6 Hour Flight with Infant Must Haves

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

I have traveled all over the world and always feel very prepared.

In a few weeks our baby will be on his first flight for 6 hours.
I'm trying to get a must have list of things to carry with us on the plane.

My diaper bag always has extra outfits
pacifiers
gas drops
A&D
teething toys
diapers
wipes
hats
blankets
zip lock bags
bottles & formulas

Anything else for must haves?

[momof3ds]

A change of clothes for any adult who will hold the baby on the plane.

[DisneyRegulars]

How old is the infant?

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Originally Posted by DisneyRegulars

How old is the infant?

He'll be 5 1/2 months when we travel.

[Figee17]

I found traveling with my DS at this age was a breeze compared to now when he is getting more mobile! Sounds like your diaper bag is well stocker, but I agree with PP about the extra change of clothes for the adults...no knowing when a blow out will happen or when you won't be allowed to get up when the time for a diaper change comes. I traveled with more formula than necessary and was thankful for that. We found that feeding at take of and landing eliminated ear problems. Have fun!!

[JJsmama]

I also agree that traveling with an young infant is easier than you think it will be - unless baby is not feeling well... We did a 6 hour flight when my 3rd was 2 months and a 14.5 hour flight when he was six months.

My advice: take more pacifiers than you think you need and keep them in ziplocs. They are so easy to drop in the small space. Take hand sanitizer for yourself when handling the bottles, etc in case you can't get up.

If you are also breastfeeding, build up your milk supply beforehand and don't take the bottle, formula at all. Much easier.

Good Luck.

[TheRustyScupper]

Originally Posted by NEVERENOUGHWDW

. . . Anything else for must haves? . . .

Three words,
. . . ben
. . . a
. . . dryl

[LilnStitchy]

I found it nice to have a boppy or some sort of pillow to rest the baby atop. The boppy is sort of a pain to lug around and I see they have a travel one that zips together and has a shoulder strap. Would have made my life easier then. I took DS on two 7 hr flights when he was 8 mos and he slept through most of it. He slept at 15 mos on a red eye with the boppy under him. Also agree with the pp's a 5.5 mo will be a breeze

[danceintherain]

Originally Posted by TheRustyScupper

Three words,
. . . ben
. . . a
. . . dryl

Be careful with this suggestion. Ethics aside, you should never give a new medication without consulting a doctor first (especially in this case, because there aren't instructions for infants on the bottle) and it's a bad idea to give any medication for the first time on a plane. (the kid could have an allergic reaction to an ingredient, then you're in even worse shape)

Also, from experience my kid wakes up as soon as the dose wears off and in an even crankier mood than he was before. For this reason, I hate giving him benadryl in general (though at times he does need it for a reaction) and I rue the day that he'll need it on a plane flight that's longer than 4 hours again.
Also, it's a pain in the butt to get through security, because it only comes in bottles larger than 3 oz.

In general, I've found that traveling with infants on planes isn't much different than taking care of them anywhere else. It's once they start walking that travel becomes difficult. Bring about twice as much perishable stuff as you anticipate needing for your whole travel time (not just the flight time - include travel time from home and until you get to somewhere you can replenish your supply at your destination). One suggestion I've heard is to pack 1 diaper for every hour of travel, and I've never gotten done with traveling with my kid and thought "man, I wish I would have packed fewer diapers." Same thing with food.
The extra change of clothes/shirt for yourself suggestion is also very good. I spilled a bottle of water on myself and my child on a plane once. That extra shirt was very well loved that day.

Bring some kind of carrier on the plane with you. You can't use it during take off or landing, but you can use it to walk the baby up and down the aisle hands-free.

Another good suggestion I've seen for formula users is to pre-measure out most feedings.

[jillianjigs7]

Originally Posted by TheRustyScupper

Three words,
. . . ben
. . . a
. . . dryl

i'd be careful about this too. my dd had to take benadryl once when 10 months for medical reasons and it made her so hyper. i definitely wouldn't try that without getting a dr.'s opinion and without trying it at home first either.

just make sure you have enough of the essentials: wipes, diapers, extra clothes, a couple pacifiers (if baby uses them), teething toys, etc. if you have an iphone, that always helped us with dd on the plane. we downloaded a lot of baby apps and she loved staring at them! she now is 2.5 and has her own ipad for all of the traveling we do and travels so well!

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Originally Posted by jillianjigs7

i'd be careful about this too. my dd had to take benadryl once when 10 months for medical reasons and it made her so hyper. i definitely wouldn't try that without getting a dr.'s opinion and without trying it at home first either.

just make sure you have enough of the essentials: wipes, diapers, extra clothes, a couple pacifiers (if baby uses them), teething toys, etc. if you have an iphone, that always helped us with dd on the plane. we downloaded a lot of baby apps and she loved staring at them! she now is 2.5 and has her own ipad for all of the traveling we do and travels so well!

Started downloading onto our Ipad

As far as I'm concerned the benydryl comment was just made to make the Moms (especially me) have a fit.

I do know there are often adults I would like to drug on the planes, especially going overseas.

[jillianjigs7]

Originally Posted by NEVERENOUGHWDW

Started downloading onto our Ipad

As far as I'm concerned the benydryl comment was just made to make the Moms (especially me) have a fit.

I do know there are often adults I would like to drug on the planes, especially going overseas.

That's great! There are so many cute little apps for little ones! When we flew home from Puerto Rico over the summer (a 4.5 hour plane ride) our DD never made a peep! She watched and played with the ipad the entire trip!

And I couldn't have said it better myself: "I do know there are often adults I would like to drug on the planes, especially overseas!" I couldn't agree more!!!!

[Habbott]

I took my little guy on a 3.5 hour flight when he was 6.5 months. He slept the majority of the time. We had a few new toys he could play with. And we also had our iPad. While he didn't do much with hat, he really liked looking at the pictures we had on it.

Definitely agree with having a second outfit for you as well. You never know what's going to happen.

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Bring at least twice as many diapers as you think you will need.

[dsneygirl]

Bring extra formula and diapers in case of delays. I agree with the others we flew to Hawaii when DS was 6 months and it was a breeze compared to last week's 2.5 hour flight to Orlando.