First Airplane, Security Line Blow Out, & Temporarily Lost Stroller

Before having baby girl, we knew that we wanted to continue traveling and exploring. We decided her first airplane trip would be when she was just shy of two months old. We flew from California to Chicago. Overall, 10/10 recommend traveling with this age. It was much easier than we anticipated, but we still learned a few things.

Arriving at the airport, we thought we left ample time, but we used up every minute extra minute that we had. Plan to arrive early and then tack on an extra buffer time to that. With TSA pre-check, the security line was fairly short. We fly with the Doona and we should have practiced folding it up to go through the scanner in advance. Apparently the only way it fits is collapsed, the handle all the way forward, and then placed on the conveyer belt upside down. Thankfully, my husband handled this.

Meanwhile, I picked up my sleeping baby from the stroller. Surprise, massive silent blowout that I didn't detect until already holding her. I carried her through the metal detector and discovered the blowout got all over my sweater, her outfit, and one hand. From there on out, I had one hand to coordinate TSA screening my breastmilk, as the other was essentially holding a baby and poop. Breastmilk can go through TSA in amounts larger than 3 oz, but is subject to additional screening. Read up on the rules and have a copy with you when going through TSA to be safe.

After security, we had to divide and conquer. My husband took the stroller into the men's room to clean it up. I took baby into a family restroom to get her fully changed and to clean myself up. Luckily I had on multiple layers and an extra shirt in the diaper bag. Always bring a back up!

When we met back up at the gate, my husband got a gate tag for the stroller/carseat and we had to figure out how to get it folded back into its travel bag. Again, in hindsight, we could have practiced this in advance. Once we got onto the plane, we got everything we needed set up. Extra burp cloths easily accessible, clipped the pacifier to ourselves so no risk of it falling onto a dirty airplane floor, and had some light blankets ready to keep her warm. As for outfits, I do not recommend dressing baby in any pants for a plane ride. Bathrooms are cramped and you don't want to struggle to get pants on and off whenever you need to change a diaper. Just use a swaddle blanket for warmth.

The flight itself was so easy. She slept or ate essentially the whole time. My anxiety over flying with an infant definitely had me watching the flight tracker and setting random duration goals with the hope she would stay asleep or calm. I would hope she would stay asleep for five more minutes, until we passed over a specific state, until we hit the half way mark, etc. It was a way for me to pass the time.

As for changing her diaper, we each took a turn. We only brought 2 diapers, wipes, and the changing pad into the bathroom itself. Not the whole diaper bag. There isn't room. The changing table is behind the toilet and pulls down. As my husband enlightened me, apparently the gents can use the facilities while the baby is on the changing table. That isn't feasible for the ladies. But, if traveling solo, I have heard that a trick for the ladies is to wear baby in a carrier while using the restroom. Not the easiest feat, but it gets the job done.

When disembarking, I asked the flight attendance if gate checked baggage will be on the jetbridge or if it will go all the way to baggage claim. She said baggage claim. This was our biggest mistake. If you gate check a stroller/carseat, do NOT leave the gate without it. I probably wasn't clear enough (didn't explicitly say stroller) and she probably misunderstood me. I had never gate checked an item before, only gate checked rolling baggage when overhead bins are full. There can be a difference in how those are treated for pickup.

We get to baggage claim and the stroller isn't appearing. We check in with the baggage folks and they say it will likely be in the bulky item pick up. Nope. A customer service representative helps us out and has someone behind security confirm that the stroller was sitting at our arrival gate. They had to send someone to locate it and bring it to baggage claim. It ended up being nearly 3 hours before we got her carseat/stroller. Baby girl was great during this whole time and I managed to breastfeed standing up for the first time, but it could so easily have been avoided. We learned our lesson and will not be leaving a gate without our gate checked items in hand in the future!