Traveling with a baby can be very intimidating the first time. These tips made our first international long-haul flights with an infant as smooth as I could have hoped for. They got us and our baby through 16 hour flights, long layovers, and long connecting flights with minimal stress and zero panic.

As busy parents fitting in packing around your already jam packed schedules, I’ll keep this to the point but comprehensive so you can check this off your to do list.

Preparation is a major key in making travel with your baby/infant as smooth as possible.

It is essential to book your tickets early so that you have your choice of seats. Book the bulkhead seats with bassinet! Even if your baby hardly sleeps in the bassinet, it can be a place to keep some baby supplies close by.. 

If your aircraft has the option for only 2 seats on the sides of the plane (our Qatar airways long haul Airbus 350-100 seating plan had this option), those worked great for us to not have any neighbors!

Call your airline to request the bassinet. They may have a limited number on board, so get your request in early.

Pack efficiently – you will want to have the least amount of luggage as you maneuver the airport with a baby.

Plan to get to the airport early. Things just take longer with a baby, and a surprise “poopslosion” can set you back a good amount of time.

Use a cross-body bag or fanny pack to easily keep your wallet and identification within reach without having to fumble through a larger personal item. Zippered pocket pants have also been a lifesaver for keeping my phone from falling out of my pockets.

Use your most supportive and comfortable baby carrier. This leaves your hands free to keep your infant entertained, offer a bottle, or push a roller bag. We love the Ergobaby Omni Breeze. (Check out this post on choosing a baby carrier.)

Check in the stroller at the counter (or don’t take one at all!). A baby carrier is much more compact and keeps the baby close, reducing the anxiety of a strange environment.

Have your baby in the carrier as you approach security, and the stroller already folded up as it’ll have to go through the x-ray machine.

You’ll likely have to take the baby out of the carrier and hand carry them through security screening. You might get a pat down too, depending on the airport. There will be a lot going on, so having your pockets empty before you get there will make this part go smoother.

If your baby is sleeping while you are in the airport or any other loud space, these noise reducing headphones can help drown out noise, and especially the endless announcements in the airport, so that your baby can get some rest. The headband goes over the baby’s forehead so you don’t have to worry about pressure on the soft spot.

After you find your gate, find the nearest restroom or mother’s room so that you can quickly dash in when you need to calm or feed your baby.

Change the baby’s diaper just before boarding, and cross your fingers they don’t create a stinky diaper during taxiing and you can’t get up!

Board early! As soon as they call for families traveling with infants / small children.

Boarding early enables you to quickly find the nearest spot for your carry on bags. You’ll want them close by for easy access to extra baby supplies. This is especially important if you booked seats in the bulkhead row, won’t have a seat in front of you, and therefore will need to put your personal items in the overhead bin for taxi, takeoff and landing. Also place your personal items in the overhead bin right away so they can be close by with extra baby supplies. This section of the plane also usually has other families with babies, so you will be in good sympathetic company, reducing the pressure and stress if baby is not in a great mood.

Use antibacterial wipes to clean everything your baby can reach: tray table, window, armrest, entertainment screen. Then you can let them safely play and touch everything without worrying about all the germy hands that may have been there before.

Nursing, feeding your baby, or offering water to sip on during takeoff and landing can help with the pressure changes in their ears. Try to get you baby to swallow something at least a few times during the altitude changes.

If you booked the bassinet seats, the bassinet will be installed after takeoff. These are pretty small, so a much bigger / taller baby may not fit as well. But if you can get your baby to sleep in there for any amount of time, this is huge for getting a little breather with no baby on you. However, babies have to be taken out of the bassinet during turbulence, so depending on the flight, you might (like me) not get a whole lot of time with baby in there, but enjoy it while it lasts!

Airplane bassinets go through a lot of babies, and I recommend lining it with a blanket before you lay your baby in there.

It is a good idea to try to sleep or rest when your baby is sleeping so you can keep up with them when they’re awake. Traveling with a baby is hard work for parents. I didn’t get to watch any movies on the 16 hour flight – that’s how involved it is. Unlike pre-baby trips that were wine and movies to pass the time! Ha!

Meal times can be tricky if your baby is a little bigger and wants to touch any and everything. The food is generally served hot, so you’ll have to be very careful here. If you are traveling with your partner, you may have to take turns eating, or have both meals on your partner’s tray table while you hold the baby. Baby was awake for every meal of our really long international flights, so the bassinet was an extra table for the dessert, sides and water bottle while we ate the main dish. The bassinet still came in handy!

Airplane bathrooms are tiny, making it hard to maneuver a full diaper bag in there. Take only the necessary items for diaper changes, ideally in a Ziploc bag. (A couple of diapers, baby wipes, antibacterial hand wipes, diaper rash cream or petroleum jelly, and a premium toy to keep baby happy)

Rotating through toys can help keep baby entertained throughout the flight with just a few items. Suction spinner toys and plastic water bottles were hits for us. Sometimes the most unexpected items make great toys for little babies. Walking your baby up and down the cabin will also keep them entertained looking at all the lights and faces.

There are two ways to face a long layover; make it longer and stay a night or two to get to know a new city, or lean in and make the best of the hours in the airport.

If you’re staying in the airport, take a moment to look for some quieter corners to let your baby free on the ground. We used a lightweight beach mat to give baby some floor play time when we were stuck in Doha’s Hamad airport for a day. It’s big enough for me and baby to get on there and play with some rattles and an empty plastic water bottle. But it’s also compact and lightweight for a carry on.

And before you know it, you will be at your destination with your first trip with a baby checked off! Congratulations! I hope your trip was low on stress and tears and that jet lag is kind to you during your vacation! 💛