I had confirmed I was going to my stepsister’s wedding on Thanksgiving. But between then and early February, I was still so back and fourth as to whether I wanted to go or not. Of course I wanted to go to support her, but with a newborn (back in November) I didn’t know how she (Luna) would be in March. Would she be a good baby, a bad baby, a cry baby- what did I have in store for us and did I want to chance taking her on an airplane for the first time so young?
Naturally, in Kristie Lovelis fashion, I didn’t even get Luna’s passport until two weeks before we left. Luckily it came in two days. And the day before I went to “National Passport Day” in LA, I booked our flight. I thought, “okay, flights are booked, I HAVE to get this passport… No going back.” Anyway, we ended up snagging a good deal for both the flights and the hotel we stayed at in Puerto Vallarta, so I’m actually very glad I waited until the last minute to get everything.
THE FLIGHT//
First off, follow the rules of being three hours early for international traveling. The morning we were to leave, we just weren’t in a rush. Of course, it was the one day Luna decided to sleep in and I didn’t want to wake her. Basically, WAKE YOUR KID UP. THEY CAN SLEEP IN THE PLANE. We missed our first flight but were lucky enough to have caught the next flight- which was awesome because my dad and basically everyone for the wedding was in that flight. Originally, we were to fly through Interjet (they were extremely rude to us about being late. I know it was our fault but they were talking sh*t in Spanish, little did she know we spoke Spanish and understood everything. She tried to scold us about being late). Since we missed that one, our next flight was with Southwest. It was great!! There was no assigned seating so we got to sit with everyone and Luna even got her own seat even though we didn’t pay for one, and the plane was a little newer so it was a smooth ride. I had read up on what to expect for baby’s plane rides and pretty much did as I was told. Thankfully she was sleepy by the time we got on, so when we took off I gave her a bottle to distract her for the turbulence and her ears popping because of the altitude. I brought two outfits in case of accidents (we only changed her once because of all the drool on her pjs). I packed about 6 diapers (changing her at the airport as we waited. Once on the three hour plane ride. And then again when we landed. And a few backups). Wipes, of course. Toys to distract her (because she was awake most of the flight). Tylenol, just in case. And extra bottles. I did read that you should also give them a bottle to distract them from the landed. But she was just in such a good mood, her dad held her and she looked out the plane while we landed.
CARSEAT/STROLLER//
So I didn’t know this and was freaking out a little as it was my first flight with a baby- we obviously needed to take a car seat and stroller because we were going to be taking quite a few taxi rides. The airline tags your car seat and stroller (a tag for each one if it’s a two piece set) free of charge. Really the only thing that you leave at check in are the bags you check in. You take the stroller with you up until you’re ABOUT to get on the plane. You leave it right outside the door. You get on the plane, yada yada, and your stroller and car seat are right out there again when you land. So that was amazing! Again, didn’t know any of this, so it was super cool that it was an easy process.
Side note, listen to all the blogs that tell you to CARRY YOUR BABY THROUGH TSA. The car seat goes through the belt so if your baby is asleep walking through the airport, that’s gonna suck waking them up.
MOM TIPS//
– If your baby is fussy on the flight, do NOT apologize to people about it. You should not feel bad. They’re not used to it, so of course they’re going to be like, “what the hell is going on.” (On the flight back Luna was fussy and I kept apologizing. After we landed the gentleman next to me said, “she’s a really good baby.” I was freaking out thinking everyone was going to hate me for the fussy kid).
– As much as you’ll want to, don’t over pack. You’re going to drive yourself crazy with a zillion tiny outfits and playing Tetris trying to fit everything in your bags.
– Take an extra shirt for yourself. Mom-life, your kid is bound to spit up/throw up/drool all over you as you wait for your flight.
– If your baby is bottle fed, take a travel size dish soap with you! Luna is bottle/formula fed and I forgot dish soap. So we ended up having to go to a supermarket in Mexico to get dish soap to wash her bottles in our hotel.
– Pack an unopened formula with your checked in bags. And for your carry on, take one of those formula holders that will hold formula for about three bottles. We also have these formula holders that helped so so much.
– Take extra pacifiers!!! We took three. One with us (clipped to her), an extra one in my carry-on, and then one with our checked in luggage.
– If you’re going to be in the water, pack a floatie! Most places don’t have them for babies. We got ours on amazon, it was amazing. A swan and flamingo one for $10!
Uh, for now- this is all I can remember. But if I remember more I’ll add more. So check back in a week! Also, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!!