Johaan's First Flight (Flying with an Infant)

I was going to write about Johaan's first flight a month ago, but you know how it goes...you come back from a long vacation and at once there is no time for anything but catching up with cleaning, doing laundry and ... studying for accounting exams in my case. But now when all that is somewhat behind me, I can turn back to my writing.

So, how was Johaan's first flying experience? Here is a summary plus some humble tips.  

Johaan's first flight was to Slovakia where he went to visit his grandparents. There were all three of us (mama, thaththi and Johaan) traveling one way but only me with Johaan travelling back since thaththi had to leave Slovakia few weeks earlier. So my preparations for the flight had that in mind, trying to do everything as I was going alone with Johaan. I was bringing a regular stroller with us (Uppababy VISTA stroller) and planned to pack all the carry-on necessities in a decent size carry-on back on wheels. After talking to my neighbor Kathrine (who had had an experience traveling with her 9 months old to Europe already) I realized that since we booked the first row seats in order to get the bassinet for Johaan, I might not be able to have my carry-on under the seat and so won't be able to get stuff out (like milk, blanket, toy etc.) during the flight when needed. And so I packed a thin bag inside of my carry-on that would only have few bottles, food, diapers + wipes for the actual flying time that I put under my seat.

So, what was in my carry-on bag?

• warm blanket (I am always cold on the plane and those thin blankets they provide are never enough for me so I rather took an extra blanket)
• warm sleeping sack
• sheet to put at the bottom of the bassinet (didn't need it because they provided a clean sheet that wrapped around the bassinet)
• extra pajama for Johaan
• extra T-shirt for me and my husband
• Similac Ready-To-Go bottles 8oz (I had 8 bottles with me which of course was way too much but since it was Johaan's first flight I didn't know if he will want to eat or just drink, if he needs to drink at each take off and landing etc.)
• food in squeezing bags
• diapers + wipes packets (I made few packets - 3 wipes in small sandwich bag)
• bib, clothe wipes, few paper towel sheets
• extra diapers and wipes in a travel case
• empty zip lock bag for dirty bottle nipples, rings etc.
• empty plastic bag for other dirty stuff
• book and a toy for Johaan (we did get a baby toy on the plane on both our flights to Europe which was nice)

To the thin bag I only took three formula bottles, blanket, sleep sack, food in squeezing bags, bib, clothe wipes, few paper towel sheets, few diapers with wipes packets and a toy.

TIP: from my experience traveling back alone with Johaan I decided for my next trip I will only take a small backpack as a carry-on that I don't have to pull at any time because moments when I had to push the stroller with one hand, pull the bag with the other, while carrying Johaan in carrier were not fun.

Necessities packed, we were ready to take off. So, how did that go?

Flight #1 - Boston, MA to Frankfurt, Germany:

Our first flight was at 5.30pm which I thought was good because we were traveling at night and there was a hope of Johaan sleeping. The problem was, we had to leave the house around 2.30pm and so he didn't get to nap in the afternoon as he was used to. I hoped he might fall asleep in the stroller at the airport but that didn't happen. And so by the time we got on the plane (I fed him food and changed his diaper right before we got on) he was exhausted and you know what that means...not very happy.

Despite that the take off was good, I gave Johaan drink milk to distract him. Once in the air, they brought us the bassinet (I was pleasantly surprised that the bassinet was pretty spacious - Johaan could turn around in it - had a safety strap and a small shade, kind of like the stroller bassinets have). Since Johaan was already quite tired it took some time for him to fall asleep, we took him out from the bassinet once, but the second time we put him back, he fell asleep (this was about an hour into the flight). And he slept until we had to wake him up for landing in Frankfurt. So neither did I have to change his diaper nor feed him food on this flight.

Flight #2 - Frankfurt, Germany to Vienna, Austria (Vienna Airport is just a 30 minutes drive from Bratislava, Slovakia):
Our second flight wasn't bad, although Johaan was up the whole flight (it is only an one hour flight, no bassinet on this flight), he was happy...looking through the gap between our seats at the people behind us who kept smiling at him.

So, we made it all the way to Slovakia and I have to stay I had a pretty good feeling about the whole experience. The fact that we had a stroller all the way up to the plane made it easy, my carry-on bag was underneath and Johaan comfortable in it. I should also mention that I put Johaan in Ergo when going through security (since there are no metal parts in Ergo baby carrier I could carry J through the security gate). I also put him in the carrier right before getting on the plane. I had all the bottles and food in zip lock bags and had to take them out for scanning (of course I forgot to take out one bottle that I was going to feed Johaan before security but ended up not to). They did some special scanning of the bottles and my palms, making sure there was no trace of some illegal substance. They did not make me open the bottles and taste the milk (I think they are not allowed to do that anymore although I heard they still do it at some European airports). We also had to fold the stroller and put it through the luggage scanner (we had to remove the wheels in order to fit).

Flight #3 - Vienna, Austria to Munich, Germany

And there it was, one month later we were at Vienna airport, sad to leave grandparents, great-grandparents and uncle Vladko (as well as everyone else in the Slovak family). I was little nervous because this time I had no help from my husband plus we were traveling during the day and so I was not sure if Johaan will sleep at all.

There were few things we had to overcome, mostly related to airport logistics. In Vienna, we had to take a bus to get to the plane. They let us go first but that meant we were last to get out off the bus. Now, I have Johaan in the Ergo carrier, pushing the stroller with my carry-on bag. There is no one at the bottom of the stairs to the plane who would help me with the stroller or at least directed me where to leave the stroller. So I am yelling up the stairs trying to get a flight attendant's' attention, no luck. Finally one guy said he will ask for help once he gets on the plane. So after leaving the stroller laying on the ground unattended, we finally got on the plane (among last people). It was a small plane and it was super hot in there. Johaan was cranky (who wouldn't be!), I tried feeding him milk (which I barely got out of my carry-on bag that was stuck under my seat) which calmed him a bit. He was up most of the flight (1 hour) but managed to fall asleep right before landing in Munich.

Flight #4 - Munich, Germany to Boston, MA

Once in Munich I went to make sure (for the third time) that we do get a bassinet on this long flight. To my surprise, the flight attendant told me that unfortunately it won't be possible for some strange reason...I was furious, could not imagine holding Johaan for 8 hours!

Getting on this plane was also an experience. This time we had to take an escalator (which obviously I couldn't since I had the stroller with me), there was an elevator but to get to it I would have to go through a tourniquet which was also impossible. So again, after we were let to go first, there I was standing at the top of the escalator watching all these people pass us by and waiting for someone to help me. Finally, one guy offered help (he said his wife travels alone with the kids all the time so he knew how it is...), we folded the stroller that he carried down the escalator and I carried Johaan in the baby carrier.

This time we got the seat next to the window. I was happy (ecstatic) to find out that I will indeed get the bassinet. The man sitting next to me (poor guy, he had Johaan right in front of him and then two other babies next to him) did not speak English but he was interacting with Johaan the whole time Johaan was up. He was not up for long though, fell asleep about an hour into the flight after finishing a bottle of milk and then sleeping throughout the whole flight. So again, I did not have to change his diaper on the plane or feed him food (I did both right before we got on the plane).

All in all, Johaan's first trip didn't scare or discourage me (not that it could, since we have lots of traveling ahead with both our families living in different parts of the world). Really, the only tough part traveling alone with an infant were the airports logistics, everything else was manageable. Now, I am not sure how it would be if Johaan didn't sleep well on the plane and I would have to go change his diaper etc. I guess, I will see soon since we have another big trip ahead of us in few weeks and with Johaan probably walking by then, it will be a whole new experience.

Happy travels to everyone and please share your experiences and tips in the comments section below.