Flying Solo: Managing a baby alone at 20,000 feet

Hopper flight in Hawaii

My world-traveler baby has logged about 45 hours in the air, and we were sans Daddy for almost half that time. That’s right. I flew more than 20 hours alone with an infant.

I should say at this point: I am normally an even-keeled person—on the ground. But something in the recycled air of a plane cabin puts my teeth on edge. My muscles tense, my throat dries. I feel claustrophobic if someone I don’t know puts their arm on the armrest between us, or their leg into my territory. I get selfish. Entitled. Somehow the wonder of humans flying—literally flying—escapes me.

Flying with a baby too young to watch in-flight entertainment ratchets up that stress... or, as I found out on the third flight of Luca's life—my first solo-with-baby flight—it can be a lesson in patience.

The result of such lessons? I’ve changed: I’m less antsy on a plane. Less annoyed. Yes, I got frustrated at Korean Air’s policy of turning on all the cabin lights in the middle of a marathon flight when everyone is trying to sleep. No, (but thank you to every single flight attendant for asking) Luca will not go back to sleep when he wakes up under all those lights. But, for the most part, I don’t let my frustration and exhaustion push me to the end of my rope. At least not the very end.

Here’s the secret:

1. Change your attitude, and especially your expectations.
Of course it will be tough to fly alone with your seven- or nine-month old, I told myself. Don’t expect to watch movies. Don’t expect to relax.
I decided to treat our flights from Seoul to SFO and back like one of Luca’s hospital stays: It’s OK if I am uncomfortable trying to sleep on this stiff fold-out hospital chair. If Luca is OK, then I am OK. Why can’t a flight be the same? Babyhood is short. If I’m uncomfortable, exhausted and doing a song-and-dance routine for every flight we take while Luca is a baby—and while any future children we may have are babies—what’s the big deal? I’ll survive.
Attitude is the number one thing to get you through a flight with a baby, and that's true even if your partner is along for the ride.

2. Don’t worry about what other people think.
This is foundational. I used to roll my eyes and sigh loudly when a baby kicked my seat from behind. I used to say in a loud whisper, “Oh, great,” when a baby started crying before takeoff. But, please, ignore past Mallie and anyone else like her. Who cares? Past Mallie and anyone else like her will learn soon enough. As for those older men who cast judgmental stares… who cares? You will never see those men again.
If judgmental looks make your guilt meter skyrocket, avoid eye contact with any other passengers—especially when your baby is crying or screaming. (notice I said when.)
A note to past Mallie and friends: Flying commercial is public transportation. You will hear other people who paid (roughly) the same amount you did for a ticket. Of course we parents will do everything we can to keep our babies quiet, but what baby will be quiet for 11 or 6 or even 3 hours straight? In cramped quarters with limited stimulation? Seriously. It's hard enough for adults.

Seoul-SFO

3. Request a bassinet seat, if your baby is small enough.
Lying your baby down flat where he can stretch out is invaluable. Let’s be honest, you’ll have to use any available surface (your lap, the floor, the carseat if you bought the baby his own ticket) to try to help your child sleep. The bassinet provides another awesome option. Plus, don’t tell anybody, but I definitely changed Luca’s diaper in the bassinet seat. He gets skittish in that garishly bright, loud and cramped lavatory, and besides, (I think) no one noticed. (See point #2)

4. Use all your space.
One bonus of the bassinet seat was that it got me a section of three seats to ourselves, at a bulkhead. And, believe me, I used that space. Don’t judge me; I have an active little guy who loves to crawl and explore: I let Luca play on the ground on top of an airline blanket. True, I made a big toy and bottle mess and probably made the Korean Air flight attendants very uncomfortable. BUT, Luca was much happier for the freedom, and therefore the other passengers were much happier, whether they knew it or not. (And, don’t judge me again, but I also changed Luca’s diaper on the floor. No one noticed.)

Seoul-SFO

If I didn’t have a bulkhead, I probably would have brought my airline blanket to that small open area near the kitchen and the bathrooms to let Luca crawl for limited periods. You gotta do what you gotta do.

5. BRING TOYS. And be ok with “found toys.”
The bulkhead armrest that opens and closes to let the food tray pop out? Awesome toy. Plus, if you excitedly say “open!” and “closed!” every time the baby opens or closes it, he stays interested for longer, and he’s learning. Win-win.
Airline magazines? Not a good toy if your baby still sticks everything in his mouth. I put these all together in an off-limits corner of our area and stuck toys in the magazine pocket for Luca to discover.

SFO-Seoul

6. Plan to play with your baby.
This may sound obvious, but who among us wouldn’t rather watch the latest Hobbit movie than sit on an airplane floor with a nine-month old, constantly repositioning tiny airline pillows in a vain attempt to hide the electrical outlets—complete with glowing red lights—that are waiting under each seat for tiny, poking fingers? But really, if you expect to play with your child, you’ll be less annoyed that you have to do it in an uncomfortable situation.

7. Walk the aisles using your baby carrier.
The magic sleep machine! Plus, you can avoid blood clots, burn some airline-food calories and guess the movies other people are enjoying.

8. Use your baby wipes.
Luca, like most babies, loves to put things in his mouth. Airplane seatbelts and armrests are no exception, and it is far less stressful to sanitize the seatbelt clasp than to constantly pry the baby’s gums off it. Yummy.

9. Strategize bathroom trips.
OK, this is one that never worked out well for me, primarily because Luca’s health issues made him particularly clingy to mama and scared of strangers for a while. I peed once on the flight to SFO since Luca wouldn’t sleep without me patting him or rubbing his head—once in 11 hours. A flight attendant offered to hold Luca while I went. Great, right? Well, he screamed the entire time, right outside the lavatory door. I held it the rest of the way.

10. Factor in monster jet lag.
Don’t worry too much about adjusting your sleep schedule—or your baby’s—to the new time zone. Unless someone on the other end is prepared to pull night duty for you, you should know up front that mommy jet lag is really just extreme sleep deprivation, especially if your baby couldn’t sleep much on the flight. It’s probably better if you expect it. Don’t make huge, involved plans for the next day or two, and—if you can—nap whenever your baby is ready to sleep. It was worse for me going back to Seoul than over to the States, though I’m sure everyone is different.

Finally, if you are someone who gets annoyed at babies in the air: I am sorry. There is not much else we moms can do at 20,000 feet, but we are trying. Believe me.

Healthy Baby

It’s hard for me to imagine, now, that screaming baby with head-to-toe open sores.

It seems an age ago since I heard that desperate, mournful tone: “Ma ma ma ma ma.”

It’s hard for me to imagine, now, how I felt: Helpless. Depressed. Awful.

Look at this child: Healthy, happy, whole.

The last few months have been transformational. Luca’s skin has held its integrity for nearly four months, after five terrifying weeks of suffering and three hospitalizations, preceded by a couple months of worry and rashes. And itchiness.

It’s hard to say what finally made the difference, but I believe it was a combination: medicines and skin treatments, stopping all solid foods temporarily, and timing. And especially prayers and hard work. Blood. Sweat. Tears. Baths. Wet wraps.

We are incredibly blessed to have discovered what was triggering Luca's horribly severe atopic dermatitis flare-ups (certain foods) and be able to remove those triggers from the equation. Many, many families are not so fortunate.

During our third hospital stay, at the advice of our military doctors, we decided Luca needed U.S.-level medical care. He needed a med evac.

Luca helping weigh himself before an appointment

Medical evacuation—med evac—sounds so intense. I imagine helicopters. Emergencies.

But really, the government will med evac employees or family members when they can’t get U.S.-level care wherever they are posted. Many pregnant women med evac to give birth.


So, Luca and I flew to San Francisco where top-rate UCSF doctors tweaked his medications, ran tests and gave us a plan of action.

Our time in California was like a surprise summer vacation in the middle of winter—figuratively and literally. I was hanging by an emotional thread when I left Seoul at the beginning of March, but my hotel (Hotel del Sol) was bright and cheery, orange and yellow and red. There were hammocks in the courtyard, and my room was called The Motivational Suite.

The weather was fantastic.

Uncle Dean & Aunt Amanda!

My family and my friends came to see me, hug me and play with my son.

We were well loved.

We spent a couple weeks in San Francisco, and then a month—in between follow-up appointments—at my parents’ house, five minutes from my sister and her family and twenty minutes from my brother and his.

The sun was out, the air warm. We cranked (coconut) ice cream and the kids swam in the pool.

Cousin fun!

It felt like stolen time.

For several weeks, a day couldn’t pass without one of my family members exclaiming: “This is a different baby than Hawaii!” or, “Can you believe this is the same baby we saw in Hawaii?!”

And it was true. Luca’s skin turned from alligator rough to baby soft. His recurring rashes were mild. Very mild.

Luca’s mood turned from pained to gleeful—my sister said he was one of the happiest babies she’d met. I could have cried.

It was as though he was making up for lost time—in grins and in development. He thrived: learned to sit up from a crawl and to pull himself up on furniture. His hair grew, and he stopped rubbing it off.

He (eventually) stopped needed to wear silk mittens at all times.

It was the most soul-healing six weeks of my life so far: family, love, sun, health.

The Kims, reunited

Joe visited from Seoul for a week—and his family met us for the weekend—which was amazing. But, despite our California love, that little visit from Joe wasn’t enough: We were more than ready to return home to be with him once Luca’s appointments were done.

Luca adored Uncle Albert

We’ve been back in Seoul nearly a month, and now, it is hard to imagine any of our suffering ever happened. It’s as though California erased the intensity of the past.

It was a time out, a reset button.

And now, we are cautious.

I am vigilant.

I watch Luca’s skin like a hawk and treat any rash immediately, bathe him daily, keep up with his creams and medications.

We introduce solid foods slowly, one food per week. Though, as we learned this week with chicken, it only takes a day to see his body react. Thankfully, we saw the signs early enough to stop chicken before his skin got too involved.

Honestly, I’m a little disappointed to find a new allergy. I’d started wondering whether I’d dreamed up all his issues and we were being too uptight with food. That perhaps Luca’s health struggles were really and completely over.

This is not the case.

But—and it gives me joy to say this—his condition is manageable. He does not suffer like he did. I’m learning what to watch for (dry cough, vomiting, painful diarrhea) and how to help him.

Maybe he will even grow out of his food allergies one day. Maybe.

Now, even as Luca is recovering from a small reaction, his spirits are high. I can barely keep from tearing up when I think about his health, his giggles, his grins.

He is almost a toddler now, and he is well. Normal. Curious. Healthy. Thriving.

Thank God.