Kyleigh's Story - The First Flight! (Christmas 2007 Trip)

We took Kyleigh to IL for Christmas in 2007. It was the first time she got on an airplane. I was fairly nervous, but overall she did very well.

On the trip over there, she got really nervous at the airport. She wouldn't let go of me and wouldn't even let my husband hold her. I timed her feeding so that she should be drinking her bottle right after we depart. Unfortunately the flight was delayed, and she got hungry while we were still boarding. Due to the security restrictions, I didn't bring any pre-mixed formula or water. I figured I could just ask for water after we boarded. But the flight attendant told me that they didn't have any water because the plane had not been catered. So we had to wait a bit before I was able to make the formula for Kyleigh.

Kyleigh finished her formula before the plane departed. I was worried that her ears might hurt and she might cry, now that she didn't have a bottle to drink any more. On the contrary, she did not make a sound. I could tell her ears were popping because she would frown, but she just endured it silently.

About half way through, she fell asleep in my arms. The parent sitting in front of us had a couple of loud kids. He started out shushing his kids to make them quiet, but the kids did not listen, and it looked like he just gave up on trying to discipline them. Kyleigh was getting disturbed by their noise, so I finally asked that parent to keep his children's volume down, but he didn't care. I was annoyed but there's nothing I could do. (Sorry, I just threw in this personal rant).

We waited until the last to leave the plane because Kyleigh was just waking up and I didn't want to rush her. The flight crew was very nice about it and didn't rush us at all. I was just glad when I found out this flight wasn't going anywhere else and we weren't holding up anyone from boarding the next flight.

After we arrived, it was another hour and half of driving until we got to my husband's sister's house. We stopped on the way for dinner, and we realized that Kyleigh's diaper had overflown because I had not changed her diaper on schedule. I didn't want to change her in public (in the plane), but I should have used the restroom once we arrived at the Indianapolis airport. A lesson learned.

On the way back, we had a little bit more experience. Kyleigh was not as nervous, and she was riding on daddy's shoulders and window-shopping all the airport stores. This time I couldn't time the feeding with the departure, so I brought water and pre-mixed the formula right before we got in line for the airport security check-up. Luckily they didn't ask me to drink the formula to prove that it was safe. (My sister-in-law was asked to drink the formula she brought, and she warned us about the possibility.) I also changed Kyleigh again in the airport restroom right before the flight. This time I wasn't going to let her have an overflown diaper.

Again she got hungry before the flight departed, so we fed her. I was worried her ears might hurt more this time, because she already started to have a running nose the day before. When the flight departed, she did pretty much the same thing - frowned silently. However, this time she didn't nap (because it was a morning flight and she had just woken up). She was having fun reading the safety instructions and in-plane magazines. She also looked outside the window for a few times, but I didn't think she understood what she saw.

When we got back to DC, it was raining and we had to take a shuttle back to the concourse. We were lucky that we didn't have to bring our car seat because we borrowed my sister-in-law's. All the other parents who brought their car seats and/or strollers found them sitting out in the rain. I thought that was really bad. Who would want to put their babies in soaking wet car seats? I felt bad for those poor babies. The airline could have at least put them on the shuttle instead of on the ground.

So, that was the story about her first flight in life.