But lets talk about the flights. I was nervous about this....really nervous.
Jane is a great baby, but if and when she starts to get upset, she usually wants to be held while the person holding her is standing. Im still baffled at how she can tell if we are standing or sitting, but thats besides the point. The last thing I wanted was for Jane to get upset and one of us have to walk the aisles of the plane or worse not be able to get up if the seatbelt sign was on.
The only other thing was her ears. Mr. Hunt has some pretty bad ears when we fly. Sometimes he has a hard time popping them. I knew that giving her the paci would help, but she doesn't always want her paci. She usually only takes it when she is really tired.
So this is how it all went down. We were in luck because Jane was in a great mood!
I know why people dont like flying with babies. The hardest part was all the stuff we had to bring. Stroller, carseat, carseat base, boppy for support on the plane, Bjorn to hold her when the stroller wasn't with us and still have two arms to hold more stuff, and a whole lot more. Having our hands full took on a whole 'nother meaning.
For the way there, Jane ate right before we got on the plane. This was great because by the time we got on the plane, she had a dry diaper and was ready for her nap.
She slept during take off while sucking on her paci. Thank goodness she wasn't phased what so ever with the noise or her ears popping.
She woke up for a little bit and she played with us. Then she started to get tired again. She got a little fussy, but Mr. Hunt came to the rescue and rocked her to sleep. She passed out right in time for landing. She didn't suck on the paci this time, but she wasn't phased.
The worse part of this flight was that after we landed around 8:00pm, there wasn't a gate for us. Then once we finally got a gate, there wasn't any employees to open the plane for us to get off. We had to sit on the plane for an hour! Not only were we getting antsy, it was time for Jane to eat again. She started to get fussy right about the time we were finally let off the plane. I quickly made her a bottle when we got off and fed her in the car....poor thing.
The way back was a little different. When we got on the plane, it was Jane's awake time. Somehow, she fell asleep though for take off which was good. It was time for her to eat about an hour into the flight. I ended up having to wake her up to feed her because I didn't want her to be too much off her schedule.
Once she is done eating, she is most alert and talkative. She played well and we tried to keep her occupied for as long as we could. She sat on Mr. Hunt's lap while I entertained her and he tried to snooze.
Then she started to break down. It was her nap time. She cried! Of course when she started crying was when we were getting ready to land and the seatbelt sign was on. Im glad that there was only 15 more minutes in the flight because we pulled all of our tricks to get her to stop crying and nothing was working. I think her ears were bothering her and she was crying so hard she wouldnt take the paci. Finally after handing her back and forth and trying everything I somehow got her to fall asleep. She conked out! In reality she probably only cried for 3 or 4 minutes, but it was along 3 or 4 minutes when you are cooped up on a tiny plane.
We sat in the VERY last seats on both flight. You know, the ones right next to the restroom. Yeah, not fun. But that means we were right next to the flight attendants. When we were getting off the flight, she said that Jane was the best behaved baby she has ever seen on a flight. I was surprised since she did cry some, and maybe she was just saying that to make us feel better. Im sure we looked like frazzled parents when she was having a fit. But all in all, she was really good.
I will have to fly with Jane on my own a few times this coming year. Even though she did well, Im still nervous about having to do it all on my own. Mainly with all the stuff we had to bring. We will see.
Things I learned:
Plan the flight time around naps and feeding. Its good to have nap time when on the plane.
Try to get the baby to take the paci while taking off and landing. If your baby doesnt take a paci then feed him/her even if its just a little bit
Take the essentials that you need, but dont take too much. Your hands will be full as it is with the baby
Stay calm
Dont be afraid to ask for help
I also talked to a few close friends that had recently flown with their babies for their advice on what to bring and what to do and not do. That helped alot too. Let me know if you have any questions. Id be glad to help.
Love,
Jen
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