Flying with a newborn

[MJordan]

Hi, I was hoping for some
Friendly advice! I have a wedding abroad this October (17th) and am due my first baby on 22nd August.. it's an immediate family wedding which I wouldn't want to miss but I'm very aware how tiny my baby will be!

It's 4.5hour flight which is my only main worry of this whole holiday is the travel days!
Ideally I plan to breast feed but as it's my first baby I have no idea if it will all work how I've planned. So I was just wondering about bottle feeding and sterilisers etc, how do you prep for a travel day feed-wise and making sure everything is safe and sterilised?

Also packing the larger items such as the car seat and pram / baby sling would be handy?

I'm just wanting any advice if anyone has ever had to travel with a small newborn before and how they found it!
Nothing is booked and won't be booked until I have the baby so this is all just so I can get a general understanding of how difficult it will be to travel! Lol.

Thanks xx

I found travelling with a small baby much easier than with a bigger one. You just whack them on the boob at every opportunity and carry them in a carrier. Bring multiple changes of clothes in hand luggage, though, because 9 times out of ten, there will be a poosplosion at the worst possible time. Spare top for you, too, in case of vomit. Most airlines will let you bring liquids if they're for the baby, so if ff, I'd just bring ready made for that day, and presterilised bottles.
Buggy usually can be brought to gate and then checked in. Baby plane tickets might not include luggage but usually let you check in a car seat free as well as the buggy.
The only thing is, especially if baby is late, you might not have time to get a passport. Also, I'd be reluctant to fly before the first lot of vaccinations. So I'd just think about that a bit.

Flying when they’re tiny is the easiest time of all! I flew from Hong Kong to UK with my son when he was 3 months and it was a doddle (although I was very nervous beforehand!) My son is now 2 and we’ve flown loads.

If you’re breastfeeding then take a cover so that you can create a bit of a protective cocoon around your little one, especially if they need to have a feed as people are still getting on the plane. I was a confident breastfeeder but people see a tiny baby and love to gawp and you can feel a bit exposed sat under them.

If you’re on bottles then take some Milton tabs and a container (Nuby do a travel size one, as do Milton) to sterilise things when you’re there. Don’t rely on a microwave because even if there is one it may be too small for your bag or box. I’ve never traveled with bottles so I can’t help there but I imagine if they’re sterile and kept closed until needed they’ll be ok, or you can get those disposable bottles just for the flight and use ready made formula. Nurse or feed on take off and landing to help their ears. Take a dummy, even if you don’t use one, in case they don’t want to feed but still need to suck something (my son was king of needing a mega feed just before landing and then not wanting any more when we were actually descending!)

Take a good sling, I used the Ergo and wore my son through the airport and used his stroller as a trolley for hand luggage. It’s also good to put them in when you’re cruising at altitude and they want to sleep, you can have your hands free to eat and drink. We still use our Ergo now and it’s comfy despite the weight of our son.

I take a small pack of dettol wipes and wipe EVERYTHING down when I get on the flight (tables, chair arms, controllers for the tv...) I might look odd but those things are filthy! You can buy a spray called Aquesse (spelling?) which is a baby safe sanitising spray. You can use it on skin, bottles and surfaces for a quick clean.

Take a nappy for every hour that you’re travelling and a couple of changes of clothes for baby and one for you in your carry on. The altitude can do weird things to their poo and I’ve had a blowout nappy in every flight in the first year

Order a bag for your stroller, I’ve never experienced damage but the bag comes back filthy so I would rather it went on a cheap bag than my expensive buggy!

I have flown with two of my kids at six weeks old. Shorter flights but both were bottle fed at the time. I got away with the small cartons of pre prepared formula and pre-sterilised bottles. If you are breast feeding it will be so much easier but if you can't don't stress, it's doable. Your baby will be at the "aw, so cute" stage, people are much nicer to parents of small babies than parents of toddlers on planes

Apply for a passport as soon as your baby is born. Much easier to fly with a small baby than a toddler! Bf makes life very easy but ff also fine as PP's have said.

We took our ds on a flight when he was 3 weeks old, it was really easy. We bought pre made up formula after security in boots, I am pretty sure you can pre order it for pick up. You can either take lots of your own sterilized empty bottles or you can get cartons and disposable sterile bottles or some milks you can buy already in sterile bottles. If you make sure your baby is used to drinking it at room temperature that will make your life easier (for the flight and the holiday). Make sure you have a spare top for both you and your husband, if your baby is a sicky baby I would pack an outfit each Incase of emergencies including spare bra etc even if it is just leggings and a t shirt, if your baby is sick all down you you don’t want to spend the next few hours stuck in those stinky clothes. Traveling when they are small is the easiest holiday with kids. We took our full pram in a travel bag as our baby happily slept in the pram at night too so saved worrying about a cot.

@HumpHumpWhale @LollyLarkin @ToesInWater @villainousbroodmare @Florin

Wow thank you all so much. This has boosted my confidence for travelling! Brilliant tips as I would have never thought of taking spare clothes for myself! Lol.

Thank you all xxx

Hi OP. I went to Morocco with my baby at 8 weeks. It was great! She slept the entire way there and back. She also slept loads on the holiday too.
Now when we went away for a weekend at 6 months, NOT so easy..!

I took my two to Ireland last weekend to visit family. DS1 is 2, DS2 is 11 weeks. DS1 was 90+% of the work, small breastfed babies are super easy to travel with. Used my Connecta for baby and Baby Jogger City Mini for the toddler in the airport.

Where are you flying to? I went to a family wedding in Cyprus with a 5 month old who I was formula feeding. There was a baby equipment hire company who arranged to deliver a steriliser, cot and perfect prep machine before we got there so we didn't have to travel with them nor pay the hotels prices, which were steeper. Some hotels do provide that equipment though. But wheevere you are going it may be worth googling to see if similar companies exist. They also offered buggy and sling hire buy we borrowed a cheapy one off a friend.

We picked up all the milk we needed from Boots in the airport so didn't have to worry about going through security with it or adding to the luggage allowance. We had a mix of 2 lots of 4 pre made bottles for both flights and transfers, and formula for when we got there.

We found it really easy travelling because it was a family wedding so we could pass the baby around. I struggled a bit when we got there because the sun was too hot to sit in with the baby and I was still spending my days sterilising and feeding so it didn't feel like too much of a holiday. Once I got used to the change of pace it was great though.

Get the earliest possible appointment that you can to register baby’s birth and send DH (assuming you are married) if you physically can’t go. You can’t apply for a passport without a birth certificate and there is a backlog for appointments to register births in some areas. Then pay the extra for a one week fast track passport application; if either of these is delayed you risk not having a passport in time for baby to travel.