Travel with Bubs by Teresa Palmer
Bodhi has 13 passport stamps. Yes I know it’s totally ridiculous. Mind you, it’s because we practice attachment parenting so wherever Mama went Bodhi went too! I booked a few films that travelled to different countries so baby B at various ages and stages of development flew internationally. The number of travel times has enabled us to have a pretty solid plan in place to ensure the trip goes smoothly. We have flown first class and business class when a film studio has paid for it but when we have decided to travel ourselves for vacation we have flown economy so we have experienced all sides of it. Our longest flight to Australia was travelled in economy this past Dec when Bodhi was 11 months old.
We travelled for the first time as a family to Turkey when Bodhi was 12 weeks old which was by far the easiest! All he did was sleep and breastfeed. We brought his swaddle (a Woombie our favorite!) a pillow pet and two blankets. I breastfed him as we were taking off and as we were landing to help with his ears. I also breastfed way more than usual during the flight to keep his immune system high and him feeling relaxed and sleepy.
I travelled with Bodhi to Australia on my own in Feb 2015 right before his first birthday. Bodhi was walking and I was next to someone who didn’t seem exactly stoked to have a baby next to him. What I did was I made friends with the flight attendants who more often than not are excited to hold and get to know their littlest passengers. I had a male air host who would pick up Bodhi and carry him around so I could use the bathroom or go grab a snack. He always offered which made it really nice and helpful. But the trick is to introduce your child to the crew so that they have an invested interest in your comfort and wellbeing during the flight. At the age of walking I just followed Bodhi’s cues. He slept great on the flight and when he was awake we walked up and down the aisles which made him tired again. He was happy listening to music with Mama and having some snacks. The TV didn’t really pique his interest but for 5 minutes it was something. I would just rotate activities until he fell asleep again- play with toys, walk up and down, read a book with mum, listen to music, tv, then breastfeed and sleep. This kept us both pretty occupied and the 14 hour flight finally came to an end with not a lot of fuss.
To bring for at the airport/on plane-
Under 4 months
– 2 blankets, one to cover baby when asleep, one to place in bassinet for them to lie on.
– ergo 360, baby bjorn ONE or a sling that you love that is SMALL in material length (no Moby!)
– Woombie swaddle x 2 (or your other fav EASY swaddle) I brought 2 in case of a pooey accident
– spare change of clothes
– wipes and nappies
– pillow pet for Mama to lean babies head on when nursing so you don’t get a dead arm and have to wake baby to move it! It also gives you a little more freedom when baby is snuggled leaning on the pillow pet.
– burp clothes x 2/3
– 1 carry on back pack for you AND babe
– an extra lightweight tshirt/pants for YOU because of throw up/poop/pee accident. Believe me it will probably happen and then you’ll at least have fresh clothes to wear.
Over 4 months
– 2 blankets, one to cover baby, other for bassinet Or to cover in stroller etc.
– Stroller which only folds in to one piece.we use this either for Bodhi OR put Bodhi in the carrier and chuck all of our bags in the stroller.
– organic food sachets.
– 4 different small toys to interchange during the flight. Always count that you have 4 before you get off the flight as these are the things easiest to lose.
– ergo 360 or baby bjorn ONE. You definitely want the carrier which has the facing out option. Also when baby is heavier carrying them on back through the airport is awesome too.
– Pillow pet. It comes in handy for heavy heads and sleepy bodies.
– baby water bottle.
– ziplock of Organic puffs.
– spare pair of clothes.
– nappies/wipes
– formula if you cannot breastfeed.
– one carry on backpack for you AND babe.
– an extra lightweight tshirt/pants for YOU because of throw up/poop/pee accident. Believe me it will probably happen and then you’ll at least have fresh clothes to wear.
Other tips-
If you can justify and/or have the means it made a big difference for us to buy Bodhi his OWN seat in economy when we have flown. It just gives us a row to ourselves
If you don’t need your laptop DONT bring it, it just adds weight that you really don’t need. I travel with my iPad and iPhone and that’s all I need. I never bring my laptop with me.
Remember if your babe is kicking up a storm, try to calm with usual techniques (breastfeeding, distraction, food etc.) sometimes it’s just going to be extra energy that they need to release. Just calming pick babe up and walk to the toilet are and just rock and calm them there. That way you don’t get flustered by the people in such close vicinity to you giving any dirty looks you catch.
Breastfed/bottle feed baby when you’re taking off and breastfed/bottle feed when you’re landing to help with ear pain.
Good luck Mamas + Papas