I was excited about the thought of Heston hanging out with his Nana Bhaiy (grandfather) in Calgary. We don’t get to see him often but with me on maternity leave, I thought why not go see him, we’re just sitting around anyway. Dad and I had to bargain on the length of our stay. Honestly, I wish we could have stayed for months – getting that extra help + Heston learning every bit of Bangla would have been amazing… but that would mean his daddy would miss seeing him learn a lot of the little things they do around this age. So we decided on 2.5 weeks.
It’s easy to travel on your own, and not bad when it’s the whole family. In this case, it was the first time going on a trip with Heston without John’s help… so I was nervous. This trip was also different from our past ones; we were going to my dad’s, not a resort or trip to a new city. We were fortunate in that my dad decided he could borrow or buy many of the things I usually use with Heston at home so that I didn’t need to bring half the house with me. Such a huge help not having to carry all the extra items. Dad bought a lightly used Bumbo + Jolly Jumper for Heston which made him feel right at home.
Here’s how we broke it down:
I’ve always packed light. I always worry that if I have too many loose things, I’ll forget something somewhere. So for this trip we ended up using Heston’s stroller right up to the flight gate, and then only carrying Heston’s diaper bag and carrier onto the plane. We checked all the luggage and my weekend bag (always comes with me!) that had our clothing and Heston’s gear and food.
Annnnd the day finally arrived. I got extremely nervous. I rely so heavily on John, how was I possibly going to do this on my own? The drive to the airport was quiet.
Here are some tips to consider (one’s that made it as smooth as possible for Heston and myself):
When purchasing the ticket: book according to your baby’s sleep cycle. We knew Heston has his best sleep during his first nap. So we booked a ticket early in the morning. This totally paid off as he slept for ⅓ of the flight. Even had a mini second nap!
The plane: give your baby a bottle when the plane ascends and descends. This helps with the air pressure and popping their ears. Think of the plane as a large noise machine, the humming helped Heston sleep and also canceled out other noises that would have distracted him. I also highly recommend getting a plane with a screen. This really helped me keep Heston in one place while he was awake.
If possible, request once at your gate if they have space available where you can get an empty seat next to you. Didn’t realize how helpful this was. Heston was able to stretch out and I was able to leave toys and snacks.
Food: you’re allowed to take formula – as much as you like. We ended up packing 2 ready-to-feed formulas so it would be easier for me to just open it and feed Heston. Since the flight was 4 hours, I opened one in the beginning for ascending + nap time and another near the end of the flight for the descent. Puffs were a life saver too.
Tips for security: I realized I didn’t need the carrier. If you take the stroller to the gate, there is no need. I found it easy to unpack everything and walk the stroller through and just drop Heston back in while I grabbed everything back. I think a carrier would’ve been harder. Taking him off…but hold him the entire time. The stroller is also easy to store away the diaper bag underneath.
I’m hoping these tips will help ease the nerves of other mothers planning their little ones first flight, especially if a solo trip. I know that my second trip will be so much easier having gone through this. Heston was amazing and I’m sure I was overly nervous, but still best to make the flight as easy as possible. The trip was a huge success and so happy Heston got to spend time with his family in Calgary. Look forward to hearing your experiences and any tips your would recommend.
