2 Questions: Starting Cereal and Breastfeeding/infant Travel on Airplane

First, feeding is not as big of a worry as people make it out to be. My son (now 2.5) NEVER ate baby food. He gagged and threw up! The doctor said it was fine and that some kids just go straight to table food. He eats great now! He was breastfed until over a year and just ate finger foods when he was interested (around 10 months).

As for flying, I fly a lot with my now 2 kids (5.5 month old too!) and yes, they actually make you hold them for take off and landing. I don't give my kids bottles, and just nurse them during take off and landing. Actually, if they are asleep, the pressure does not bother them either. My younger one doesn't even care if she is awake! So don't stress over it! There are changing tables in most bathrooms. The flight attendants are usually great. I find the changing tables in the bathrooms really cramped and difficult and tend to change the baby on my lap (unless it is smelly). You will not get charged for carry-ons. You can have one carry on and one personal item and there does not seem to be a very strict size restriction. There is a little more leway with parents and kids! Have a great flight and don't worry about it!

Hello T.,
I would definatly wait to start cereal again till after you get back unless of course your Dr. says different. The reasons I would wait are one, if you are going to be switching time zones and messing with his internal clock it is best to try to keep most everything else the same. Also if he does have any type of reaction again you are going to want to be near your Dr. rather then take him to a stranger.
As for the plane, I have flown with my 6 month old twice already. The first time was when he was 3 months and the second was at 5 1/2 months. He did great both trips.
You are allowed to bring on as much formula as you need as long as you let them know, it also needs to be taken out of the diaper bag and scanned seperatly. I never had an issue with it. I know you said you are breastfeeding and my advice is if you can hold off on feeding him until you are taking off the better. If he is sucking and distracted by eating the less likely he will have pressure build up in his ears and the less likely he will notice the noise of take-off. I would suggest doing the same thing when landing if possible. If not the passie should do just fine. I had to do it one way with my sone on one trip and the other on the last trip and he did fine with both. The small little plane bathroom does have a changing table in it if you can believe it. It pulls down over the toilet, a little crowded but doable.
As for your carry ons, I had my diaper bag, a second bag and my purse and again no one said anything about it. Also having him in your lap should not be an issue with any one.
If you are traveling alone, which I did the first time, I will say it's a bit difficult getting all adjusted once you get on the plane. But once you are sat and everything is in place the trip should go pretty well, I found that the humming of the plane actually helped my son fall asleep and stay asleep for most of the trip.
I hope that this all helps. If you have any other questions please feel free to contact me. Good luck and safe journeys
A.

Hi T.,
I recently went through both of what you are asking. My son is 14 months now but he wouldn't take cereal even though I introduced it to him at 6 months until he was 9 months old. I thought it was odd but I figured he would know when he was ready and sure enough he let me know. I did keep introducing it every week after 6 months but not until 9 mon. did he start eating. I am actually still breastfeeding him. He never had a bottle and I figure he'll let me know when he is ready to wean but I did get him down to feedings only at nap and bed time. Your second question I just went through on the 31st of July and back the 5th of Aug. 08, I breast fed him during take off and landing. And yes you can bring a bottle on board too. No bottles of water. The exception is if you have formula to mix it with or just a bottle of breast milk. But I chose to breast feed him duing lift off and landing which was also fine. Good Luck!
From, Jessica

I recently got back from taking my 6 week old on a plane trip to Spain and back and I breastfed her several times both ways. I had no problems or strange looks. I did sit next to the window which seemed more private to me and used a blanket. I also brought breastmilk on board with no problem, you just need to let TSA that you have it. I think the airlines are also more understanding of passengers travelling with children and will let you take a carryon and diaper bag. You are allowed one bag and a "personal item" so the diaper bag can count as your personal item.
I brought my boppy pillow and my baby was on that most of the time, but I don't know if that would work well for a 6 month old. Good luck and have a great trip!

You shouldn't have any problem breastfeeding while on the plane. I did it with a 4 month old, and I'm sure other woman do it all the time with babies of different ages. I just made sure to have a blanket for a bit of privacy. It doesn't hurt though to bring a bottle along just in case. I can't imagine you would have a problem with bringing it- you are just supposed to tell them when you go through security that you have it. You can go to the website www.tsa.gov to get information on what you can and can't bring. Look under 'FOR TRAVELERS', then go to 'Air travel' on the left hand side. Then look for 'traveling with children'.
As for starting solids- if you are breastfeeding & your baby is doing fine with that, there is no need to start solids yet. With my first, I did the cereals around 7 months, then slowly added jarred foods. My second got started around 8 months with some cereal and a few jars- but I moved her to finger foods quickly. By the third, I realized that they don't need the cereal- I started her at 9 months with finger foods- anything we were eating that was soft enough for her to 'gum'. I started with fruits & vegetables and was careful to start one new food at a time to make sure she wasn't allergic to anything She never had any infant cereal. I will do the same with my 4th when she gets around 9 or 10 months. All this to say, there should be no problem with holding off on solids until you return from your trip.

Hi T.,
With my 11 month old boy, we started never even bothered with the rice cereal. There really are no reasons why that needs to be a babies first food. Often it's more difficult on their little tummies than something like oatmeal or steamed carrots would be. We started our little boy on organic avocado mixed up with breast milk. He loved it. From there we went on to bananas, steamed carrots and apples (really soft), brown rice cooked really really soft, really ripe pear chunks...etc. It wasn't long after he started solids (around 6 months)that we simply started giving him soft chunks of what we were eating (within reason) and he's had no difficulties. I'd say, don't stress about starting him until after you come back from your trip. There's never any hurry at this age, and no need to get them into a strict solids schedule.
As for flying...we've flown a few times and nursed each time at take off and landing and anytime in between! :) If it's around nap time, he may just sleep most of the flight, which is always nice. They shouldn't give you a hard time about the diaper bag and your carry on. I believe most airlines allow two small carry-on bags.
I know it feels like a lot of details to worry about, but I assure you it's much easier than you imagine ahead of time. Traveling with a baby can be a breeze, especially if you're nursing them. Less to carry! :)
Let us know how it all goes!
Take care.

Hi T.,

I started my son on rice cereal at 6 months, but he wasn't too keen on the rice. He liked oatmeal, and then we immediately moved him onto veggies and fruit. I wouldn't worry about introducing food until you are home from your trip. He'll be fine since you are nursing him. There's really no magic number for introducing solid food. You do it when you think your baby is ready for it.

As far as traveling on the plane, it's fairly easy when they are small. My son took his first flight when he was four months old, and now he's traveled so much he already has frequent flier miles on several different airlines! Nurse your son during takeoff and landing, or offer him a pacifier. I would bring a shawl or blanket to cover yourself while you nurse, just in case you are seated next to someone who is nervous about a nursing mom. I had one of those (businessman who obviously didn't have children) and he actually asked to be seated somewhere else on the plane because I was upsetting him by nursing my son. He couldn't see anything (I was very careful to keep myself completely covered and not exposed), but he was still upset about it. Oh well - to each their own. You are able to bring a bottle of breastmilk or formula on the plane, you just have to take it out and show it to TSA when you go through security. Carry-on bags are no problem. You are permitted one carry-on and one purse or small bag. Heck with all of the fees now for checked bags, I see more and more people bringing HUGE suitcases onboard and trying to cram them into the overhead bins! And as far as changing stations in the bathroom... not all airlines have them. I know United and American do, but Southwest doesn't. Change your baby right before you get on the plane so he has a dry diaper when you board. More than likely he'll sleep for some part of the flight - that's what my kiddo always does.

Have a great time in Colorado! I grew up in Denver and miss the Rocky Mountains terribly! Best wishes to you.