QUICK AIRPORT SECURITY SCREENING WITH A BABY

- These are edited tips from Mighty Girls blog!

The tips assume one baby, two adults, and three carry-ons. And away we go:

1. Get organized. Put liquids, gels, or powder (including baby food) in clear plastic bags. Wear shoes that slip on and off. Skip jewelry, empty your pockets into your bag, and affix your watch to a bag strap. Keep all your ziplock baggies at the top of your carry-on so they’re easily pulled out and put back.
   
2. Toss contraband. Before queuing, ask yourself if you have any food or water that you’ve forgotten, and then throw it away. If you accidentally stow it in your bag, they’ll have to search your stuff, possibly send you through the air-puffing machine, call out the dogs, strip search you, and so on. It’s a pain.
   
3. Centralize IDs and tickets. Have one person keep IDs and tickets in an accessible pouch or wallet. That person shows ID for the group, and collects boarding passes after screening.
   
4. Get in the fast line. Lots of airports will send you into a quicker line if you have a baby with you. Approach the security agent with your stroller and ask, “Should we be in a different line with the baby?” Blink innocently.
   
5. Prep while you wait. Remove your shoes and laptops while you’re waiting. When you reach the magnetometer, un-stack as many trays as counter space allows.
   
6. Use lots of trays. Laptops need their own trays, as do your plastic bags full of food and toiletries.
   
7. Split up if possible. Ideally, one of you loads the conveyer belt while the other carries the baby through and packs up on the other side.
   
8. Load the conveyer belt judiciously. (this is the most important) That means:

• Remind your husband to empty his pockets so he doesn’t get pulled aside by security and wanded, leaving you to deal with the kids and everything else by yourself (Arrrrgh)
• Put the stroller or sling through first, then it will be on the other side ready to set up and throw the kids in so you can get everything else off the belt.
• Bag, then contents of that bag, rinse and repeat. That way you can zip one bag shut before tackling the next.
• Shoes go last. Either slip them back on, or go sit down elsewhere so you’re out of everyone’s way.

9. Exchange high fives. Damn, you’re good.

http://mightygirl.com/2008/01/24/9-tips-for-quick-airport-security-screening-with-a-baby/

Flying with Baby Tips.

1. When booking you flight check out SeatGuru.com they have online seat maps of for most major U.S. airlines, with comments on which seats are roomiest, which have the best view of the movie and more.
   
2. Ditch your diaper bag. We bought a book bag to bring all Grady’s things in. It was easy to carry around the airport and fits under the seats.
   
3. Things we packed for the plane/airport. Baby pouch/sling, stroller, Baby Pouch/Sling, Stoller (check it at the gate on boarding), mix of old and new toys, Diapers & wipes with throw away bags, Blanket thin, change of clothes, Tylenal, motrin, oragel, teething tablets, gas drops, Sippy cup, baby spoons, bibs, food, disposable place mats, snacks, Nursing cover, Pacifiers, Clorox wipes, Antibacterial wipes
   
4. Provide entertainment. Pack a few new toys if the baby, we borrowed some small quite toys from friends so he had some new toys to play with. Leave noise-making toys at home. Even soft jingle or squeak will irritate others after an hour or so. a mix of old and new toys
   
5. Prep for security screening. Invest in a couple of sturdy clear bags that you can yank out of the tote when you get to the security gate. (By the way, food doesn’t count toward your quart-bag limit on toiletries.) We use a medium bag for all his food. The little quart sized bag houses children’s Tylenol, hand cream, travel-sized butt paste, a nasal sprayer, eye drops, thermometer, etc.
   
6. Prep for fussiness. If you know your baby is a screamer, pack a bag full of foam earplugs for your neighbors. We also find that chamomile or herbal teething drops help calm our baby when he’s grumpy.
   
7. Do a scrub down. We used Clorox wipes to clean our arm rests and table trays. We even clean the light buttons and air vents so everything we touch is a little more sanitary.
   
8. Ease ear pressure. The baby should suck on something during takeoff and landing. Nursing works, as does bottle feeding, pacifiers, or a lollipop.
   
9. Sippy Cup. We packed an empty sippy cup and had the flight attendants fill it up with water. We offered the water to him about every hour or so they can get dehydrated really quickly and even more amazing how keeping them hydrated keeps them calm.
   
10. Order Special Meals. If you are getting a meal during your flight, you an call before (at least 72 hours) and get a special children’s meal some airlines also have infant meals.
    
11. Eating on Board. Most flights don’t have meals, but if you are flying internal you will have a meal. Once you get your food it is normally really hot. We put a pillow behind Grady (so he could reach the tray) and belted him in the seat, then put on a dosable placemat on the tray.
    
12. We checked out car seat with the luggage. We knew we would not be using it on the plane. So I bought a car seat bag from Babies R Us for $19 and then we just picked it up with luggage when we got there.
    
    
    Helpful Websites:
    http://mightygirl.com/2008/01/23/12-travel-tips-for-flying-with-a-baby/
    
    http://mightygirl.com/2008/01/24/9-tips-for-quick-airport-security-screening-with-a-baby/
    
    http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/going/
    
    http://www.travelwithyourkids.com/
    
    http://www.flyingwithkids.com/
    
    You’re welcome to leave more ideas in the comments.

Grady Alexander is 11 months old!

Weight: 18.6lbs - below percentile 5

Grady can now walk while holding on to just one of our hands. He loves to push the walker, still can not turn it. He cut his first tooth last week (bottom left) and now is starting to cut the one next to it. Grady gets so excited when he hears Dad’s car drive up every afternoon, he and Winston crawl to the door to welcome Dad home. Grady’s favorite toys right now is the real house phone and real TV remote.

We had a great time in London. Grady only slept 1 hour on the 9 hour flight to London and 30mins on the 10 hour flight home. But he was a happy baby the whole time. We blogged the trip so don’t forget to check it out: http://kkghoffman.blogspot.com/.

If you read the blog, in London Grady ended sleeping in the bed with us, because that was the only way we could get him to sleep. So when we got home, we had to let him cry it out in his crib. After 2 nights of that we brought him to the Dr to make sure he was not sick. The Dr said he just had a little cold and to keep up the good work of trying to get him to stay asleep in his crib. Then after being home for 1 whole week, he was now looking really sick, he now has an ear infection, so that did not help us with the sleeping issue. But by the end of the 2nd week he was putting himself to sleep and staying asleep in his crib. Then last Thursday his teeth really started to hurt him and his been having trouble sleeping on and off since then.

We can not believe that he is going to 1 year old at the end of month. This year has just flown by and Grady had grown and changed so much.

Continue to check out http://picasaweb.google.com/kkghoffman. Please add comments!!

Love,
Katherine, Keith & Grady