# Flying with a baby. Help! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 16, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-with-a-baby-help/641211 "2012-11-16T17:04:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-with-a-baby-help/641211/21 "2012-11-16T21:57:29Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > ID’s for children are not required. Why would you carry something that’s not required? Following that logic, you should always have your passport for domestic travel…cause somebody might ask for it. 😕 Why would you risk fucking up your whole trip when carrying one extra piece of paper can avoid it? TSA has a reputation of not always knowing their own rules and will powertrip if you argue with them. He probably won’t need it, but why not bring it just in case. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-with-a-baby-help/641211/22 "2012-11-16T22:30:23Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > ID’s for children are not required. Why would you carry something that’s not required? Following that logic, you should always have your passport for domestic travel…cause somebody might ask for it. 😕 Because TSA is staffed by imbeciles. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-with-a-baby-help/641211/23 "2012-11-16T22:33:02Z")
> [@Furious\_Marmot](#): > > Well, I have pretty serious supply issues, since I’m a dude. > > The baby just drinks a lot more efficiently from a bottle during the day. It’s a additional bunch of pain in the ass steps, but it works better this way, since he’s normally at school during the week. LOL! I didn’t know that, but yeah, that’s a pretty insurmountable obstacle :). ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-with-a-baby-help/641211/24 "2012-11-16T23:56:47Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > ID’s for children are not required. Why would you carry something that’s not required? Following that logic, you should always have your passport for domestic travel…cause somebody might ask for it. 😕 ID’s for the TSA are not required, but often the airline will require a birth certificate to prove that the child is under two years old if you are not buying a seat for him. I know that Southwest Airlines almost always wants to see a birth certificate in this situation. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-with-a-baby-help/641211/25 "2012-11-17T02:44:34Z")
:climbs on soapbox: [annoying aviation safety person who feels compelled to say this whenever it comes up] Consider not taking your child on the aircraft as a “lap child”. Yes, it costs more. Yes, you might have to make special arrangements for an appropriate seating system/restraint for your child. But it could be the difference between your kid flying out of your arms and into seats and overhead bins during turbulence, hard landings or other attitude upsets and accidents, and, well, NOT flying out of your arms and crashing into things. The NTSB is collecting data showing that many adults struggle to hold onto a child during aviation incidents, as the forces involved often challenge or exceed their physical strength. Children have been injured and even killed because they were not safely restrained. The “lap children are allowed” policy is on the list of [Most Wanted things the NTSB](http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/ayar2.html)…the safety professionals…want changed in the USA but which the FAA and airlines don’t want to get rid of for financial reasons as they believe people wouldn’t fly if infants under 2 years old have to have their own seats. _You are not buying an extra seat. You are buying a seat for your child_. You might also appreciate the extra room, to allow the kid to squirm and play and sleep more comfortably. Consider it, please. [/annoying aviation safety person who feels compelled to say this whenever it comes up] ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-with-a-baby-help/641211/26 "2012-11-17T02:58:56Z")
Some airports have a special security lane for families, the elderly and disabled. That actually makes it EASIER to fly. You are not required to have ID for children under 16, and I have never been asked for it. You’ll need a passport for international travel though. For older (non-lap) kids, you may want to get something like this: [http://kidsflysafe.com/](http://kidsflysafe.com/) But it’s not for infants. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-with-a-baby-help/641211/27 "2012-11-17T04:54:29Z")
Paying for a seat for your kid also entitles you to extra luggage…consider THAT! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Lubricious\_Integument](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Lubricious\_Integument](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lubricious_Integument)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-with-a-baby-help/641211/28 "2012-11-17T05:15:20Z")
> [@Ludy](#): > > I have flown with kids a few times and a few things have saved me. My second child was prone to ear aches, so two weeks before the flight we went to the doctor to make sure he was fine. Apparently he had a bit of redness so he went on antibiotics and the doctor recommended giving him benadryl. > > Man do I love that stuff. We tested it out on him beforehand to make sure it made him sleepy, and it worked like a charm. Plus I could say I was drugging him per doctors recommendation. I feel the same way about bourbon. My two year old used to be so busy and would get into everything and climb on the counters and get food out of the cupboards but now he mostly just sits there and pukes once in a while. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-with-a-baby-help/641211/29 "2012-11-17T06:11:24Z")
One other thing. In this day and age of paying for checked baggage. Normally, checked baby items such as car seat, pack 'n play, or stroller are not charged. ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-with-a-baby-help/641211/30 "2012-11-18T02:01:16Z")
Thanks for all the advice. We flew today, and it went well, as you all predicted. For the record, TSA did not ask for ID, but we had it just in case. It now seems to be SOP at DFW to send everyone without kids through the microwave scanners. My wife and kid got off with just a pass through the old fashioned metal detector and no additional pat down or anything. Also, they did not attempt to x-ray the baby seat. Instead of test strips (which sound like a lawsuit waiting to happen), they did some kind of non-invasive supplemental screening of the milk bottles but I didn’t get a decent look at it. Any idea what kind of detector that was? And yes, we did have a separate ticket for the kid. A few hundred bucks is just not worth the extra risk. Not having to sit next to a sweaty, smelly annoying stranger is just a bonus. I highly recommend those miniature folding handtruck things that hook onto a baby seat, no need to bring a stroller. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-with-a-baby-help/641211.md?page=1)