Traveling Alone with an Infant

Flying with an infant can be challenging especially when you are the only caregiver aboard, but it doesn’t have to be a complete nightmare. When my daughter was under one year old, we traveled from Oregon to Maine with nary a problem. I will admit we lucked out with an exceptional flight crew who all happened to love babies so they were begging to take turns holding her in their downtime. However, even if you aren’t as fortunate as I was, there are steps that you can take to get your trip off to a good start, as well as improving the travel experience of the other passengers.
The first thing you need to do is pack for the baby. In your diaper bag, be sure to include plenty of wipes and spit up cloths. Babies may experience a bit of nausea on the flight and you will not want to be stuck with nothing to clean him or her up with. There is also the chance that you will be cleaning yourself. A spare change of clothes, cleaning cloths and a few spare diapers will be essential to everyone’s comfort in the case of stomach upset.

Packing several toys will help in keeping your little one occupied and amused throughout your travels. Choose toys that are soft, as baby may have a penchant for tossing them about. The last thing you want is an angry person across the aisle because your baby has hit them in the head with their hard plastic toy. Another rule for airplane toys is to keep them quiet. Nobody wants to listen to rattles and bells in the close quarters of the plane. Stuffed animals, teething rings, soft books, etc. make great friends for baby on the plane.
If your infant will take a pacifier, toss more than one in the bag. Babies are especially prone to getting earaches during take-off and descent. These can be very painful and provide a good reason for tearful shrieks. Chewing on a pacifier or the teething ring will aid in the avoidance of this problem. In case your baby does not have the good fortune to avoid the earaches, pack along a couple of styrofoam cups and cotton balls. On the take-off and descent, request that the flight attendant dip the cotton in some boiling water. Place the cotton balls in the bottom of the cups and hold gently over the child’s ears. This will help to alleviate the pressure and thus, the pain.
If the baby is old enough for snacks, be prepared to purchase them in the airport after you have made it through the security checkpoint. You will not be allowed through security with them already packed as no food products are permitted on flights other than those which are purchased from an airport vendor.
Other than packing these essential items for the baby’s trip, you can do several other things to make the trip more pleasant. Because turbulence is felt more obviously and abruptly in the back of the plane over the tail, request seating towards the front. Babies do not usually do well in these shaky situations.
Choose your flight strategically! Red eye flights may be the best bet for your trip with baby. It is possible that they may just sleep through the trip since it is during their normal sleep hours. Encourage this time of rest with a nice comfy carseat and a cozy blanket and PJs for him or her. When you are making your travel arrangements, ask which flights are typically less booked than others and try your best to get on one of these. A packed plane with people practically sitting atop one another is terrible with a baby. You want to be able to get up and take your darling for a walk as necessary and this is very difficult on full flights.
Naturally, just prior to flight, it is important to change your baby and give him or her a good, hearty feeding. A relaxed beginning of the trip will make a pleasant impression on your traveling companions and most likely, encourage them to show some mercy if there is a bit of fussing later on. In making the trip as comfortable as possible for your baby and yourself, you will be sharing that courtesy with the rest of the plane’s passengers as well. Your fellow travelers will thank you!

Trifter