Travelling With a Baby- On StandBy

So I have promised a post on travel with a baby after my trip last October and I'm so sorry it has taken me so long but here it is! My husband and his father are both airline pilots so I have gathered my information from them, my own experience, and research. Traveling with a baby seems overwhelming! especially when you are flying standby! What does this mean you ask? Well for those of you that don't know, standby is a way to travel where you don't have a ticket for the plane until the last minute and you only get on if there happens to be open seats on the plane- having flight benefits as a pilots wife this is how I traveled from Utah to South Carolina with a layover in Atlanta. My husband was on the last day of his trip for work the day we started our vacation, so he had to meet me in Atlanta, this leaving me to get on and off the first flight by myself with our, at the time, about 4 month old baby! Lucky for me my father in law drove me to the airport and got me to the gate (also my first time flying standby alone he wanted to make sure Luke and I were alright) and my husband was in Atlanta waiting for me when I got off. Now another thing about standby is you are only allowed one carry on and one small over head luggage. You wouldn't want to check a bag in case you didn't make it to your destination you would have to have the airport hold your bags and what would you do if you never made it and cancelled your trip all together? You would have to get it sent back and wait days.. So that being said, 1 small suitcase and 1 carry on item was all I could pack. Having a baby you also get the benefit of having a stroller and car seat that the gate agent will check right before you get on the plane and you get it back right after you get off. They put it literally right off the plane in the Jetway. If there happens to be an empty seat next to you on the plane they will usually allow you to bring the car seat to put the baby in during flight. If you do not have the extra seat you get to carry baby on and keep them in your lap (you could buy two seats if you are not flying standby and bring your car seat on the plane that way as well but you also still get to use the empty seat, if it happens to be there with standby or regular flying). Trying to carry a baby, a stroller, a car seat, and two pieces of luggage can be tricky let me tell ya! I had my father in law and my husband helping but I had to do it all by myself down the gate since my father in law did not have a ticket and my husband had to wait for me at the end of the gate. So how did I do it? I'll tell ya! If your lucky you will get a nice gate agent to help, if not you do the following. Baby carriers come in handy while traveling! The last thing you want to do is drop your baby struggling to carry all your stuff, and you really need two hands to get through airport security and the gates and carrying your luggage. I wore Luke after I got through security until takeoff. They make you take baby out of the carrier to walk through security check, and for takeoff and landing. I use a baby BJORN infant carrier, but they have so many different kinds. I was actually wishing mine had a waist strap because the one I used makes your back hurt after a little while, some more support would have been great. (This is why I used my new woven wrap carrier the next time we traveled) Car seat stroller combos (mine is a Graco aire3 click connect travel system and I love everything about it) also come in handy. I was able to take Luke out of the car still in his car seat, click the car seat into the stroller and push him until security. Then you actually have to put your car seat and stroller along with all your luggage through the scanners! The airport attendants and my father in law were very helpful in making sure I got everything into the conveyor and off of the conveyor. I then was able to push the car seat on the stroller and use it to carry my backpack while pulling my suitcase behind and wearing the baby! Once I got to the gate I had to put my stroller and car seat in the gate check bags to protect them from being ripped, ruined, get dirty, etc. you can find one like mine HERE. Amazon sells them fairly cheap and they are so worth it! Trust me they don't always handle your luggage with the most delicate hand. Keep your gate check stroller & car seat bags in a handy spot, I kept mine in the storage compartment under the stroller, and keep your car seat in the bag if you have a layover to save a step getting on the next plane, only take the stroller out so you can push it instead of carry it. Bringing your own car seat is also helpful for when you get to your destination you will need to put your baby in a car seat! I never would trust the rental companies to have one- I have heard from my in laws who traveled a lot with their 4 kids that the car seats are scary and sometimes they don't have any left. Nightmare I tell ya! Plus I'm a germ-a-phobe and would rather my child have their own seat. You can opt out of the security scanning machines and choose to be manually scanned - I did this while I was pregnant and with baby in arms. It's perfectly safe is what I've been told but .. I don't like to take my chances! If you do plan to do this make sure you give yourself plenty of time for sometimes it takes a while! Also don't wear sparkles on your clothes, perfumes, lotions, hairsprays, keep it to a minimum, these types of things can cause the strip test to be positive for explosive warning, or the scanner to light up saying you have stuff under your clothes, thus making you go to a private room to be pat down very thoroughly. (This happened to me twice). Backpack diaper bags are an amazing new fad, I wore my backpack diaper bag so I had one less thing to carry. The over the shoulder bags always slide off my shoulder and that is the last thing I want to deal with while carrying so many other things! I packed all Luke and I needed for a day/night in the diaper bag, in case they made me check my suitcase at the gate. They sometimes do this when the plane is really full. The rest went in my suitcase. The backpack I have has a side pocket for the wipes for easy access and a cooler pocket for an ice pack and milk if needed also. TSA cannot deny you food for your baby. They will allow you to bring breast milk or formula and baby foods with you on the plane and certain amounts of ice packs. You must check your airlines webpage to see what they DO or do NOT allow for you to bring. This includes strollers, car seats, luggage, carry on, breast milk, etc. each airline can be a little different in what they allow. I brought ice packs, my manual breast pump and one bottle of breast milk just in case I would have needed it but my son being exclusively breastfed I didn't end up needing it. I was just asked at security to take out any liquids for baby so they could check it just like they do your other liquids. Babies aren't able to pop their own ears by swallowing more when going to higher altitude so giving them a bottle, Pacifier of breastfeed during take off and landing really helps so their ears don't get hurt! If they cry this also helps them to pop their ears so try to be understanding if your baby cries during flight. There should be a changing table in the bathroom that folds down over the toilet, ask a flight attendant if you need help. If your in an older plane sometimes they don't have changing tables so you can ask the flight attendant for a blanket and they should let you change the baby in the isle, or back by the food/bathroom area on the floor. I had to do this in one of the planes I was on. The flight staff is very understanding and helpful so utilize their knowledge! Family bathrooms are amazing to use while traveling and in the airport so you can use the facilities and take baby with you too! I figured this out during my trip and it saved my life. Here are a few extra travel tips for you:

1. You can use a laundry basket as a crib for baby.

2. Buy diapers and wipes once you get there (only pack as many as you need during the drive/flight to save room in your bag).

3. If your staying with friends/family or a place with a washer and dryer only pack a few outfits and plan to wash a couple loads to save room in the suitcase.

4. if your breastfeeding or have older children pack a Ziploc full of snacks- sometimes you don't know when you will get a meal, or don't want to pay airport prices on food.

5. I breastfed my baby on the seat on the plane, in the airport, and anywhere my son was hungry.. I did use a cover but normalize breastfeeding and don't be afraid to feed your child! The flight attendants should help you find a comfortable place to feed your baby if necessary but they will probably just show you to the back area seems how there isn't many places to go on an airplane. This was a little tricky when my son was sticking out of the isle or kicking the person next to me! Be aware of your surroundings and hopefully your neighboring passengers are understanding! Most of the people I sat by were very understanding and some grandmas or fathers and didn't mind at all that I breastfed, Luke kicked them and had his feet on them while nursing, one lady even held him for me so I could go to the bathroom. She was very nice and we had talked for a few hours before I just left my baby with her. She was not harmful in any way. Please follow your instincts and I only did it on the airplane because she could not take off with him. There was nowhere for her to go!

6. If your destination hotel or stay provides basics like shampoo, soap, etc. just use theirs to save room in your luggage.

I hope this was helpful and if I think of anything else I will add it! I will also be posting a checklist of what to pack for baby and yourself so stay tuned! Happy traveling. XoXo- Cassandra