A) Overly protective parent does not allow child to take part in potentially "iffy" acts such as sleep overs or talking to those said child may some day find attractive
B) Child, once old enough to strike out on their own, has not had the experiences up until that point to be able to understand the world as it is. It is not a pretty place and there are a lot of things to temp a person
C) Child ends up trying all of the things they were never allowed to do which can lead them down the stripper/crack whore path
It may sound nuts, but when I'm ticked there is some grain of logic in that pile of crazy.
So, I decided to set aside my overly protective side and my husband and I took our daughter and hopped on a flight to Vegas (which included a layover, ugh). His family is from the area and it was selfish and a bit childish of me to withhold her from his family. Of course, this decision culminated in me panicking about taking a five month old baby on a plane. She is going to cry the whole way! Security won't let me bring through the things I need for her on the plane! The time difference is going to completely screw up her sleep schedule! The list of reasons continued on in a long list of bitching and moaning. I had a serious Moaning Myrtle going on.
The day came and, paranoia and all, we got to the air port. I was completely beside myself which is very odd because I am in fact a pretty laid back person...unless it is about my daughter then I become a bucket full of lunacy. My husband and I had also never flown together so I had no idea how he would handle it either which just added another grain of salt to my bucket. As we approached the security gates I was literally sweating with nerves. I felt like a terrorist trying to get a bomb onto a plane instead of a mother trying to get baby formula through. Ridiculous does not begin to describe it.
You know what happened at security? Absolutely nothing. That's right. We got to the screening area, informed the guard we had medically necessary items, they hand checked those items and then screened us as normal. Nothing weird, nothing crazy, no hassle. I wasn't pulled into the scary side room and questioned about my open container of baby formula or laughed at for the ridiculous amount of diaper I insisted on bringing on the flight. No. It was incredibly simple. The TSA agents were very respectful, kind, and efficient.
Even on the flight, where I was sure my daughter would scream like a banshee, she played with her daddy and I and then fell asleep. No fuss, no issues during takeoff, just a smooth ride. I concluded that I have the best baby on the planet. There were no problems at all, on any front.
In a nut shell, I've learned to calm down even if I think a potentially stressful situation is eminent. I have to keep to together, but still be prepared and have a plan. You can be calm as long as you are prepared.
List of things I recommend if flying with a baby:
1) Have a bottle prepared to feed your baby during take off. They don't know how to pop their ears so the change in air pressure can hurt them and the feeding process can greatly help that. Some people said that just a pacifier would work but I wasn't willing to risk it.
2) A change of clothes. During takeoff my daughter had a massive bowel movement that ended up all over her clothes. I was thrilled that I had brought two changes of clothes for her in my carry on.
3) Plenty of diapers. Our flight got delayed on the runway and I cannot stress enough how happy I was to have an entire pack of diapers and wipes at my disposal.
4) A warm blanket. We all know how chilly the plane can get and as adults, we can deal with it, but a baby just knows that they are uncomfortable and unhappy. We had a lightweight jacket as well as two warmer blankets for her, just in case.
5) Distractions. Our daughter is not used to just sitting on our laps for hours at a time. We go out, do chores etc and she comes from room to room and place to place with me. To keep her distracted we brought 5 or 6 of her favorite smaller toys with us so that if she started to get bored with one, we had a back up to keep her happy. Luckily she went to sleep before we ran out of toys.
Of course every baby is different and may like different things but from our experience flying coast to coast, those items were my ticket to sanity.
A web site from TSA explaining their policies for plane travel with medically required liquids - http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/traveling-children
I also called them several times to ask questions and their phone support system was wonderful. 1-866-289-9673
