Nervous about travelling with my 6 month old baby!

[Hamil1982]

Hi - we’ve finally booked a trip to visit my family abroad. We are obviously super excited but I can't stop worrying about travelling with our 6 month old baby - the flight is over 4 hours long and I'm getting seriously anxious about the journey!

Does anybody have any tips on how to cope with a baby on the plane? Is there anything in particular I should think/ worry about?

Thanks!

Do you bottle feed or breast feed? If baby takes bottles then pack twice as much milk as you think you will need to allow for delays and sometimes babies feed more as it help their ears. Try to schedule a feed with take off and landing.

Pack lots of baby friendly snacks and things you can eat yourself with one hand, like cereal bars.

You should be able take your pushchair right up to the boarding gate. Get a light weight stroller, not a big travel system.

Pack a change of clothes for yourself and baby I'm hand luggage in case they are sick.

Wrap a few new small toys to bring out throughout the journey. The time it takes to open them will pass time. Nothing you're worried about losing if it disappears under a chair. A couple of baby books too.

If your baby will watch TV, download a few episodes of something onto your phone.

Theyll probably sleep the full journey. 4 hours isn't that long between landing take off and a meal time.

Much easier with a baby than a toddler OP!

That’s the easiest age to travel with in my experience as they’re usually pretty predictable in terms of feed/sleep times but not yet mobile! Pack more nappies and milk if FF then you think you might need in case of delays. Spare outfit for both of you. Plenty of easy to eat snacks. I personally like to upgrade to first/biz class or book an extra seat in economy where I can move the arm rest (not a bulkhead) to get more room. I’ve done one flight with a 6 month old in just a normal economy seat and it was pretty tight get things in and out of my bag and feeding baby, not helped by the fact that my seat buddy was a contender for the next series of my 600lb life but that’s was unlucky! You’ll be fine

easiest age to travel! feed on take off and landing (or pacifier/dummy) to ease ear pain. take lots of nappies - always take changes of clothes. pack extras incase you get stuck in airport waiting.
baby ergo/sling made navigating airports/lines and boarding so much easier.
we did long haul (24hr) with 6month old and it was so much easier than same flight with a 9month old (who just wanted to crawl everywhere and was so much heavier (didn't fit in the bassinet/ more awkward to hold). 6 months is perfect! good luck and have fun.

We live overseas so have flown a lot with our young kids and honestly small babies are the easiest!

As others have said, pack plenty of spare sleep suits, nappies, wipes etc as it’s always Sod’s law they have a poo explosion or are sick.

A carrier is also a great idea - keeps your hands free when you are boarding etc and also great for walking a sleepy baby up and down the plane in.

Also echo what others have said about feeding during take off and descent as it helps stop pressure build up in their ears.

Good luck!

Really easy travelling with a baby. If you're bottle feeding, you'll need to drink some of the milk when you go through security. Otherwise, it's just feeding (either breast or bottle) on take off and landing to help equalise the pressure.

If you don't have a cheap umbrella fold buggy, get one. You can take them to the gate but they chuck them into the hold so don't risk anything pricey

you’ll need to drink some of the milk when you go through security

I’ve travelled a lot around Europe and the US with babies, at one point I was flying at least once a month, and I’ve never been asked to drink the milk. For a young baby I always take empty sterilised bottles and ready made cartons of formula. Occasionally they get put through the special liquid scanner but not always and even then it’s only usually one carton from the bunch. Weirdly TSA used to love to inspect baby wipes for a while, don’t know what that was all about! But I’ve never heard of anyone being asked to drink the milk, wouldn’t that mean it’s no longer sterile?

@LakeShoreD

you’ll need to drink some of the milk when you go through security

I’ve travelled a lot around Europe and the US with babies, at one point I was flying at least once a month, and I’ve never been asked to drink the milk. For a young baby I always take empty sterilised bottles and ready made cartons of formula. Occasionally they get put through the special liquid scanner but not always and even then it’s only usually one carton from the bunch. Weirdly TSA used to love to inspect baby wipes for a while, don’t know what that was all about! But I’ve never heard of anyone being asked to drink the milk, wouldn’t that mean it’s no longer sterile?

I had a made up bottle with me and they made me take a swig. But that was a long time ago - my children are teenagers so perhaps they no longer think that's a risk?

I've always been asked to try the carton baby milk at Manchester airport but never anywhere else in the world!. You can buy from boots after security (you can pre-order and collect as well- I generally get some milk, nappies, wipes and Calpol ordered to collect before a long haul flight to save lugging through security). 6 months old in my experience is generally a good age to travel and it's a cute age which makes other passengers more forgiving if things don't go to plan! Lol! Take more snacks, drinks, baby wipes and clothes than you think you need (spare clothes for you too!). My kids have usually slept pretty well on planes at that age- even DD2 who is generally a shocking sleeper!

What time is your flight? Small babies tend to sleep because of the white noise and vibrations on planes, even more so if it's over nap or bed times. You'll probably find they stay awake at the airport too so will be tired from all the sounds and sights. I've had 5 hour flights where I've had to wake mine to get off the plane and neither were good sleepers normally

I've only ever once been asked to try the milk too - and they let dd1 do it for me 😆