There are pictures of family and my little guy over here, but I wanted to share about our travel experiences. Benjamin has flown about 12 times in the last year (6 trips), and each time has been a unique experience. As he's been in various stages of growth for each one, I thought I would share some of the wisdom I've gathered.
- Traveling with a baby means lots and lots of stuff. It's unavoidable. Take, for example, this weekend: We were going for 2 nights and managed to pack all of our clothes into one suitcase (including diapers, a few toys, and some emergency food for little guy, this is a huge improvement from previous weekend trips!) BUT then we had to pack his diaper bag with extra diapers, snacks, books, etc for the airport/plane (FYI sealed yogurt is a no-no with TSA. Who knew??) and a carry-on with some of our necessities (mostly things we don't like to check, like my camera). Then, since this was a trip to my grandparents' house and not down to southern CA, we had to take his pack-n-play for sleeping and his stroller for walks (the difference is, we have extras of these things that we leave at our parents' houses to avoid looking like Sherpas at the airport). We also had to take his car seat this time, since we weren't renting a car and there wasn't an extra available. All in all, quite the load for a quick weekend trip!!
- Teamwork is essential. I know this isn't always an option (like my trip down south next month without Corey... yikes!) but when you have the extra person, it's best to sketch out a game-plan. Example: One person gets the car from long-term parking, the other gathers luggage and waits *ever so patiently* on the curb. Or, one person worries about checking in and getting everything situated while the other is in charge of corralling/entertaining/feeding interesting things to baby. Once on the plane, teamwork mostly consists of one persons arm going numb under the (hopefully) sleeping child and the other person passing along sympathetic looks -- or one person trying to keep a squirming, active, curious 14-month-old contained to their lap while the other tries not to get an eye poked out in the scramble.
- Aim to fly during a normal sleep-time. This has been a tried-and-true tactic for us, and it has rarely backfired... with the exception of a late-night flight when people were being drunk, loud, etc behind us, and this last trip, when nap-time became a joke. This is still a good plan when flying with an infant, but I'm starting to wonder if they would do better fully awake after the 1-year mark. (Especially a kiddo like Benjamin, who gets hyper the more tired he becomes...) Of course, then you have to entertain a fully-awake and curious toddler while keeping them confined to your lap -- but hopefully without the whining.
- Have a back-up plan. This could be a treat, a favorite toy, a bottle of milk... whatever might appease your child should they become THAT baby on the plane. For us, this has included a bottle (or me, when we were doing that sort of thing), his butterfly toy, his favorite book, his blanket, little snacks... and this last trip, a laptop with the Animaniacs on it. (Don't judge! It's better than having him ruin the flight for everyone!) We also took his binkie, even though we've been weaning him from it, because it's a guaranteed way to calm him down/get him to sleep (or at least plug his escalating chatter).
- Medicate. Only joking! Well, half-joking. We've considered a little dose of baby tylenol before a long flight but always forget -- unfortunately we've had two trips coincide with a teething Benjamin and he's been miserable. This last trip, on the plane ride home, we remembered to give him a little tylenol before checking in and he was much happier on the plane (could have helped that he was absolutely exhausted from our trip!) For our flight next month I've considered a dose of something or other, since I'll be alone with him and he's awfully strong/active/big (plus, there's not much of my lap for him to fit on at this point!!) but I still have issues with giving him anything when he's not actually needing it. We'll see.
- Always always fly Alaska. Or, more importantly, never NEVER fly Southwest. We've used Alaska for every trip except this last one, and from the start we were able to see the difference. The Alaska people are always helpful, understanding, and accommodating when they see you travelling with a baby (and all of the baby's stuff). In the past, they have allowed my dad to help me to the gate (post-marathon when I flew home alone with Benjamin), they have looked the other way at our heavy luggage, they have moved our seats to give us more space, they let us board early, and they don't charge us to check a carseat, a stroller, or a pack-n-play. The best thing is, they have done all of these things without our asking for extra help (you might know that I'm horrible at asking for special favors!) Southwest, on the other hand, is horrible. They don't charge for a carseat/pack-n-play, but they count that combo as one checked item (which, these days, is all that you're allowed without paying extra). Then, they act as though they're cutting you a break for not charging extra. They insist that you provide proof of your baby's age no matter how old your infant. We saw on their website that they required a birth certificate to prove that a lap child is under 2, but we figured that our little guy (who, by the way is below the 50th percentile and actually little) was an obvious under-2. Also, we don't have his birth certificate on hand... but that's another story. When we tried to check-in she gave us a hard time about not having proof (apparently, their policy applies to everyone -- even if your infant is a week old) and then listed off things we could have provided in place of a birth certificate (immunization records, etc.) That would have been helpful to list on the website, don't you think?? Anyway, as we didn't bring those things with us, she gave us a break "just this once" and let us board without buying an extra ticket for Benjamin. On the way home, we got the third-degree again. I looked at the man who was checking us in and said, "We're flying home. If we didn't know that we had to bring proof on this trip, and we're just now coming home from this trip, why would we suddenly have the proof you need??" His reply? "Well, you're supposed to have someone fax you a copy of the proof of age." Excuse me? Wouldn't that have been nice to mention back when we checked in the first time? Again, he hemmed and hawed and protested, but eventually "did us a favor" and let us take Benjamin without buying another seat. "Next time, make sure you bring something... especially when you have such a big boy. It's really hard to tell age," he said, as Benjamin babbled incoherently and tried to eat his shoe. I sat there thinking, "How many 2-year-olds have you seen in your life??" while Corey responded, "Next time we're not flying Southwest, thanks." But oh, there's more. They don't offer pre-boarding for families anymore, but they do allow you to board between groups A and B (gee thanks). That's not so bad if you're boarding a previously empty plane, but if you're tacking onto a flight that's already got passengers continuing on from somewhere else, boarding after group A could mean not getting to sit with your family... and that makes the teamwork not really possible. Since I was pregnant (and thus "disabled") they allowed us to pre-board... but I had to remind them to give me the pre-board card and then I had to convince the flight attendant that I was in fact pregnant and not just trying to get extra favors for my family. Believe it or not, I could keep going... but this bullet point has become an essay. Basically, stick to Alaska.
passed out on the plane during my last solo experience
No comments:
Post a Comment