Monday, August 22, 2016

Help Your Baby Fly in Style

Words by Courtney Kellar
Photos courtesy of FlyeBaby

If you’ve opted for a destination wedding or an exotic honeymoon, odds are you’ve got quite a bit of experience in the travel department. Frequent travelers will no doubt indulge their wandering spirit even after bringing a baby into the equation. If that’s the case, your travel routine will shift to accommodate this little one. Flying with an infant can be stressful, so any product that can make the process simpler is most welcome. The FlyeBaby is designed to cradle your sleeping bundle while on long flights – leaving you relaxed and hands-free. FlyeBaby is a hammock-style infant airplane seat that is designed for face-to-face interaction between you and your baby. It’s important to note that the seat can only be used during the cruising portion of the flight and the baby will need to be taken out of it during turbulence, take off and landing.

The seat attaches around your waist and onto the seat in front of you. The color-coded straps are designed to make set-up easy and the FlyeBaby has a five-point restraint harness that keeps your baby safe. We were sent a FlyeBaby for review and found the material to be durable, lightweight and washable. It also features an easy-to-read height line, so you know exactly when your baby has outgrown it. We think the FlyeBaby is ideal for small infants/newborns and can accommodate babies up to 10-12 months, depending on the size of the child. Once you’ve reached your destination, FlyeBaby folds up quickly and conveniently into an included bag. As a bonus, the FlyeBaby can also be attached to most chairs, thus converting them into a high chair. To utilize this feature, however, your baby needs to be able to sit up on its own.

After reviewing, we did find FlyeBaby to have a few drawbacks. One concern is that if your baby is very active and moves around a lot, it might jiggle the seat in front of you and possibly annoy that passenger. It is also most ideal for window seats. If you’re sitting in a middle or aisle seat, you’re going to have to take the baby out and disassemble the seat every time someone needs to exit the row. We also recommend practicing assembling the seat before you go to use it on a flight for the first time. If you’re traveling alone, it could be difficult to set-up the FlyeBaby without an extra set of hands having never tried it before. Thankfully, there is a video demonstrating FlyeBaby. Overall, we do recommend FlyeBaby for parents who travel frequently and for long periods of time. FlyeBaby regularly retails for $49.95 and is available at scsdirectinc.com, flyebaby.com, Amazon and other specialty retailers nationwide.