So, if you were following our instagram this week, you saw that we flew with Girl2 to the West Coast for some family and business adventures!
This was her 3rd round trip, and she’s traveled by car to pretty extensive list of states already! She did pretty well except…well…
She seems to have grown into some motion sickness. I didn’t know a 7 month old could get motion sickness, but you can analyze the evidence and tell me what you think.
Flight out. 40 minutes into the flight she projectile vomited down the front of my shirt. My bra and her blanket caught most of it. I did an expert shirt swap without exposing anything (hubby didn’t even realize I swapped) after mopping most of it up and tucking the soaked items into my bag.
No more vomit until…
Next morning. 20 minutes into a car ride. Everywhere again. Her and her carseat soaked. Changed outfits and mopped out the carseat and went on.
No more vomit for 3 days until…
Flight home, she did okay, but less than 10 minutes after transferring to the car, uh oh, here we go again.
So, to me, it seems that my baby, who never even spits up, is affected negatively by being in moving vehicles.
Thankfully, I had packed exactly the right amount of outfits to somehow survive three unexpected set backs, but we did have to stop at Target and grab a fuzzy blanket on the second day, since she didn’t sleep like, at all, any, unless she fell over for 20 minutes, for the first 24 hours without the blanket she soaked in the first flight. That fixed the rest of the stay, however, and she slept great.
My Packing List For A 4 Day Trip Flying With A Lap Child
It’s easier when you’re traveling to a warm destination, which we were, so I was able to pack entirely into her backpack diaper bag. Since she was flying as a lap baby, she was allowed her own carry on diaper bag in addition to our free carry ons.
Most airlines also allow you to gate check your carseat and stroller, but you need a stroller with a narrow wheel base if you want to expediate TSA checks. A wide base or a large stroller won’t fit through the scanning belt, so they have to do manual checks.
Umbrella strollers, light “click and go” style strollers, and other undersized strollers are best for easy airport navigation.
Since I use the diaper bag as her suitcase, I add these things to my purse:
- 4 diapers
- A lightweight, cotton outfit
- 2 small bird’s eye cotton burp rags
- A half empty travel pack of baby wipes
- A chain of toy rings with one toy on the end
I used my Ergo carrier (I used a Moby the first several trips) so that I could carry the backpack, my purse, and pull my carry on behind me when boarding.
Her back pack had:
- 5 diapers per day
- A full travel pack of wipes
- A travel baby powder
- A travel baby-safe disinfectant
- A light stroller blanket
- 3 small burp rags
- A pair of shoes
- 2 small toys
- 2 light pajamas
- 6 light outfits
She wore a jacket and a pair of shoes with her outfit so that I didn’t have to pack those, and I carried her lightest fuzzy blanket tucked into the Ergo.
Honestly, the biggest difficulties were feeding her in such tight spaces, and waking her up because they don’t want babies in carriers for take off and landing.
So, that’s all! You can use a full size underseat bag as a diaper bag, so a standard backpack might work better than a smaller backpack made specifically as a diaper bag.
