Timing is Everything

• Uncomfortable seats, limited legroom and strangers crowded to your right and left don't exactly make for an enjoyable experience in-flight; worrying about your baby crying or misbehaving only makes the discomfort worse. When you book your flight consider your child's naptime or bedtime schedule and plan your flight around one or the other. This allows you the opportunity to endure a quiet flight with a--hopefully--sleeping baby. Provide the baby with a bottle or rub her back to rock her to sleep when you board and hopefully she'll sleep for the majority of your flight.
  
  

Cabin Pressure

• Despite the Transportation Security Administration's rules regarding liquids carried on board any flight, baby essentials are an exception. Pack your baby's diaper bag with formula or milk and water to mix the formula and snacks. Declare each at the security checkpoint; don't be surprised if you are asked to remove the items from your bag for testing. A quick test to ensure your baby items are just baby items and you are free to finish your trip through security. Mix a bottle when you board and have it ready to feed your baby. When taking off and landing the cabin pressure changes drastically, which you may know causes your ears to pop. While this is not a painful experience for you, it is for your little one and having something to suck on, such as a bottle, will reduce the pressure and stop the popping sensation.
  
  

Choosing your Seats

• Babies fly for free. While this is great for your budget it's not so great when you realize it means you have to carry your baby in your lap during your entire flight. If you choose not to pay for a seat for your baby so she can sit next to you in her car seat, carefully choose your seating arrangement. Most people want to sit as close to the front of the plane as they can so they can get off their flight quickly. When you book your plane ticket, consider choosing the last row of the plane for your seat. If your flight isn't fully booked you have a greater chance of not having anyone sitting with you, which means that you can have more room to put your bags, your baby--if she's old enough to sit up on her own--and all of the necessities you need to entertain your child. Your child also has the freedom to play in her own seat rather than solely on your lap. She should always be strapped in for safety purposes.
  
  

Arriving Early

• Airline security measures put in place after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks require passengers to arrive at the airport hours before your flight departs to ensure enough time to navigate your way through security and other airport delays. When you're traveling with a baby you need to arrive even earlier. Changing diapers, making bottles, snacks and soothing a fussy baby take more time than most parents realize, when time is of the essence. In addition, when going through security checkpoints you have to empty your stroller, fold it and put it on the security belt, remove your shoes, empty your pockets, remove your belt and jacket and then remove your baby's shoes and jacket. Once you make it through security you get to put all of that back on both yourself and your child. You'll need the extra time.