Travel Summaries: Multple cross country flights with an Infant

Here is a quick bit of info from a father of one who travels alone frequently with his baby boy from California to the Midwest (USA). Traveling alone with a baby is completely do-able with a healthy dose of preparation and patience!








TRAVEL SUMMARY

Age of child (children) at the time of trip:
His first flight was when he was 7 months old. We've flown many times between now and then. He is almost 2 years old now.

Number of adults on the trip and their relation to the child (children):
Just us two on every trip except for one when his mother was with us. I'm his father and he's my son.

Approximate month and year of trip:
Many. Winter, summer, all seasons! Travel started in fall 2008

Departure city and destination city (cities):
Los Angeles (LAX) to Detroit (DTW)

Mode of travel and name of carrier (Airline, Rail Company etc):
Always travel by airplane. Various airlines though.

Any special gear you couldn’t have done without:
The stroller is high on the list - it might be first. While it's the most useful, it's also the most troublesome in regard to going through security. The only thing that's important is to make sure that those things that are likely to be used (food and diapers) are easy to access (in your carry-on luggage under your seat).

Any special gear you wish you had left at home:
Left at home? Hmm... nothing really. SOMETIMES I feel like his stroller is an extra burden, but that's only in regard to going through security when they make me take him out of it, fold it up, put it through the x-ray thing, and don't help me through this.


More thoughts and notes from this parent:
Certain things have been consistent with every trip:
1. Going through airport security was 1,000,000 times more difficult than taking care of a baby on a plane - and it was the airport's fault, not his.
2. He slept most of the time.

As for the actual flight? Very uneventful. Flight summary: He slept, cried very little, and flirted with baby girls.

I did take EVERY PRECAUTION NECESSARY to make sure that the flight portion went as smoothly as possible, though. So in retrospect, I pat myself on the back for that. For instance, I've never changed him on a flight (our longest flight was 4 hours), and I've never had to "prepare" food on a flight. I have lucked out in that he's never pooped during the course of a flight, in which case I would have had to change him obviously.

I always make sure to get to the airport earlier enough so that I have time to change and feed him after we get through security. And then I change him during any layovers we have.

I also usually try my best to plan flight times around his sleep schedule. Obviously that's not always possible, but I do the best I can with that. Factoring in that, if I have a long drive, he's liable to fall asleep during that.

I haven't had to buy him his own seat yet (but I will soon) so he has always been a lap baby on planes. I've found that if a flight isn't full, but my row is full, the staff will move me and him to an empty row - which is VERY useful. So if you're on a flight that's not full, and they don't offer, ask.

In regard to the airport, that first time (and the next several times) I was flying during winter. So the baby had on winter clothes. I had to strip off all his winter stuff - even if he had on a fucking hoodie. I had to take his shoes off. I had to fold up his stroller and send it through the scanner. Not to mention taking all my stuff off. All of this while airport staff stood there with their thumbs in their asses.

I got more assistance from fellow passengers than I did from staff - all while I was doing RIDICULOUS stuff for him like taking his shoes off. Not to mention taking off my coat and hat, and taking out my laptop. I had also pre-prepared bottles for him during the drive to the airport. They tested that shit. You know, to make sure it wasn't... I don't know. Some explosive liquid. lol

I try to make the "me" part of security as painless as possible, so that I can better cope with the baby part. I wear swear pants (so I don't have to remove belts), nike sandals (so I can kick them on/off my feet and not have to worry about laces), and any random pocket knick-knacks I throw in a bag when it's time to go through the x-ray thingy.