Flying Alone with a Baby: What I Love and Hate

Two parents traveling with a baby is actually pretty easy. (I’m sure once another kid gets added into the mix it’s not so easy anymore, but I’m going to try not to think about that overwhelming sounding scenario right now.) Traveling alone with a baby? That’s another story…cue the anxiety.

Fortunately (and with a bit of luck) the six solo flights I had with Lulu before she turned a year old were never as bad as I thought they were going to be. Still, there are some parts of flying on my own with a baby that I hate and some things that make the experience much better. Read on to find out what I love and hate the most about flying solo with a baby and some tips I’ve picked up along the way.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means I get paid a percentage of any purchases made through those links at no extra cost to you, which helps me cover the costs of running this site and buy coffee so I can keep up with my very active child. 😉

WHAT I HATE ABOUT SOLO AIR TRAVEL WITH A BABY

Let’s start with what I hate and then get onto the good stuff about flying solo with a baby.

Hate: Taking the Carseat Through the Airport

My least favorite part of flying on my own with Lulu is having to lug around a carseat. I have a convenient backpack bag for it, but it’s still not easy.

• This is the carseat backpack bag I use — I often get admiring comments from other parents in the airport asking about it and where to get it.

Even with the bag the carseat is cumbersome to get through security and awkward to balance with a diaper bag if you have to carry both – not to mention if you’re also carrying your child in a baby carrier.

Still, this is better than counter checking it, since that greatly increases the risk of the airline losing it. I can’t imagine getting to my destination, tired and ready to lie down, only to not be able to leave the airport because I don’t have a carseat to put Lulu into and have to figure out how to get one. Or worry that it got all beat up while it was on the plane.

There’s a lot more to pack when traveling with a baby besides a carseat! Feeling overwhelmed? Download my “Packing Checklist for Baby” printable, which breaks items up into what should go on the plane with you and what to check in your suitcase for your destination… 

Hate: When Nap Time Begins Right After the Drink Cart Passes

Wait! Yes, yes, I will take that cup of coffee. Three cups, actually, please. Buuut, the flight attendants are already past my row down the aisle. If Lulu isn’t in a deep sleep I don’t dare take a drink in case she hits it and sends it flying all over my seatmate. (If I’m flying with my husband, I put the drink on his tray.)

Hate: Strollers in Airports

If you’re flying solo, think carefully whether a stroller will be more of a hindrance than helpful. Lulu started walking early and once that happened she has not been much of a fan of strollers. However, I can still get her to happily sit (outward facing) in a baby carrier.

• This is the baby carrier is I like best for airport travel.

The one time I brought a stroller with us, Lulu wouldn’t sit in it and I ended up using it more for carting the diaper bag and carseat. Which had its benefits, too, but if you think you won’t actually need the stroller in your destination, it’s probably pointless to bring it as it’s just one more thing to push through security and gate check.

Hate: Sitting Right Next to a Fellow Passenger

Flying with a lap baby isn’t so bad when the child isn’t yet walking. Lulu was generally content to sit on my lap and be entertained by whatever I put on the tray and was still so small that even when she excitedly flailed her limbs, I was the only one in danger of getting smacked. Then…she started walking at 9 months and went through growth spurt after growth spurt. If the plane is full and you’re sitting right next to someone you don’t know and you have a lap baby who loves being mobile…get ready for a stressful flight that basically involves trying to keep your child from touching that person next to you through the whole flight. At least when you’re flying with someone else, the baby can splay out across both of you.

On my last solo flight with Lulu shortly before she turned a year old I got lucky. The man next to us on the way there was a kind grandpa who slept through most of the flight with earbuds on, oblivious to Lulu. On the way home I sat on the plane and watched in horror as a man who looked to be in his late twenties sat down next to me. He is going to hate us, I thought miserably. Instead, he looked at us with friendly, interested eyes. Turned out his wife was pregnant with their first child so he was more intrigued by flying next to Lulu than annoyed — a preview of his life to come. Next time I don’t know if I’ll be so lucky so am trying to convince my husband a second seat for our darling toddler (even if she isn’t two yet, when is when most airlines require children get their own seat) when I’m traveling solo is a must.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT FLYING ALONE WITH A BABY 

Perhaps I should preface this section by saying this is more what I love happening while flying solo with my baby, now toddler. Let’s be honest. I’d love it more if my husband could come with me every time I fly with Lulu, but that’s not an option, so…here are things that make my life easier when I’m on my own with Lulu at the airport and on the plane.

Love: When Someone Helps Me to the Security Checkpoint – and Meets Me at Baggage Claim

As in someone, I usually mean my husband, but I’ve had my Dad and brother-in-law assist with this as well. Even with the baby in a carrier so you have both hands free to lug stuff around, it’s hard to get yourself and the baby plus a suitcase, diaper bag, and car seat from the car, through the elevators or escalators, likely down a hallway and then to the ticket counter to check the suitcase and then onto security. Ask for help. You’ll be carrying and dragging a lot of it through the airport on your own after security so save your back and muscles for then.

Love: When I’m Moved Next to an Empty Seat

I’ve been on Alaska Airlines for most of Lulu’s flights and I’ve found they’re very accommodating of mothers flying solo with a baby and try to switch me next to an empty seat whenever possible – always ask this when you get to the gate before boarding begin.

No matter when you fly it can be hard to find a flight not totally full, but if you want to further the possibility of there being empty seats available, try to fly at less busy times, i.e. avoid Friday evenings, Sunday and Monday mornings, and the day or two after a major holiday.

Love: Breastfeeding on a Plane

Ok, I don’t love this. But I certainly don’t hate it. Breastfeeding helps calm Lulu down so she might actually take a nap on the oh-so-exciting plane. It also means I don’t have to stress too much about if I have enough food or water. In a pinch, I can be backup. I wrote more about breastfeeding on a plane here.

Love: Snacks, Snacks, Glorious Snacks

Once Lulu started eating solids, it made it easier to fly for two reasons. She’s not nursing as much and two…she is so happily entertained by baby food. I can’t always get her to sit still on my lap and watch an iPad, but puffs or yogurt melts placed on the tray in front of us will work almost every time.

• These organic yogurt melts are Lulu’s favorite — even I like them!

Love: Earbuds

Not for me, but for the person sitting next to me. I love when whoever I’m sitting next to pulls earbuds out, because I know they’re then just going to zone out and I don’t have to worry as much about how loud Lulu is babbling or if they’re going to be trying to have a conversation with us when I need to get her latched to the boob.

Love: Helpful Fellow Passengers

Other flyers are your friends when traveling solo with a baby. If I’m traveling with my husband, no one offers help while standing in the security line or once we’re on the plane. But if I am traveling solo, people are always asking if I need any assistance. From folding down the stroller in the security line to offering to carry the carseat to the baggage claim to pulling my suitcases off the conveyer belt, people are always offering a helping hand. I don’t always take them up on this, but it’s nice to know others have my back if Lulu and I need help.

Don’t be afraid to accept help either. The first time I flew with Lulu solo, I didn’t realize she could stay in my Ergo baby carrier and the Ergo could stay strapped on me when going through the metal detector until after I already took her out of the carrier. When it was time to get all my stuff back together after it went through the x-ray machine, I had no idea how I was going to do it without having her in the Ergo. And I was at a loss of how to get the Ergo velcroed around my waist while holding her as this was before she could stand and I didn’t want to just plop her down on the ground with so many people milling about.

All of a sudden a kind face appeared before me, uttering the words: “Do you want me to hold her while you do that?”

The thought of a stranger holding my baby would have filled me with anxious dread thirty minutes prior, but upon glancing at the woman’s friendly face, then glancing at her husband and two elementary-aged children behind her, and in my current state of desperation, I deemed this lady was perfectly acceptable to hold my child.

“I remember these days,” the lady said as she cooed at Lulu while I frantically strapped the Ergo back around my body. “Flying with a baby by yourself can be so hard.”

Yes, yes it can be. But it also can be surprisingly fun and empowering. The last time I flew solo with Lulu I had the conveyer belt filled with the carseat and its base (after taking it out of the carseat bag because it wouldn’t fit), laptop, diaper bag, shoes, jacket (which had been strategically shoved into the carseat bag), and a bag of liquids all spread out in under 60 seconds, then put back together on the other side just as fast.

“You look like you’ve done this a time or two,” the man behind me said admirably.

I smiled proudly and kissed the top of Lulu’s head. Yup, flying solo with a baby isn’t easy, but it can be done…and can make you feel like a pretty awesome traveling superhero mom in the process.

You might also enjoy reading: 15 Things I Learned My First Year Traveling with a Baby and Changing a Baby’s Diaper on an Airplane

Don’t forget to download my helpful Packing Checklist for Baby!

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