Leaving on a jet plane...with a baby

Me: "I'm taking my 6 month old baby on a flight to Nebraska, with one stop in Denver, by myself"
Everyone I talked to: WHAT?!  You are nuts!
My brother was planning to propose to his fabulous girlfriend in Nebraska.  Both families were invited to join in the celebration and surprise my brother's girlfriend at an engagement dinner after the proposal (good thing she said "yes" or that could have been awkward).  When I found out my husband was not going to be able to go to Nebraska for the weekend (darn school and work), I decided that I was going to take on traveling with a baby on my own...I NEEDED to be at this engagement celebration and my little T man needed to be there, too!

I scoured the internet for tips for flying with a baby.  There are some great tips out there. I used some of the tips, but came up with some suggestions of my own:

1.  Give yourself plenty of time to pack!

I used to be a last minute packer.  I would think about what I wanted to pack for weeks, but would wait until the final hours to get everything together and in my suitcase so packing a week ahead of time was incredibly foreign, but so necessary!  Not only are you packing for you, you are packing for the baby, you are packing your diaper bag...and not your everyday diaper bag...a diaper bag to help you and baby happily travel through the friendly skies!
2.  Plan out outfits, activities, and food
Baby clothes, while so cute, have so many little pieces.  I have found that packing outfits in zip-loc bags helps to keep all the little pieces together.  It also makes it really easy to get my little T dressed....pull out a zip-loc bag and the outfit is complete!  In my "Super flying through the friendly skies" diaper bag, I packed go-to toys, books, even my iPad with downloaded episodes of Sesame Street.  A fun tip from my mom was to have a few new items...so I bought a couple small new toys and new books!  T loved the new items and they really worked to keep his attention when we were delayed on the runway.  I would also suggest packing a blanket you don't mind putting on the floor so your little one can stretch out during layovers.  Food was the hard part to plan.  T was still nursing so I packed one refrigerated bag of pumped milk (in case I couldn't easily nurse) and two frozen bags.  When going through security, they needed to inspect the thawed bag, but the frozen bags didn't require any additional inspection!
*Don't forget to pack a snack for yourself...granola bars, crackers, and water!
3.  Practice collapsing everything
One thing I did not think through was collapsing everything with baby in tow to get through security.  Make a plan for getting the stroller, carseat, diaper bag, etc. through the security belt.
4.  Check in at the gate!
I did not know about this step!  Once you get through security, go to your gate and check in there.  Let the airline employee at the gate know that you have items to gate check.  They will tag your items and then you are ready!
5.  Pick you seat wisely
For a baby who isn't walking, sitting next to the window is the way to go.  You can rest on the side of the plane and you can have some privacy if you are nursing.  If you have a walker, pick the aisle...easy access to walk the plane.
6.  Be prepared for take off and landing
Baby ear's aren't the best for handling air pressure changes.  If you are nursing your baby, be prepared to nurse during take off and landing.  Bring your cover and get as comfortable as you can get snuggling up to the side of the plane.  If you are lucky, you will nurse at take off and your little one will fall asleep!  If your baby isn't nursing, be prepared with a bottle, pacifier...anything that will let the baby chew or suck.
I'd love to hear other tips/tricks of traveling with a little one.  What are some of your go-to travel tips?
-Julianne

UPDATE: Suggestions and Questions

 1.  What strollers do you recommend for airport travel?
-If you child is still in the infant car seats, check out the snap and go options:**
[caption id="attachment_85" align="aligncenter" width="300"]Click for website to stroller[/caption]
     We have the Graco version

Click for website to Graco stroller

     If your child is no longer in an infant car seat, a great umbrella stroller will do.  We like the Upton Stroller from Babies R Us.  It folds up easily and has great functionality for traveling:Click for website to Upton Stroller

**I am in no way affiliated with the products I'm recommending.  I am simply sharing my recommendations from personal experience.

What other suggestions or questions do you have?

Cheese and pepperoni....hold the anchovies

My first two years working as a SLP, I had the privilege of working at an early intervention program with children ages 3-5  years old.  During my time at the early intervention program, I was blessed to be supported by intelligent and caring coworkers.  I didn't realize just how crucial their support would be in helping to shape me as a SLP.  My time with the amazing professionals at the early intervention program shaped me and my philosophy for serving our speech and language students:

“Play is the work of the child.” – Maria Montessori

To this day, even when working with my older students, I make our therapy sessions together the equivalent of their "play".  Meaning, our time together and what we work on needs to be intentional, functional, and meaningful to my students.  I thank my coworkers and friends at the early intervention program (you all know who you are) for helping to solidify that theory!
With that, I am pleased to share with you a post by Jennifer LeGardeur.  Jennifer works at the early intervention program where I started my SLP career.  Jennifer started out as my CFY supervisor and mentor, but quickly became a dear friend.  When I was at the early intervention program, Jennifer and I saw our preschool groups at the same time in neighboring rooms.  We spent a lot of time collaborating, and I was nervous that when I left the early intervention program, I would not have that same collaborative experience, but Jennifer has kept it going.  I get emails from her with ideas, new books, new apps, etc. to share with me.  I asked her if she would want to write a post for my blog, and I'm so excited she agreed!  Enjoy...

I have been trying to come up with some fun ideas to get my kids with social language goals interacting in new ways.  Last week, I decided to do a pizza theme.  First, we read the book "Hi, Pizza Man!" by Virginia Walter.  The kids identified the person/animal that came to the door, stated where the pizza was (e.g. "It's on the dog's head!"), and said the animals sound and 'hi' to it (e.g. "Woof Woof, pizza dog").  Next, we sang "I am a Pizza," which they loved and continue to request.  After the song, I pulled out two phones, a wooden pizza and wooden toppings, and a pizza box that Round Table kindly donated.  One student would volunteer to order the pizza and another would volunteer to be the Pizza Man.  The child ordering would call and ask if they could order a pizza and said which topping(s) they wanted (choices were mushrooms, peppers, and pepperoni).  They would ask how long it would take and then say 'good-bye' or 'see you soon' before hanging up.  The Pizza Man would have to remember what was ordered and put the pizza together.  They would then go and knock on the classroom door to deliver it. We practiced appropriate greetings and we ended up inviting the Pizza Man in to eat with us.  The child who ordered the pizza was given the wooden pizza cutter and had to ask each student if they wanted a slice.   On our last day of the pizza theme, we sequenced making pizzas with mini pita bread, tomato sauce, shredded cheese, and mini pepperoni.  Each student was responsible for one item and other students had to request the items that they needed.  They had so much fun!

Thanks, Jennifer!!!