Adventuring Akiva’s First Flight! (Flying with a Baby – Eek!)

So this post is a couple months late but, well, what can you do? At least I’ve been consistent with my parsha posts! Rabbi Ben owes everyone some updates, too. (Hint: “Kokoda!”)

At the young age of 2 months, I took Akiva on his first flight.  Not having a passport for him yet, we could only go so far, so we flew to Brisbane.  On the flight there, he was a happy little bubba.  He nursed on takeoff and landing, which  saved his ears from hurting. As it was a morning flight and he tends to be quite happy in the morning, he slept until takeoff, played during the flight, and fell right back asleep again after we landed.

I chose not to take a pram (stroller) with us simply for convenience – I was traveling only with carryon baggage.  This made things much easier because I wasn’t shlepping so much stuff.  To simplify things, I brought only the essentials – a portable soft (and therefore light) bassinet (the Valco Baby Soft Bassinet – although I got mine secondhand and don’t have the fancy hood).  I carried Akiva in a Baby Bjorn and also brought a Baby K’tan sling with me. I used both, although initially at the airport I used the Baby Bjorn.  The sling is cloth and pre-tied and its sash converts to a carry bag, so it’s easy and convenient to bring with. It’s also much more versatile than the Baby Bjorn, as I could use it to carry Akiva in a cradle position (like a baby koala in its mommy’s pouch!).   Aside from that, I brought a few changes of clothing (we were only going for 3 days so I didn’t need too much) and some blankets/swaddles.  I didn’t bring our staple gripe water (at 2 months Akiva still had some nighttime colic and gas) or diapers, but chose instead to purchase them in Brisbane to save on shlepping.

I packed the bassinet with most of Akiva’s items and only brought one change of clothing for myself to save on space. So what if I wear the same thing twice?  That’s how we travel light! So even with bringing my camera and some extra food and toiletries, I was still able to get by with the bassinet and a small backpack, even having some extra space left over!  While I was away, my parents (who were visiting) shared the burden of shlepping Akiva around in either one carrier or the other, so that no one had to bear the burden on their own.

On the flight back, Akiva didn’t do quite as well.  It was a later afternoon flight, so he was kvetchy.  He needed a nap but just refused to sleep on the plane.  As a result, he screamed for most of the flight.  The plane was tightly packed and the one aisle narrow, so there wasn’t even enough space for me to try to walk him to sleep during the flight.  Even nursing didn’t help him. He was just plane upset (haha get it? “plane” upset!)

I was really touched by how wonderful and helpful everyone was.  I flew Virgin and on the first flight they gave me an entire row to myself so I had plenty of room to play with baby and to feed him during the flight. The pilot himself came over when it was time to disembark and insisted on carrying the bassinet full of stuff for me.  It was very special.  On the flight back, the middle seat in my row was vacant so I again had some extra room.  The businessman who had to sit on the aisle was incredibly understanding and kind, even though he kept having to move to let me in and out as I tried to settle my crying infant.

It really drives me crazy now to hear people complain about a baby crying on the plane. After being “that mom” with “that baby,” I can honestly say that I did everything I could, but if your infant wants to cry, it’s going to cry. Babies are people, too, and they have their own minds and their own ways.  Just because you’re the parent doesn’t mean you can control them (although you’d like to!). And no parent likes it when their baby is crying. If my baby is crying, it means he’s unhappy or hurt or uncomfortable… and I don’t want him to be any of those things! So if it’s possible for me to keep him happy and quiet, trust me, I will!

Anyway, that is all I really have to say about Akiva’s first trip. Traveling with a baby wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be!