Traveling With Baby

Traveling has been a passion of mine for many years, prior to meeting my husband even. When we met, this became a favorite thing for us to do. Initially when I found out we were pregnant, I worried my travel would come to a screeching halt. I feared it being problematic and difficult to ensure our son would have everything he needs while on the go adventuring a new place. Early on postpartum, I got the itch and in December, Chris & I decided we would plan our first out of state trip with George to Florida. We would be flying into Orlando on a 2-ish hour flight with only carry ons.... we could do this! Since my husband is a commercial pilot, that comes with perks, such as free flights flying stand-by. The only caveat to this is that you can not check any bags, but for the short weekend trip, we felt we had this literally in the bag. 

I strategically packed everything and my biggest worry was going through security with my breast pump, milk, bottles, and equipment. I had to process through alone too since Chris was already in the airport and we were meeting him at his gate that he was returning to. I also chose to bring George in his car seat so we had one for our rental car when we arrived (NOTE: that is something you can rent from the car rental places, ours charged $13/day & I didn't want to pony up the extra cash, so we brought ours instead). An item such as this, a stroller, or like items are eligible to be gate checked and travel to your destination at no charge-SCORE! Making my way through TSA's security I had to get my breast milk physically checked, which was fine, but the TSA agents kept turning the cooler I brought on it's side & subsequently kept spilling my expressed milk, even though I had asked them not to right beforehand (which stressed me out & pissed me off- to be honest.) But after we made it through the gate and I was able to meet up with Chris everything was smooth sailing from then on. We found a breastfeeding room near our gate in Detroit and I was able to pump prior to getting on our flight, I even pumped during as we taxied in Florida to our final gate which was nice because we had to pick up our rental car and drive to our hotel still after, so I had made a bottle for him for arrival. For this, I had just covered myself up with his blanket which worked out nicely. 

To our surprise, George slept the entire flight & didn't make a sound even when he was awake while we sat on the plane and waited for deicing (almost an additional hour!). The couple behind us told us they didn't even know there was a baby in the seat in front of them when we stood up to depart, which left us feeling relieved. But know that if you are flying into Orlando.... there are going to be many children on that flight hahaha. We got our rental, hooked George in & were on our way to drive to Jupiter, FL. 

Now, the next big hurtle that I didn't even think of at the time since George was only drinking breastmilk, is now we have a confirmation of allergies to egg, dairy, and peanut (to include any product containing any of these allergens). This is going to throw a bit of a wrench in things when it comes to travel, but doesn't make it impossible. We will have to utilize grocery stores instead of eating out which is one of our favorite past times. But we can select stays that have a kitchen in them and pick up our food at the grocery store. That's to say that he doesn't grow out of the dairy and egg allergy. These are the two most common allergies among babies & most children will grow out of them, so our fingers are crossed. 

I have learned that my son needs my husband & I and very little creature comforts outside of his milk, diapers, and wipes. Traveling is VERY possible and getting him accustomed to it is the best way to ensure we continue to travel while also instilling in him a love of seeing the world and exploring! We are currently looking at planning a few more trips in the upcoming months and of course this will look different than our first time since George is a bit older and has begun eating solids, but I am more than up for the challenge!