Travel tips for flying with a baby

Having a child does funny things to you. Things I once could execute flawlessly I now find myself scratching my head trying to figure out how to do it all over again. Traveling is one of those things. I have traveled quite a bit in m life yet during this last traveling adventure I couldn't even figure out how to sleep on the flight! lol. Granted this time I had a Kai which of course is a first but you would think that sleeping is sleeping regardless right!? Wrong! There suddenly is so much more to everything! A simple trip to the bathroom in the airport turned into an exploration of the hallways and the plant life and meeting new people. It wasn't just an airport to him, it was a giant ceramic playground with loads of new friends! Lol. I'm constantly learning new things due to Kai, thanks little man, and I am here to share some of the things I've recently learned from our travel adventures together. So here are some tips on how to successfully travel with a little.

1. Always have snacks cause you never know what they will have and of course we all know how specific little people can be so think about that ahead of time and pack secret snacks that you can pull out when you need.

2. Bring toys... Lots of various toys and pull them out one at a time so that your little doesn't get bored of them all at once.

3. Get there early so you can settle in and figure out how to arrange things properly for your little. We found our seats put our carry on away, except for a few toys and a cookie of course which we had on us for when Kai had to be seat belted to one of us, cause he HATES being contained, then let him explore the seats a bit till we took off.

4. Make sure you are well rested... And have coffee on hand. Lol. Ok so this might just be for long flights but whatever. It was a lifesaver during these last couple of trips. While I would normally sleep on a flight when I got tired I now spent that time cuddling and bouncing Kai so he could sleep... Oh and guzzling coffee... It was a LONG 22 hour trip and having a good sleep ahead of time at least ensured I didn't die from exhaustion, lol.

5. Explore with them. Don't expect your little to sit in one place the whole time and stay happy. Walk up and down the aisles, talk to the stewardesses, let them explore any open areas. Changing the scenery and keeping things exciting will help keep your little entertained and happy. And let's be honest if baby is happy everyone is happy. Kai loved walking up and down the aisles and made lots of friends on all our flights. Everyone said he was such a joy. Yay Kai!

6. Use the floor. Ok so it's an airplane, there's limited space, so making the most use out of the little space you have is key. We spent most of the time sitting on the floor in front of our seats so Kai could climb the seats and play on the floor between us and on our seats. It worked great. We created our own play space that didn't affect anyone else's experience or interrupt anyones flow. Score! And Kai really enjoyed it.

7. Breastfeed on take off and landing, or have them suck on something if you don't breastfeed. This helps regulate the air pressure in their ears. We pop our ears but babies don't know how to do that and so the pressure can cause them a lot of discomfort.