We'll be flying with our 5 month old for Thanksgiving. I've been pretty stressed that we're gonna have that baby that screams the whole flight. Any suggestions? We have a 3 hour flight, 1 hour layover with no plane change followed by 2 hr 30 min flight.
Id actually prefer a 5 month old over my toddler on a flight lol. Bring his or her favorite toys, aim to align sleeping / nap schedule with flight as much as much as possible, hope the pressure doesn’t cause any ear aches.
I've seen parents carrying their toddlers up and down the isles all the time during flights. expect doing plenty of that. spend a bit more and sit in the front rows for extra room
I took my then 4 month old on his first trip. He did fine, just give them a bottle during ascent and descent to prevent ear pressure differences
Buy a seat for your kid and bring your carrier. Use a pacifier, if they like it. Bring some little paper cups like they use at the dentist for them to break. Bring cleaning wipes and be vigilant about wiping down surfaces since it’s cold and flu season. Traveling with infants is easier than toddlers for sure.
It’s probably not going to be that bad. If your kid falls asleep on car rides the airplane is probably going to do the same thing. You can’t predict how they’ll respond to air pressure change but I’d just do the bottle on the takeoff and you should be good to go. 5 month old is a fairly easy time for traveling. Or just go the Clooney route: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/20...sed-out-headphones-to-passengers-on-plane/amp
Keep him/her up until you get on the flight. Make sure to bring a bottle and pacifier. Wipes for puking.
If you’re bringing your car seat on the flight, definitely check out where the FAA sticker is located. My wife got stuck with a FA that refused to let her on until the sticker was located (and not all are FAA approved).
Make sure you have a pacifier handy or juice bottle ready because the sucking motion helps pop the ears. Also get an aisle seat so you can walk around easily.
My almost two year old has flown three times. He did pretty well, but we were super afraid. The takeoffs and landings are the worst. Do the bottle thing if you can. We downloaded a couple phone apps to keep him entertained. He was a bit older than five months though. (First flight was at 10 months) Our last flight was just recently and he was 22 months. My wife did a brilliant thing. She went to the dollar store and bought five or six small toys and wrapped them up. We had a short flight, so every ten minutes, my boy would get to unwrap another present. By time he got sick of playing with that toy, it was time for another one. We even had people commenting on how well behaved he was (we don't concur, lol). It's all about weathering the storm, in the end. Just roll with it. Your kid will do fine. It's all about managing yourselves, mostly. If he(or she) cries, just roll with it. If other people don't like it, screw em. You and your little one deserve to fly just as much as they do, and it's far more traumatic for you guys. In the end, I think you'll realize there are still a lot for good people out there - especially when it comes to understanding things like this. People generally tend to treat you better when you have a little one with you.
I've flown with a 2 month old and a 1 year old. I can tell you it was infinitely easier traveling with the 2 month old. They slept the whole time (3 hour flight) and stayed in my wife's cocoon/sling thing. The 1 year old was a totally different story. Did not sleep a wink, wanted to play and crawl around the whole time. It was super exhausting and stressful. You will probably be more on the 2 month old scale of things, so I wouldn't stress too much. Protips: -Try to get a seat near the front or rear of the plane so you have some space to derp around in (the galley, the restroom, the entrance/exit areas). -Get an aisle seat in case your kid needs frequent diaper changes or wants to go explore a lot. -Flight attendants have a ton of experiencing entertaining kids on flights. They are very sympathetic and will typically help you out. Ours gave us some paper cups and our kid played with them for hours. -If your kid is an easy napper (meaning they can and do sleep outside of their crib easily) then try to get them exhausted before the flight (play around in the concourse/lobby, people will look at you funny but eff them) so they sleep during most of it. -If your kid is not a good napper then make sure they are well rested BEFORE the flight because nothing is worse than a tired child who can't fall asleep. -Dovetailing on this, try to feed the kid during takeoff and landing for a few reasons 1) its scary for them so it takes their mind off it 2) helps with equalizing ear pressure 3) full belly usually means better sleep chances. -Obviously bring tons of entertainment options for the kid. My go-to is downloading youtube videos. -Breastmilk is 100% allowed through security, you just have to declare it and let the TSA goons look. -If you can swing it, get on a larger plane that has a 2-3-2 seating configuration, i.e. two aisles (a "wraparound" or "racetrack" style). This was SO helpful because it allowed me to constantly be up and moving around without blocking anyone's path. -If things are going South, keep your cool and stay positive. It's super stressful and it's very easy to get into a downward spiral and have it ruin your trip or have a flameout with your spouse. -Half the people will be giving you shitty looks or snide remarks, **** them sideways. The good news is the other half will be very sympathetic and supportive. I got a lot of "you're such a good dad" and "way to gos" even when things weren't their best. It really changes your perspective.
My older bro bought some baby Ambien from Aliexpress. Not sure if he or the baby used it but he told me he didn't hear a thing the whole time. Good experience.
She slept almost the entire first leg of the flight from a few minutes after takeoff until after we landed. Had a minor meltdown because she was hungry then was happy for the entire second flight. Flight attendants even took turns holding her for a while.
