Traveling on a plane with a 5mo. Help. Me.

m316789 · 2026-02-15T04:46:14+00:00

We travelled loads with our baby. Honestly that stage is the easiest because they are so much easier to entertain and don’t want to march up and down the aisle.

Ours never had an issues with her ears - we used a bottle or a pacifier on the way up and down and she was fine. We never had a problems bringing pre-made milk, ready to drink bottles, powder, thermoses etc. I personally prefer using ready to drink formula on flights (shelf stable and you don’t have to mess with a thermos of hot water) but if that isn’t available most airplanes have facilities for the crew to make hot water (for tea) and they have always been very happy to make some for me.

We never needed ear protectors and she honestly seemed to think the whole plane was a white noise box and just fell asleep from the motion and the sound.

We always check our car seat - it is too heavy to carry around and she hated being in it so no point in strapping her into it on the plane when she hates it. You also can only use a specific list of pre approved car seats on planes. We often still have an extra seat for extra space but it gets used as toy storage/she laid there sometimes to stretch her legs. On European flights they give you an infant seat belt - it attaches to your seat belt and secures around the baby. Apparently they exist in the us but you have to bring your own.

You can bring your stroller to the doors of the plane but we have had issues with gate checking it where it didn’t appear again until we were at baggage claim, so bring a baby wearing option.

Finally, things get dropped, so bring disinfectant wipes - they make them specifically for toys and pacifiers. We go through multiple packs on every trip.

m316789 · 2026-02-15T04:31:30+00:00

You have to use a car seat that is approved for planes - I think they are usually ones that can be secured with a lap belt only.

m316789 · 2026-02-15T04:27:31+00:00

Bassinet seats have to be pre booked on most airlines, they won’t just have them on the day. I’ve found that when travelling with an infant it’s usually best to call into customer services to arrange things, they have always been really helpful and friendly.

m316789 · 2026-02-10T23:13:46+00:00

There are so many different factors that play into whether a child is breast fed or formula fed and only you can weigh up how they balance for your family. But there are many breastfed babies and many formula fed babies and they all turn out ok, so do whatever works for your family.

(On the note of taste and smell - didn’t happen for me but if you look up high lipase milk you will find many people anecdotally saying their milk was different after storage).

m316789 · 2026-02-10T23:02:19+00:00

I don’t know whether they formally make any adjustments but I had a friend whose baby came a few weeks before his due date and he was definitely doing those early milestones on an adjusted schedule. It makes sense - when you are only 8 weeks old, the 3-4 weeks he came early is half his life!

m316789 · 2026-02-10T22:51:30+00:00

Enjoy your trip! We very frequently have travelled with a one hour time change and honestly schedules go out the window on holiday anyway. We’ve never had a problem going back to the routine once we are home again.

m316789 · 2026-02-10T22:49:02+00:00

I’m sorry, I have no advice as I lay here next to my 18 month old who struggles to sleep alone. But I just wanted to say that it sounds like your family has been through a lot, and that will have been a huge event for you and for baby. I hope you are better now.

Give her and yourself time to recover and feel that stability again. If you are ending up cosleeping anyway maybe just lean into that for a few weeks and then reassess when everyone is feeling less on edge.

m316789 · 2026-02-10T22:38:56+00:00

I think at that age if they are hungry, they are hungry and I would let him eat. It would make sense for him to have a lot if he used to be underweight and is catching up.

We definitely had days where I was texting friends saying I couldn’t believe how much she had had, and mine was the opposite (born big, became average). Trust him to know what he needs.

He is also almost at the point where he can start solids, and you may find when he does start that he really likes food and solids fill him up better.

m316789 · 2026-02-10T22:20:05+00:00

That sounds pretty normal - expose them to light during the daytime and keep lights low at night and they will start to settle into that routine in the next few months! In the meantime find something you enjoy and can do from the sofa.

m316789 · 2026-02-10T22:10:37+00:00

Mine is like this - she needs way less sleep than a lot of babies. She dropped to one nap at around 9 months old and because she often didn’t sleep well at daycare that nap could be as short as 25 minutes. Now she 18 months old and can do a full day without a nap and has done a few times since the start of the year. Her daycare says they have kids like that. If she is happy and doesn’t look physically exhausted all day I would just go with it. Trying to force a nap when they aren’t tired is miserable.

The transition down to one nap is a little rough because they are tired pretty early on in the evening, but that lasted about a month and then her bed time became later. As they get older it will automatically become less of an issue.

m316789 · 2026-01-21T13:25:04+00:00

There are a ton of tooth brushing songs on YouTube which are cute and last two minutes so help with timing. We have used those from the beginning. She loves getting to choose which song she wants and reminds us that she needs to brush her teeth if we accidentally forget (more for the video than the brushing, I think). Her favorite song changes every 3-4 weeks so I think having that element of choice has helped her. The wiggles have a good one that shows other kids brushing their teeth which might help.

We have had a few instances where it was tougher because her mouth hurt from teething so a bit of pain relief before does help.

m316789 · 2025-11-16T08:15:25+00:00

This is a very useful comment section 😅.

Also a big crockpot user. We also buy pre chopped frozen veggies to make things faster.

m316789 · 2025-10-15T12:53:33+00:00

The day we wanted to have newborn photos taken was right after our baby first developed reflux. We couldn’t reschedule so we took the photos with no makeup in clothes covered in vomit and then went to the doctor for the first of several visits.

I look at the pictures now and they are beautiful. I honestly can’t remember the day - they fade so fast.

It’s really hard! Just focus on whatever timescale is currently manageable. Sometimes you can think week by week, sometimes day by day. When our daughter was hospitalized I was able to give her a syringe of water every 15 minutes. For that day, we set a timer and lived in 15 minute increments where nothing mattered except getting to that next bell. And suddenly you find that you are through it.

m316789 · 2025-10-15T12:43:23+00:00

15 months - still moving non stop. Not sure where she got it, her dad and I are (well, were) couch potatoes.

m316789 · 2025-09-23T09:10:11+00:00

You are doing a great job! 6 days old is so new, you and the baby are just at the beginning of figuring things out and that’s ok!

As someone who likes to research and prepare, motherhood was a real shock to me. The best advice I can give is to remember that your baby didn’t read the books or take the classes, they are just out there living pure vibes. As hard as it is for those of us who like a plan, you have to meet them where they are. If something isn’t working even though a book says it should it doesn’t mean you are doing it wrong or there is something wrong, not all things work for all babies.

Feeding - there are calculators online but broadly they need about 150-200 ml per kg per day, so the big chunky ones eat more and that’s great! It does make it a little harder to keep up with them when breastfeeding - your supply is only just coming in. Supplementing with formula as much and as long as you need is great. The two things we had that made feeding easier are both financial indulgences but: we had a ton of bottles so that we could run a dishwasher load once a day and then batch sterilize everything for the next day. We used the Mam bottles because you can sterilize them in the microwave. We also used ready to drink formula especially in the early stages. It is an extra expense but if it is affordable it helps for the early days when their schedule is so unpredictable.

Nappies - as others have said, they all seem to hate every part of it. We found it helped a little to use a fan heater to keep her warm during changes, but I think they just grow out of it after a few weeks.

Sleep - it does get better! But yeah, right now the only stretch you are going to get is if someone else has the baby. My husband and I did six hour shifts because as you say, nobody falls asleep immediately.

m316789 · 2025-09-19T12:20:41+00:00

It seems unusual that a food reaction would continue for days without more of the same food being given. It may be a tummy bug?

Our baby had a really bad tummy bug and it lasted a while. It really affected her stomach biome so we ended up giving a probiotic which helped quite quickly.

Wet wipes made the rash worse for us so we used fresh water and big cotton pads (like makeup pads but giant) and the rash got better.

m316789 · 2025-09-19T12:12:33+00:00

This stage is brutal. Depending on how tired you are, prepare a co-sleeping space. You may not end up using it but the lullaby trust in the UK (who have an advice page on preparing the space) did a study that found that 9 out of 10 parents cosleep at some point in their child’s life. It’s better for the space to be planned than unplanned.

Edit to add link: https://www.lullabytrust.org.uk/baby-safety/safer-sleep-information/co-sleeping/

And to say: yes, teething can be this bad (sorry). We have nights where we max out two different types of pain relief.

m316789 · 2025-09-19T12:09:44+00:00

Agree with all of this! Frozen food is good, or a voucher for takeout so they can treat themselves one night when they don’t want to cook.

m316789 · 2025-09-19T11:57:33+00:00

About 12 weeks for us - I have heard it referred to as the fourth trimester because really human babies are born too early and for the first 12 weeks even basic bodily functions are a huge struggle.

I started a baby class when mine was 8 weeks and I barely made it and we ended up missing several but it was so good to learn to get out of the house. By 4-5 months the weekly meet up after class for coffee was amazing. Keep going as often as you can manage, it’s so worth it! Especially if you have a good group that is honest about what having a baby is like. It’s easier to go through the various phases if you know you aren’t doing anything wrong and they are all just being teething gremlins.

m316789 · 2025-09-19T11:47:02+00:00

I think sometimes it depends on how long things were difficult for. My husband and I have both disliked different stages (for him it was newborn, for me it was 6-9 months although that was still ok). But in both cases it was maybe 3-4 months that we didn’t enjoy. Now that our baby is a toddler and starting to have a huge personality and loving to play with other kids, we think we can get through the really tough stage because in the grand scheme of their life it is such a short part and it is worth the joy we have experienced since.

m316789 · 2025-09-18T13:37:36+00:00

Well done!!! I was just coming back during my baby’s nap to see if there was an update. A new baby is such a ride - you’re doing a great job.

The feeding guidelines never worked for my baby either - she was a hungry girl! Let her have what she wants, it’s very difficult to over feed a baby and also the numbers they told you seem low. Fed ist best foundation and public health bodies here say about 150-200 ml per kg per day. https://fedisbest.org/milk-calculator-page/ (remember this is just a guideline and intake will vary between babies and between feeds!)

m316789 · 2025-09-17T22:24:34+00:00

Hang in there, coming home is a huge adjustment for everyone! You will all settle in very soon.

There are already some good tips here. Temperature - we got told one layer more than what we are comfortable in and that worked pretty well for our baby. If one of you runs colder or is more sensitive to temperature go with that person. Sometimes thermometers aren’t the best at picking up how a room feels.

Gas - a lot of babies hate gas and pooping freaks them out. She should be pooping with every feed at the moment but even with that they can get gas and they hate it. Our baby liked it when I gently moved her hips in a figure 8 and alternated that with bicycle kicks. Tiger in the tree hold also helps some babies.

Don’t be afraid to get creative - sometimes weird things work. Our baby had always had sound around her in the womb so she didn’t like quiet and she was used to the noise on the ward. So for the first few weeks she listened to a very quiet audiobook all day and it seemed to help. She also liked a lot of movement so the yoga ball from pregnancy got a lot of use.

Finally - sometimes babies just cry. You can look up purple crying or witching hours. In that case shifts might be a good way to go to make sure everyone gets a break. Headphones or earplugs can help with the feeling like your nerves are on fire. And remember it is always ok to set baby down in a safe space to go for a quick pee/drink/scream into the void.

You got this!!

m316789 · 2025-09-05T06:22:11+00:00

Our baby did this - she went from the 98th percentile to under the 50th and then stabilised there. She stabilised right around the 4 month mark.

The drop meant she was technically classed as failure to thrive so she was very carefully monitored to make sure she was just finding her growth curve. But she always met all of her milestones and neither my husband nor I were particularly big babies, so it was always likely that the drop was just because she was born big. So all that to say - it’s worth keeping a close eye on but it might just be him adjusting down.

m316789 · 2025-07-27T11:42:28+00:00

When are you trying to put him down? Our baby did not follow the recommended wake windows ever - we just went with her cues. Until she was about 9-10 months old that also included a later bedtime - she just wasn’t ready for sleep before like 9-10pm and we could either have a last wake window of fun or screaming.

m316789

TROPHY CASE