Flying with a baby: Then vs. Now

Over the weekend we flew down to OK to make up our minds whether we wanted to take the job (we are). Flying with our now-mobile baby made me think about how much different it is to travel with her at this age versus when she was younger.

We took Ella on her first flight when she was almost three months old. I remember being so stressed in the days leading up to the flight. What if she cried? How was I going to manage nursing her on the plane? What if she had a diaper blowout? Oh, and airport security! I sought out advice from everyone I knew about what I should do to make things easier. I panicked over whether her little ears would be bothered.

Turns out, flying with a small baby is easy to manage. It seemed like everyone offered to help us with one thing or another. The flight wasn't completely full so they let us bring the car seat on board and have an extra seat. We got on board, got settled, she nursed, and fell asleep before we even took off. She slept through most of our layover, nursed again, and slept the rest of the trip. I was even able to take a brief nap myself.

Flying with an almost-toddler is a whole other story. I swear she saw the plane and thought it was a giant jungle gym. Tray tables and arm rests are obviously there to climb on. Seat belts are for swinging back and forth. Seats are for jumping. Windows are for banging on. Mom and Dad are naturally good for all of the above. All those fun toys and books that I schlepped through the airport in my 100-lb diaper bag? Forget about them. There are airline magazines to shred, drinks to spill, and stuff to throw. Getting her to nap on the plane was laughable. I worked up a sweat trying to get my squirmy baby to settle down and nurse in the cramped airplane seat. The other passengers still seemed to be nice about everything, but I can tell we are rapidly shifting from, "Ooooh, a baby!!!" (with inner squee) to "Oh, a baby" (with inner groan).

I'm starting to think that the airline rule requiring children two and older to have their own seat is more for the parents' sanity.