28 | November | 2012 | Yoon Family Adventures

I can now add “going to the bathroom on an airplane while simultaneously holding a baby” onto my mom-resume. 🙂

This past Thanksgiving, I flew out to Chicago with Karis to spend time with my family. Sam wasn’t able to come with me, so I was pretty anxious about traveling by myself. There was so much Sam did the last time we traveled, it was hard to imagine doing everything by myself.

It ended up working out really well, however, and there were many things I was thankful for on the flights…

Alaska Airline lady: We arrived at John Wayne airport in the morning. Sam parked so he could help us check in. I had one suitcase as well as the infant carrier/car seat to check in. Last time we had taken the stroller and carrier through security and checked it right before boarding, but to reduce the amount of luggage I had to deal with, we just took the infant carrier this time and checked it in before security. You can check it i for free.

We wanted to get a plastic bag to wrap the carrier in so it wouldn’t get dirty. When we asked, however, American Airlines said that they didn’t have the plastic bags anymore but that I could buy it from a different airline. So I walked over to Alaska Airlines, asking a lady if there was a plastic bag I could buy. She said they had them but that travelers were supposed to get it only from their own airlines… but then she changed her mind and said, “Ah why not, I’ll give ya one.”

That was cool! Here’s the carrier with the plastic bag in it that the security peeps would package and tape up.

Trailing Sam: Sam walked us all the way up to the security checkpoint. And then it was goodbye. I just had the diaper bag and the ergo to put through security and I was carrying Karis.

One of the TSA guys told me that next time I could keep Karis in the ergo to walk through, which I noted to do on the flight back. Once we were through we turned back to say bye to Sam who was standing, watching and waving.

I started walking towards my gate with Karis, which was on the other end of the airport. But as I looked to my right, Sam was walking with us from the other side. Every once in a while, there would be a wall but then it would open up so you could see across… and there was Sam! So we walked the length of the airport “together,” waving to Daddy here and there until we reached our gate. 🙂

Hip Mom: As soon as I got on the plane, a hip looking mom who was already seated with her three elementary/middle school-age kids greeted me. She asked how old Karis was and then pointed over to her daughter. “There’s your babysitter,” she said. “If you ever need to go to the bathroom, just let us know.”

That was so nice because that was one of my biggest fears. How did people traveling alone with kids go to the bathroom if they had an emergency?

I thanked her and the hip mom said, “No worries. It’s the mom code. I’ve traveled a lot with these three kids, so I know.”

“Wow, three kids!” I said.

“Well, 4, actually, if you count my husband.”

Haha.

Canadians: When booking my flight, there were only middle seats available, so I was hoping that I would sit next to someone who wouldn’t mind switching seats with me so I could have the window. I ended up sitting next to a dad of a 3 year old and 11 month old, and a young grandma who was flying to visit her grandkids.

And they were both Canadian! At one point, when I was sort of dozing off with Karis, I heard them chatting about hockey. They seemed very happy to run into another fellow Canadian. They were very friendly and understanding of Karis when she went into their space. Ohhhh Canada….

One of the first things the grandma said was that she would be more than happy to hold Karis if I ever had to go to the bathroom. How cool, I thought. Two people addressed my fear before we even took off!

Naps: Karis was pretty sleepy during take-off but couldn’t/wouldn’t fall asleep on my lap. That was the only time she was starting to get fussy, although thankfully she never cried. As soon as the seatbelt sign was off, I got up and rocked her to sleep. And she slept for 1.5 hrs, which was great and even gave me a chance to doze off a little.

Conquering fears: When I got up to rock her, I ended up stepping into the bathroom because the flight attendants were trying to pass by with their drink cart. When I got into the bathroom, however, I felt the urge. 🙂 I contemplated going back to the grandma to ask her to hold Karis, but in that moment, I was like – eh! and just went to the bathroom while holding Karis in one hand. And… it was totally not bad. Haha. It was quite easy actually! So much for my fear. (I did have the Grandma hold Karis later on in the flight while I went to the bathroom again.)

Traveling Breast Friend: I knew I would need to feed Karis during the flight so I bought a traveling breast friend nursing pillow. Here’s what it looked like out of the package.

You needed to blow it up and I was a bit skeptical at first how easy and convenient it would be – especially since my lung capacity is pretty weak.

But it was genuinely really easy – I was surprised how quickly it inflated – maybe 11-12 breaths and it was done. Even more surprising was how quickly it deflated! Very convenient for traveling.

Here it is with the cover.

I used it on the plane, although it was a bit tricky blowing it up, while holding Karis, and then trying to put it around my waist and put Karis on top of it. Good thing the dad sitting next to me was so cool with me bumping into his personal space and also with Karis resting her feet on his arms while nursing.

Ipad: To help me entertain Karis in a cramped airplane space, I used the Ipad to show her home videos and the Nick Jr. Kid’s TV show “Yo Gabba Gabba” that I bought off of itunes. It was definitely a lifesaver for the flight back home to Cali when she was much more squirmy for the last hour of the flight. But there were only certain videos or parts of videos that held her attention. For instance, she only really liked the first one minute introduction to Yo Gabba Gabba before she would lose interest and start to get squirmy. So I played the beginning over and over again. Basically this was stuck in my head after the flight for a long time: “Yo gabba gabba, yo gabba gabba, yo gabba gabba.. yeah!!!!!”

Flight back home: My dad dropped me off at the airport and he was holding Karis and standing by his car, while I ran to the outside check in to check in my suitcase and carrier. But the traffic woman told my dad to come to where I was and that she would watch his car. That was very cool because they seemed pretty strict about making sure there was no curbside waiting.

Here’s our car with the lady!

Here’s Dad standing under heated lamps, while I checked in my stuff.

Then when I got in, the security line was long.

But then I got pulled out by another working who said I could go to the “family line” which basically had no waiting!

So all in all – very successful flying trip and lots of things to be thankful for!

Karis was never cried and took 1.5 hr naps on both flights. But it definitely was A LOT of work, especially on the flight back home. Karis fell asleep in the ergo while I was boarding the plane, so she was awake for more of the time during the actual flight. During the last hour and a half of the flight – she was such a squirmy worm, spinning round and round in my arms. I went back and forth from trying to entertain her with toys, and then switching to the ipad, and going to the bathroom to do “mirror-time” etc.

You definitely have to be on your a-game when traveling alone with an infant and can’t relax… but…I would do it again at the drop of a hat. It was so worth it to see and spend time with my family. I am so happy and thankful I was able to go.