BONUS: Tips for Flying with a Newborn (ft. Ben Bashinski, Southwest Pilot)

In this episode of Girl Dad Nation, host Matthew Krekeler welcomes back pilot and fellow dad, Ben Bashinski, for an insightful conversation on flying with kids. With 19 flights under his belt with his 14-month-old daughter, Ben shares practical tips and personal experiences from traveling as both a pilot and a dad. From managing expectations and navigating TSA, to keeping your little one comfortable during takeoff and landing, Ben provides a wealth of advice to make flying with kids a smoother experience. Whether you're a seasoned traveler or planning your first trip with your child, this episode is packed with helpful tips to keep your journey as stress-free as possible.

Tips for Flying with Kids

1. Consider Your Child's Age When Traveling:
   • Adjust your expectations and preparation based on the age of your child. For infants, expect them to require attention during most of the flight.
2. Embrace Flexibility and Patience:
   • Approach the journey with a mindset of flexibility. Understand that things may not go perfectly, and patience is key to managing the experience.
3. Check TSA Regulations for Baby Gear:
   • Research TSA guidelines regarding baby items such as formula, breast milk, strollers, and car seats to avoid surprises during security checks.
4. Use Babywearing for Security Checks:
   • Babywearing can be helpful through TSA.
5. Gate Check Your Stroller:
   • Use a stroller to navigate the airport, and gate-check it before boarding.
6. Use Noise-Canceling Headphones or Ear Protection for Kids:
   • Using noise-canceling headphones or ear protection can help reduce discomfort due to ear pressure changes.
7. Feed or Use a Pacifier During Takeoff and Landing:
   • Feeding your baby (bottle or breastfeeding) or using a pacifier during takeoff and landing can help with ear pressure and keep your baby calm.
8. Bring a Variety of Toys and Activities:
   • Pack multiple small toys and activities to keep your child entertained throughout the flight. 
9. Pack Snacks and Drinks for Older Children:
   • Food is important.
10. Request Pre-Boarding When Possible:
    • Pre-boarding for families with young children allows you more time to get settled without the rush of other passengers.
11. Choose Seats Strategically:
    • Opt for window seats if possible to keep your child entertained with the view. The window seat can also create a barrier from other passengers and reduce disturbances.
12. Plan for Diaper Changes:
    • Be prepared for diaper changes by knowing the layout of the plane’s restroom and having all necessary supplies ready in an easily accessible spot.
13. Accept Help from Others:
    • Don’t hesitate to accept help from flight attendants or fellow passengers.
14. (MY Girl Dad Nation Tip) Enjoy the journey! 

Girl Dad Nation is made possible by the generous support of our listeners and my wife, Executive Producer of my daughters and this podcast. 

Transcript

**Transcript Auto-Generated**

00:00:00:07 - 00:00:11:07
Ben Bashinski
It is just about making it.

00:00:14:15 - 00:00:30:05
Matthew Krekeler
Welcome back to Girl Dad Nation. I'm here again with Ben Bashinski and he's a pilot. And so as a pilot, I wanted to ask Ben, what is his top tips for flying with kids? Ben, welcome back.

00:00:30:20 - 00:00:32:17
Ben Bashinski
Hey, thanks. Good to be here.

00:00:34:11 - 00:00:48:04
Matthew Krekeler
So, yeah, your daughter is 14 months, I think I remember. Yep. You're a new dad, but your daughter is a world traveler now. Well, I had on a world traveler, but she's definitely got continental U.S..

00:00:48:05 - 00:00:48:13
Ben Bashinski
Yeah.

00:00:49:00 - 00:01:04:16
Matthew Krekeler
Than I have. Yeah. I think you mentioned 19 flights. So this isn't your first rodeo in the sky. Is with a young baby. So what advice do you have for dads flying with kids?

00:01:06:01 - 00:01:33:02
Ben Bashinski
Yeah. So I've got a few a few tips and, you know, probably just one. You know, be careful and please don't make this mistake like I did. But, you know, some things I've gleaned from the few flights and, you know, full disclosure, Hannah has done probably half the flights on her own. I was there for the other half, and I have never personally flown with Ali by myself.

00:01:33:15 - 00:02:11:12
Ben Bashinski
So that would give me extreme anxiety. I don't know that I'm fully cut out for that. But props to Hannah for being able to do that. So, yeah, from the at the top, you know, expectation management, it doesn't matter, you know, kind of what your rules are beforehand. All it matters is you get there and you try to make the people around you hate you as as little as possible, but you're not fully in control of that.

00:02:11:12 - 00:02:37:06
Ben Bashinski
So you do whatever, whatever you can't do. So, you know, if that means letting them do screens on the on the flight or eat candy or whatever, you know, if if it placate some, I think all bets are kind of off to make the flight as enjoyable experience as possible for the meal. The majority of people get to the airport early, however long you think it takes, you know, double it.

00:02:38:10 - 00:03:01:20
Ben Bashinski
You probably have to check something extra that you wouldn't normally have to do. So, you know, be ready for that extra long line. Southwest, you know, we have to go in a special line to fly standby. So maybe a little bit different for, you know, regular folks. But, you know, we got to kind of factor in that that longer line that we wouldn't normally have to go through.

00:03:01:20 - 00:03:22:15
Ben Bashinski
We just go through security and know that, you know, your bag may not make it right. So especially if you have like a connection somewhere, don't check something that you know you're going to have to actually need at your destination. So like, if you need a car seat when you get there, you know, think twice about checking the car seat because it may not make it on that flight.

00:03:22:15 - 00:03:44:22
Ben Bashinski
And then you're, you know, what are you going to do? Same thing with, you know, baby supplies. You can put extras in the checked bag or whatever, but make sure you have at least, you know, a day's worth of stuff on your person. TSA is different at every airport, and I deal with TSA, you know, every day at work.

00:03:44:22 - 00:03:52:11
Ben Bashinski
And it is always a unique experience going through the security lines. And I deal that every day.

00:03:53:07 - 00:03:55:08
Matthew Krekeler
And there's no fastpass for pilots.

00:03:56:11 - 00:04:30:12
Ben Bashinski
There is. Well, okay. It's it's again, hit or miss. So quick side track, we have what's called known crew members so that, you know, you're pre vetted. Okay. You know, you're in control the airplane, so you kind of barge in and they'll go. But in order to make sure that pilots and crew are bringing on things that they're not supposed to, they have a high rate of of being, you know, sent to the regular security line to go through the x ray and stuff.

00:04:30:12 - 00:04:33:05
Ben Bashinski
So that's all that's not always a guarantee.

00:04:33:09 - 00:04:34:06
Matthew Krekeler
So yeah.

00:04:34:21 - 00:05:00:01
Ben Bashinski
And I guess on top of that, if I'm going through that line, I can't bring anyone else's stuff. So that includes, you know, my child. So like if I tried to go through with a stroller, they would not be happy with me. So yeah, not not super helpful. So whenever I go through the security line there, go through security, I go through with Hannah and I just act as an extra set of hands and yeah.

00:05:02:02 - 00:05:26:06
Ben Bashinski
So know that TSA can be interesting and but you do you know, you have sort of a freebie, I guess, on, you know, liquids and and food and stuff as long as it's for the baby. So, you know, you can bring formula or breast milk and it can be above the 3.4 ounces as long as it's for the baby.

00:05:26:16 - 00:05:50:19
Ben Bashinski
That being said, not all TSA is aware of that. So sometimes you have to, you know, casually advise them that, no, I can bring this. It's it's for the child. You know, we have a screenshot of the rules from the website that we can show them if necessary, which we've only had to do once. But it was really awkward and know that you're going to have to disassembled stroller.

00:05:50:19 - 00:06:12:04
Ben Bashinski
If it goes through the X-ray, it'll have to go through the X-ray. Our stroller doesn't fit, so we still have to disassemble it, but then push it through. So we're carrying like multiple parts and plus baby and baby can be in the sling and she's like, come on out. And it's it takes way more. And then you have so again, show up earlier as a result.

00:06:12:06 - 00:06:36:12
Ben Bashinski
So expectation management on security, we use the stroller as like a baggage cart so that you can put like that car seat or any of your carry on bags or whatever in the stroller and then just carry the baby. That's actually super handy. So even if you think you need the stroller in the airport, you do because it's really helpful.

00:06:37:12 - 00:07:09:06
Ben Bashinski
That being said, don't bring your nicest, you know, thousand dollar stroller, thousand dollar car seat if you're going to be checking it under the plane. If you're bringing that stuff into the cabin, great. You know, that's awesome. But stuff falls off of the loader all the time. Yeah, it gets up. So, you know, just know that if it if you're going to be checking stuff a decent amount, it's not going to last as long as you want it to.

00:07:09:06 - 00:07:35:23
Ben Bashinski
So just be ready for it to come back a little bit less nice than it started. And then for the flight itself, you know, outside of just kind of keeping baby happy, pressurization can really mess with them. So when you're climbing and ascending that pressure, change can really cause some fussy babies. So for Ellie, we give her like a slow flow bottle for the climb and then another one for the descent.

00:07:36:16 - 00:07:58:10
Ben Bashinski
And the descent usually is like, you know, 30 minutes before the before you land. So you can usually feel it. And then as soon as you start to feel like, hey, give them that bottle, and that keeps their their ears open to help equalize that pressure. Because, you know, once that pressure is blocked, it's it's not good. It's hard to tell your baby to swallow.

00:07:59:05 - 00:08:18:04
Ben Bashinski
Here's how you clear your ears. So, yeah, like a pacifier bottle. Or if they're older, you know, some some food to snack on and stuff so they can keep swallowing really helps. And breastfeeding too, you know, especially you can kind of get a little bit of privacy on the plane. So we always, you know, Southwest is open seating, so we sit in the back.

00:08:19:03 - 00:08:37:13
Ben Bashinski
So, you know, we need to breastfeed long and we have a little bit of room around us. We try to do that. So and don't be you know, don't be ashamed of it. Like, well, I guess it's not super helpful for dads, but if you're there for the family, you know, you can help out or hold up a towel or whatever and make the suggestion.

00:08:38:00 - 00:09:11:05
Ben Bashinski
But, you know, trying to try to keep them keep their ears open. And, you know, if you can put them to sleep, we always try to travel during nap time if we can, so we try to time the flight so that she would be sleeping for most of it, which goes to my don't make the same mistake as me, which standby is a little bit worse because we got booted from a flight which was supposed to be during her nap time, but we got booted off that flight into, you know, a later flight.

00:09:11:05 - 00:09:39:06
Ben Bashinski
So we would have been flying during her nap, but instead we got kicked off and so she missed her nap. Oh. Oh, man. It was it was so bad. So I was the only flight that was, I think, really rougher for everyone involved. And it was a bumpy flight, too. So we kind of really get up and and walk around with her or anything and kind of, you know, rocker we were just kind of stuck.

00:09:39:06 - 00:10:07:01
Ben Bashinski
So that's that was one where I felt bad for everyone else around us. I bought them all drinks as an apology. I am so sorry. This one is on me. Please don't hate us. But it's also, you know, it's going to happen. So if you can get a row by yourself, that is by far the best thing you can do and just kind of be away from people.

00:10:07:01 - 00:10:38:18
Ben Bashinski
But you know, it happens. So I think that's probably most of the stuff that we've learned from from traveling at least, you know, in terms of actually flying, but the biggest thing is, is trying to make them so bottles climb and ascend and then napping while you fly. And we have the release we did. You know, the skin type body wrap where you just kind of yeah, the baby and she would always immediately fall asleep on that.

00:10:38:18 - 00:10:59:19
Ben Bashinski
But she was a lot smaller back then when we did that. So I don't we haven't flown with her in a couple of months or so, so I don't know if she would tolerate that anymore, but she's still a sucker for a four contact nap, so we might be lucky. But back then when she would nap anywhere with that thing that was that was perfect.

00:10:59:19 - 00:11:04:20
Ben Bashinski
But I will update the tips as I find out, you know, with a toddler what.

00:11:04:20 - 00:11:05:08
Matthew Krekeler
She's.

00:11:05:23 - 00:11:06:21
Ben Bashinski
Going to put up, what would.

00:11:06:22 - 00:11:07:08
Matthew Krekeler
Be great.

00:11:07:15 - 00:11:08:12
Ben Bashinski
Oh, man.

00:11:09:06 - 00:11:13:16
Matthew Krekeler
And at what age are they no longer allowed to be a lap child.

00:11:14:00 - 00:11:14:15
Ben Bashinski
Two years.

00:11:15:08 - 00:11:15:15
Matthew Krekeler
To.

00:11:15:19 - 00:11:44:01
Ben Bashinski
Okay so and that was so I will say it is definitely safer for them to be in a car seat, you know, in the in the plane. And we would would do we would do that all the time. Would it just that being standby fires, we don't always have the luxury of having an extra seat for us. But you want these to, you know, the choice we made for us, but we just make sure of that.

00:11:44:17 - 00:12:01:04
Ben Bashinski
And, you know, to everyone listening, make sure that the person holding them is is strapped down so that if you do hit turbulence, you know, those people don't get don't get thrown. So the person holding the baby should always be belted in so that if you hit the bottom second, they can make sure no one knows.

00:12:01:07 - 00:12:24:12
Matthew Krekeler
So yeah, when we traveled, we had like a one year old and we brought the boppy pillow, which is like a U-shaped pillow. So my wife was breastfeeding our daughter. Like I take off with the baby and then also just during the flight, like she would often nap, but just like on my wife's lap as she was holding her and using the pillow to like support.

00:12:24:12 - 00:12:25:07
Matthew Krekeler
So that was helpful.

00:12:25:22 - 00:12:26:14
Ben Bashinski
Oh, and.

00:12:27:18 - 00:12:51:10
Matthew Krekeler
We flew in my daughter like she, she had just turned one. And so I and I believe it was a Southwest flight. So the, the flight crew, like, made a birthday announcement to the to the cabin. And that's like she was she was super happy but didn't want to be like totally awake. We were flying, like, just right in the middle of the day.

00:12:51:21 - 00:13:11:15
Matthew Krekeler
And so she just was wanting to be awake. And so I would just, like, carry her and walk her up and down the center aisle. And then we we got to hang out with the flight crew in the back of the plane. And then, yeah, the Southwest crew was super nice and would give her like the plastic cups just to like get away and stuff.

00:13:11:22 - 00:13:16:22
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah. And yeah, some special snacks and things. So that is super cool.

00:13:17:11 - 00:13:47:04
Ben Bashinski
Yeah. As long. Yeah, it's not great when it's bumpy and you can't move around and stuff because yeah. Because it yeah. You're just at the mercy of, of holding the person stationary is like, oh man I am so sorry everyone so and Ellie was large. So Hannah is a is a singer. She's very strong diaphragm and Ella definitely got that from her.

00:13:47:12 - 00:14:12:21
Ben Bashinski
So even in the neck, you know the nurses said that she had no issues letting them know when she needed something. And, you know, back then it was still just like a squeal or whatever. But it is now full throated and it is it it's impressive how loud she can get. So. Yeah.

00:14:13:10 - 00:14:32:04
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah. And then you mention too that you try to limit screen time as much as possible. Obviously, like you do what you can, like you're just trying to get from point A to point B when you're in the air. But what other tools do you recommend or have have worked for you to keep a kid entertained? Yeah, like.

00:14:32:17 - 00:14:56:06
Ben Bashinski
So far we haven't had to do a phone on a flight yet, but she was also way more entertained by simpler toys back then. So you kind of see what happens going forward. But we have those like busy books, you know, or like each page is, you know, beads or zippers or snaps and stuff. But she absolutely loves that stuff.

00:14:56:20 - 00:15:19:16
Ben Bashinski
We have those like silicone, like straw toys that she can chew on or, you know, there's each one's like a different texture and just kind of fiddle with. And then she also loves like those suction cup window things that spin little, you know, fidget toys, essentially. You know, you get a window seat, first of all, so they can look out the window, which helps.

00:15:19:23 - 00:15:26:08
Ben Bashinski
And then stick that thing on there, man, they're good for days. It's great.

00:15:26:15 - 00:15:27:05
Matthew Krekeler
That's great.

00:15:27:05 - 00:15:49:19
Ben Bashinski
Yeah, that's probably the majority of stuff we've we've currently used. So with the amount of stuff you got to bring like, you know, forget your stuff. Like you don't need that book, you don't need your laptop. Yeah, you're your carry on bag is now just full of, you know, bells and zippers and suction cups. So as all matters.

00:15:49:19 - 00:16:10:05
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah, I know. Like, anytime I pack something, like, Oh, I'm going to bring my laptop, maybe I can work on something or read a book. It's always like, nope, like you're just actually like watching the baby, the joke, making sure everything's good. And then yeah. And then yeah. My most of the time my kids are just entertained by, like, the simplest things.

00:16:10:05 - 00:16:16:05
Matthew Krekeler
Like, even I bring a toy and like, they don't want the baby toy. They want the water bottle that I just like, you know?

00:16:16:13 - 00:16:43:21
Ben Bashinski
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, Ellie is currently is just as entertained by, you know, the empty pretzels wrapper as, you know, anything else. So so, yeah, absolutely. She loves like I have a, you know, smartwatch or whatever. So she she loves just, you know, smashing that because it lives up. So for better or worse, so and then I find out, you know, I've sent all these weird text people I haven't talked to in years.

00:16:43:21 - 00:16:48:06
Ben Bashinski
I'm like, Sorry, that was my kid to get.

00:16:48:06 - 00:17:09:15
Matthew Krekeler
Well, Ben, thank you so much for sharing your experience and advice. That's that's awesome. I, I love that list that you gave. Yeah, I have like now older kids now which are not going to be as entertained by just the water bottle or the Apple Watch. But yeah, so that's going to be a new challenge. But yeah, maybe I'll have you back.

00:17:10:03 - 00:17:15:02
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah. Once Ellie is a little older, you could share some new tips, but it's. All of this has been great.

00:17:15:11 - 00:17:23:12
Ben Bashinski
Right? So it's. Well, yeah. One thing that worked last week may not work next Wednesday is just figuring it out as we go know.

00:17:23:19 - 00:17:41:21
Matthew Krekeler
Well, yeah, it's an honor to have you on the podcast and for all my audience out there, please leave a comment on social media or send me an email to Girl Dad Nation podcast at gmail.com. You can also text the show by clicking the link in the description and I'd love to hear your tips for flying with kids.

00:17:41:21 - 00:18:07:11
Matthew Krekeler
What was the good? The bad? Yeah. Share it all. I'd love to hear those. You can also find me at Girl Dad Nation dot org for more podcasts, events and merch. And until next time go be a dad.