The first time I took my daughter on an airplane, I was a nervous wreck before we left the runway.
I was exhausted from days of planning and packing and afraid that then-3-month-old Stephanie was going to turn into one of those monster children who squirm, squeal and spit up for the whole flight.
It wasn’t a disaster, thanks to the kindness of strangers.
From the first hours of the flight until our return three weeks later, they helped make traveling with an infant a pleasure.
And at various moments through the trip, I found myself composing belated apologies in my mind to all those traveling parents and children whom I had avoided, or treated impatiently, in my pre-child days.
I still carry mental snapshots of those kindly fellow travelers on our first flight.
Our seatmate on the plane, a Norwegian father of five, took Stephanie for a 20-minute walk up and down the aisles when she got cranky. He soon had her chuckling.
A flight attendant sang her a lullaby in Swedish-and brought me an extra cup of tea. To my great relief, Stephanie soon fell asleep and slept like a baby-as did I.
In Rome, there were more kindly encounters with strangers. At a restaurant in the heart of old Rome, the owner whisked Stephanie into the kitchen and then headed out to a nearby piazza to show her off to his friends at an outdoor market stall.
I watched with some trepidation as Stephanie vanished out the restaurant door, cradled in his arms, but my Rome-based sister had been coming to the restaurant for years and reassured me.
My tiny daughter and the portly restaurant owner made a triumphant tour of Campo dei Fiori, one of Rome’s traditional outdoor markets where flower, fish and fruit stands are wedged under the shadow of 16th Century buildings. Back at the restaurant, my sister and I enjoyed an unusually peaceful meal.
When I went to the Campo dei Fiori market a few days later, matronly vendors who recognized Stephanie came bustling over. She basked in their cooing and smiles; I got a free bag of pears and plenty of friendly advice on bringing up a baby.
Since that first big overseas trip, Stephanie, who’s now 3 1/2, has been on more than a dozen trips-to the Canadian Rockies, Mexico, England, California, and all around the Pacific Northwest and U.S. Southwest.
But traveling with her hasn’t been easy.
On the logistical front, my husband and I have kissed goodbye our days of traveling light and traveling carefree.
More Top Picks Best Beverage Refrigerators
We used to take just a carry-on bag each on plane journeys. Post-baby, on a trip to New Mexico when Stephanie was 1 1/2, we staggered under the weight of her gear.
We used to drive 400 miles some days, then find a motel. These days we time flights and drives to fit her nap times, and book motels in advance.
We search out playgrounds and beaches, and go easy on the museums and churches. We head to kid-friendly restaurants and kid-friendly hiking trails.
Traveling with a young child has made us less footloose and kept us from remote Third World travels (at least for now), but it has opened other doors.
A child is a social icebreaker, making it easy to meet people on the road. And even though Stephanie is just 3 1/2 now, she has already showed us the world through different eyes.