Pointers on Traveling WIth Baby
 

I am planning a trip with the extended family from EWR to SXM in December. My wife and I will have a 4 month old at the time and are wondering what it is like traveling with a child that young. We plan on getting seats in first which is a 737-7 at the moment. Is it preferred to be in a bulk head? We are thinking of keeping him on our laps since it is a 4 hour flight.

Any pointers? Greatly appreciated as this is a very new experience for us, we usually just have to worry about ourselves!

Thanks!

This is not really a United-specific question. We have a whole separate forum for this:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-children-221/

I would just add that it is never advisable to hold your baby on your lap for safety reasons, let alone for four hours.

I'd suggest 3 coach seats instead of 2 first seats.

Lap children are allowed to avoid adverse selection, but its not a good idea if you can afford the extra seat.

This is second-hand advice from my sister who took her 1-year old to Hawaii last month. On the way there they had 3 coach seats. On the way back, 2 first class seats.

Her impression was the F seats where better, because they had more room to maneuver, and the baby wanted to be held for over half the flight time anyway. They also had to lug the car seat through the airport on the way there. Keep in mind that they had 3 flights, so this may not apply on a single nonstop flight.

It would seem to me that safety is a separate issue to that of convenience/comfort, and I won't comment on that.

In my experience you NEVER want bulkhead when flying with a young child -- unless it's a wide body with a bassinet row -- as you can't keep the diaper bag and other accouterments that you'll have with you down at your feet prior to departure.

I'm in the camp that would buy three seats in E+ rather than two seats in F, and then bring an FAA approved infant carrier to strap in. Our Chicco Keyfit buckets were great for flying, as the lap belt went right across the top and held them in rear-facing. The kids could easily see us in the next seat, and it was easy to keep them engaged when facing them. Flying became harder when they out grew those and moved into forward facing seats -- we quickly went to a CARES harness as soon as they were heavy / tall enough.

First off congratulations on the new addition to your family!!

A 4 month old is still a tiny baby. Certainly not walking or crawling or squirming too much, so I think between you and your wife you are ok lapping it if you choose to. Feed the baby during takeoff and landing, and they will likely sleep most of the way anyway.

You don't want bulkheads as under seat storage at your feet is important. And take it from the voice of experience - don't forget to bring PLENTY of diapers.


SunLover

flown with a baby in UA econ and econ + at 3 months 5 months and 9 months. 3 months was the easiest and that was in UA regular econ with 2 seats between baby, wife and I.

We actually pulled our tray tables down put a pillow in the gap between and more pillows between seat and tray table and let the baby sleep like that for a while.

hardest thing was stopping baby pulling at our neighbours headphones and food etc.

100% agree. Flew with our first child as a lap infant at two months and five months...the easiest trip was the first. Very tiny baby (had to travel though), she slept and ate and did nothing else. People behind us, as they were leaving, commented that they didn't even know we had a baby.

Definitely not a bulkhead. You'll want the diaper bag and all of the other accruements at close hand underneath the seat.

If you can afford it, I'd go with three bulkhead F seats. Second choice being two bulkhead F seats. That's just based on my personal experience, but YMMV.

Weather related delays are common at that time and business would offer greater protection. One tip - If the weather threatens cancellation of EWR bound flights, do not check out of the hotel if possible, but rebook on the phone asap.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned: outside of domestic travel, lap infants incur a fee, generally 10% of the adult fare, taxes, and I think also sometimes the fuel surcharges are added. (As I understand it, very airline specific.) I've never personally dealt with this, so others may be able to add more to conversation.

One tip - Should your baby be awake please let him/her suck a bottle on take off and landing to relieve the pressurisation.

Thank you all, this is very helpful and has given me a lot to think about!

We started taking our son on flights at 3 months old. Most were under 5 hours. We started off travelling in coach with 3 seats and than switched to first.

Based on my experience, I am split on the 3 in coach vs. 2 in first.

My thoughts -

3 across works well if you are taking a car seat. My son did very well in his seat for flights. I would take him out to feed him and do diaper changes but for the most part, he was happy to sleep most of the flight.

I wouldn't book the bulkhead because the storage room under the seat in front of me was valuable/convenient.

Looking back, two in first would have worked well for our family when our son was an infant because we would have been happy to hold him. Not everyone wants to hold an infant for that long. Depending on the aircraft, you might be able to make a cozy sleeping area on the floor in front of you. (yes the floor is gross but you can take a disposable floor covering to put under a blanket.)

I agree on the "protection" of business or first in case of delays. We sat at the gate for 2 hours once on the way to SJU and it wasn't a bad experience in Envoy(business) but would have been a nightmare in coach. The extra space around us was such a luxury.

The trips when our son was under a year old were easy. At 3 months and 4 months, it was super easy. Mobility changes things a little bit. Enjoy the upcoming trip.

Some things I did to ease the journey -

Take two changes of clothing for the baby. One change for the caretakers, a fresh shirt at the bare minimum. (carry-on)

Twice the diapers and wipes that you think you will need. (carry-on)

Book a private transfer from the SXM airport to your hotel, if staying in a hotel.

The 10% of a first class fare for the lap infant is going to be expensive. For a four hour flight, I agree that buying three economy seats makes much more sense.