[Mod-LadyCoconut]

I was so nervous to fly alone with Lily, but she did GREAT!

I wore her in my beco, wore a backpack as my purse/diaper bag and then had my small carry on... so I traveled very efficiently. Getting through security, etc. was a breeze.

On the plane there was a row of three seats, then the aisle and then two on the other side. I was on the side w/ 3 and had the window seat. I was really hoping I'd have the row to myself. Then a man comes and sits down and I'm all "good morning!" and he just kind of grunted at me. Who wants to sit next to a baby, ya know? I was so stressed she was going to start crying... she likes to be moved/bounced/walked around a lot and I didn't know how well sitting there looking at the same boring stuff was going to go over.

Well the plane wound up having mechanical problems. We were on it for two hours without taking off. My flight time was an hour and a half... I should have already been to Chicago in the amount of time we were sitting there on the ground in Atlanta! But Lily slept the whole time so it was okay. The guy took a mini nap and woke up super friendly... I really think he was like a gift from God! He was so nice and helpful. We wound up having to switch planes since ours was broken... and the guy carried my suitcase and offered to buy me breakfast while we waited for the other plane to be ready. I told him how nervous I was and he was all "It's okay, we've got this... I have seseame street on my phone!"

He asked the FA for a blanket and put it down on the seat between us in case I wanted to lay her down there. I asked for a coke and he told the lady he'd have the same and we'd like to keep the cans so he could refill for me. Just overall he was AWESOME. And what's funny is Lily LOVED him. When she wasn't sleeping, she was laughing hysterically at this guy. She laughed more during that flight than she has all the other times put together. It was wonderful! I got a ton of compliments when we were getting off the plane about how great she did. She didn't even nurse on the way down and her ears and everything did fine!

Here's a couple pictures from my cell phone:






She did take a huge crap that I had to change on the back of the toilet in the lavatory... but it went smoothly too!

Then here we are waiting to be picked up... like 3 hours after our scheduled arrival time. I'm so glad she did well despite our doubled travel time.



Then our flight home today was AWFUL, but again Lily did wonderfully!

We had even more delays. We didn't take off for 40 minutes b/c we were waiting on clearance. Then we had to re-route b/c of bad weather so flew out to arkansas before making it home. The turbulance was TERRIBLE and I didn't have an extra empty seat next to me. The couple beside us were really nice though... the wife was horrified of flying so she wass all sorts of freaked out. Anyway, Lily fell asleep at the gate before we left Chicago and didn't wake up until I woke her up to put her in my beco when we were getting off the plane.

So I got really lucky that she did so well on the flights... I was really stressing about her being one of the annoying crying babies but we did okay.

[Frozendesire]

Yay! glad she did so well That's great that you had friendly people around you! I can't believe how many delays and issues you had. That would really suck

[Trannyfromtheuk]

Im glad you and lily had a great flight apart from things that went wrong that was out of your hands!

[LisanAndy]

You're so brave! Glad the flight went well after the initial delay

[bittersweet]

Originally Posted by LadyCoconut

I was so nervous to fly alone with Lily, but she did GREAT!

I wore her in my beco, wore a backpack as my purse/diaper bag and then had my small carry on... so I traveled very efficiently. Getting through security, etc. was a breeze.

I was so stressed she was going to start crying... she likes to be moved/bounced/walked around a lot and I didn't know how well sitting there looking at the same boring stuff was going to go over.

I fly with Jenna in 2 weeks and I'm super nervous too! Especially since she also likes to be walked, bounced, look at different things, etc. The sitting in one place thing has we concerned.

So when you went through security, did you carry her in the Beco? Did they make you take her out and take the Beco off? I plan on keeping Jenna in the Ergo.

OK..well help a sister out and fill me in on the secrets to making babies sleep on the plane!

[ANGWife]

What an awesome guy to help! It's nice to know there are still polite/good people out there. Great job flying alone with her! We have a major trip to Chicago/California at the end of the month and I'm nervous about flying alone with Henry.

[Mars]

I'm happy that all went relatively well and kudos to the guy who helped out.

[~*sierra*~]

thats awesome, sounds like she did great what a little cutie pie, who could resist being smitten by her really?!

[midnight_starr]

Glad she did so well!!

[~* Helen *~]

Thats fabulous she did so well !!! It makes it easier when you have nice and understanding people to sit next to !!!

[**Jenn**]

That's great she did so well despite all the awful delays. We flew with Liam when he was 8 months old and I was super nervous about it too for the same reasons that he really preferred to be crawling around or up and being carried. But he slept the whole way there and even though he was awake the whole way home he was completely entertained by everything on the plane (our flight was about the same length--from Allentown PA to Atlanta). These little guys can really surprise you!

[szczepanski]

That is awesome that she did so great!! This gives me hope that when I fly home alone with Nolan it would be so tough!!!

[♥Ashley♥]

Awww! She did so well! That is so cute that man was so helpful! Thats really nice when your flying all alone!!!

[greeneyes]

That's so awesome that Miss Lily was totally chill! The delays suck but it sounds like everything went well in spite of it all. I get the BEST care when I travel with kids.

[Chelnae6]

Ahhh I love peaceful and playful flight babies. Beats the crying ones anyday!

She (and YOU!!!) did awesome! What a lovely man helping you out like that!

Originally Posted by bittersweet

OK..well help a sister out and fill me in on the secrets to making babies sleep on the plane!

You might be surprised, the noise of the plane might act in the same way as white noise and she may sleep well. Hope so anyway! Maybe stock up on small brightly coloured, kiddie books and you could show her pics at least! Small toys for chomping on too?

[Mod-LadyCoconut]

Originally Posted by bittersweet

I fly with Jenna in 2 weeks and I'm super nervous too! Especially since she also likes to be walked, bounced, look at different things, etc. The sitting in one place thing has we concerned.

So when you went through security, did you carry her in the Beco? Did they make you take her out and take the Beco off? I plan on keeping Jenna in the Ergo.

OK..well help a sister out and fill me in on the secrets to making babies sleep on the plane!

I kept her in the beco the whole time through security. Last week I read a lot of travel tips for babies, etc. online and it seems most people who wore their little one didn't have to remove them either. The beco (and ergo) is plastic so it won't set off the metal detector. In ATL I just went right through, in ORD they patted me/her down. I offered several times to take her out but they said it wass fine. I did read in places that you have to take them out of the carriers for take off & landing. To me that is totally stupid b/c if there was crazy turbulance she'd be safer strapped to me than in my arms.

But with that said I would have taken her out anyway to be able to nurse her better. You want them to swallow during the pressure changes so their ears don't bother them. If you can't get them to nurse/suck - blow in her face every now and again since it makes them swallow.

My flights were early in the morning when Lily is normally still asleep, so I think that helped with her sleeping the whole way. But the plane also made a lot of white noise and was moving -- so I think its similar to the car, even if *I* am not the one moving her around, we're still moving so she's okay. haha. Plus with you walking around and all of the different sights etc in the airport, she'll probably stay awake for all of that, and then get settled down on the plane and fall right asleep since she's young and has been up for a while.

[alicenwonderland]

awww what a good little traveler! I'm glad it went well despite the delays

[Angelaosaurus-rex]

I'm glad she did great! Flying can be so stressful.

[*Anna*]

fun to read about your flying with Lily. Sorry about all the delays- glad it all worked out.