With my husband working as a mechanic for the airlines, we have used his flight benefits and have flown multiple times. With S. T. Being as close to a penny pincher without officially winning the title of Ebenezer Scrooge as one can get, and has rubbed off on me a tad, I look for ways to save money – or rather, to keep it until we can spend it on things we actually want.
When we fly, it has always been stand by. We always only take carry on’s (except maybe to ship souvenirs back. Then we go to a thrift store, buy an inexpensive bag/suitcase or duffle, and we check that) and we have always flown with at least one baby, if not two. Both girls are still under 2 years old at this point.
With flying stand by, (check with the company because this does very slightly) each ticketed person has two carry on’s. (One carry on and one personal item – technically).
Our girls are lap babies, but each baby can have a diaper bag.
Baby carriers, strollers, and car seats do not count as carry on’s.
Meaning when we travel with the girls, I have 2 bags. S. T. Has 2 bags. Each girl has one bag. That’s 6 bags. Usually I combine stuff so that the girls bags are an actual diaper bag with a few changes of clothes for them and an extra shirt for each of us, and the other bag is a food bag.
Oh, the beauty of the food bag – all in the name of, “It’s for the baby.”
Here is a list of all the things I have brought with us through security to survive the airport and any possible lay over’s.
1. Reusable Water bottle
You can bring 1 sealed water bottle for each baby past security.
The airports have refillable water stations that have the water bottle sensor. These are great. I usually bring a bunch of these Trace Minerals Power Paks they help keep us hydrated, keep our immune systems up while in the airports and give us something better tasting than water.
I have brought tea bags before and even powdered chai lattes to put into hot water, but we mostly just go with the Power Paks. I’d assume you could just as easily substitute with powdered lemonade, pre sweetened powdered teas, powdered Gatorade, hot chocolate, etc.
2. Breakfast, Lunches, Dinners, & Snacks
Seriously, anything that isn’t liquid (or 3.4 oz or less per container) can be brought through security. Especially with children. We have an insulated bag that I pack with all these things and more, 98% of our flights.
• pre toasted bagels, already doused in cream cheese, and put in ziplocks.
• bacon, already cooked, wrapped in a paper towel, and put in ziplocks.
• juice boxes – only with infants
• yogurt/apple sauce pouches – only with infants
• baby food cups/jars only with infants
• oatmeal pouches put in snap lock containers that you can wash in the bathrooms and reuse.
• chips and crackers
• boiled eggs, pre peeled and (again) in ziplocks.
• grapes, freshly washed, de-vined, and put into a ziplock or a snap – lock container.
•blue berries (or any other fruit pre prepped and put in ziplocks or snap lock containers.)
• cheese sticks or cubes.
Flying standby we usually get to the airport by 5 am (or earlier) to try to catch whatever plane we can squish on. Most of the time, we don’t even get out until 2 pm. So snacks are a must.
Note: bringing food can and will flag your bags for them to manually search. If we have a bottle of water, sippy cup, or Bottle with liquid in it I try to pull those out of the bag and put them in the plastic tote they use to go through their X-ray scanner. We try to put all of our food in one bag so that they only have to search one bag and we can get situated to go to the gate ASAP.
Make sure to get to the airport earlier than you would normally if you are packing lots of food or traveling with babies. It takes more time to do anything with a baby, and airports are no exception!
Other good things to bring with your lunch things:
• Printed top sheet – I like to put the printed side down on the floor and put my girls on the other side to eat and have a clean space to play. I then fold it so the printed side (which touched the floor) only touches itself.
• Tiny Dawn Dish Soap Bottle – dollar tree, I use it to wash dishes as we go.
• Diaper wipes – I probably bring 3 packages minimum no matter where we go. 1 packed away for the trip, 1 for the diaper bag, and 1 more in our lunch (diaper) bag.
• Spoons/Forks/Straws – for those times when you need it, even if you think you won’t, you probably will.
• Sippy cups, bottles, a bottle brush, and baby water bottles. I like to bring a spare and one they use as we go through security. Usually the one in use is topped off with milk or juice as we are dropped off by my mom. (She usually puts it in her fridge if there’s anything left once she gets home.)
This is just a very condensed version of everything you can bring with you, I hope it helps everyone out there who is getting ready to fly with your babies.
Happy savings and happy flights!
– C. C.
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.”
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