First Time Flying With a Baby (Not Fun)

It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! ✌

Our first time flying with a baby was not a fun experience with a 3 hour delay on the flight. Luckily we got to enjoy our first country together after the hassle of travel.

Be sure to hit that notification bell to be notified of future content coming soon! 🔔

⭐ Come Say Hello!

⭐ SERVICES WE USE:

🤑 How to earn money on the road

ᯤ How to access WiFi on the road

✈️ Travel & Medical Insurance (for nomads)

NOTE: Some of these may be affiliate links, which means when you buy something we may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you, and it really helps to support us - so thank you! :)

⭐ About Travel Beans:
Hello and welcome to our channel! We are Alex & Emma, a British couple who have been exploring the world together for over 10 years - from backpacking to vanlife:

2012/13: We both embarked on our own solo backpacking trips through Southeast Asia, where we would eventually meet at a hostel in the mountains of Thailand and begin traveling together. After a year and a half of backpacking around Southeast Asia & Australia, we returned home and to the corporate world!

2015: Travel Beans was born and we filmed our first videos on a road trip around Europe with friends! This was our biggest trip yet.. and you can go back and watch the entire adventure because we filmed ALL of it! This trip took us through Russia, Mongolia & China, on the longest railway journey in the world. Followed by highlights such as staying on a local island in the Maldives for a month, going on safari in Sri Lanka, couchsurfing & hitchhiking in Korea, seeing the snow monkeys in Japan, island hopping in the Philippines, trekking 60km through the centre of Myanmar, exploring the Indian Himalayas, and checking out some of the incredible US National Parks.

2016: Despite an unbelievably memorable year and a half of travels, which we were incredibly grateful to have had the privilege to experience.. we found ourselves in New York City, battling depression. At this point, we decided to go home and confront this problem head-on.

2017: After 6 tough months at home we decided to go away again, but this time with a goal in mind.. to turn travel into a lifestyle. We left the UK with just £500 in our bank account and a dream to make a continuous travel lifestyle happen! We both got online English teaching jobs to be able to fund our travels and to keep creating videos. We can't quite believe that our younger selves decided to take this plunge but we are so grateful they did as we are still on this journey today!

What now?
Over the years, we've discovered that we LOVE road trips and even decided to renovate our very own little VWT4 van into a campervan to be able to enjoy vanlife and spend more time on the road. We are now the proud owners of 2 awesome little campers - one based in the UK and one that we keep in the USA. You'll often find us using one of these vans to explore Europe and North America. If you enjoy this kind of content we'd recommend checking out our Italy Road Trip series, USA vanlife series and our Japan in a Tiny Van series as well as our UK vanlife content.

Our time spent overcoming depression has influenced our outlook on life dramatically! We are now traveling the world in search of what makes us happy. We love sharing the highs and lows of our trips through our videos and hope to spread a little positivity and light to all of the beautiful people who take the time to tune in and watch each week!

⭐ Make sure to Subscribe to our channel for more videos like this one! ⭐

BEANS OUT!

[aairsick]

Emma, you asked for travel suggestions. I am a 40 year airline crew member. I've seen babies and parents on a gazillion flights. The most successful are first and foremost the ones that are NOT STRESSED and are calm and relaxed. The stress transfers to the little ones.

Second, have the child suck on a pacifier, dummy, or even breast feed during ascent and descent helps to keep the pressure balanced in their ears and avoids discomfort. Your flight crew can usually tip you off as to "when" - but usually on descent about 1 hour to 30 minutes before touch down. Better to start too soon, then too late.

I noticed you had the seatbelt buckled around both you and Noah. US airlines say NO to this; if there is an accident you would squash the child. US carriers suggest holding your child, obviously buying a seat for your child and using a car seat that is aviation approved is best. When you fly to the US, I highly suggest getting Noah a seat (you can always hold him for take off and landing, and use the extra seat for "room to get comfy), or use the car seat (which can be hard if he hates it as there's no where to move it to.).

Most aircraft do not have microwaves. Hot water is generally available - for warming a bottle. So consider that. As Noah gets bigger, bring all the snacks. Most parents seem to pack little MINI Diaper KITS in a zip bag, change of clothes, wipe, etc, so they can just go to the bathroom with that little bit of stuff instead of dragging the whole diaper bag. Aircraft toilets have designated changing tables in some bathrooms; ask.

Noah's a bit small, but when he has a lovey blanket or toy, please attach a business card or other identifier with contact information - so many are lost or left behind (the biggest disaster for any parent), so be sure if I find it on my plane I can get it back to you. Babies tend to get out of sorts, and crew know that. Be prepared for the poop blow out and the barfing too. It happens. Many parents find using Benadryl is useful for long flights - it can help with allergies as well as help sleep; ask your pediatrician.

And, the noise. Consider baby ear muffs for sound cancellation ---many parents use on these on board. I don't think it's good to insulate you child from all sound but it can be a good tool; but do not try it out for the first time on board. That never goes well.

You will be fine. Your air crew is your friend. Most are mums themselves and have traveled with their own kids. If you have any special questions, just DM me. Safe travels and NO STRESS EMMA!!! You've got this. Your airline crew want you to be happy and comfortable.

[donc]

Tip- When boarding a plane, send Alex on as soon as they call your row. Have him bring all of the carry on and get everything set up. Have Emma and baby be one of the last ones to board and all she has to do is sit down. It even saves 30 minutes of plane time for the baby.

[bonniehollingsworth]

While in flight you might want to have Noah tucked securely into a pack on your chest and have the plane’s seatbelt only around yourself. That way you don’t get pressed into baby during turbulence. I even figured out a way to nurse my six month old while strapped in this way (and no one else knew). Nursing in-flight and during takeoffs and landings helps babies’ ears and gives you a snuggler to keep you comforted. He’s adorable!

[joanneholliday]

You need to check out Mr. and Mrs. Adventure. They are an American couple that travel the world in their van but just bought a historic water mill in southern Portugal and are restoring it. It was quite the adventure for them!

[patriciamoore]

He's teething earlier than my sons or even my grand at just 10 weeks! My boys were happier with a washcloth I put in the freezer, kind of wadded up with corners out. The frozen result was soothing and my 2nd son looked so cute crawling around with it sticking out of his mouth! You are doing an incredible job traveling with your sweet Noah. So happy for you. ❤

[martinengelbrecht]

Putting in a car seat at 01h17 without an argument is amazing, you guys are awesome!

[badgerpa]

If you can get the teething ice pack or use something you can safely freeze for him to naw on and it will help him. A corner of a cloth wet that does not have loose fibers frozen, when he is a little bigger frozen waffles work great and they even soak up the drool. Cut a strip to big for him to swallow but small enough to get in his mouth and just watch as it melts; cut off the thawed part so he does not end up with a big piece thawed out. I traveled with little ones a lot, get two chest carry devices so you can strap him to your chest (both of you can with two devices) when flying so he is not in the seat belt with you. You can use a thin blanket to cover him and you when you feed him and if you get the good carry device you can leave him strapped in but loosened so you can move him. You are actually very good parents on film so go with your instincts and keep showing your little man some love he is so cute.

[kirshnaegor]

You should connect with Mr. and Mrs. Adventure! They just bought property there and can tell you about all of the roadblocks and troubles they encountered. ❤ your videos!

[therodg]

Portugal is fantastic. Traveling with children always poses its challenges, regardless of their ages. A key element of a more enjoyable time is to maintain, as much as possible, the childs normal schedule, sleep, food, and play. As our sons were growing up we never limited our travel plans. Preparation is key. We and they still have many fond memories of the times we shared.

[junedimond]

Teething- put a water filled pacifier in freezer …. Babies love the frozen cold chewing on their gums. Really helpful when my kids were little.

[cindymerola]

Since you're in Portugal there look up mr. And mrs. Adventure

[monikastep]

OMG laughing at Alex's face discussing car seat install... AND of course... Emma can do it... with baby still strapped to her too :) woman power go go go !

[markross]

Best advice for traveling with Noah, particularly on a long flight, is to book an overnight flight. Should be easy to do to come to the US and dramatically increases the odds he'll sleep the entire way.

[Eric-wsyp]

A suggestion. When flying back to AZ, book a AirBnB for at least 3 or 4 days for the days you arrive. This will give you a chance to make sure there are no unwelcome crawlies in your van or mice. It will also give you a day to clean it up because even though it was inside, the desert sands will get in everywhere. And it gives you time to get everything all set for your travels. Second invest in a traveling stroller/car seat/and high chair for eating. The one we bought for our grandchild was about $600.00 but worth every cent.

[wintergirl]

That little guy is going to be quite the traveler. What an awesome experience you are giving your son. And what a privilege to see so many countries. Safe travels.

[TBonDc]

I remember traveling with our newborn. Mostly I remember being more stressed than anything, just for the kid to sleep through everything and pretty chill with delayed planes etc etc. We went as far to prepare little goodie bags with ear plugs for all the seats around us.

[dmweisbr]

Noah’s gonna be a great little traveler. He demonstrated remarkable flexibility, able to remain sleep as you trundled him through the airport, into his car seat and so on. Getting him out early was a very good call.

[gabygaedecke]

That you are both completely besotted with wee Noah is SO understandable - he is a delight, such a good baby! Good luck in your (relaxed) search for a home base ... the world is your oyster, take your time!

[angelamouland]

Good luck finding a place in Portugal! How exciting. Emma's face when talking about a potential house in Portugal says it all. ❤

[cuddlemymicky]

Next time you might check to see if the airlines has a bassinet to use.