We traveled to Savannah, GA to visit my sister. This was the first time Neil flew and I have to admit I was very nervous about it. It turned out he was at a great age. Active enough to be looking around, playing with toys, etc. but since he's not really mobile and likes to cuddle he seemed to really enjoy just being in our arms the entire time.
We had a connecting flight through Charlotte both ways, so it was 3 flights total. On 3 of the 4 flights we got compliments about Neil and how good he was. On the 4th everyone just wanted to get home (it was our last flight) so I think that's why nobody said anything.
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| Neil really liked looking out the window. |
On the first flight, as we were getting off the plane, when the couple in front of us stood and saw Neil they said they had no idea there was even a baby behind them. And on the 3rd flight, the flight attendant asked us if he travels a lot. When I said no, this was his first trip, she said that he seems like a seasoned traveler. I'm sure some of this has to do with his laid back personality but I do think some of it was his age as well. We'd like to go to Disney sometime slightly before his 2nd birthday, which will be another plane flight, and I'm sure that will be interesting!
I tried to nurse Neil at least on takeoff or landing. In general, I nursed during takeoff (all 4 flights), he fell asleep in my arms for awhile, then he woke up and looked around/played a little, and was awake for most of the landings. We tried at first to hand him a pacifier for the landings to get his ears to popped but he pushed it away so we gave up on that pretty fast. We figured he'd complain if it was a problem and he never did.
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| Fascinated with the tray in front of Dave |
We also found that getting an extra cup from the flight attendant when they brought around drinks turned out to be a great toy for Neil. He also enjoyed looking out the window and kept trying to play with the tray in front of us.
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| Playing with a cup. So much better than his actual toys. |
That's crazy his ears didn't bother him at all. My ears hurt so bad when I fly. Sometimes for 20 minutes or so after.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome he was so good. I was curious about his flights.
(I think you mentioned a total of 3 flights when you meant 4)
I actually tried to reply to this from my phone but it hung up.
DeleteThanks- I'll fix the typo. There were 4 flights.
My ears don't usually bother me on flights or anything, unless I'm sick. Maybe it's hereditary? I had heard though that most infants have a hard time getting their ears to pop.
I considered putting together advice for mom's traveling with babies but I'm not really sure I have a lot of advice from our experience. I did pull a lot together though just trying to research beforehand.
I pinned something on pinterest where someone provided tips for flying with a baby.
DeleteI'll have to take a look at some point. :) Maybe later I'll do one with the tips I found and talk about what I did use. It helped that Dave was with me; a lot of the tips are traveling by yourself with a baby.
DeleteHe really is at the best age for flying. I'll be curious how he does at nearly 2 ;) Parker has yet to be on an airplane, and I have no desire to change that fact for a looong time.
ReplyDeleteYeah I'll have to compare back to this post when we get to that point.
DeleteEven though it was fairly easy for having a kid with you, it still was kind of a pain with extra things to carry and worry about. But that's also just having a kid- definitely changes how you do things!
If I go to my cousin's wedding I'll be flying with a baby at ~3 months old. I'm not sure how that will go. (Also hoping the wedding doesn't conflict with parents day at google since Dave's dad said he'd come for that we just aren't 100% sure of that date yet)
ReplyDelete3 months is probably going to be a good age. She'll likely sleep most of the time, although you do have a longer flight. If you're nursing you'll need to nurse during the flight for sure. If she's on formula, someone else will have to give advice and I don't know how often formula fed babies eat. I have heard less often and more at one time. But you can carry any of that with you through security; just allow extra time.
DeleteMy mom thought it'd be too hard to travel for the wedding. But she might have also just been saying that so if I end up not going it's a good excuse.
DeleteI'm torn what we'll do if it conflicts with when take your parents to work day is since Dave's dad is coming for that. Google thing happens yearly but Dave's dad being willing to travel or able to travel might not. but my cousin will only be having 1 wedding (hopefully)
I think 3 months will be a good age. She will be getting a lot more interactive; smiling, etc. And hopefully be easier on the plane because she'll still be sleeping a lot. But I will say travel early on in general can be tough. Parenting is tough. It's a huge, huge life change.
DeleteOH and I didn't fly on a plane until I was 19. Timmy didn't fly until he was 25 (or 26. I forget. it was when we visited Callie) We were a bit older :)
ReplyDeleteI think my first flight was when I was 5 and my whole family went to Disney. I remember feeling like I was I was going to puke and pulling the barf bag out. And that some of the seats faced backwards. We didn't fly much as a family though- our vacations after that were driving distance.
DeleteOur vacations were to Erie but we stopped vacations the summer after 5th grade. We did go to Washington, DC once and to Ohio for Geauga Lake and Sea World. We drove to those.
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