I’m currently gearing up to head back to Stockholm after a short stint with my six month old to the States. This was my first time traveling solo with her across the Atlantic and gratefully, I’m blessed with a baby that isn’t too finicky. She takes everything in with large curious eyes, is extremely social, and always wants to be in the midst of action.
So in general, travelling solo with her was a (slight) breeze. While other babies screamed their lungs out onboard, she was calm, flirted with the flight attendants, and just ate and pooped to her heart’s content with the occasional nap thrown in there.
While there is no shortage of excellent travel sites that list out what to pack, what to do, what not to do, and all about traveling with babies, duplicating them here solely for SEO reasons isn’t my thing. So here are a few things I personally won’t do on my next long flight with baby.
Wear black
Well, this should have been a no-brainer, but I wanted to look a bit put-together while traveling. Thinking that a cloth bib would suffice for a teething drooling baby wasn’t smart. I was already drenched in white baby goo by the time I reached Heathrow.
Wear a belt
Setting off the security buzzer multiple times and trying to unbuckle and re-buckle a belt while a baby is strapped to your chest without head butting her can be challenging.
Wear anything higher than one inch
I obviously wasn’t running through terminals in heels but I do like low wedges. Having always pushed a stroller and leaving the Baby Björn duties to the hubby, I noticed the slight bounce as I rushed around the airport and oftentimes had to support her head with a palm.
Feed her with my finger
No matter how furiously I wash my hands or how clean I think my fingers are, airports and planes are germy incubators of nastiness.
At least she waited till we’d reached the US to projectile-vomit.
For those of you with babies/toddlers, any lessons learned while on long haul flights?