One of my biggest fears about having a child was that my life would change! SHOCKER!! I know what you’re thinking…DUH LADY!! OF COURSE YOUR LIFE CHANGES!! And yes, I knew my life would have to change. But what I was most worried about was my lifeSTYLE changing. Not being able to pick up and travel with Tom. Not being able to go back and forth, to and from NC to see my family and friends. I specifically remember having a conversation with Tom {when we were debating having a kid} and we both agreed that this little hypothetical nugget would have to adapt to OUR life.
So when my daughter was born and I was 15 hours from my family and it was 4 weeks before Thanksgiving, I was determined to make it to NC for the holidays to show off my most prized possession. So after a few intense “warnings” from our pediatrician {who eventually admitted she would do the exact same thing ;)} I decided I was doing this! So at 4 weeks old, Parker and I boarded a flight together and we basically haven’t stopped since. Because of Tom’s job and my commitment to keep our family together as much as possible, she went on 22 fights in her first year of life. And her dad was only with us for 3 of those! So lets just say I could travel with an infant alone with my eyes closed!!
-
- Ready for our first flight {4 weeks old}
-
- Bathroom selfie {clearly I was proud of myself}
-
- We did it!!! One down…tons more to go!!
***Disclaimer: this is how I travel with my ONE daughter ALONE! You may find some of this to be irrelevant if you are lucky enough to have a “helper” traveling with you and/or you have more than 1 kid. However, most of it is still applicable***
1. Wear your kid!!! This is hands down the biggest piece of advice that I can give! The night before my first flight Tom sat up with me, thinking through every possible scenario and trying to walk through the entire check-in process step by step. My biggest fear was taking her out of the carrier {I used the Ergo 360 with the infant insert} to go through security, trying to take off the carrier while not passing my newborn to a stranger to hold, and then trying to put the carrier back on while still trying to hold her. You should have seen us in the living room practicing putting the carrier on and taking it off while holding her. We pre-buckled every strap and I was ready!! Well guess what….YOU DON’T HAVE TO TAKE THEM OUT OF THE CARRIER!!!! Yes!!! As I’m approaching security and I’m totally ready to show off my newest trick to everyone watching (and I literally mean EVERY HUMAN in the security line because let’s be honest, everyone is fascinated by a woman traveling alone with a baby. They all stare at you like you’re some sort of a freak show. FYI – don’t stare at mom’s dominating life in public places. Just my personal pet peeve. Anyway…) the security man says “oh oh mam! You dont have to take that off”. And the chorus sings “Hallelujah!” In that moment I knew I could do this!!
Ok – so you wear them. You don’t have to take them out of the carrier. And you don’t go through the scary scanner. Instead, you walk through a metal detector and have your hands swiped for explosive residue by a sweet little security worker. Oh and if you’re wearing the right type of shoes {see my post here about travel day attire} then you have both hands free to slip on your shoes, grab your diaper bag, and off you go! Sleeping baby in tow!
-
- hands free for a much needed coffee
-
- She’s out!!
-
- Catchin’ flies
-
- Oh don’t let us interrupt your sleep “princess”
-
- I mean seriously!! All she did was sleep!!
**I also loved the Baby K Tan when I wasn’t traveling or wearing her for shorter lengths of time. Its more light weight. And super easy to put on {I tried a few others}. But it doesn’t have the same amount of back support. So not recommended for long stents of time or for older kids**
2. Check your stroller and carseat!! The second biggest piece of advice I can give you!! I see these moms going through the airport with a stroller and 67 bags hanging off, blankets, toys, iPads, you name it! And it gives me so much anxiety. What in God’s name are you going to do with all of that crap at the end of the jet bridge when you have to repackage it down into 2, I repeat TWO bags, disassemble your stroller, and corral your crew and their belongings onto a plane full of people. Wow! See, now I need a drink! That alone gives me anxiety. Trust me…YOU DO NOT NEED A STROLLER!!! I wore my daughter until she was 1. She is large and I like to think of myself as being relatively petite. You can do it! And you will thank me later. Your child is contained. Your hands are free for your beverage of choice. And you walk onto the plane with grace like a confident momma who has her ish together!!
So….every airline has to check your stroller and car seat FO’ FREE. I ordered generic canvas bags from Amazon that zip closed for the stroller {here} and the car seat {here but mine is black}. I didn’t want my belongings, especially the car seat, touching all that nasty stuff and then putting my baby in it. It also prevents things from getting banged around or God forbid your luggage sits out in the rain at some point!! (yep been there! done that!)
Waiting for an Uber. We don’t travel light!
Oh and new lesson learned — on our most recent relocation from MO to FL, the airline BROKE the seat to our stroller. If you follow me on IG you have probably seen it on my story. Its embarrassing because I still use it. Ha ha ha. Yep, I’m that cheapo! We were actually traveling with the stroller through the airport because P was too big for the carrier and there were two of us. So the stroller got broken from the end of the jet bridge, onto the plane, and back off. FYI – The airlines aren’t responsible and the “customer service” lady’s exact words were “Honey next time, don’t travel with the Cadillac. Get a $10 umbrella stroller.” Let’s just say that didn’t go over very well!! So, if you are traveling (or moving AGAIN in our situation) with your “Cadillac” I would STRONGLY suggest getting a padded stroller bag. I didn’t invest in this in the beginning because I assumed my stroller was indestructible but guess what? They’re not!! And the bag is cheaper than a new stroller. This is the one I wish I had purchased a year and a half ago.
3. Make sure you have the proper documentation: Call ahead of time and add “LAP INFANT” to your boarding pass. Some airline apps don’t have a place to select that when buying your ticket. And I’ve also run into issues where the curbside people can’t add it to your reservation and so you end up having to go inside to the counter and that adds another step!! {I always check in curbside – read below}. But they absolutely will NOT let you through security without it on your boarding pass. (Unless youve been back and forth to the counter 3 times, you are about to miss your flight, you start crying, and yell at the TSA man that it isn’t your fault that the ticket counter employee is incompetent in their job responsibilities ? yep!! That happened!!) Oh and you need a copy or picture of your child’s BIRTH CERTIFICATE! I keep a picture on my phone saved in its own little album. A social security card will NOT work! One crazy ticket counter lady once made me go through my birth photos on my phone and find a picture of P in the hospital bed where you could read the DOB on the tag if you zoomed in to 12 million power. Like WTH? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That is more “legit” than a social security card! But I guess so!
4. Condense your “stuff” into ONE bag: So you’re hearing me scream at you NO STROLLER and I know you’re thinking “Geez lady! So you expect me to carry a kid AND all of my crap.” YEP! I do! ha ha. I’m a pack rat of all pack rats. My mom can’t go on an overnight stay without 5 bags and 47 activities to “work on” during the car ride {sorry mom if you’re reading this but you KNOW it’s true! love you, mean it!}. So if I can do it, anyone can do it! I am obsessed with my diaper bag and think a backpack bag is MOST essential! If nothing else, it gives balance to the sack-o-potatoes you’re carrying on the front 😉 And completes your packmule appearance 😉 So one bag! Everything you need in ONE bag! If you are taking a domestic flight with one infant, you should not need more things than you can fit into ONE bag! Trust me! Just make sure your ID and money are easily accessible.
-
- I used the Baby K Tan carrier in the summer. It’s a lot cooler (I’m talkin’ temperature 😉
-
- My forever travel buddy
5. Check in curbside: This is my last clutch piece of advice to make your travel experience go smoothly. I’ve had cabs, car service, family members, and Ubers drop me at the curb, and this is by far the easiest way to do it. Put the stroller in it’s travel bag before you leave the house. Then….
– Family member dropping you off: You have them sit in the car at the curb with the baby. You check in your suitcases and stroller and tell them you have a carseat coming {this means you are checking 3-4 bags}. You have the family member take the baby from the carseat and hold them while you put the carseat in the protective bag and check it in. Then you reluctantly take the baby from your crying mother’s arm and put them into the carrier and off you go!
– Cab, Uber, Car Service dropping you off: Take everything from the car INCLUDING your kid IN the carseat. Have the driver help you unload everything onto the curb as close as you can get to the check-in desk. Put on your carrier. Remove the baby from the carseat and put them into the carrier. Then you should be able to put the car seat into the bag with your two free hands….just watch the babies head (yep! done that one too). And usually the driver or the check-in person will help you!
-
- Curbside. Waiting for a ride. Wearing a baby also makes your hands free to push 100+ pounds of luggage!
Now, if you really want your stroller with you, there are a few things to think about. It makes things a little easier/enjoyable if you are walking around the airport and gives you a place to put your bags so you aren’t carrying them. If you are parking and walking into the airport then this is definitely easier bc you can push a stroller and pull a suitcase. Plus if they are asleep in their car seats it’s nice to just keep them there. However…
1. Going through security – You have to take the child out of the stroller and fully disassemble it down to something small enough to fit on the belt and through that little scanner box thing. So when you take your kid out of the stroller what are you going to do with them while you break it down? If you’re traveling alone…well, good luck! My daughter is now 1.5 and I do travel with a stroller. I make her “Hold on to the wall! Hold on tight!” while I’m taking the stroller apart. She has “run away” before and that’s always fun. But if you have an infant, I truly don’t know what you would do with that child other than set them on the floor. The security people are usually pretty helpful but they will NOT know how to break down your stroller! I can promise you that! Bigger strollers go through the metal detector and they take every single thing out and inspect every nook and cranny. So it’s not impossible, but it’s also not enjoyable.
2. Getting on and off the plane – With kids you do get to board first and that’s nice! It buys you a little extra time to disassemble yourself at the end of the gate bridge. But again, if you are alone, what do you do with your child while you are breaking down your stroller and getting your stuff together? Then, when the flight is over, you have to wait for the strollers to come up. And usually the wheelchairs comes out first and all of those people have to escorted off the plane. So you board first, which usually means you sit towards the front of the plane, and you get off first, but you’re the last human to the baggage claim. Ha ha.
Do you see why wearing your kid is the easiest?!?!? Easy on! Easy off! Sanity maintained!
**One POSSIBLE perk to having your stroller with you — If your child is small enough that they are still in a “pumpkin seat” and it attaches to your stroller AND you are flying Southwest…there is a small chance that the flight might not be full {I always ask when I check in if I’m flying SW. If nothing else, I feel slightly less guilty sitting my child in the seat next to me and pretending I paid for it….whoops!!}. So if your flight isn’t full then you can remove the carseat/pumpkin seat from the stroller {hopefully with a sleeping baby inside} and carry them onto the plane and buckle the carseat into the seat next to you! If you get this lucky you better order a drink and CELEBRATE!! Cheers to you!!
Please PLEASE send me ANY questions you have about traveling with infants and toddlers! Or post them below for the benefit of others 😉
I hope this helps! There will be more to come 😉
– Meghan
Awesome, Meg. You are so imaging. Suggest make light blue something darker. Easier to re ad on iPad. See you soon.
Hey love!! Absolutely love this!! We are traveling for the first time in August with Ella ( I know thats crazy for you to even think about) but I have a question about sleeping in a hotel room. What do you do about a pack’n’play?? Do you take one or what do you recommend? Ella has never slept with us so I know we will not sleep at all if we go that route!! Thank you?