Mum Travel Moments

Our First Flight with Baby

So you’re planning your first flight with a baby. If you’re off on holiday, this is probably not the part you are looking forward to the most. Unfortunately, there’s no way of knowing quite how your little one is going to react – it’ll depend on the day more than anything else!

Our first flight as a family was to Cyprus, flying from London Gatwick with British Airways, when our daughter was three months old. We had a couple of things working in our favour. Firstly, travelling when they are this young can actually be easier: they are not yet mobile; are likely to sleep happily on your lap; and need *relatively* little entertaining. Secondly, I was breastfeeding at the time which I found to be an incredibly effective comfort device when needed!

On that note, whether breastfeeding or not, my first piece of advice is try to feed them on take-off. Cabin pressure in planes is so much better than it used to be but this is the best way I know to prevent the baby’s ears from “popping” as a result of the change in cabin pressure – saving a huge amount of agro. 

Secondly, be prepared for the cabin pressure change poonami! Certainly when we travelled with our first daughter, on just about every flight we took her on under the age of one, we could just about guarantee that a serious nappy incident would occur during take-off while the seatbelt sign was still on. I quickly became ready to jump up the second we were allowed and made sure to be on the aisle seat with the nappy bag and a spare change of clothes easily accessible.

My top packing recommendations

So that brings me on to recommendations for your carry-on bag for your first flight with a baby (0-8 months):

• A couple more nappies than you think you will need for the duration of the flight
• Spare clothes – at least 2 sets for the baby plus 1 for you and whoever else you may be travelling with (arriving on holiday with your top covered in baby vomit or the victim of a poonami does not help get you in the holiday mood).
• If you’re not breastfeeding, then of course enough formula and bottles to last the flight. You can take as much liquid formula or milk for your baby as needed through airport security, exceeding the 100ml limit, just make sure you still declare it as security will need to screen it separately.
• 2 x packs of baby wipes (one in the nappy bag and one easily accessible for other in-seat spillages or issues).
• A couple of muslins.
• Calpol (or similar) and syringe. On our return flight from Cyprus, our daughter started to have her first teething pains (early at three months). We were very glad to have some Calpol with us although it did go all over both me and my husband as we tried to get it onto a spoon to feed to her – hence I recommend buying the version that comes with a syringe for easier application!
• A head rest or small pillow for you to rest your arm on when the baby (hopefully) falls asleep.
• A small blanket (if the airline doesn’t provide these).
• I also found a breastfeeding cape very useful on the flight (see photo below) for feeding and creating a little snooze zone for baby where she wasn’t being disturbed during busy times.
• For a young baby, you don’t need a lot of toys, but I would recommend a couple of suction fidget spinners – these can be stuck onto the window or seats and are a good distraction for little ones. We also found a montessori “busy book” a good toy for flights, especially as they start to get slightly older around the 6 months and upwards mark. They are relatively compact but are filled with strings, cogs and different materials to keep little fingers occupied.

Holiday mode activated

Once we had landed after that first flight, I think our relief at having survived this first travel milestone was equal to the happiness of being on holiday and greeted by the warm Cypriot sun! We jumped into the taxi transfer (make sure to request an infant car seat in advance and state the baby’s age so you are given the correct type) and headed to the Amara hotel close to Limassol on the south coast.

Just a quick note here on the hotel itself, as it would feel remiss not to mention the fantastic stay we had there.

Amara is a very modern and sleek hotel with great sea views from all the rooms. Service was wonderful; especially attentive around the pool and in the restaurants when we arrived with a young baby in tow. Beautiful pools (including an indoor pool and spa in case you were visiting in the colder months) and stand-out restaurants. We particularly enjoyed Matsuhisa (a NOBU Japanese-Peruvian restaurant), Italian Ristorante Locatelli, and internationally renowned Beefbar outpost. As with most of the big Cyprus hotels, the fine dining restaurants are not cheap but we did have good experiences there. We also found a great beach restaurant PlusSea, just a few minutes stroll along the boardwalk, which was a lovely spot for lunch and drinks. Plus proximity to the hotel made it very doable with a buggy.

The kids club at Amara is complimentary and available for children aged 4 to 12 years. Given we were traveling with our three month old we didn’t use it but also didn’t feel like we needed it on this particular holiday given she was so young. Luckily, she slept in the reclined YoYo travel buggy + SnoozeShade set up during most lunches and even for short stints under the pool parasol, allowing us a little bit of chill time!

Overall the hotel has a sophisticated, adult vibe (which was what we were looking for!) whilst still being very welcoming to a young family. They provided a changing mat, bedside crib, baby bath and bottle steriliser for our room and have a baby menu of purées and toddler food available for those with slightly older little ones.

We had a wonderful stay and would definitely return!