Baby’s First Flights Tips & Tricks
We’ve now flown twice with Baby G and I wanted to share what I learned to help you feel more confident on your first trip with baby!
Our first trip was to Tampa (a 2 hour flight for us) and it was the perfect first flight distance. Our second trip was to Denver (3 hour trip for us). Both times we did not buy her a seat and traveled with her as Infant-in-lap. We brought our car seat both times.
Let me know if you have any additional questions - I know it can be stressful planning baby’s first flight and I’d love to help take away some of your stress if I can.
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Packing:
Your diaper bag doesn’t count towards your bag allotment. I utilized mine to pack for her and me and had my second bag be for our bottles and formula. I am a huge fan of my Dagne Dover diaper bag. We use this backpack cooler from Target for the bottles.
In. Tampa: We rented a bottle sterilizer and our baby brezza formula maker to arrive at our hotel once we checked in. Since I requested a sterilizer dryer I just packed bottle washing soap and a brush so we could clean the bottles before putting them into the sterilizer. In Denver: we rented our baby brezza formula maker for pickup and brought along microwave sterilizer bags.
For both trips, I packed one outfit for her for each day, along with a few extra onesies. She spits up a lot, so I packed a lot of bibs to try and keep her clothes dry and to make them last throughout the day. We haven’t had many blow outs so I was less concerned about having to change her multiple times in the day. I figured she could be a naked baby if need be. It was really easy to just shove her outfits into the gaps in packing my clothes because they are so small right now. (some favorites linked here)
Make sure to pack an extra outfit in your diaper bag for easy access - just in case! I keep a onesie I don’t love in the diaper bag at all times.
Checking in & getting to the gate:
For Tampa: We flew frontier, so we were trying to limit our bag count as much as possible. Going to Tampa, we checked both the stroller and the car seat at check-in so we didn’t have to handle the stroller through TSA and the airport. The agent informed us that they typically prefer you gate-check your stroller, but he did let us check it at the counter. When we landed we had to go down to baggage claim to collect both. Our stroller did suffer some damage because we didn’t have it in a padded bag - our leather handle ripped in two places, but it wasn’t awful.
For Denver: We flew United and felt more confident in their understanding of traveling with an infant. We checked the car seat at the check in counter. Pro-tip: you can add the car seat as a checked bag (for free) in the United app before you arrive at the airport to save time! We brought our Bugaboo Dragonfly stroller and stroller bag through security both ways this time.
Since we didn’t have the stroller, I wore her in this carrier, from the time we took her out of the car seat until we got seated on the plane. She did not have to come out of the carrier for me to go through security or the x-ray.
You can take pre-made formula bottles, formula, and water through TSA, you’ll just be additionally screened once your bag goes through the x-ray. It was quick and easy! For Tampa: I prepared four pre-made bottles for her and then also had a bottle of water, a can of formula, and our bottle warmer should we get delayed or have any issues. For Denver: I dropped the extra bottle of water, the formula can and the bottle warmer, we’d be fine using anything in the airport, but I made bigger bottles and brought two extra clean bottles along in case. I also packed a few scoops of formula in a formula container. We knew we had formula cans waiting for us at our host’s house.
For Tampa: When we departed home the check-in line was SO long we took both the car seat and the stroller to the gate. She was sleeping so I kept her in the stroller for as long as I could. When we got to TSA it was a lot more involved with the car seat and the stroller. The car seat needs to come out of the travel bag and go through the x-ray (or be hand screened if it doesn’t fit), and the stroller has to be hand-screened. If you are like us and stuffed the stroller with things you’d need later on, it all has to come out and go through the belt - which just made me as someone who needs to rush and be quick through TSA, stressed. However, they are super helpful and brought the stroller all the way to me at the end of the belt once it was screened. Holding her without the carrier and trying to collect all of our belongings before they returned the stroller was a lot and I think in the future I would not have put her in the stroller.
Gate checking the stroller and the car seat was so easy. The gate agents were really helpful and all you do is carry it to the end of the jet bridge and leave it for them to grab - then you collect both on the jet bridge when you deplane. Should you have a connecting flight they’ll put them both there so you have it In the airport.
For Denver: I learned from Tampa and put her in the carrier and pushed the stroller with the stroller bag in the basket and one of our bags in the stroller. We had to break the stroller down in Denver to go through security, they put the seat through and inspected the body by hand. Our stroller is super easy to break down so I didn’t mind having to do that - I put her into the stroller after security because I knew we had a long trip to get to our gate. We also tried to check our portable crib but it doesn’t count as a free checked back so we brought it to the gate to gate-check it for free as an infant item.
On the plane:
For Tampa: I’m an aisle girl, so we booked the aisle and the window seat in the off chance someone wouldn’t get assigned to the middle… it was a full Frontier flight so we didn’t get lucky, but both times the person was willing to sit at the window and I definitely preferred having the aisle. I felt like I had more room to move her around and hold her being in the aisle. Plus it would be quick access to the bathroom to change her if we needed. For Denver: We booked the middle and aisle again but actually did the back of the plane this time. I liked the convenience to be able to change her in the bathroom and the space to move a bit more. It takes sooo long to get off the plane but she was great waiting both times.
For Tampa: She was two months old, so we didn’t need much to keep her entertained, we fed her at takeoff and she fell asleep soon after. When she woke up from her nap she enjoyed looking down the aisle and at the lights on the ceiling. We also brought this ball rattle that she enjoyed (and is easy to pack). For Denver: She was four months old, so we needed some more entertainment. She loved the seat back screens since she doesn’t get any direct screentime at home lol, and she also loved these spinners that we could stick to the tray table.
For both trips: We made sure to have her pacifier attached to her so we could easily give it to her when we started our descent. She seemed to know when she needed it and would take it as needed.
General Travel & Hotel:
On both trips, we had her car seat which is really easy to install into any car. I enjoyed having our car seat because she is used to it and seemed comfortable in it even after all the hustle and bustle of traveling.
For Tampa: As I mentioned before we had rented a few items from BabyQuip and they were waiting for us at check-in. I rented a bottle sterilizer, formula dispenser, and a bouncer. We also ordered a crib for the room. These items really helped us feel more confident and “home-like”, and I am glad we rented them. The bouncer was especially helpful when we both wanted to get ready or needed to get out the door. For Denver: We rented a few items from BabyQuip and we had to stop to pick them up on our way to our host’s house. I was glad we rented these items again - they make life easier! We also brought our portable crib to use instead of renting one.
For both trips: I did not bring anything special to darken the room, and thankfully our room was particularly dark. We did bring a portable sound machine and used that nightly for her. In Tampa we did not use it for naps, but we did in Denver.
For Tampa: I wish I would have spent more time at home getting her used to the stroller, it was not the same one we’ve been using (I bought a bassinet one on FB marketplace), so she was a little nervous in it and she didn’t face us like the other stroller which I think was a bit too advanced for her age. I loved the convenience of being able to pop our car seat right on the stroller but I missed the bassinet for walks from the hotel. We made do! For Denver: lol we bought a new stroller to solve this problem! We have the Bugaboo Dragonfly and I LOVED it on this trip. We could put the car seat on easily if she had fallen asleep on the drive, or switch over to the seat if she was awake. She was able to sleep in both well and we didn’t have to transfer here for anything.
For Tampa: We took her wherever we wanted to go, we definitely just ate a bit earlier than we might’ve had it just been the two of us. We saw kids everywhere we went and we had no issues or judgments anywhere. Following her naps and paying attention to her cues were helpful in avoiding a screaming baby in the restaurant. We cut one night close, but since we were seated outside I was able to walk her around the block. For Denver: she was in the midst of the four-month sleep regression so things were a bit more complicated. We tried to stay home in the mornings for at least one nap or make two afternoon naps at home. We brought the fabric carrier and paid close attention to her schedule, transferring her to the carrier if we knew a nap was soon. We also tried to time drives around her naps, and would then transfer the whole car seat to the stroller when we got to our destination to allow her to sleep longer. We wanted to try to stay on east coast time but we all kind of easily transitioned to mountain time and jury is still out on how that will affect us as we just got home yesterday!
