My son was four months old the first time I boarded a plane with him, solo, for a roughly 10 hour flight from New York to Istanbul. “You’re so brave,” friends told me before we went. “I could never do that.” I heard these comments so frequently that I wondered if it was, in fact, going to be a disaster – but there were a few reasons I thought it was going to be okay: the fact that I had traveled internationally a lot, traveled solo a lot, and been to Istanbul many times – so I was confident at least about navigating to where I needed to go.

It turns out that little babies are, in my opinion, pretty much the easiest age to travel with. Maybe not the best or most fun or interactive. But not the hardest. They sleep a lot. You can cart ‘em anywhere. They can’t run away from you in the airport!

Here’s what helped:

The Boob – I was breastfeeding (although I still brought a couple bottles of milk with me for some reason – I guess I was nervous about nursing in public on a plane – spoiler alert, no one cared about that). Whether using the boob or bottle, feeding helps babies relax and reduces the pressure in their little ears during take-off and landing, which is when most babies cry.

Bassinet – Many airlines offer bassinets for long-haul international flights that conveniently hook onto the wall in front of your seat. You have to make sure to reserve a seat in the right row on the airplane for this – which usually means paying extra, and you’ll likely be next to the queue of people waiting for the bathroom, but is totally worth it. Traveling with a lap infant in economy class is cramped and difficult, but this gives you someplace safe to lie them down when they’re sleeping so you can actually have a little space for yourself to do things like eating, watching a movie, or getting a little sleep yourself.

Being Hands-Free – On this trip, I chose to fly without a stroller, which might seem nuts, but worked. As I was traveling alone with my baby, I was worried about having to collapse the stroller for security while holding him, so I carried him through the airport in our BabyBjorn carrier, with our diaper backpack as our carry-on. I checked one large suitcase for the two of us. Because I was going to visit my mother-in-law, I ordered an inexpensive stroller in advance to have waiting for us in Istanbul, and then I left it behind at her house for future visits.

Dressing Right – Aside from the baby carrier and backpack, I also like wearing leggings with pockets while navigating airports – that way our passports, boarding passes and phone can be easily accessible without having to open up the backpack, and I’m less worried about losing them.

Also in the clothing department, I wore a crossover style nursing hoodie, which let me feel like I had a little more privacy while nursing on the plane, without draping a scarf over myself or anything like that. I still almost always travel wearing my Blundstone boots, or any other shoes I can take off and put on hands-free.

I’m the girl who packs eight pairs of underwear for myself for a four day trip, so take this part with a grain of salt. For my son, at this age, in our carry-on bag, I packed 3-4 changes of clothes, a diaper for every 2 hours of travel time (plus a couple extra in case we were delayed at all), burp cloths, small plastic bags to store dirty clothes (or diapers if I couldn’t find a trash can immediately), wipes, infant Tylenol (acetaminophen/ paracetamol), pacifiers, a hat and jacket (depending on the weather), and a thin swaddling blanket.

Noise Control! Airports and airplanes are loud and overstimulating for little babies. There are loud gate announcements every couple of minutes, there’s the noise of people talking, the background noise of jet engines, not to mention other children that may be crying and having a hard time with travel (not to mention the adults throwing tantrums). These earmuffs helped my son stay pretty calm through it all – this design with the strap going over their forehead avoids putting pressure on their fontanelle!

Kind Strangers – on the way there, I sat next to an older Turkish-American gentleman. At first, I was worried about bothering him, but he was a dad and grandfather himself and loved talking to my son. He even held him once or twice so I could get up and go to the bathroom alone. 

Things that were hard:

Other People – while I sat directly next to someone who was very kind, unfortunately across the aisle was a family that was truly obnoxious. Actually, it was mainly the parents who were awful – the kids were just being kids. But just loud and rude the whole time – nothing I could do about that.

Communication – accessing public WiFi in Turkey is annoyingly complicated as a foreigner, even at the massive Istanbul airport. Turkish telecommunications laws are just one thing on a long list of things I don’t understand in Turkey, but that would be the subject of another article. I had trouble being able to call or text my mother-in-law once I landed and it took a while for us to find each other. I was sweaty and tired and not pleased to be wandering the whole length of the Istanbul arrivals hall while carrying a baby and pushing a luggage cart. Now that e-SIMs are a thing, I buy a data package before I travel and my phone usually works seamlessly.

There’s no denying these long flights are not easy: I’m always tired and more than a little sweaty when we finally arrive. In those times, I try to remind myself that even on the worst flights, you get through it. One way or another, even if your kid screams the whole time, even if you have a poop explosion, your plane will land, you’ll get where you’re going, and it’ll be done. You’ll get through it. And most of the time, if you plan well and know what to expect, it’ll go great.