe and protected with, you guessed it, a protective cover. I love this one. It fit my car seat perfectly, kept it protected, and has handles so it’s easy to carry and transport.

You’ll want to check the car seat when you check your bags. And a little trade secret I learned… use the car seat for extra storage for your diapers, wipes, your jacket, whatever you need a little extra space for. Or if your bag is over the weight limit, just snag some stuff from it and toss it into the car seat bag.

It’s a free mini-check bag. How cool is that!?

Okay, so we got the car seat checked, the stroller is loaded up with your carry-on and diaper bag, and now what? β€œYou expect me to hold this baby in my arms the whole time?” Not exactly…

The Baby Carrier

This beautiful contraption allows you to keep your baby safe next to you, it gives your baby comfort to be held against you, and you get the use of both arms, which you’ll need.

I put this on as soon as I got all of our luggage situated on the curb and the stroller loaded up. Then I took my son out of his car seat and strapped him into the carrier.Β 

Have the person who brought you to the airport help you get the car seat in the protective bag, load anything you need to in there, and pop it on top of the stroller. Now you should be good to go.

You’ll grab your suitcase handle(s) with one hand (I highly recommend rollers on the suitcases) and guide the stroller with the other hand. Baby is safe and sound in the carrier against you.

I would also recommend going to one of the outdoor check-in and baggage areas. That way you won’t have to travel too far with all the things.

3. The Birth CertificateΒ 

Before I flew with my son for the first time, I called the airline to see if I needed anything for him since he was an infant. They said they required a copy of his birth certificate in order to check us in and allow us to board.

I hadn’t gotten a copy of his birth certificate yet (he was 4 months old at the time) so I ordered multiple copies online and they actually came fairly quickly. I put one in a folder and packed it in the carry-on bag.

Not once in any of those three trips with my son was I ever asked to see his birth certificate, but I made sure I had it with us every time, just in case.

Another handy tip that I would recommend is when you are booking your flight, be sure to mark your ticket as β€˜infant in arms’. If you forget to do this or have already purchased your ticket, you can go online/in the app and update it (depending on the airline) or you can just call them to have them update it.

Now, we’ll get back to the other things I mentioned that I’d be sharing more on later.

4. The Thermos

This was a very handy tip that I learned about from another mom blogger. Bring or purchase a thermos to bring in your carry-on.

I would recommend a wide-mouth thermos like this one to make things easier. Once you are through security, find a coffee shop/restaurant and ask one of the employees to fill it with hot water.

You can use this to heat up your stored breast milk if you are trying to bottle feed instead for the plane. Or if you’re using formula, you can use the water to make your bottle and have it be at a warmer temp (which is clutch if your baby is particular about their bottle temp like mine was for a good period of time).

Side note: breastmilk needs to be frozen in order for it to get through security, so be sure to pack a small cooler with ice packs for your frozen breastmilk and then just use that hot thermos water to heat it up.

Pre-freeze some breastmilk the night before your flight if you don’t already have some in your freezer. After you get through security, pull one out to let it thaw a little before you pop it in the thermos water.

I forgot to do this one of the trips and it thawed the breast milk, but it barely got lukewarm, so I’d suggest helping it along by defrosting a little beforehand.

5. Before You Board

Take your baby to the bathroom and change their diaper before you board. Depending on how long the flight is, hopefully, you’ll be able to make it to your destination without having to change them again.

This of course is not a guarantee and the bathrooms on the plane do have a changing table in them, but it’s tight quarters. It’s doable, but not my favorite.

It can also be a little more difficult to get up and out of your seat when holding a baby, which is also why I would keep the baby carrier on the whole flight and just unclip it on the top to take him out or just give him a little more wiggle room.

6. Ascending/Descending

You know how your ears fill up with pressure as you ascend into the sky or descend to the ground while you’re on a plane, and you have to pop your ears to relieve the pressure?Β 

Well, the same thing happens to your baby’s ears, but they aren’t skilled at popping them on their own. You need to help them by feeding them or having them suck on a pacifier. The suction and motion of moving their jaws up and down help to pop their ears and relieve the pressure.

That pressure can be quite irritating in general, but it can be pretty uncomfortable for them, so plan to throw out the rule book on your feeding schedule for the flight and feed on demand throughout the flight in addition to the ascent and descent.

If it will help keep them calm, let them feed as much as they want. It won’t hurt them to go a little off course from the schedule and it keeps them happy and you sane.

7. Accept Help When Offered and Don’t Be Afraid to Ask

Moms with babies in an airport and on a plane get treated like royalty for the most part. Most people are willing to help.

Almost every time I went to go put that stroller in the protective bag with my baby strapped to my chest, someone would offer to give me a hand.

I even met a nice dad on the plane who offered to hold my son while I got up from my seat so I could take him to the bathroom to change him.

I’m not the best at asking for help, but for the most part, it’s there if you need it.Β 

Obviously, some people see a baby on a plane and have instant dread of the crying and fussing, but a lot of them will just coo over your precious little one, be happy to lend a helping hand and understand if your little one gets a bit uncomfortable.

My son slept through most of the flights we were on and only fussed a little towards the last ten minutes. Which is when I typically offered him my breast or a snack to get us through the remainder of the flight.

8. Baggage Claim

You’ve deboarded the plane, picked up your stroller that was conveniently waiting for you when you stepped out of the plane door, traveled down towards the exit, and almost made it out of the airport. Just one last thing…baggage claim.

You’ll pack things up the same way you entered and exit with the same strategy, but you may be waiting and waiting for your car seat bag that never comes. What the heck, right?

Sometimes they classify car seats as oversized items and will pull it aside instead of having it load up through the normal baggage claim. In that case, you’ll want to make your way over to the oversized items department of the airport near baggage claim where they will most likely have your car seat waiting.

9. One Last Thing

If you’re traveling across time zones, it’s going to throw you and your baby off schedule a bit. Even if you aren’t, you’ll be away from your normal environment which is going to tip things off-kilter a bit. Try to keep them as close to their typical schedule as you can throughout the trip.Β 

It makes it easier to get them back on track when you get back home from your travels and reduces the fussiness level while you’re on your trip. Babies love their schedules and routines once they get them down and it can be hard to transition them back to that normalcy if you stray a little too far from them while on your adventures.

Also, unexpected things will undoubtedly happen. Not everything will go exactly according to plan and that’s okay, it’s all a learning experience. That’s pretty much our lives as moms.Β 

Just go with the flow and be ready for those hiccups.

That’s a Wrap!

I think that covers pretty much everything. I hope you’re feeling more comfortable and better prepared for your upcoming travels with your little one. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor!

Cheers, Warriors!

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and found it entertaining, educational, inspiringβ€”hopefully, all three. Please be sure to leave any comments or questions you have in the Comments section below.Β 

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