Here are what long flights and car rides used to mean: Quiet time. Daydreaming time. I’d make sure I had a good playlist on my iPod, a water bottle, gum.
And then I had a baby.
Here are what long flights and car rides mean now: A vaudeville show. Step right up, babies and gents, we’ve got jugglers and funny face-makers, song singers and snack givers, a strong man who can hold a baby in one arm and walk up and down the aisle not one, not two, but 15 times for your amusement. A fortune-teller who knows exactly what happens at the end of Where’s Spot? For a 2-year-old and her parents, it’s laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and “Are we there yet?” takes on a whole new urgency.
Sadie’s first road trip happened when she was two weeks old (a four-hour drive for a family beach vacation). She first went on a plane at 6 weeks. And both times, I steeled my nerves for whatever was to come. Have baby, will travel, onward and upward. Or something.
Except… there was remarkably little to steel myself against on either adventure. Or on another road trip a month later to celebrate a friend’s 30th birthday. Or a few months after that when we flew across the country from New York to LA.
Which I still feel grateful for even as I write about it now. And which I attribute to two things: 1) Little babies sleep a lot. And 2) Ergos make traveling with little babies ever so much simpler.
Boarding that very first, with-baby flight, Sadie was in the Ergo while we were on the flight. (We were using the Original Carrier with the Infant Insert then) because she was often in the Ergo. While in the airport before boarding, it kept my hands free to carry bags. She fell asleep there. The flight attendants asked us to take Sadie out of the baby carrier as soon as we began moving, but happily she stayed asleep. I took her off again for landing.
The safest place for baby is in a car seat on a plane. While if you bring your baby as a “lap-baby” and don’t buy her a seat, the use of baby carriers is not allowed during flight travel during take off and landing. According to the FAA: “While booster seats and harness vests enhance safety in vehicles, the FAA prohibits passengers from using these types of restraints on airplanes.” The representative I interviewed said that Ergos would most likely be considered harness vests. He also sent me a link for the applicable FAA regulations, which underline the issue even more strongly: They state that vest- and harness-type child restraint systems are not approved for use in aircraft period.
Sadie slept for almost the entire flight. I read, I sipped my club soda, I dozed. It was a lot like what plane rides had always meant. When Sadie woke up, she was happy. Her dad and I were happy. She looked out the window. Had a snack. Practiced her comedy routine on the flight attendants. Back into the Ergo she went when we got off the plane. Somewhere between Concourses B and C in the Dallas airport, she felt another nap coming on. And so, much to our delight, we continued on our merry way.
These days, though it’s not quite as peaceful as it once was, Sadie continues to be an intrepid traveler. We recently returned from a trip to New Mexico for her second birthday. Later this summer, we’re off to Salt Lake for a wedding and to Seattle to visit friends. So if you hear a commotion back in row 21, rest assured it’s nothing to worry about. It’s just the jugglers beginning the show. Away we go.
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I am a FTM traveling in November to Puerto Rico. My daughter will be 5 months at that time. I'm wondering about going through security with baby in my ergo. Did the author have any issues there ? I imagine I would have to unstrap to go through. Any one have any tips ?
I traveled to Florida in February and did not have to unstrap. They just make you step aside and swab your hands with the explosives detecting wipes. The Ergo was a lifesaver!
I flew from Cincinnati to NYC and both times left baby in ergo at security. They swabbed my hands too!
Expect to be asked to take baby out of Ergo and take Ergo off completely. Expect to be asked to put the Ergo thru the machine. Those are the things that happened with me always at security check points. Expect to take off child's shoes too.
I've done 2 cross-country flights, from Seattle to Virginia and back, and 1 trans-Atlantic flight, from Vancouver, BC, to Heathrow, to Warsaw, with a return flight from Dublin, to Heathrow, to Vancouver. My daughter is not yet a year. For every trip, I found using the Ergo to be amazingly smooth. I have not had to unstrap her to get through security -- just make sure that you don't have on a belt or have keys in your pocket, or anything that will set of the metal detector. Despite all the bad rap they get, the FAA (and European equivalents) are incredibly accommodating when it comes to traveling with a baby. I had to do a more detailed check this last trip home, because I had brought larger-than-allowed containers of yogurt for her. But even that was pretty painless, and they let me keep the yogurt! I cannot stress how easy these trips have been, thanks to the Ergo! I watch these mothers struggling with pulling carry-ons in one hand and pushing strollers with the other, and then having to take the child out of the stroller to put it through the scanner, and just am very thankful for the way I choose to travel. Hope your trip is as uneventful as mine have been! :-)
I've gone on 4 flights with my almost 5 month old. I've used my Ergo every time. They did require me to take the baby out of the Ergo at security each time. And of course for take- offs and landings. But what a lifesaver! So much easier to have your hands free.
What do you do during takeoff and landing? Our baby is only 2 months old... were flying internationally with her “in lap”. When can we have her in a carrier? Any carriers are best?
Interesting article- I've traveled for over 4 years with 2 kids to Hawaii, NYC, LA, cross country multiple times, and I've always used my ergo. I've never been asked to take my child out of it during security, take-off, or landing!
I just got back from a trip and I was asked to remove my 6 month old through security and take off and landing. But I would have been so lost with out it. I am so happy I spent the money and got it. She slept most of the flight with the Ergo on me and my 2 year old nicely watched a movie.
As a side note (while the Ergo is also my lifesaver - every day), the KidsFlySafe CARES harness *is* approved by the FAA for takeoff, landing, and in-flight restraint. It's only useful for toddlers and above (when you generally have to buy a ticket for them anyway), and provides a 4 point seat harness. Worth looking into if you fly regularly - then you can check your car seat to your destination. The harness folds up neatly and takes up almost no space. Plus, it keeps your child sitting all the way back in the seat - so no seat-back kicking! We are very frequent air travelers and HIGHLY recommend the CARES!
What do you do for takeoff and landing?
Our baby is 2 months old and we’re flying internationally with her “in lap”. When can we have her in the carrier? We don’t have the newborn insert for the Ergo. Thanks!