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Summer! time for vacation! Travel with baby!?! It can be done. It takes a little planning. My children's grandparents lived 16 hours flying time from each other so we did lots of travelling when our children were little. With a little planning, it was easier with infants than with young children because they did not need much entertaining. I was also grateful that I was breastfeeding. I had the food and comfort packed and ready with no suitcase, no refrigeration needed. Still, of the 4 allowed suitcases, one was for my husband and me and the other three were for baby. The baby also dominated the carry on luggage. I tried to minimize the carry-on (again thanks to breastfeeding) to the very necessary supply of diapers, clothes, clean wipers and some toys. For over one year olds, you could order a kids meal that they could eat ( I am not sure if that is still an option but it was useful).
People recommend that you book the bulkhead seats when you travel with children but I did not find that convenient. When mine were very young, the bassinet seat was convenient but I usually had to sit away from my husband and the bassinet was sometime above my head which made me uneasy. When they could walk, the bulkhead seats were in the middle and we could not block both ends. You also cannot place your luggage under the seat in front of you because there isn't one so the luggage is in the overhead and harder to get to, or after take off, all over the floor taking up your foot room. I always preferred the seats on the side. When the baby is over 2 they get an assigned seat and you can sit on the aisle with the baby inside. And the diaper bag was convenient. But that was me. Others swear by the bulkhead seats.
If you are using baby foods, you will need a supply and need to check with airlines on what you can carry on with you as they have new rules about how much of what texture you can have with you. You usually can not take water through the security check but can buy a bottle or refill an empty bottle on the inside of the check and take that on the plane.
The experience is tiring for all concerned and when you add time zone changes, you are going to face disruptions in your schedules. A long car trip or a long plane ride is not the time to try to regulate sleeping and eating hours. You do have to be flexible. One tip, Landing and taking off in a plane will cause your ears to pop. The same thing happens to baby and it is uncomfortable to say the least. Just as chewing gum will help your ears, sucking on something will help baby's. I always tried to breastfeed during both take off and landing but a pacifier will help if your baby uses one, or letting him suck on your finger will serve as well.
Just before travelling with baby is not the time to introduce major life changes such as toilet training. ending the paci or weaning. If you plan to travel with baby, wait until you are back home to begin these things. In addition to the problem of working with the new skill you will probably lose ground anyway with all the changes involved in travel. The slight delay will just mean that baby is more ready when you start.
Below are links to articles about travel with baby (from blogs I follow) that offer a wealth of advice and suggestions.
http://www.secretsofbabybehavior.com/2012/06/summer-travel-with-your-baby-part-i.html
http://www.secretsofbabybehavior.com/2012/06/summer-travel-with-your-baby-part-ii.html
http://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/my-overseas-flight-checklist/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+babycenter%2Fblog+%28BabyCenter+Blog%29
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