Well, folks, we did it! We survived our first roundtrip with Kai and he was a champ! Not gonna lie, it was really causing me a lot of stress the weeks and days before because you never want to be "those parents" whose kid is screaming. (Granted, now that I'm a parent, you take a new perspective when you hear a baby crying. Instead of annoyance, you now feel empathetic.) On the way over we had terrible seats reserved because the flight was full (thanks, Fall Break!), so we decided to go for the expensive Premium seats which turned out to be the bulkhead seats. Funny thing is we packed a lot of stuff because many of our friends suggested bringing extra clothes, extra diapers, extra everythings - so we weren't shocked when the flight attendants asked us if we were moving in. But the bulkhead allowed for all of our stuff and for us to spread out. It was really nice, no one in front of us, lots of leg space, and the flight attendant galley to bounce Kai, if needed. (That was money well spent.)
With the advice from our "How to Travel with a Baby" Google searches, we fed Kai on the takeoffs and landings. Not sure exactly if it helped him or if he would've been fine with just a pacifier to suck on, but we didn't want to take any chances. He slept through most of both flights and even had a few chatty sessions with us. (Oh, how I love his cooing!) I was most proud of Kai upon our landing back into Honolulu when we didn't have a gate ready for our flight and our plane sat on the tarmac for a good 45 minutes. As other kids got restless and loud, there was our little Kai just cruising, looking out the window (like it was a big screen TV).
And because life isn't perfect, I want to thank him for his untimely poops, especially the one on takeoff which stunk up the cabin. (Those passengers around us really loved us then!) He did have a fussy bout for a bit where his daddy did more bouncing than a workout class. But, if that's the worse thing that happened to us, then we were A-ok. I do have to mention that it's amazing how many people will literally cut in front of you when they see you have a stroller. And, WOW! the dirty looks we got for having the stroller in the TSA line...all I have to say is, trust us, we want to move as a fast as we can.
Here's my five tips for traveling with a baby:
- Feed on the takeoff/landings as much as you can....or at least have the pacifier handy.
- Bring the Boppy pillow or a pillow for supporting the baby during feedings or naps.
- Bulkheads are great - but not being able to raise the armrest between us was a bummer. (No bassinets on Hawaiian Airlines flights, except for their Sidney route.)
- Sit in a two seater (window/aisle).
- If you can, bring a travel bag for your carseat and stroller. Or at least remove any parts that could fall off - lesson learned: one of our carseat receivers on our stroller was missing when we got back to HNL. #sadface
Happy Traveling!
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