Flying with any young child can be stressful for parents, especially when the young child is a baby who could cry and disturb fellow passengers at any time. This stress often deters parents from taking trips, as they don’t want to leave their baby at home with a sitter or relative, but don’t believe that an easy flight with a baby is possible. Although flying with a baby can be difficult and a stressful experience for parents and passengers alike, there are ways to plan ahead to keep crying to a minimum and to make the process go smoother.
Here are 3 parent-approved tips for flying with a baby.
Plan a Long Layover
Although layovers are an inconvenient part of traveling for many adults, they are beneficial to those flying with young children for several reasons. First, when planning ways to make travel less stressful, running through the airport with a baby or other young children on a tight time crunch is crucial. Planning a long layover will give you plenty of time to deboard and prepare for your next flight, and will give you an extra cushion of time should your first flight experience a delay or should anything else go wrong. Also, a long layover will give your child plenty of time to decompress on the ground before taking back to the sky and will put a nice amount of time in between landing and takeoff, which is the part of a flight that is most likely to hurt babies’ ears. Although a direct flight is the most efficient option when traveling, if this is not possible or if your flight is over a few hours long, planning for a long layover is your best option. ‘
Pre-Board Your Flight
Although the previous advice might make it sound like you want to spend as little time as possible onboard the plane, this is not true when it comes to the many benefits that come along with pre-boarding a flight. This will allow you or your family to be one of the first groups on the plane and will give you plenty of time to get your child fastened into their seat and settled in before a crowd forms. This low-intensity boarding situation will decrease stress immensely and ensure that you have enough time to safely secure your child before takeoff.
Be Personal With Other Passengers
Unless you’re lucky enough to charter a private jet for your family from a company like Access Global, it’s likely that one of your main concerns when flying with a baby is the risk of disturbing other passengers should your child become upset or start crying. While there is nothing you can do in this situation and it is not something you should feel guilty about, some people find that it alleviates stress and anxiety to warn fellow passengers that you are traveling with a paper ahead of time. Simply introducing yourself and your child to those sitting nearby and apologizing in advance for any crying is likely to make fellow passengers less angry should your child get upset, as you have established a personal connection with them. This is especially helpful on long flights.
