Hellobee Boards

@MaryM: I would def fly with a 4 mth old...they'll just sleep! Be sure to have a bottle or be prepared to nurse at take off/landing. It would have been so easy to just wear K on the plane at that age!

That age is the best to fly because they will still sleep on the boob or on a bottle. Once they start moving around it sucks. Wear the baby in an Ergo through security (they wont make you take the baby out), wear a shawl or wrap around yourself instead of a jacket to help make it dark for baby to sleep or to nurse, nurse them when the plane goes up and down, and roll with it. My son had a 10 minute meltdown on all of his flights, but it was because he was tired. Just wear the baby to the bathroom and let them flip out in there while bouncing them. My son just screamed and then passed out and then we went back to our seat. We also took flights with layovers and just let him roll around on a blanket to stretch out and nap a bit. My son was a colicky reflux screamer and we thought it was doable.

Flew with LO at 3 months, easiest flights we've had!

We've flown at 5mo, 8mo, and 12mo. 5mo was by far the easiest flight. They eat and sleep and look around.

First trip was at 4.5 months old. It was pretty easy (just a LOT of stuff to take with us)

Go for it! My son is 3 months old, and has so far flown 10 flights for two return trips and we are flying again in two weeks. We just got back from New Zealand and it was so easy. I flew by myself on the outward-bound flight, and he slept for 12 hrs of the 16 hr longest leg. They really do sleep a lot at that age, and the regular airplane sounds are white noise to them.

My tips: baby wear, if travelling with an infant car seat ask if they have extra seats on the plane at check-in (you can usually bring it on board without having to pay for the seat), breastfeed or bottle feed on take-off and almost to landing (support baby in burping position is safest for their necks), and don't stress too much.

First flight at 3.5 months. I'd do it again! My LO is weird though, didn't even have a sleepy newborn phase, so she was awake most of the flights. But I'd still say it was easier the younger she was.

We flew with at 3.5 months with both kids. Super easy - easiest at that age bc they're immobile.

@MaryM: I first flew with my daughter at 3 months. It was much easier than I expected, and MUCH easier than flying with her at 13 months! At that age they sleep so much, you can take a carrier (I used a sling) and just wear her. When my daughter got fussy I stood in the back galley wearing her until she calmed down and went to sleep. If you have the money and can buy a seat and put her in her carseat, I can only imagine it would be even easier!

Haven't done it yet, but I'm planning to fly when baby is about 2.5 months! Everyone I've talked to says it's a great time to fly with baby because they sleep and eat and generally don't care much where they are.

Flying at 4 months is easy. DD1 went on 6 trips, 12 planes, between 11 weeks and 9 months. We had a ton of weddings last year and it was super easy to just bring her along. She slept for pretty much the entire flights, even the 6 hour cross country one.

I took my 4 week old on a 90 minute flight. She slept through both ways in the Moby. It was great.

We flew when my daughter was 3.5 months and she slept the entire 5-6 hour flight both directions. I wish travel were still so easy!

@daniellemybelle: We're thinking of an impromptu road trip with our 7wk old here in a wk or 2... What was the main issue with you & your 5wk old on your road trip? Any tips?? Maybe I'm being naive thinking this is doable.

@GoGoSnoGirl: My LO was on the fussy/colicky side so that probably had something to do with it. She basically cried the whole way. At that age, we could only drive for about 2 hours before stopping to feed her, and feedings took 30-45 minutes so it added a LOT of time onto our trip. It was also Thanksgiving and heading into winter, so I was stressed about how to get in and out of the car at stops for food, diaper changes, etc. and still keep her warm and away from germs. It was generally stressful and a prolonged experience... it would have been easier to just have hopped on a 2 hour flight and gotten it over with. Maybe if your LO sleeps constantly and your trip is not too long, it will be fine!

@daniellemybelle: ahhh, I see. That all sounds understandable, but not much fun. We would want to hit some national parks/landmarks along our trip & so will probably try to build in interesting stops. LO will also take a bottle, so I'll bring my pump & pump on the go so I can feed her bottles some of the time instead of needing to stop to feed her every time. We'll see... it may be more of an adventure than we are preparing ourselves for.