ESCAPE- OLOGY Magazine Issue 2 | Page 44

Flying With a

Baby Checklist

Don’t worry. I am a mother and travel blogger who has been travelling with my son since he was three months old. I know how stressful the preparation and the travel itself can be when travelling with a baby. I’m here to make your life more comfortable with my checklist of things you would want to have with you on any flight. It doesn’t matter if it’s a short domestic flight or a long international one, preparation is vital.

NO MATTER WHAT, KEEP IT TOGETHER

Flying with a baby can be very unpredictable. You need to be ready physically and mentally. It doesn’t matter how good, or bad the experience is, remember that once that plane takes off, no matter how your baby behaves, the time is going to pass and in a matter of time you will arrive and you will most likely never see any of the other passengers again. Time flies and even a bad experience will turn into a heartwarming memory that you will be bound to retell to other nervous parents thinking about their first trip with their kid.

One thing that I have learnt is that it doesn’t matter how loud your baby cries or how stressful the layovers are. What matters is how you look and respond to the situation. Staying calm in any stressful situation is very important and something that comes with experience. While your baby is little, he won’t understand much about whats going on while you are travelling, so it’s up to you to make the experience as playful and stress-free as is realistically possible.

As my son grew older, we meet new challenges while travelling, and some things don’t change. Like my checklist for travelling with a baby. Here’s my list of things you will need on the road to keep your baby comfortable and entertained:

1.Travel bag. I prefer to travel with a large backpack that can fit all your baby needs and can be easily carried on your back, leaving your hands free. Most diapers bags are not big enough to go with on a long flight, that’s why I prefer to travel with a comfortable sports backpack.

2. Diapers. Brings extras but don’t overpack. Flying with a baby requires a lot of extra packing and nappies definitely take up a lot of precious space.

3. Plastic bags to store used diapers, rubbish or dirty clothes.

4. A reusable, quality changing pad. You never know where you will end up changing your baby while flying. Always have a changing pad with you. Some gates at the airports won’t have a family room, and if a smelly accident happens right before the flight, you would have to adapt to change diapers in the bathroom, most likely on the floor. That’s where your sanitary changing pad comes to rescue.