Airplane Baby

Well, tomorrow we’re off on a family vacation to visit the grandparents. And to get there, we’re going on an airplane! For, oh, about 10 hours total. Just a small hop…

We didn’t buy Juliette her own seat – after all, she’s still less than 6 months old and all of our friends who have flown with babies said it isn’t too bad. The airlines have little bassinets that hook onto the bulkheads (you need to request it, which we have) so Juliette can lie down and sleep (hopefully!). But what worries me is if she doesn’t sleep.

I have to say that the thought of being stuck in a plane with just the two of us to keep her calm and amused is frightening me. I have a hard enough time trying to amuse her around the house by myself – I lack milk-producing nipples and Juliette is fully-aware of that fact. She occasionally glares at me to reinforce the short-coming. It’s to the point where I’ve been dreaming about the flight off and on for the past 3 weeks.

The latest concern is her equalizing her ears. I had a blocked ear on a flight and the pain while descending was intense. I haven’t had that level of intense piercing pain for a very very long time – the last memory of pain that debilitating goes back to when little Suzy kicked me in the nuts back in Grade 3. (For no reason, too! Just because someone told her if she did that, boys would fall over crying. I still fear her.) Since then I’ve been ensuring I have decongestant spray in my carry-on and the slightest hint of clogged sinuses send me into a panic.

Juliette of course can’t do that, and I’m not even sure she can swallow on demand. So Becoming-A-Mom’s plan is to nurse her during take-off and descent to hopefully avert any badness.

My plan? I’ve got earplugs.

Anyhow, wish us luck. I won’t be posting anything for a couple of weeks until we return. I’m sure I’ll have a lot of stories then.