If you are planning to fly with young children, you should better get prepared. He or she is not always the most welcomed passenger on the board :). But some things you can control during your travel. First of all, think what calms your baby, don’t forget about your instinct, make comfortable your baby taking into consideration the other passengers and apologize when the small one creates discomfort on the plane.

Here are some tips for making air travel with your baby a success:
1. In travel industry, you will meet 2 terms: infant (between 0-24 months) and child (between 2 – 11 years). The child usually travels with the same fare as the adult and have no restrictions regarding luggage, seat, and meal. For details regarding travelling with a child, please click here. Keep in mind that only some airlines offer a discount.
2.  The age doesn’t affect the baby’s ability to travel. Usually, the airlines accept infants on the board starting from 7 days old, the other one from 14 days old, for more information check here. Remember that for the prematurely born baby it is better to postpone any kind of travel.
3. Protect baby’s ears: during take-off and landing, help your baby to relieve air pressure in the ear,  feeding or keeping him/her sucking a bottle or pacifier. For children bring a gum or keep them drinking water, juice, tea etc
4. Your baby’s breath: get extra oxygen masks. The air pressure in the aircraft is lower. If your baby is born prematurely, there is the possibility, he/she will need it.
5. Your baby’s seat:
– You can hold your baby in your lap;
– If you take a baby’s car seat, you should purchase a ticket for your infant for the same price as a child (2-11 years old), or in case you will not purchase a ticket, ask about open seats while boarding the plane, if one can be offered to your baby. Most of the car seats are approved for air travel, are allowed only for infants (0-2 years old), is the safest way to do air travel with an infant, but are too bulky for connection flights. Car seat is not considered checked luggage. The following links will help you to choose the right car seat. Please check here and here.
– Book a bassinet or folding crib for your baby. They are only for lap children and should be booked in advance. The bassinet is available for bulkhead row seats and the folding crib is attached to the front wall.  The information if airline offer bassinet or folding crib can be found here.
6. Bring a stroller, especially if you have connections flights or use a sling. For infants, the stroller is not considered checked luggage. If you can, minimize the stroller you use: easy collapsible and not too bulky, e.g. umbrella stroller.
7. Check the luggage allowances for your baby here and here. All passengers, including infants, can have carry-on luggage, at least 8 kg.
8. If one adult is travelling with two or more infants, only one infant can travel as a lap child. Any additional infant should have a ticket for his/her own seat for the same price as a child of 2-11 years old.
9. It is allowed for your to bring on the board reasonable quantity of food, formula, breast milk, water, and medications.  You can also bring empty small bottles and sippy cups, and fill them up later.
It is a great idea to play with the food: bring snacks in different colors and shapes that can be sorted and counted.   
10. If the child has a different last name, you should bring a birth certificate where it shows that you are his/her mother/father.




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