Tips on flying with a baby

I have had more experience in travelling with my baby. I think it would be useful to set out a few pointers - a lot of it can seem obvious - yet I see people around me making these avoidable mistakes all the time.

• Plan ahead. At the very least, having a mental checklist 24 hours before travel is useful to give youself time to plug loopholes (wash that extra set of night wear, buy baby a hat, get food bags to store meals, decide whether to carry a steriliser etc).

• If you don't already own one, invest in four wheel bags. I cannot emphasis just how important this is, irrespective of whether you are travelling alone or in a group with a baby. Once out of the airport, if you do not have a partner (or even if you do actually), it can be very tricky to handle luggage and baby at the same time.

• Carrier/ pram/ stroller is a must. I have realised this the hard way when travelling alone with my baby as well as when I was travelling with my husband. You need all hands on deck and sans carrier it can get a little tricky. The alternate is of course seating your baby on the luggage trolley - it did not work for me because even now my baby is too little to support herself on it. 

• Pack meals and diapers for the next 24 hours. Despite my best efforts, I have had misses. I have landed in Bombay reposing faith in my friends' assurance that there is a drugstore RIGHT DOWNSTAIRS and YOU DON NOT NEED to carry diapers and formula etc. I packed the formula but took my chances with the diapers.  Bad call! Turns out that the drugstore did not, after all, keep that particular brand of diapers in the size I wanted. And then there was the time we landed in Munich at 5 AM but were not given a room till mid day. Thank goodness for all the extra hot water and formula I had handy! The scenarios are endless - what if your flight is delayed or you get stuck at immigration? So, 24 hours gives you just enough time to set right these little miscalculations. 

• Pick up the baby at the very end. After all the packing is done, you have worn your shoes, have the house keys handy, that's when you pick up the munchkin - assuming he/she is asleep - if he/she is not,  do get all the packing done in advance. To give you an idea, here is what happens when my daughter insisted on 'helping' me pack:

 

• Take what help you can. And my experience has been that people are generally quite willing to help - a lot of them are forthcoming and others gladly do it when asked. On the aircaft my neighbours have helped me prepare milk, hold my baby while I strapped on my carrier etc. Airlines themselves do offer a lot of help. Vistara (at least in the premium and business sections) offers an attendant till security check. It also offers all women travelling alone assistance all the way till you are in a cab at the destination airport.

• Feed your baby at least an hour before the flight. This of course would depend on what stage your baby is at and at what intervals you feed her. But I feel feeding at that time (i.e. an hour before the flight) and then a little milk right as the aircraft is taking off ensures that the baby is least cranky.

• Change your baby's diaper right before the flight. Or, if you have a night flight, right after the seat belt sign is off so that (a) the bathroom is still fresh (!), (b) you don't need to wake up your baby in the middle of the night to change diaper (hopefully!); and (c) you can do the next change of diaper at the destination airport.

 

• Feed yourself. If you are travelling alone and especially if it is a short flight where you may not have the luxury of a bassinet, it is most likely that you will have your hands full. Literally. So eat, drink, pee before you board the craft. Many airports have 'family bathrooms' - big bathrooms that have a normal pot, a diaper charging station and enough room to roll in your trolley, pram etc. Use all of that to prepare yourself. 

• Keep a toy and your child's favourite book handy. There is not much room to entertain your baby on a flight. Plus given that everything will be stowed overhead anyway, it will be painful to unload what you need later. So just keep these two items on the pocket in front of you so that you can distract the little one during the turbulent takeoffs and landings. 

• Be bold and unapologetic. I no longer care about people around me if my baby is throwing a tantrum mid-air and cannot stop bawling. I roll up my metaphorical sleeves and sing and croon tunelessly. There is absolutely no reason to get hassled about the nuisance because (a) it wont help; (b) if people are bothered let them charter their own flight 😝.

• Be disciplined. My baby has struggled and wept to be let out of my arms mid-air. I have always held on no matter what. Once MIL asked me to just let her take a short walk on the aisle - anything to make her stop crying. I insisted on not caving. I like to think that over time my baby has realised that it simply will not work. She still makes her token noises and struggles to be let out intermittently - but gives up after sometime and resignedly falls asleep. 

• If at all you do get some respite and need entertainment (assuming you don't want to catch up on your two winks yourself!), keep a kindle/iPad handy. There will be times when your baby will not want to use the bassinet or the extra seat and would prefer to sleep in your arms. Flipping a magazine or toggling channels and headphones on in-flight entertainment is not quite conducive. So keep these devices handy!