Your baby is screaming in your left ear and trying to tug your boarding passes out from between your clenched teeth; your right arm is trapped behind your back as you struggle to shrug your coat off; you can hear your husband slamming the stroller up and down on the floor trying (very unsuccessfully!) to collapse it…and that’s when you realize that you are wearing shoes that you are going to need to bend down to untie.
All this, and you haven’t even boarded your plane yet, let alone coped with an explosive diaper blowout mid-takeoff.
Passing through the security checkpoint at the airport these days is stressful enough without also dealing with a new baby and all of his or her paraphernalia. With a little organization and preplanning, however, you, your husband, and your baby will be negotiating the x-ray machines and metal detectors like pros. Here is a list of suggestions to follow:
1. Before you even get in line, make sure you have already set aside all metal and electronic items (phones, keys, watches, loose change) and zipped them up in your carry-on. This is also a good time to check the pockets and baskets of your stroller for any loose items to remove and stow inside your carry-on. Take off any cupholders or other items attached to your car seat or stroller that might catch on things, too.
2. Do you have your boarding passes or tickets and identification cards handy? Yeah, you’re not going to get very far without them. Be clear on which one of you is in charge of them, most likely the one not in charge of the baby who has recently developed a voracious paper-eating habit.
3. Once you clear the initial checkpoint, snag at least three bins. Put laptops and video cameras in one, shoes in the next (even baby’s shoes; better safe than sorry! And you should wear shoes that slip on and off without needing to be unbuckled or untied.), and your coats, jackets, and any slings or carriers you’re using to carry your baby in the third. I’ve actually had security officers ask me to take my baby’s hoodie off, so make sure your baby isn’t wearing any jackets, coats, etc. either. The one of you in charge of the baby will also be in charge of pushing the bins down the line, while the other should be in charge of preparing the baby’s equipment for the conveyer belt.
4.That’s right: everything you are carrying will need to travel down the conveyer belt and into the x-ray machine...car seat, stroller, diaper bag, baby backpack…everything. Everything, that is, except the baby! Even if your baby is sleeping peacefully for the first time that day, you will need to take him or her out of the carrier or stroller and carry the baby in your arms with you through the metal detector.
5. Car seats will need to be flipped and placed on the belt facing downward on their front side to make sure they fit through the tunnel. If you have a car seat with a carrying handle like the Graco SnugRide, the handle needs to be rotated so that it isn’t sticking out and catching on things.
6. Strollers should be collapsed and locked. Here’s the important part: PRACTICE THIS AHEAD OF TIME. When traveling all by myself I once struggled for FIVE MINUTES to get the wheels of our Sit ‘n’ Stroll to click into its body so the cursed thing would finally fit into the x-ray machine. My husband had always been in charge of it before, and when the heat was on I had no idea how to do it. And then once I finally got it all collapsed and flipped it over onto the belt, a bunch of stuff I forgot I had stowed in the bottom fell out. Good times! Did I mention that my baby kept trying to crawl away through the metal detector by herself during this whole fiasco?
7. Sometimes baby equipment really is so gigantic that no amount of folding and stomping on it will get it to fit through the x-ray machine. In this case, security officers will hand inspect it.
8. Wait until your last few items are heading through the tunnel before proceeding through the metal detector. Check the latest restrictions from the Transport Security Administration to be sure, but this is probably the moment when you will be asked to hand over containers of formula, breast milk, etc. for a hands-on inspection.
9. Once you are cleared, you can go through the metal detector. If you do set it off, you will be wanded and possibly patted down while still holding your baby. Do not pass your baby off to anyone else, including a security officer. You and the baby will need to be inspected together.
10. Once you are through the checkpoint, secure your baby before doing anything else. Strap him or her back in her car seat, stroller, sling, or carrier, and then focus on gathering your bags and putting your shoes and jackets back on.
11. Then, after the two hours it will take you to get you and all your things put back in order, you can finally head for your gate!
Happy flying!
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