Flying with Infant

[ksloane]

I've never flown with an infant before. We are planning a trip to WDW in October with my daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. My grandson will be 13 months old. We are flying SW, and plan to have him in our laps.

Do we need to notify SW? Register him anywhere? How does this work?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jsilvers]

Southwest has a page about traveling with infants at http://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/family/baby-on-board-pol.html. Most important:

If you choose to travel with your infant on your lap (at no additional charge) the infant will not need a boarding pass; however, you will need to obtain a Boarding Verification Document (BVD) for the infant. The BVD will allow the infant to board the aircraft. BVDs are available at the Southwest Airlines ticket counter on the day of travel. In order to complete your BVD, the Customer Service Agent will need to verify that your infant has not reached his/her second birthday, so be sure to bring along a copy of your infant's birth certificate.​

 

[ksloane]

Thanks. I'm not sure what they are going to do but my daughter asked me last night as I've always taken care of booking her airfare before and I had no idea.

 

[goofy4tink]

The other thing to keep in mind is that a lap baby is not entitled to any checked bags or carryon bags. There have been families that were quite upset to find that they didn't get a carryon for their lap baby!! But, only passengers with seats are allowed luggage..either checked or carryon.

 

[ksloane]

The other thing to keep in mind is that a lap baby is not entitled to any checked bags or carryon bags. There have been families that were quite upset to find that they didn't get a carryon for their lap baby!! But, only passengers with seats are allowed luggage..either checked or carryon.

That is good to know. I would have known no checked, but may not have thought about his diaper bag...I'll pass that on to her as well. Thanks so much.

 

[mom2brooke76]

I flew several times on Southwest with my dd as a lap child and was always told that I needed to call and add her to the flight. I would not recommend showing up at the airport and expecting them to accommodate you with no prior notice. Also, make sure you have his birth certificate. I had to have it when my dd was 3 months old and clearly not 2

 

[Missytara]

I traveled with a 13 month old for the first time and passed along this very valuable tip I read on the disboards, before we left.

Pack a sippy cup and fill it when you arrive at the airport after security with juice. Hand it to them right before take-off and landing; it will help ease the pressure in their ears. More often than not, not long after departure, they will fall asleep, because it is natural for a baby to have something before napping.

This worked both going down and coming back.

 

[tms295psu]

Call southwest and let them know you will be traveling with a lap child. Easy!

You can gate check a stroller and carseat @ NO CHARGE!!!

I'm not a fan of checking carseats with luggage, additional handling moving = potential additional damage.

I also recommend putting each item (stroller/carseat) in a large clear trash bag, as you leave it @ the gate (you actually leave them in that tunnel/airplane door) We seen quite a few upset parents that landed in the rain and we given wet strollers & seats, since they were unloaded in a downpour!

 

[ksloane]

Thanks for all the notes. I copied and pasted everything into an email.

 

[ccgirl]

I've never flown with an infant before. We are planning a trip to WDW in October with my daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. My grandson will be 13 months old. We are flying SW, and plan to have him in our laps.

Do we need to notify SW? Register him anywhere? How does this work?

Thanks in advance.

Hi there,

I have flown with a lap baby several times. As others indicated, a birth certificate is required. I forgot my son's when he was 10 months and had to have it faxed to them in order to let us board. I could gate check his car seat and stroller. I'm not sure how many lap babies are in your party but did want to mention that there can only be one lap baby in a row as there are only 4 oxygen masks. I saw a family with twins that had to move their seats around due to this.

Call and add him to the reservation. However, the person he is attached to must check in, in person, and will not be able to 24 hours in advance. At least, that is how it was when I flew with a lap baby. The reason being, you have to present the birth certificate.

Hope this helps.

 

[ilovefh]

Are you bringing a car seat? If so, gate check it. If the flight is not full Southwest will allow you to use the seat on the plane and you won't have to hold him. And even if they tell you at the check in counter and the counter at the gate that the flight is full, double check with the person taking the boarding passes at the door.

I had to fly with DS as a lap baby in August. At the check in counter they said the flight was full, same thing with the counter at the gate. But when the guy announced the flight would be boarding soon said the flight was "almost full" I double checked with him and was able to take the car seat on so I didn't have to hold him.

 

[Disneymoon09]

Infant car seats, or the larger convertable style car seat? We are thinking about traveling in Nov with a 3 month old, we have a back up infant seat we would be willing to take. Just curious!

 

[ilovefh]

Infant car seats, or the larger convertable style car seat? We are thinking about traveling in Nov with a 3 month old, we have a back up infant seat we would be willing to take. Just curious!

We used our infant seat.