Flying with infant vs. Flying with toddler – both solo parenting

Sapna D'Mello
Apr 27, 2019
3 min read

As most of you know, I was born and raised in BC and moved to AB in 2007. My entire family is there, so I try to visit them semi-annually. I have continued the semi-annual visits to my family even after having Baby L. We have flown, just the two of us, three times to date. All three journeys were totally different. Our first trip was in April, when he was 5 months old. Second trip was end of June, when he was 7 months old. Latest trip was this past February at 15 months old. Let me tell you, the best and less hectic was at 5 months, the other two were good – but not nearly as easy. Flying with an infant versus flying with a toddler is like travelling with a Yorkie who fits in your pocket versus a Great Dane who needs to stretch his legs regularly. All three trips were lap held, as lap held infants under the age of 2 travel for free. I was lucky the trips are only about 70 minutes – any longer and it would have been very tough.

When he was under the age of one, he was breastfed and slept easily in my arms. Now, he’s not breastfed and is definitely a wiggly-worm. Travelling the first time, I really relied on my nursing pillow; however, carrying all of those baby items PLUS the baby and a diaper bag with a nursing pillow was going to be difficult. So I packed my nursing pillow into my suit case but purchased a neck-pillow at the dollar store for around $3 and managed to stuff it into my carry-on diaper bag. It made flying and nursing much easier for me. I learned this trick during my 2nd trip. He was very happy to be in my arms and nursed during take off and landing as a baby. The third time around was different. No more nursing and no more sleeping in my arms. Instead he wanted to spread out and is much more vocal about his needs and wants.

On the way there, we got lucky as the person next to us didn’t show up and Baby L had his own seat! On the way back – not so much. It was TIGHT. He wanted to spread out as it was very hot. Why do they not blast the A/C on the planes? We both were sweating and uncomfortable. It was difficult to protect his head during take off and landing as well as he did not want me to hold him in the safe position. It was a bit of a battle. He is much stronger now. He wanted to stand upright in my lap or lay down and kick the seat in front of us, continuously. I felt awful for the senior sitting in front of us but moving Baby L around to different positions was difficult as the person next to us was a larger body and he took up most of our seat as well...

Right now Baby L’s favorite movie is The Secret Life of Pets so I have that downloaded on my phone. He was quiet happy watching the movie and enjoying his favorite snacks but every once in a while he needed to stretch or talk to the person behind us or poke the person next to us.

Each trip I carried him in my carrier and did not take the stroller. Why? Because it’s easier for me to be hands-free during security clearance, and it’s easier to take him in and out and fold the carrier to place in the over-head compartment. If I took the stroller (a friend gave me this advice earlier) who would hold the baby when I had to take him out and fold the stroller at the gate for take-off and landing especially when Baby L wasn’t sitting then? He’s not standing yet either so same difficulties would be faced during our last trip. Plus I have no issues with him in the carrier. It’s forward facing, easy on my back and one less thing for me travel with.

Don't worry if baby has a meltdown while travelling. It's public transportation. We ALL have a right to be on the plane. Plus a few hours of crying won't kill anyone. We all have children and they can be unpredictable. That's life.

The items I took with me during all three flights were basically the same with a few exceptions.

Diaper Bag was my carry-on.

Items 1st and 2nd trip:

Books

Diapers

Change of clothes

Wipes

Headphones

Change pad

Sanitizing wipes (I wiped down EVERYTHING before we settled in! The wipes became black.)

Toys

Phone