Pack with me!...flying with an 8 month old

Daunting to say the least. My feelings of our first holiday abroad since little Leo was born were met with so much excitement but then came the worry. I have flown so many times before and it’s a hassle enough knowing what you can and can’t pack, let alone bringing baby formula and milk bottles into the equation. We were off to Bordeaux, a long weekend in the city to explore and get away from the hustle and bustle of the everyday. I have been so looking forward to this. My weeks left of maternity leave are dwindling fast and soon enough I will be back properly so it was amazing to soak in these baby days and have some proper family time. Three nights, three days...normally I would pack a small hold bag at best and be done with it but who knew that one new member to your family meant three new bags!! We flew with RyanAir and having been on time (ish) there and back and the staff being lovely I find it ungrateful to complain. The only thing I would say is beware of luggage limit when flying! We paid for priority boarding and so got a big bag (the word ‘big’ is used very loosely here!) 55x30x20cm and a smaller one 35x20x20cm! And thank heavens we also got one changing bag allowed for Leo. So what I thought is that I’d do a quick rundown of what we packed in Leo’s on-flight bag for anyone else flying with a little monster!

Leo’s changing bag 

*1x baby carrier, ours is the Chicco lightweight. We made the brave decision to not take a pram with us and were so glad we did. It would have been double the packing and hassle and Leo loves bobbling around on our fronts!

*2x baby grows (absolutely integral for those bum explosions!)

*2x vests

*1x spare pair of leggings

*8x nappies Tesco own brand

*1x full pack of mamia nappy wipes

*1x bonjela

*1x infant calpol (make sure it’s under 100ml)

*1x sudocrem (again under 100ml)

*1x soft toy

*2x rattles

*2x flat picture books for entertaining

*4x bottles with sterilised water

*Enough formula for four bottles, we use Cow&gate follow on  milk 6-12months and use a formula separator to store them neatly and cleanly.

*1x bag of Ella’s kitchen carrot baby crisps

*1x sterilised dummy (during take off and landing the air pressure plays havoc with tiny baby ears so them having something to suck is a saving grace)

*1x woolly hat

*1x pair of mittens

*2x socks

On my next post I’m going to do all about our experience exploring a city with a little one but I wanted this to be specifically for flying! I feel totally blessed having come out of this experience loving Leo more than ever. He charmed the whole RyanAir cabin crew, laughed at fellow passengers and slept through take off! Not to say there weren’t some grizzly moments but he was more than I’d ever hoped. For those niggly bored and teething moments I recommend distracting with a toy or just talking and pulling funny faces. Thankfully baby bear is literally the most ticklish individual I’ve ever met so that helps too. My only other tip is be prepared, have your passport and boarding passes out incase your little one falls asleep on you or throws up on you and you’ve suddenly run out of hands to hold things! And also to pack lots of baby grows, they take up very little space, are super comfy to travel in and nice and easy to throw in the washing machine when you regretfully get home! My favourite are super soft NEXT all in ones and at eight months old Leo wears age 9-12 months!