In April, Aaron and I had our first experience traveling with a baby – our first vacation as a family of 3! I wanted to write this post and share our experience traveling with a baby, because I was a bit stressed prior to our trip, and questioned whether we should go anywhere at all with our girl being so young. I spent days asking friends about their experiences traveling with babies, and did a whole lot of Google searching. Do we check the carseat, or bring it on the plane? Is it worth bringing the carseat base? How do we keep the carseat protected if we check it with our baggage? Can we bring the stroller with all of the attachments through security? Is the stroller too big for gate check? Do we need to just buy a cheap umbrella stroller? My searches were endless for a while.
After our experience, I can say traveling with a baby is harder, but it’s totally doable, and totally worth it!
Our experience traveling with a baby: How we traveled with our eight month old.
In April, we took our first vacation as a family of 3! It was a last minute trip – that’s typically how Aaron and I tend to do them. It’s always tough to get away in winter because Aaron has a plowing business. Of course, that’s the time we’d most love to get away to see some sunshine, but hey, business duties. So, once April comes around, we’re usually more than ready to head southbound… somewhere. And we gotta do it quick before his next busy season of work rolls around in May…. then it’s non-stop work for him.
This year I wanted to visit a clean, baby friendly beach, with powdery white sand for Avaya’s first beach experience. For months I thought how nice it would be to stay at an all inclusive somewhere in Mexico, or visit Aruba again…. but I procrastinated and never got Avaya a passport. Shoot, I still haven’t even gotten myself a new passport since getting married and changing my last name three years ago.
So, we chose Clearwater, Florida. I booked the trip with only just over a week before heading out, despite thinking about it for months. I debated the trip, thinking Avaya’s too young for that…. it’ll be too stressful. I don’t want her to get sick from all the germs on a plane. Oh, and also, I’m PREGNANT, so traveling with an 8 month old, while feeling the yuckiness of the first trimester of pregnancy, there’s no way we can do this…. Then I just decided to do it. I booked our plane tickets with Southwest, and our hotel and rental car through Expedia.
Packing for the Baby
I spent the next week leading up to our vacation making lists of all the things we had to buy/pack for the baby. “Wait, we’re gonna have to bring her car seat for driving around down there! And I want to bring the carseat base too! And her stroller seat. And a bed of some sort for her to sleep in. How are we gonna pack all of this and get it on the plane!?” In the end, it was easy… well, thanks in large part to my husband carrying everything into the airport!
I packed all the basics for her (clothes, bathing suits, sunblock, baby wash, toothbrush) right in my suitcase with my things. No biggy there.
The biggest, most important, and probably most complicated item we brought (and had to figure out how to get on the plane) was the UPPAbaby stroller/carseat system. We brought the stroller, the toddler seat attachment for the stroller, the Mesa carseat, Mesa carseat base, and the bassinet attachment (for her to sleep in). I was going to bring the pack n’ play for her to sleep in, but she still fit in the bassinet and I figured it would be good to bring anyway for her to sleep in at the airport, when going out to dinner, etc., so I decided to just bring that. It worked out well.
I was worried about the carseat and stroller getting damaged by the airline, so I bought a couple travel bags from Amazon to keep them protected. I definitley recommend doing this if you’re worried about damage.
To keep the carseat (and base) protected, I bought the J.L. Childress Ultimate Backpack Padded Car Seat Travel Bag* (#ad).I had to call the company to make sure the Mesa carseat would fit because I didn’t see it on their list of compatibly. It did, and it definitely did the trick. I loved that it fit the carseat base in too. There was also plenty of room to stuff some beach towels (and even diapers) in and around the carseat, for added protection. We checked this at the baggage counter with our other luggage.
To keep the stroller system protected, I bought the VolkGo Stroller Bag for Airplane Gate Check Bag* (#ad).Once we got though security and to our gate, we put the stroller, the toddler seat attachment, and the folded up bassinet in the bag, along with another beach towel to give it a little padding. This bag did the trick too. I did notice a couple of tiny tears in the canvas of the bag once we got home, but it protected our investment, so I was happy with it.
[Just to note, UPPAbaby does sell travel bags specifically for the UPPAbaby stroller system* (#ad) and carseat* (#ad), and they insure against in-flight damage. So, if you buy the UPPAbaby travel bags for your UPPAbaby stroller or carseat, and register them online, if the stroller or carseat gets damaged by the airline, UPPAbaby will send you a new one. I thought a lot about it, and almost went this route, but these bags are just so much more money, so I decided against it and took the chance.]
Avaya’s First Plane Ride
Avaya did so good on the plane, both on the flight there and the flight back. Proud mama! She travelled as a lap child, so she was on my lap for the whole flight. She was quiet and content and didn’t mind the flight at all. She had only about a two minute crying episode after I accidentally woke her up to adjust my body position…. sitting still for 3 hours with a baby laying across you can become quite uncomfortable! We shushed her back to sleep and she was out again. Hopefully we’re as lucky on any future trips!
As soon as we found our seats, I got to work disinfecting our area. I brought a small pack of disinfectant wipes, and wiped down the seats, arm rests, tray tables, window and window shade… anything I thought the baby would touch.
When it was takeoff time, I put her right on the boob. The changes in elevation put a lot of pressure on the ears, and swallowing can relieve some of that. She didn’t seem to notice a thing, she just ate until she fell asleep.
I also made sure to have a pacifier ready, in case she wasn’t interested in eating at takeoff or landing. Sucking on a pacifier can also do the trick of relieving ear pressure for the little ones.
I do wish I thought to bring baby ear muffs for muffling the plane engine noise. The noise didn’t seem bother her in flight, but I was worried that it was damaging her hearing.
For most of the plane ride, she slept. We intentionally booked an early morning flight hoping she would sleep through it. For the short times that she was awake, she played with a couple toys and flipped through a book.
When descending for landing, she went right back on the boob and then took a pacifier.
When we de-boarded the plane, our stroller bag was there waiting for us. Avaya went in her stroller, and we were off to pick up our luggage and carseat bag at the baggage claim.
Our Time in Florida
Our first family vacation was a success. Avaya had so much fun, and LOVED the ocean. She was scared the first day we put her toes in the water, and wanted nothing to do with it, but when we tried again the next day, she became my little Moana – laughing and splish splashing.
Avaya experienced the toddler, “big girl” seat of her stroller for the first time in Florida (in New York, during the cold weather months, we didn’t get out much, and when we did, she was pretty much snug and confined in her car seat). We strolled her down the streets and out to restaurants while she waved and babbled to everyone. It was so fun to watch her open up and have these new experiences.
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services that I believe will add value to my readers.