I'm just wondering who has flown with their baby and how was the experience. I think I'm going on a trip in August, alone with a one year old. The flight is about 4 hours, with a possible stopover. Can anyone give me any tips? I won't be buying a seat for her because of money, so I guess that means she has to sit on my lap. What can you tell me about how it was for you?

We took a 5 hr flight with a 12 month old, but since I got him a seat, its different. He had his own seat & carseat, so he slept the whole time.
I do suggest packing a bag with snacks...we packed a little insulated lunch bag with crackers, cheese, cut grapes, & milk. If she's still on the bottle at that point, you may want to bring one to use during takeoff/landing (unless she takes a pacifier) to help with her ears. And pack a little bag full of new toys to keep her occupied.

When you check in at the airport or at the gate, you can see if there are any extra seats on the plane. If there are, ask for two together so that you can use that extra seat!

To make it easier in the airport, take a light stroller and gate check it!!

Ditto what Karri said - all great advice that worked for us!

We went to Fla. with Steven in February, when he was 15 months old. We did get him his own seat (we got all our tickets for a steal so we figured - why not?) and brought his car seat. I brought both juice and milk, plenty of snacks, a travel sized magna-doodle, a small boxed set of board books, Color Wonder markers and pad, his stuffed puppy/blanket that he sleeps with....hmmm, I think that's it. I purposely didn't let him see the board books or markers ahead of time so that he'd be more interested. He was awake most of the flight down, which was odd, since we purposely took the afternoon flight thinking he'd sleep! Oh well, the best laid plans. He did very well, though. He did get a little antsy towards the end, but managed. My advice - plenty of snacks and things to grab her attention!

We flew when Yumi was 1 year old and when he was 3. Unless she has an ear infection, 1 year olds are much easier than older kids on such short flights! We asked for a baby crib for him and he slept part of the flight. We had a few toys but basically it was easy with him. At age 3 it was much harder...

Has anyone done it with a younger baby? My son will be about 4 months old when we do a four hour flight. Does anyone have any info on that as well?

for a four month old, i'd say bring a bunch of bottles- one for take-off, one for landing, and one for a snack. if you're lucky the little one will fall asleep eating. the engines also help putting a baby to sleep on a plane, and we took night flights to try to help as well

Thanks for the imput everyone. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the plane doesn't fill up so maybe we can get a seat for Lauryn.

We have flown several times with Sadie. Actually she has flown 7 or 8 times ranging from 6 weeks to 15 months (that is what happens when most of your family lives on the opposite coast). We still haven't purchased a seat for her and haven't had any problems.

I second what everyone else said. With a little one it is crucial to have something for them to suck on during take off and landing, whether it be nursing them, bottle, pacifier or sippy cup.

When Sadie was little is was really easy as she would usually sleep during most or all of the flight. Now that she is mobile it is a little harder, but we just bring things to keep her occupied, a new toy, books, the magazines in the seat back and lots of her favorite snacks. Also if she really needs to move, I will get up with her and walk her up and down the aisle.

Michele

My son's first flight was when he was 3 months old. (It was about a two-hour flight.) I was *so* worried about it, because (a) I didn't get him his own seat, and (b) my husband wasn't going along, so it was just the two of us. Plus, I ended up in the middle seat for both the flight out and the flight back. I gate-checked his carseat, so that made life a bit easier, and luckily, the other people in my row were very nice. Even more luckily, he was an absolute angel. I gave him a bottle during takeoff (was hoping to nurse, but cramped in that middle seat between two men, I just didn't feel comfortable), and he slept the rest of the flight, even through the landing. I was so relieved!

We will be flying with him again in a couple of weeks (he'll be 5 months old). We did buy him a seat this time around, and I think it will be easier, if only because it means we'll have the whole row. (My husband's coming for this one.)

I think the key is to be positive, and hope for good row-mates. :)

Kate

We are flying to Norway next June with a 3 year old and a 10 month old. There will be 7 adults going with, so hopefully, that will help - but I'm very WORRIED aobut a flight that long. I'm guessing somewhere around 8-10 hours. I could be way off though. I guess we just have to pray!

We have flown with Brooke 4 or 5 times already and she is only 13 months old.We are actually flying with her tomorrow. We never buy her an extra seat. Since she is more mobile now, we tend to have a harder time, but we just end up walking up and down the aisles a couple of times and the people on the planes usually enjoy it too as she hams it up the whole way. When she was younger, she mostly slept the whole way. It should be fine. :aok:

Stella

We just took our first flight with Brice. He is seven months. Both directions went really well! Much better then I could have ever hoped. We did not buy him a seat - he sat on my lap. I started nursing him right as the plane started up the runway which I think helped prevent any ear pain - he fell right asleep and slept most of the flight. When he woke up he enjoyed looking out the window, peeking at the people sitting in the row behind us, and trying to get the tray table down. My only advice would be to dress the baby really comfortably - err on the side of underdressing because the cabin can get really hot before take off. I brought a blankie and covered him once we were airborne and the cabin cooled down.

Has anyone done it with a younger baby? My son will be about 4 months old when we do a four hour flight. Does anyone have any info on that as well?
I flew with DS for the first time when he was 5 weeks old. He slept most of the trip, but I agree, give them a bottle at take off, and then try again during descent, or atleast a pacifier. It helps to pop their ears when there is a change in altitude.
I also just held him and tried to keep him comfortable. I think by the end of our trip (a full 10 hour day including a layover), he was a little crabby, but that's to be expected. Everyone was really wonderful about letting us walk him up and down the aisle or just bounce him to keep him happy.
I took my Baby Bjorn, but was told that since it wasn't FAA approved that I couldn't use it. I didn't care... I just wrapped a blanket over it and no one knew the difference. Both DS and I were much more comfortable with him in it anyways.

Oh, and another thing that I remember.... going through security make sure you have NOTHING metal on. I had to take off my shoes because of metal buckles to walk through with DS in my arms. It is just easier to try and dress a bit more appropriately than to worry about taking things off and then trying to get everything together and the end of the security check.

Good luck!
Mandy

Thanks for the imput everyone. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the plane doesn't fill up so maybe we can get a seat for Lauryn.
just an fyi, but i fly southwest mainly and the planes are always full. so if you're flying that airline don't count on there being an empty seat for a ticketless infant.

I've flown with DD several times starting when she was 2.5 months old. I always did purchase her a seat though because I was flying by myself and I wasn't up to trying to hold her the whole flight. I'm not sure if you know this but you can purchase a seat for an infant (under 2) for half the lowest adult fare available. That makes it a lot more affordable. So far I've never had any trouble with her not even during takeoff and landing. Well she cries because she wants to get out of her seat and she's annoyed that we're not moving yet but she doesn't cry during the actual takeoff and landing portion. When she was younger she pretty much slept the whole way. On our most recent trip (when she was 19 months old) I brought a bag of books and toys and snacks for her. A change of clothes and of course her cup. You can usually get rides on the carts they have for limit travelers which is a lot of help when you're trying to wrangle luggage and a baby. The staff is usually very helpful.

good luck
robyn

My son has been on about 8 trips, the first at 4 weeks, the most recent at 16 months. We have never bought an extra seat - and would not do so now because he would only sit in it for takeoff and landing. Ditto to what everyone said about traveling with an infant - they tend to sleep the whole way, making things much easier. I always made sure that I was either breastfeeding or that he had a pacifier to make sure his ears cleared. Now that he is older, I just make sure that he keeps his pacifier in on the way up and the way down. We bring lots of snacks on the plane and then he usually just plays with the magazines in the back of the seat, the window shade (pushing it up and down, which has kept him occupied for a good 20 minutes) and pushing the light on and off. We usually have a whole row to ourselves so we aren't bothering anyone else.

He likes to be up and running so we usually walk him up and down the aisles quite a bit. He loves to stop and see all the people and most everyone will play with him as we are walking. He is quite the social bee!

I highly recommend you bring your stroller - not necessarily for the child's benefit, but we have always found it helpful for putting all the bags on. I think we are going to travel with our stroller until Cameron is 18 years old! :)

One other note of caution, if you are doing a connecting flight, have a backup plan if they lose your carseat. On a trip out to San Francisco, we checked our car seat and it didn't make it due to a tight connection from a delayed flight. We had to fight with the car rental company for 2 hours because they couldn't find a car seat. The one they finally found for us was so flimsy, I was scared to death to put my son in it, but I had no choice as they couldn't find a seat anywhere.