Traveling with a newborn ended up being much easier than we thought it would be. I don’t know if my son was just destined to be a little angel during a five hour plane ride, or if we cheated because newborns sleep all day anyways. Either way, we flew from Los Angeles to Florida and had the best experience.

Our sweet baby boy slept for most of the plane rides, only waking up for a bottle or diaper change. The usual, right?! Granted, I thought that traveling with children was always hard because each of us has experienced a screaming child in an airplane at least once, haven’t we? at least if you’re a frequent flyer, you’ve probably rolled your eyes once or twice from a tiny plane guest. I honestly thought that would be us. We’d get on the plane and our baby would start screaming during takeoff. Yikes! Yet again, he was a perfect angel. Score!

If you’re traveling with an infant, here are a few things I suggest 🙂

Now one thing that did live up to my expectations was the amount of baggage I brought along for the journey. I strongly overpacked for our baby, praying I wouldn’t forget something he desperately needed. Extra clothes, check. Bottles and bottle sanitizer bag, check that off too. I had packs of wipes on deck, breast pump materials, and so many blankets I probably could have gone without. However, I’d always rather be overpacked and prepared than missing items and standing in line at Target to buy what I forgot.

1. Pack ahead. Give yourself extra days to make a packing list, review it, and then review it again. If you can’t overpack because of crazy baggage fees, just make sure you have a MLK you need. The more time you have, the more likely you are to be more prepared.

2. Breast or bottle feed on the way up (takeoff) and down (landing). It will help with baby’s ears and hopefully won’t phase them. Thank you Facebook mama friends for this tip.

3. If flying alone, or even if you aren’t, a carrier is super helpful. Also, if you don’t want to check your stroller and/or early on I find airlines to be super accommodating and they’ll check them for you at the gate.

4. Hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes & Lysol spray !!!!! I thoroughly wiped down my seating area on the plane, because what first time mom like me isn’t a germ iPhone? Lol Also, after checking the car seat I was able to Lysol spray it down (even though I kept the car seat cover on it. Because, germs!

5. Stay as organized as you can. It’s okay to have bottles ready, anticipate waking up and feedings, speed through diaper changes with all of your diapering needs ready to go, and so on.

6. If everything falls apart on you, allow yourself some grace. You’re doing a wonderful job mama. Breath, woosah and carry on ♥️