Flying with a four month old - any tips/advice?

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We are planning to visit my sister in Maine at the beginning of November with DD who will be almost 4 months old. This involves a 7 hour flight to Boston followed by a 3 hour car journey (we will be renting a car).

It all seems a bit daunting and I have so many questions and just wondered if anyone has any tips or advice on any aspect of travelling with a baby ie. how to deal with getting formula through airport security / ear trouble with babies on take off & landing / what to look for in a hire car etc.

Thanks ladies!

Just a couple of tips for you.....buy a bottle warmer for the car (£5 from jojo mama bebe). They plug into the cigarette lighter, and wrap around the bottle (you can probably get different models etc. but I used this one and it's fine - although does take a little while to heat the whole bottle). Re. formula through airport, firstly, check whether you can buy your preferred formula in Boston - that'll save on the amount you have to carry. Secondly, I took ready made cartons with me - that'll get you through a couple of days easily - and because they were sealed, no problem taking them through the airport - and we put a couple of cartons in our suitcase. And I know it sounds a bit obvious - but child seat in the hire car ? you probably don't want to carry your own. Also, one I didn't think of in advance, were the sun shade window things. Our hire car didn't have one - and I wished we'd thought of it. Lastly, to get your lo to sleep in the car, we used two beach towels, and hung them in the back seat windows - they blocked out the light for our ds to sleep).

Thanks for that - good tip about the sun shade thing. I suppose I should start by getting a passport for DD or we won't be going anywhere! Will find out if they do the same formula over there.

Better dash as DD getting annoyed under her gym now!

Thanks again

give her a bottle on take-off and landing as the sucking will stop her getting ear pain
have a fab hols

I took my dd1 and dd2 to Australia in July when dd2 was 5months old. Re formula I flew out of Birmingham airport so I phoned the Boots airside and arranged to have cartons of SMA put aside for me to buy once I came through security (just in case). Just as well I did, I have 2 cartons in my carry on bag and was made to open them, pour them into their bottles and taste them!! I also contacted the formula manufacturer to find out if milk was available in Australia -- it wasn't but they did tell me which one was the closest in composition. Had no other problems with airport security needing me to open and taste the cartons. We took our capsule car seat with us as checked baggage (no damage) and found it handy to use as a seat whilst away. Good idea to take some of the sterilising bags for bottles as I found that the micro steriliser I bought was too big for some of the microwaves!
Hope this helps.

Thanks Ladies - I'm sure we'll be fine, but at the moment it all seems a bit daunting! At least I'll be staying with family who have children of their own, so I can borrow loads of stuff while over there.

Off to get the passport photos tomorrow - could be interesting~!

It's pretty easy to travel with a new baby. It's easiest of all if you are breastfeedng - nothing to carry, and comfort on demand.

For hiring a car, take your own carseat.

Overall, the logistics are easy. We were in Vermont this year, arriving at Boston, and it was no bother. The airport thing can be a bit tedious - ie going through immigration, then waiting for your bags, then waiting for the airport bus to take you to the car hire hut. Give yourself an hour to 90 minutes and try not to stress. Once you are out of the airport, it's the open road.