Survived the trip...

Every trip with our little girl is a learning experience. As my previous post mentioned- I was nervous about this one, especially since the little one is now walking. So here is the basic lowdown.

We had two flights, a 2 hour flight on Sunday night, spent the night in a Madrid hotel, and then a 10 hour day flight on Monday. Someone was looking out for me on the 10 hour flight because I got three seats in a row (I had not bought a seat for the baby) , they let me put the carseat on, and the baby was relatively calm. So as my kiwi husband would say- "I had a blinder" (that means a good thing.) As always I learned a lot and here are the latest revelations:

- Madrid airport: My international flight required a 22 minute train ride from security to the gate, so two hours just got me there with no time to spare and no time for the baby to run around.

- They made me take the Baby Bjorn off thru security. This has never happened before and was my slam dunk method of getting thru security alone. The rules change not only from airport to airport, but from person to person.

- Carseat on board: 3 people said I couldn't take it on board (and on the first flight they didnt allow it), and then the flight attendent at the last minute said, "no problem", although the pursor did check it to make sure it was FAA approved. My suggestion is to carry it to the plane and if they won't let it on then check it at the door. I found that it was better than the bassinet (they let me chose between an aisle seat with the carseat next to me or a middle seat and the bassinet) because the little one was locked in. Having an aisle seat was key now that she was walking.

- Iberia was really nice about warming bottles, food, etc. The spanish are always so nice to babies!

- I used some of the suggested items that our readers sent in, including giving the baby a bag of new toys and that definitely helped. So if you need some tips, check out some of the previous posts from "On The Plane"

We have 6 more flights to go on this trip alone so I am sure there is more to learn and I will keep you posted....