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Find the best advice for traveling with a baby from a mom who just traveled alone with an 8-month-old.
Just recently I found myself traveling with a baby, more specifically by plane with my 8-month-old daughter all on my own. What on earth was I thinking? I was headed down south to visit family for a short weekend away. I knew my family would be traveling down there again in the wintertime so this was a nice trial run to make sure we didn’t have to change our minds!
Here is my experience and what I would do the same verses differently!
Southwest Airlines
My family always travels Southwest Airlines and there are pros and cons to doing this! Having a Southwest Credit Card helps to earn air miles and potentially get your tickets for a small fee! My ticket was $5, which was just the fee.
I usually do not wrack up credit cards seeing as I like to pay off debt, not build it. I have found that if I put a few recurring monthly bills that are already built into my monthly budget onto the credit card, I pay each month off with automatic payments- no debt accrues, only free airfare!
The pros to Southwest are that your first 2 bags are free to fly under 50lbs! Again, you can get your tickets for free as well. The only con I have for Southwest is open seating.
There are both pros and cons to open seating. You can pick where you want to sit. For me, this increases my anxiety- I want to know I am sitting with my family. When you check-in 24 hours before, you are designated a boarding number given on a first come first serve basis.
However, it is worth the free tickets and free bags. Prices on airfare are also reasonable.
Seeing as my child was a “Lap Child”, she was free to fly anyways.
At the Airport
Be sure to read the TSA rules for fluids and formula prior to going through TSA. It would be terrible if you premade three 6-ounce bottles and they made you dump them (Which I do not think they will).
You can read the TSA rules here on the TSA Website!
From my experience: I let the first TSA officer I saw know that I had baby formula and they tested it. They gave it right back and it was no big deal. I then bought a water bottle and filled her bottles.
If your baby likes their bottles warm, they make portable baby bottle warmers. You can find them online at walmart.com!
Also, make sure you have plenty of toys or teethers to keep your little one occupied!
The two teethers she uses look like this:
On the Plane
Below are a few must-haves for flying with a baby on the plane! ALWAYS have a bottle ready or be ready to nurse if you breastfeed. Giving the bottle or breast at take-off will save your baby from ear pain and popping and save you’re the embarrassment of a screaming baby!
Luckily, my daughter fell asleep right before take-off. This was the only benefit to a 5:05am flight.
Though her nap did not last long, I was glad I had formula and toys to occupy her the rest of the three-hour flight.
Her two favorite teether toys that she enjoyed playing with are what I recommend to all moms. They are easy to hold and I did not have to keep picking them up off the floor!
Car Rental
I had family who was willing to pick my daughter and me up from the airport. I, however, wanted the freedom to go where I needed to go. I also needed a car seat for her. So many people at the airport were checking their car seats. You may not know this but you can rent a car seat with your car rental!
I was able to reserve a car seat at the same time as my car rental and I just had to install it myself. This made my life easier, knowing I did not have to lug an entire car seat through the airport with me.
For this trip, I used Hertz for my rental car. I have little experience renting cars. The great thing about Hertz is you can check in with the phone app and go to your car without standing in line waiting for your car.
However, Hertz could not see my rental confirmation despite having the email to show them. This caused a long delay and usually, I would not mind except I had my baby who needed to eat.
They did solve my issue rather easily but I went with Hertz for the convenience of easy check-in, and it was anything but easy.
For our trip in November, I think we may try Enterprise as there are great reviews and lower pricing options. We will have to rent two car seats then and it will be for an entire week versus three days.
What Would I Do Differently?
I would say, for the first time traveling on a plane with my child, we did pretty well. I would, however, do a few things differently next time:
- I would wear my baby with a wrap or carrier like the one I am wearing below! This would have made carrying the diaper bag (which I used as our carry-on), the luggage, and the baby way easier!
- I would choose a later flight. And by later, I mean not 5:05 am! I had to wake the baby from her sleep in her crib at 2 am to get to the airport on time. It was the only direct flight available in the morning so there was not much choice unless I wanted a layover (which I did not with the baby).
- I only packed formula and decided I would just buy a few containers of Gerber’s baby food once I got down there. I was a little hesitant about what to feed her because I make my own food, which you can read about here. Once I got to our destination, I went to the nearest target and bought pre-made baby foods and a cheap pack of baby spoons to last the weekend.
- I would definitely double-check my rental confirmation a few days before to make sure everything is all set! I want no surprises next time.
- This last one will probably never happen but I also would “pack lighter”. I was only going to be gone for three days and I may (or may not have) overpacked *said with complete sarcasm*.
Conclusion
Traveling with kids, especially a baby can be interesting if you aren’t prepared for it. Luckily, our trip went well! Between the cheap airfare, bottle/feeding hack to prevent ear pain with flying, and the ease of car seat rentals, I would say we had a great trip away!
Happy Traveling XOXO
Olivia