Long-haul flights can be rough. Awful. Miserable. Uncomfortable. They serve as a means to an end and like everything else in life, they sometimes have a silver lining. For my husband, that means catching up on several movies he’s been wanting to see. For me, it usually means reading, a movie or two, and failed attempts at sleeping. So it stands to reason that flying long-haul with an infant would only compound my misery, right? Not necessarily. I’ve got some tips for long-haul flights with an infant that make it all so much more bearable.

Plan Your Travel Around Nap Times

This was one of the first tips I came across when researching how to continue travel after I had a baby. And I quickly dismissed it because my son didn’t seem to be on a sleep routine at all. And try as I might, I couldn’t get him on one.

New moms, can I get an amen?

But as my son got older, I came to realize that this bit of advice wasn’t specific to making sure your baby was asleep while you were flying. Rather, try and schedule your time in the air around when your baby should be asleep. The reason for this is simple: your baby is most likely going to sleep because of the white noise on the plane so if you can schedule your in flight time around when they’re usually asleep, their schedule doesn’t have to be so thrown off. And if your baby is sleeping through the night, or most of the night, a 10-11 hour flight will be perfect.

Double and Triple Check Your Carry-on

The last thing you want is to be 6 hours in to a 13 hour flight and run out of diapers. Or wipes. Or FORMULA. Running out of formula, especially when your baby isn’t old enough for milk yet, is the last thing you want. My suggestion: pack two or three times as much of everything  you think you’ll need.

Have you ever experienced a blow out at 30,000 feet? Because I have and I didn’t regret bringing a brand new regular size pack of baby wipes on the plane (not everything should be travel size).

In your carry-on, you want to be sure and pack diapers, wipes, bottle supplies and formula, milk, water, snacks and a change of clothes for you and your baby. You want to be sure to have a change of clothes in case said blow out does happen and your baby decides to let you in on the action.

And speaking of what else to bring on the plane with you…

Pack 1-3 New Items to Play with

The younger your baby is, the less likely it is that they will need to be entertained on the plane. My son was 10 months old when we flew to London for the first time and by that age, he was sleeping a lot less and ready to play. I would say that between 6-8 months is when this tip will come in the handiest.

Once your baby starts to be awake longer, you may notice him or her gets fussier more often and wants a lot more face time and stimulation. In reality, this is when parenting is about to get fun, in my humble opinion, but it’s also when it’s about to become a lot more work. So if you can bring a few toys and books on board that are brand new, you can spark their interest better than if they see the same old toy.

For my then 10-month-old, we got a couple of pop-up books with pictures behind flaps or tabs he could pull to make the pictures move. That along with lots of walking around the plane between sleep kept us all sane. Which leads us to my next tip for long-haul flights with an infant.

Tire Them Out Before Take-Off

One of my favorite tried and true tips for long-haul flights with an infant or kid of any age. If you can, wear that baby down before you even get on the plane. I’m not sure if this is the case for all little ones, but we eventually learned that my son didn’t need to take a bottle during take-off and landing. As long as he had his pacifier, he was fine. This was great because it meant that we could sing and play while waiting to board and because it was near his nap or bed time already, he was even more likely to sleep during at least the first part of the flight.

This tip is even easier to follow if your infant is already walking. Our son started walking on his own at about 11-months but for about a month and a half before that, he wanted “walk” us everywhere. This made it possible for us to tire him out pretty well for our first true long-haul in December.

Have a Drink…

Just kidding.

But take the proverbial chill pill. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: you can do this. You’ve got your baby gear, you’re excited for your next adventure, and you’re going to have a great time.

As I said earlier, long haul flights are a means to an end. I hope that these tips for long-haul flights with an infant leave you feeling more prepared for the journey. And if not, the drink, I mean chill pill, should help 😉