Travelling with a Newborn – For first time mums or dads, flying with a young baby can be daunting. It took me six months to build up the courage to fly with my firstborn. Now I can tell you why the best things come in small packages, and why travelling with tiny tots is the easiest time to do it.
1 They don’t Move – Travelling with a Newborn
Put them down and yip, they’re exactly where you left them. This is not the case with an older child. No newborn demands to walk up and down the aisles of planes, jump on the seats or kick the passenger in front of them, so try to relax and enjoy your trip.
2 They’re Small – Travelling with a Newborn
When it comes to sitting on your lap, young babies are light and they’re small. When you’re travelling with a 23 month old ‘infant’ you’ll know what I’m talking about.
3 They Sleep – Travelling with a Newborn
New babies tend to sleep a lot, especially on a propeller plane with lots of white noise. Travelling with an older baby who has dropped his/her naps brings further challenges.
Small, doesn’t run away, sleeps a lot and cute – what more do you want?
4 Young Babies Look like their Passport Photos
When they’re four and a half it’s slightly ridiculous, and passport control will take a long hard look at your vast offspring, and try to compare it to a baby pic.
5 They Survive on Milk Alone
When you start weaning you’ll be packing endless little pots of pureed goodness in order to travel, so the first six month is the lightest time to travel. And if you breastfeed you don’t need to carry any milk paraphernalia with you at all! Freedom!
6 People can be Surprisingly Kind
Generally people will help you if you’re travelling with small children. I was surprised at the levels of kindness and empathy extended to me. Lots of people are on your side, and remember what it’s like.
7 A Tiny Queue-Jumper
Never guaranteed, but you often get to led to the front of the queue at passport control and security if you’re travelling with a buggy.
8 You can Pack a Lot
A little baby has little outfits and little nappies, so you get more bang for your buck in packing terms. Often you get 10kg luggage allowance for infants whether they’re one month old or 23 months old.
9 Happy to Meet Strangers
Small babies don’t suffer from separation anxiety the way older infants often do, so if you’re bursting for the toilet you can leave your baby with dad/granny/anyone you feel you trust without the screams of MUMMY, MUMMY, MUMMY ringing in your ears. Fellow mums travelling alone often pool together on flights to support each other.
10 Nappies
Milk fed nappies don’t smell so bad before you’ve started weaning – trust me! When an older child delivers a ‘present’ on a small aircraft everyone knows about it. Waft, waft.
We can all smell it!
And the Bonus Ball – They’re Free
Babies, aged under two, cost nothing. They travel free. Make the most of it.
Yes, flying with a new baby is harder than flying as a couple – it’s like chalk and cheese. But don’t look backwards, look forwards. These six months are possibly the easiest time to fly. Happy Travels…
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Andriana @ A Love Worth Living For
Love these! My husband and I travel constantly for his work. Mostly road trip but you just never know. We have discussed how it would be to travel with an infant. Thank you for these great points!
tots2travel
I often think the thought of travel is worse than the reality. When our car broke down my toddler was happy playing with gravel at a service station. They often surprise me!
katielovelyy1
Wow, great tips! I’ve been wanting to fly out and visit my grandpa to introduce him to our little one before it’s too late (he’s pretty sick), but I keep putting it off until he’s “a few months older” because ‘m not sure how he’ll do on the flight. Now I think it might not be so bad!
tots2travel
Go for it! As they get older I just find some things get easier and other things get harder, so you may as well go now. I hope grandpa meets your baby whenever you decide it feels right to travel.
Iyanna
Haha so true!! I rode with my daughter on her first plane ride when she was able 7 months. She was really good. I sat between two dads one who had all little ones. She loved him and they played together the whole flight even though she was very wiggly! On our return flight home, we sat in a row alone. Talk about luck!!! lol… Now she is 19 months old.. I wonder.
tots2travel
We just flew with my 21 month old and he really loved take off, the drinks trolley, a new sticker book, snacks etc. It was easier than I expected. He also didn’t try to walk around as I think instinctively, as no-one else was doing it, he just followed suit.
I did have one melt down when he was tired and he promptly fell asleep afterwards but having him writhing around on my knee was not funny!
Good luck.
Jane Duckworth
Great post! 😄
alanaperrin
Oh no! This is not what I needed to read … We decided on a cruise for our first family holiday and now the thought of flying is so daunting, we should have done it when he was younger! Oh well, you live, you learn!
Alana x
tots2travel
Don’t worry. You’ll do great. We went off with our 21 month old and 5 month old – generally I found our little one the easiest but the older chap loved the take off, adored the drinks trolley and had a blast. Have a great trip.
Jessica
Love this! We won’t be traveling until sometime next year, but it’s really great advice! Even when a baby is crying on the plane, it’s amazing who steps up to help! We had some football fans help with my cousin’s little girl on our flight once. It makes you feel not so bad for bothering everyone.
tots2travel
Hope you have an uneventful flight! Yes, I’m often surprised by who steps in to help when you’re travelling with children.
Ginger Smith
Great tips! I’ll have to keep this in mind. 🙂
dhillondeeds
This is a really good find. I have been wanting to start a family of my own but I travel a lot and my husband isn’t comfortable with me having to travel with a little one. I feel a lot more at ease that it can be done. Thank you. I found your blog via FB you forwarded me to it.
tots2travel
Thanks. Travelling with little ones is never easy – gone are the days of an inflight movie and a glass of vino but so many people (including me) are so anxious about it it’s tempting to put it off ’till they’re older’ i.e. 9 months, or 2 years, or whatever, when it’s just as easy to travel with a relatively young baby. Where I live people fly back to the islands with their newborn babies only a few days old (but it is a short flight and pretty essential!) Good luck.
dhillondeeds
Well I never wanted children to stop my adventurous tendencies lol I’ve always wanted to drag them along
tots2travel
I’m sure you’ll have fab adventures – and believe me in the first few weeks of life with a new baby walking to the local park can seem like an adventure! 🙂
dhillondeeds
I am excited already x