Always. Unless yours is a baby that cries if you put him/her in a car seat. Again, do what works for your baby.
My kids were great travelers and the usual tricks worked on takeoffs and landings. I will say that I had a good friend whose generally fussy daughter became the baby-from-hell the minute she got on a plane. My friend used cough syrup even though her baby didn’t have a cough. As milee30 says, do what works for your baby.
Nursing definitely was a big plus for us. No formula, no bottles.
Our first international trip with baby #1 was a cruise at 8 weeks.
Didn’t have to rock him to sleep for the entire week. Ship handled that just fine!
Although I don’t think you can give a 3 month old cough syrup…just sayin, if you may be tempted to do that maybe ask your pediatrician first.
Actually I remember asking my pediatrician if I could give my kids Benadryl (they were older) and later Dramamine cause the older one was a motion sick kid.
Nursing + sling. No one even realizes you are nursing.
We always paid for DD’s seat. IIRC, back then there was a discounted rate. DH has an inexplicable fondness for airline food, and loved getting to eat both his and DD’s meals.
Our kids were much better travelers when they had their own seats. Flights are way too long and miserable with an unhappy baby.
Feeding baby or at last having them suck pacifier or similar will help their ears when taking off & landing.
Our kids were great flyers from 6 months (age of their 1st flights), it was us parents who were zombies because we couldn’t sleep and adjust to time zone changes. Hopefully someone at your destination can help while parents are adjusting.
Have you seen the wagons that are made to fold flat? I’ve seen parents use them for getting all the kid gear through the airport. Your baby is too young to sit up and enjoy the ride but that day will come. Also, putting diaper bag, your coat, blanket, bagged lunch, etc in a heap in the wagon allows quicker access than a stroller. Not sure the link will work.
Oh the jet lag! I don’t remember it being an issue with a six month old, but it was terrible with older children. I would arrive tired and eager to get on local time, but young children would not understand that and sleep randomly. No help from H or in laws. That was the worst part about later trips. When kids got to be four yo or so, I could explain to them what was going on but before then it was awful.