First Flight Chronicles With a Newborn and Toddler
Guys, as you know from social media, we took the kids on their first flight recently to our friends wedding. It wasn’t the worst but it was NOT in my top 5 favorite! Ha! However, they did better than we thought and I was more than prepared with all but one essential thing only to find out upon arriving at the airport we could possibly be rejected! 😫 We'll get to that later on.
The one huge thing we didn't factor in was that they would still need to sleep so that being on the go like we are used to was not happening! Had they not missed so much sleep from the traveling aspect, it would not have been so bad. Being there and wanting to go places was not happening because of how irritable they were so we didn't do much of that. You live and you learn. Oh well, there will be plenty more trips and they will not be this age forever so it is what it is. We definitely made up for it at the wedding reception though, kid-free and all! Ha! 🙌🏽🙌🏽
Things to know beforehand to save you time, convenience, and your NERVES are the following:
❇️ GET A DOUBLE STROLLERRRR!!!! I procrastinated and did not have it in time and so I strapped the baby on me using my Ergo baby carrier and put Poppi (the 2-yr old) in his stroller. Other times, Daddy had to tote him around in the car seat while I politely pushed the stroller. Ha!👎🏽😫
❇️ GET TSA PRE-CHECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chiiiiiiiiile! When I say this was a Godsend! It's $85 for those 18 and older and it lasts five years. Now we didn't know much about this on the first flight but we did have it for the second flight we took and it was 10 times better!... So it allows you to get in a much shorter line at security check point and you get to keep your shoes, jacket and belt on as well as your laptop in its case. The wait time is like five minutes at the most! You still have to follow the 3-1-1 liquids rule unless you pack all that in your checked bag.
Downside: You still have to remove baby from carseat and/or stroller and also any milk you may have that's more than the 3.4 oz. They're a little more lenient with the breast milk ounces.
❇️ You may bring any "dry" snacks (i.e. crackers, granola bars, dry cereal) through check point but nothing like a sandwich or protein shake which is a bummer. LOL... I had a lot of snacks and learning games for Poppi because I am not the parent that’s ok with my child being loud, screaming, kicking the seat or anything else on a flight. I’m not that parent.
❇️ If you're traveling with an infant, you have to have the baby's birth certificate but they will also accept the child's shot record. - I did not have either. Read story below for this. SMH!
❇️ I knew that children under age 2 fly for free and yes you can just hold your baby the whole time. However, If you would like to bring the baby on the flight in the carseat, you have to buy a seat. Upside is if the flight is not full and there's an empty seat next to you, then you can use it for your baby in the car seat of course. This is a gamble so don't bank on it.
❇️ To save some money, most flights usually have at least one empty seat left. You could fly Southwest choose an empty row since there are no assigned seats. We flew Southwest and it was really easy. We would check the stroller in at the gate each time and it was easy.
TIP: To make this even smoother, purchase the Early Bird Check-in that Southwest has so that you get in the A group when boarding. This will definitely help you sit further towards the front and have more options for where you want to sit. Also, you won't have to wait so long to board in case your child is cranky and irritable like mine was for our 5:55am flight. 😳
❇️ Take someone with you if you can on certain trips. That extra set of hands is helpful and can make the trip more enjoyable... especially if you're married! You can actually get some alone time in! 🙌🏽🙌🏽
Alright... So we get to the airport and everything is going smooth...
... until we get to the desk to get our boarding passes and check our luggage in and then she asks me for Poppa's birth certificate. I'm looking around like huh. Now when I went online, it said that that it would be needed only for international flights not domestic flights. I was LIVIT (not LIVID)!!! So now we have to step off to the side and figure something out. I was in a panic because we had driven to Birmingham's airport to fly out which is 80 minutes from my house and our flight was at 5:55 am! Hunni you talking about praying! I was like #FixItJesus! I really need a lot of favor this morning Lord! 🙏🏾 She told me his shot record would suffice also. Well, no offices would be open for hours and it was 4:20 am. I had tried calling Brookwood Hospital where I had him but still no lead way with that. A💡came on and I realized I had his sheet they printed out with his appointments on it which listed his full name and my name on it along with his insurance card. Now, technically, that was not enough at all either.
The moment of truth: I walk over to her and I hand them to her and she looks and says, ok but you'll need his birth certificate or his shots record coming back from Houston. I could have KISSED THAT LADY! The favor of God showed UP and OUT!
(Solution: While in Houston, I was able to call his pediatrician and get them to fax his shots record to a local FedEx Office store because doctor's offices will not email that type of document. Yea she smart and brain on point! She did dat! Now what was a pain was finding one that actually had a fax machine working! Do better FedEx Office!!! Do better!👊🏽👊🏽👊🏽).
THEN, next, we head to check point by 4:50 am and those were the longest 30 minutes standing in that line EVERRRRRRRR with my 2 year old! That's why I say GET TSA Pre-Check. He whined, pouted, was rude to the people trying to speak to him, didn't want anyone to look at him in line or anything. WHY you ask? Because it was freakin' 5 am in the morning! Heck I wish I could act like that in the mornings too at 32 years old and get a way with it! Le Struggle of being an adult!😫... After trying to stay smiling while reprimanding him so people wouldn't call DHR, we made it through and then had to take off our (excluding the babies) shoes, jackets; take out liquids, laptop, baby, and toddler; they have to check the car seat and stroller also. It's just waaaaaay too much y'all. We made it on the airplane and luckily Poppi and Poppa both slept during the flights so that was good. When we arrived though, we ALL needed a nap again. Heck, we had been up since 2 am to make that flight and it was about 10 am when we pulled up to where we were staying. My sister's flight was coming in later on that day. She was coming to watch the kiddos for us so we could go to our friend's wedding. Turns out, she was helpful just being around when we were altogether. I realized then why people have nannies! It makes it soooooo much easier and you're not so tired by the end of the day! Those extra set of hands helped out a lot! Like she would feed my 2 yr old while I had the baby and then Hubby could shower. It's the little things like that you appreciate when you have kids.
In the meantime Beauties, have an awesome week and remember that you're already absolutely AMAZING!
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