Glennia Campbell at The Silent "I" travels a lot with her kid. And by "a lot", I mean, they've been to foreign countries more times than you've gotten your kids together to go to the grocery store.
Maybe you've never taken your infant on a plane ride before. Or maybe you have, and it didn't go so well. With vacation season looming ahead, it's time to face your fears. Glennia shares some basic guidelines on her blog: first, some general considerations. Then, some logistical advice and packing tips.
Our family is close-knit and far-flung, so we hit the tarmac running very soon after our first was born. Some of Glennia's experience mirrors ours ("wait until the first round of vaccinations to travel by plane" was advice my pediatrician gave me, too), some not so much (my rule of thumb is to bring enough diapers for the plane ride plus one day. No more, no less--we've yet to go anywhere where I couldn't easily suss out a source for any diapering or bathing need on the other end). And she doesn't address the carseat question, which is a major source of angst for parents embarking on a plane ride: do you get the baby a seat of his own? If so, do you bring the carseat on board? Of such questions are parenting forum flame wars born, let me tell you.
I actually miss traveling with infants. They ultimately don't need much more than a nipple of some sort and the Skymall catalogue to gnaw on, the expectations set upon their behavior by fellow passengers are very low compared to those set upon a three-year-old, and they're incapable of asking "Are we there yet?".
