Planning your first trip with your baby? From flight hacks to packing essentials, read our tips to make traveling with your infant stress-free.

If you have a trip with your baby coming up but haven’t flown with them yet, you might feel nervous. What if your little one cries the whole time? What if you forget basic supplies at home? What if it’s simply too much to handle?

Take a deep breath. Thousands of parents successfully travel with infants every single day, and you’re soon to be one of them. Read on for some helpful tips that will make traveling with your baby for the first time a manageable event.

1. Baby-Wear Through the Airport

Navigating security checkpoints and boarding gates requires as many free hands as possible. Using a baby carrier or sling keeps your little one close and secure while allowing you to handle passports, boarding passes, luggage, shoes, and what-have-you.

Most airports allow you to walk through metal detectors while wearing your baby, which saves you the hassle of taking them in and out of a stroller. Moreover, the physical closeness can be soothing for an infant in a busy, noisy terminal, potentially preventing a meltdown before you even board the plane. Once you are seated, you can easily transition them out of the carrier for takeoff if required by airline regulations.

2. Pack a Just-in-Case Carry-On

Do not assume you will have access to your checked luggage if a flight gets cancelled or a bag gets lost. Instead, treat your carry-on as your source for every essential, just in case you lose your checked luggage or it gets delayed.

Pack more diapers than you think you need, at least two full changes of clothes for the baby, and a change of clothes for yourself. Spit-up and diaper blowouts happen at the most inconvenient times, and sitting in soiled clothing for five hours is miserable.

Other things to pack in the carry-on include extra formula or snacks, a few favorite small toys, sanitizing wipes, and any medication. This bag should contain most everything you need to care for you and Baby for 24 hours.

3. Feed During Takeoff and Landing

Ear pressure changes are the most common cause of crying on airplanes. Adults know how to yawn or swallow to pop their ears, but babies do not have that instinct. However, you can help your little one equalize ear pressure by having them suck on a bottle, breast, or pacifier during ascent and descent. The sucking motion naturally opens the Eustachian tubes, relieving pain. And if your baby is sleeping peacefully, there is no need to wake them, as the pressure might not bother them at all.

4. Create a Familiar Sleep Environment

Sleeping in a strange place is hard for adults, let alone infants who thrive on routine. One tip is to bring unwashed crib sheets from home so the travel crib smells like their room. Use the same sleep sack, white noise machine, and bedtime story routine you use at home if you have space to bring these supplies. Additionally, pack your baby’s favorite comfort items, such as their stuffed animals. Even if it’s not time for your baby to sleep with plushies yet, they can still play and snuggle with them on the plane. This will help your baby calm down and feel safe despite the noisy, new environment.

5. Rent Gear at Your Destination

Hauling a car seat, stroller, travel crib, and high chair through an airport is physically exhausting and expensive if airlines charge for extra baggage. We encourage you to look into baby gear rental services at your destination. Many of these companies can deliver clean, sanitized, and safety-checked equipment directly to your hotel or rental house. This service allows you to travel lighter and saves you from the worry of your expensive stroller getting damaged in the cargo hold.

And before you travel, check if your hotel provides cribs or if your rental car agency offers car seats. There’s no need to rent what is included in services you’re already paying for.

6. Maintain a Flexible Itinerary

The days of sightseeing from dawn until dusk are on pause for now because overpacking your schedule is a recipe for an overtired baby and stressed-out parents. Instead, plan one major activity per day and leave the rest of the time open for naps, feedings, and downtime.

If your baby is having a rough day, be willing to scrap the museum visit in favor of a quiet walk in a park or resting at the hotel. Leaving room for spontaneity reduces the pressure to see it all and allows you to actually enjoy the moments you do have.

7. Accept Help and Ignore the Haters

Every parent fears being the hated passenger with a screaming kid. Though that situation is certainly unfortunate, it’s best to let go of what you can’t control. Know that you might encounter a rude traveler who sighs when they see a baby boarding, but you will also meet incredibly kind people. For instance, flight attendants are usually happy to warm a bottle or hold a specific item while you get settled.

So if a stranger offers to help lift a bag into the overhead bin, say yes. If your baby cries, take a deep breath and comfort them; do not panic about what other passengers think. Most people have been there or have empathy for the situation. Your priority is your child’s comfort, not the silence of the cabin. You are doing a great job, and this trip is worth the effort.

8. Turn Anxiety Into Adventure

Traveling with your baby for the first time is undeniably a logistical challenge, but it is also a rewarding milestone. Seeing the world through your baby’s eyes—even if it’s just a new city park or the clouds outside a plane window—can bring a fresh perspective to travel. You will learn to be more adaptable, more patient, and more resourceful than you ever thought possible. By preparing thoroughly and keeping your expectations grounded, you set the stage for a trip that is memorable for the right reasons.