Top 10 Travel Tips For Traveling with a Baby (and breastmilk)
The below is not constituted for advice. All parents should make informed decisions as they see fit to best apply to their family’s needs and specific situations. This may include different practices for safe sleeping, safe breast milk storage, safe travel on airplanes and cars, etc. If ever in doubt, please consult your physician. None of the resources below are official endorsements, but somewhat optional resources. Also, these tips are written as a resident in the US and primarily for air travel destinations. Please tailor to your own country’s specifics if needed.
Y’all! We have always loved traveling. We are from the States and just had a baby ten weeks ago. I didn’t want the fear of how hard it could be to travel with him to stop us, so we went on a relaxed long weekend up to the Canadian Rockies to try it out. It was a 4-hour direct flight, and then we drove 600 miles (1,000 km) in the car across three days, and honestly, it was really easy. It took coordination and planning. Still, my kid did great, and it was a MUCH needed reminder for my husband and me of being human again, and being a family together.
So, I put together a list of my top 10 tips I learned while traveling with my little one! Travel on, ladies!! I would 100% do it again and to further destinations!
1.
Children under the age of 2 generally fly free (at least with US airlines) from any ticket having to be purchased as long as you don’t need a seat for them on the plane, and you hold them. You may be more comfortable with buying a separate ticket and bringing the car seat on the plane with you in the event of turbulence, etc. Do what makes you feel comfortable. However, if you opt not to purchase a separate ticket, as we did, you still need to call your airline to have your children added to your reservation. For United Airlines, this also includes a 10% fee that we had to pay based on the departing and arriving airports. This is the same tax we spend on our tickets, but they don’t have a ticket to add the taxes to. And if you’re traveling internationally by air (even from the US to Canada or the Caribbean, except USVI), you will need a passport for them (and btw, both parents have to be present with their IDs and the child’s ORIGINAL birth certificate when applying for the passport). A passport is ALWAYS needed for international air travel from the US (though not for travel by land in some circumstances). If you’re going to be on a long flight, you can request a bassinet sometimes by request, but they are limited, so call ahead to reserve.
2.
TSA allows you to bring “reasonable quantities” of breastmilk or other baby food things as a carryon, beyond regular security limits of different items/liquids. I brought 60 oz, but I have heard of other mamas bringing as much as 400 oz through. It’s easier if the milk and ice packs are frozen solid, then they go through the security machine, which DOES NOT harm your milk. If it’s liquid, that’s still totally fine, they may swab the outside contents or ask that YOU open the milk for them to test, but they don’t have to touch or put anything in your milk. https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/breast-milk and more info here: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/special-procedures/traveling-children
3.
Many major airlines allow a stroller and a car seat to be checked free of charge as “exempt items” either as a regular baggage check or a gate check. You will denote this on the check-in machine after you have processed your normal bags, and you will add additional bags and elect “exempt items” before printing your bag tags for free.
4.
Many major airlines also allow you to bring your breast pump on as a “medical device,” which does not go against the carryon policy. I flew United, and although I would never pay them on the back for customer service, I did find this to be true with them. This article is a little outdated, so verify with your airlines, but I thought it was a really helpful summary: https://www.google.com/amp/s/thepointsguy.com/2017/09/tips-carrying-on-medical-devices/amp/
5.
Wear your baby! Through the airport, on the plane (but not during takeoff/landing/turbulence as they must be in your arms or a seat at those times), walking around town, small hikes...wear your baby! So easy!
6.
Bring disposable changing pads—I like puppy pee pads for this. That way, you can save your regular travel pad for your hotel/Airbnb “changing” station. And bring sanitizer wipes/Clorox etc. to wipe any surfaces you’re uncomfortable with.
7.
Get creative with your baby sleep situation. We brought a PJs and a swaddle wrap like usual. Still, we also brought a smaller nursing pillow to make sure he didn’t roll and a small speaker that we used with the iDream app for white noise. You may be more comfortable with a pack-n-play, cosleeping or a travel bassinet which some hotels even have for you. That is your decision.
8.
Get a power adapter for your car if you plan to be driving. This gives you the flexibility to pump anytime you need, regardless of if your day goes sideways and don’t check your pump if you need it bc my plane was delayed. I had to pump in the airport. Speaking of which, another helpful mama recommended the Mamava app to find locations. Most US airports have dedicated nursing rooms. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mamava-pump-nursing-finder/id901989849
9.
Bring sanitizer bags to use in a microwave if available (most hotels will have one) and sanitizer spray for throughout the day. I have been told that items that had breastmilk only don’t need to be sanitized, just washed, but do what makes you feel comfortable — sanitizing once a day was comfy for me.
10.
Icepacks and a small soft cooker to store the milk/bottles in and zip locks to hold and separate your parts. I put all my pump and milk stuff together in a larger soft cooler bag and used it as a carryon. You can ask the flight attendants or hotels to put your items in their fridges/freezers as well.
Travel on, mamas!!
Guest Contribution from Jessica Hatton