Flying with Maggie
I work for an airline. My family and I get to fly for cheap, so we fly often. We mostly go to see the grandparents in Alabama and Kentucky. I want to chronicle our system for traveling with a baby.
We usually fly out on Friday nights. So the process begins Thursday evening. First we pack two roll aboard suitcases. Mine is half filled with my clothes for the weekend. Tony's is half filled with his stuff for the weekend. The rest of the packing capacity goes to baby junk: enough outifts to last her for at least a week, diapers, breast pump, bottles, toys, books, camera, etc. The diaper bag is readied for the trip: extra diapers, wipes, nursing blanket (giant bib that goes around my neck so that I don't flash the whole airport when she wants to eat), toys, change of clothes.
Tony works a short day on Friday. He comes home and packs up the car then picks up Maggie from day care. They swing by down town and pick me up. I print off our standby boarding passes at work so we can bypass the ticket counters. We park at an external lot at the airport. The first trip with the baby at six weeks we took the stroller. After that, we decided it was not worth the hassle. I carry Maggie in the Snugli. Tony hooks the car seat on to his suitcase, and I hook the diaper bag on to mine. We load up on the bus and head for the airport. We never check suitcases, because we fly standby and never know if we'll get on the plane until the last minute.
Security is a special challenge for parents with a baby. Tony and I have worked it down to a fine art. We can get through faster than most business travelers with their laptops. Tony is in charge of all bags, while I am in charge of Maggie. The baby must go through the metal detector but she can not be in a car seat, stroller or Snugli. I simultaneously hold our boarding passes, detach the baby for the Snugli, slip the Snugli off of my shoulders, and take off my shoes. Tony grabs the shoes and carrier. Maggie and I walk through the metal detectors while Tony continues throwing all of our crap onto the conveyor belt. I put Maggie in the car seat while I put the carrier back on and then strap her back in. While I'm doing that Tony grabs our stuff as it comes out of the x-ray machine. He loads the diaper bag and car seat back onto the suitcases and puts my shoes on me.
Once we are through that hurdle, we go the gate. Now the joys of standby travel begin. We wait patiently while other passengers are boarded hoping that there will be a seat for us. Sometimes we luck out and get three seats, so Maggie sits in her car seat. Sometimes we can only get two seats, sometimes together sometimes not. I have the authorization to ride in the jump seat in the cockpit. So if there were only one free seat, Tony could take Maggie in the cabin. We have not tried this seating arrangement yet. Maggie likes to nurse during flights, and Tony lacks the equipment. The worst case scenario is no free seats. Then we have to figure out a different flight to make it to our destination.
Maggie is pretty well behaved in flight. She doesn't wiggle too bad, and she usually falls asleep. If Tony isn't seated with us, I probably make my seat mate uncomfortable when I pull out the nursing blanket and start breastfeeding. It's no longer uncomfortable for me, so I don't care. When we started traveling with Maggie, I always tried to nurse during take off and landing. Now, we just nurse when she wants to. The pressure change doesn't seem to bother her ears. I have a theory that it her ears are used to the pressure change because of all the flying I did while pregnant.
Other than eating, Maggie likes to play with a toy or two, sleep and babble during a flight. When we arrive at our destination, Maggie goes back in the Snugli. We grab our suitcases and head to ground transportation. Usually our parents are waiting to pick us up. They are always eager to see the grandbaby. We enjoy the weekend and repeat the process on Sunday to get back home.
We usually fly out on Friday nights. So the process begins Thursday evening. First we pack two roll aboard suitcases. Mine is half filled with my clothes for the weekend. Tony's is half filled with his stuff for the weekend. The rest of the packing capacity goes to baby junk: enough outifts to last her for at least a week, diapers, breast pump, bottles, toys, books, camera, etc. The diaper bag is readied for the trip: extra diapers, wipes, nursing blanket (giant bib that goes around my neck so that I don't flash the whole airport when she wants to eat), toys, change of clothes.
Tony works a short day on Friday. He comes home and packs up the car then picks up Maggie from day care. They swing by down town and pick me up. I print off our standby boarding passes at work so we can bypass the ticket counters. We park at an external lot at the airport. The first trip with the baby at six weeks we took the stroller. After that, we decided it was not worth the hassle. I carry Maggie in the Snugli. Tony hooks the car seat on to his suitcase, and I hook the diaper bag on to mine. We load up on the bus and head for the airport. We never check suitcases, because we fly standby and never know if we'll get on the plane until the last minute.
Security is a special challenge for parents with a baby. Tony and I have worked it down to a fine art. We can get through faster than most business travelers with their laptops. Tony is in charge of all bags, while I am in charge of Maggie. The baby must go through the metal detector but she can not be in a car seat, stroller or Snugli. I simultaneously hold our boarding passes, detach the baby for the Snugli, slip the Snugli off of my shoulders, and take off my shoes. Tony grabs the shoes and carrier. Maggie and I walk through the metal detectors while Tony continues throwing all of our crap onto the conveyor belt. I put Maggie in the car seat while I put the carrier back on and then strap her back in. While I'm doing that Tony grabs our stuff as it comes out of the x-ray machine. He loads the diaper bag and car seat back onto the suitcases and puts my shoes on me.
Once we are through that hurdle, we go the gate. Now the joys of standby travel begin. We wait patiently while other passengers are boarded hoping that there will be a seat for us. Sometimes we luck out and get three seats, so Maggie sits in her car seat. Sometimes we can only get two seats, sometimes together sometimes not. I have the authorization to ride in the jump seat in the cockpit. So if there were only one free seat, Tony could take Maggie in the cabin. We have not tried this seating arrangement yet. Maggie likes to nurse during flights, and Tony lacks the equipment. The worst case scenario is no free seats. Then we have to figure out a different flight to make it to our destination.
Maggie is pretty well behaved in flight. She doesn't wiggle too bad, and she usually falls asleep. If Tony isn't seated with us, I probably make my seat mate uncomfortable when I pull out the nursing blanket and start breastfeeding. It's no longer uncomfortable for me, so I don't care. When we started traveling with Maggie, I always tried to nurse during take off and landing. Now, we just nurse when she wants to. The pressure change doesn't seem to bother her ears. I have a theory that it her ears are used to the pressure change because of all the flying I did while pregnant.
Other than eating, Maggie likes to play with a toy or two, sleep and babble during a flight. When we arrive at our destination, Maggie goes back in the Snugli. We grab our suitcases and head to ground transportation. Usually our parents are waiting to pick us up. They are always eager to see the grandbaby. We enjoy the weekend and repeat the process on Sunday to get back home.
posted by ender at
9:22 AM
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