How to Successfully Travel With an Infant

Planning to travel with an infant may seem daunting. Many people even stop travel once kids come along for the pure fear of the unknown. Anyone who travels often knows that hiccups occur all the time. Let alone throwing a child into the mix. Our biggest dread was that Maya would have ear pain during take-off and be screaming bloody murder the whole flight. Thankfully, we did our research and prepared ourselves for her first successful flight. Since then, Maya has been to Mexico and Hawaii in her first 6 months of life. All without any major issues. We want to start off by saying, if you take anything away from this post, there are two rule to traveling with an infant (and in general): 1) Always stay patient and 2) Be organized. Below are our tips to successfully travel with an infant.

Remember to enjoy the moments, even when they get a little hectic. You will laugh it off in the end and make some incredible memories. We swear it is worth it 🙂

Bon Voyage!

How to Travel with an Infant

Traveling with an infant can seem challenging, but depending on the temperament of your child, it can actually be a breeze. Obviously, if you have a colicky baby or one who cries all the time, you may not want to travel with them until they are more manageable. However, if you have your average baby, there’s no reason you can’t see the world. We did not begin traveling by plane with Maya until she was just about 6 months of age. Partly due to COVID and the other reason being that we wanted to make sure her immune system was a bit more developed. We started off with a shorter flight to Mexico to make sure we had a solid routine, then came the long-haul to Hawaii. All went smoothly and we enjoyed every moment.

Read on for tips on how to travel with an infant.

Be Patient

Patience is not only an important quality to have with children, but also when traveling in general. There are a million things that can go wrong during a trip, especially when in transit. You miss a flight, you almost miss a flight, luggage is overweight, etc. If you travel often, you know this is a fact. As a parent, you have even more factors that could possibly go wrong. Now, you have one more family member to take care of and keep an eye on. All while trying to make sure every little plan goes smoothly. Take our advice and go with the flow, don’t get stressed with one another when things go awry and remember that vacation is supposed to be fun. You can always laugh at the mishaps later on!

Stay Organized

Next, staying organized will make your lives soooo much easier. We promise you this. Have organizational compartments for transit, for the plane, and for any other activities planned. One diaper bag with a bunch of crap in it is NOT organized. Ideally, you want the diaper bag for the airport and traveling, but perhaps a smaller diaper changing pad with storage compartments for the plane or any hiking. We also had a small pouch for food and another for toys.

An overnight flight is best if possible, so hopefully your little one will sleep the majority of the flight. This means needing less distractions during the plane ride. Depending on your child’s age and if mom is pumping/breastfeeding, you will need even more organizational bags for bottles and pump gear. Luckily, airlines don’t include baby and mommy necessities as personal or carry on items. These are free of charge. However, minimalism is key. Below are pictures and links of the gear and bags we typically bring for a flight.

For our savvy packing tips, check out our post on how to travel with a carry-on only!

Book an Overnight Flight

Typically when booking a long-haul flight, one way is overnight (red eye) and the other is during the day. Try to take advantage of at least one way being overnight. This is the best case scenario for your baby to sleep and adjust smoothly to the time change. At the least, your child will be well rested when you arrive or return home. If baby is sleeping, you can sleep also. Take advantage of this time and get some shut eye instead of binge watching movies! Your days of worry-free drinking wine, taking a zzzquil and passing out a long gone. However, you can still try to sleep and maybe have one glass of wine 🙂

Adjusting to the Time Change

We honestly did not have too much of an issue adjusting Maya to our new time zone. We were about 6 hours behind of our typical schedule. The biggest complication we ran into was Maya waking up for the first couple of days at 4 AM instead of her usual 6 AM. So, not the end of the world. We honestly enjoyed our early morning cuddle sessions in bed with her.

Maya was a trooper about taking naps on the go. Whether she was in her hiking backpack or lounging in her beach chair, she loved falling asleep to the sound of nature. We couldn’t believe how well she napped that we didn’t ever have to go back to the hotel for a set nap time. If you’re trip is go, go, go like ours typically are, your baby will have a lot of different opportunities for nap time and adjustment. Also, being outside in the sun will allow your baby to acclimate to the new days versus nights (if there’s a large time zone change).

If you’re only hoping over one or two time zones, we wouldn’t worry too much about your baby’s adjustment. Truthfully, children adapt much easier to the change than us old folks. So, just go with the flow and adjust your naps and sleeps slightly if necessary. If you let your baby do what they want/need, you will see that they adjust just fine. No need to start changing your daily routine in preparation for a trip. That is totally unnecessary in our opinion.

Request a Bassinet

If your infant is less than 20 pounds, take advantage of the bassinets on most international and long flights. We didn’t know this was a thing until reading about it on a blog. This saved us when Maya didn’t want to fall asleep in our arms on our Hawaii flight. Thank you American Airlines!

Specific airlines have bassinets available on certain aircrafts, typically Boeing 777’s. You can call your airline and confirm if their aircraft will have a bassinet available for reservation. Some are first come first serve, like American Airlines. Where as others, like United Airlines, can be reserved upon booking via phone.

The best perk of requesting a bassinet is that you may get upgraded for free to an extra legroom seat, because the bassinet needs space to fit on the wall. With American Airlines, we wanted to guarantee the bassinet, so we paid for the specific extra legroom seats. Call ahead to make sure that you are in the correct row that can accommodate the bassinet (on the wall). For United Airlines, we called immediately after booking our tickets and they upgraded our seats for free. This is definitely a perk when you travel with an infant!

Just keep in mind that there isn’t much storage space in front of you when you have the bassinet, because it is a wall, not someone’s seat.

Take Advantage of Checking In Free Baby Gear

The days of traveling with carry-on only luggage are long gone. Welcome to parenthood! Hopefully, one day when we don’t need to pack car seats and strollers, we will be able to travel with carry-on luggage. For now, get used to checking in bags. No need to panic, most baby gear is free, so take advantage of it. It means dragging less luggage through the airport and Dad will be grateful!

Below is a list of items that are free of charge when checking in at the counter. You may also check items in at the gate. For example, if you want to use your stroller through the airport, you can give it to the flight attendants at the gate prior to boarding. This is nice because someone personally transports the item down into the plane instead of going through who knows how many carousels and getting banged up. Our Nuna stroller got a little beat up during transport on our Mexico flight and we will never again pack our main stroller. Now, we always pack our GB Pockit Air – world’s lightest stroller (see above link)!

Checked Baby Gear

Most carry-on baby and mommy items are free of charge. However, large items may count as your one carry-on bag if large and not necessary. It seems to be at the airline’s discretion. We didn’t have any issues with our gear. We did count or large hiking carrier as the carry-on bag, just in case they gave us a hard time. Hawaiian Airlines even let us check it in for free! So, I think it just depends on your flight attendant. Below are free items that you are allowed to board the plane with.

Carry-On Baby Gear

Pack Lots of Snacks

If your baby is a foodie like ours, you won’t regret packing plenty of snacks to keep him/her entertained. We love Happy Baby teething wafers and yogis and Gerber teething wheels and crunchie’s. Maya can’t get enough of these snacks! They don’t make as big of a mess as eating a puréed meal, which is important for flying. Below are links to our fave packable snacks. Don’t forget your snack organizers for easy packing! Also, always pack an easy to fold silicone bib. We love Bella Tunno bibs! They have the most adorable phrases and are super easy to clean.

Keep Baby Entertained

You are the best entertainment for your child! However, if you need to take a break from all the play time, bringing a few new toys or baby’s favorites are not a bad idea. Some high level sensory toys are best. We love Lamaze interactive toys due to the small size and many fun pieces. You’re baby won’t get bored!

Don’t overpack, but bring a few small books or favorite toys. Something new is always a nice distraction as well. Just be sure to keep it simple and don’t bring anything you don’t need. You will already have plenty of baby gear with you. No need to add extra weight. This will make your life easier when you travel with an infant!

Invest in Global Entry

Baby or not, you need to invest in either Global Entry or TSA pre-check! This was a game changer for our traveling experiences. We have saved so much time going through security on our trips. If you have a credit card like Chase Reserve or AMEX platinum, it will cover the cost of your application ($85 for TSA, $100 for Global Entry). Check out our travel credit card comparison and review here!

Baby or not, you need to invest in either Global Entry or TSA pre-check!

Global Entry is valid for international travel and TSA is domestic only. It’s worth the extra $15 to just apply for global entry because it works domestically as well. You can apply and make an appointment at your local airport on the TTP website here. Enroll in the Trusted Traveler Partner (TTP) program and submit your application and fee. Your travel card will automatically apply the refund to your card afterwards. You should be cleared immediately after your appointment. Booking an appointment is what can take a few weeks. It takes 15 minutes and will save you hours in the long run. There’s nothing more blissful than cruising through TSA or customs when you travel with an infant!

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We hope these tips help you successfully travel with an infant. The unknown is more stressful than the actual journey, we promise! We absolutely treasure the memories we make as a family on vacation. Plus, mishaps always make for a good story 😉