
1. Do not fly United. The airline staff was not helpful at all. In Burlington they expected me to carry the baby, his umbrella stroller and our two carry-on bags down two flights of stairs (to the outside) and then up another flight onto the plane. If it weren't for a nice Burlington Airport employee I think I would have been in tears.
Then when we landed in Cleveland the next United check-in lady would not allow us to board early. So once again I was holding up the line trying to unload the baby from the stroller, pack up the stroller (to place below) and carry two bags w/ baby through the narrow aisle to our seat.
2. Buy a small umbrella stroller for maneuvering throughout the airport. I purchased the BeBeLove Single Umbrella Stroller with mesh pocket and canopy stroller for under $20 from amazon -
3. Pack non-frozen breast milk in easy-open containers. There is no limit to the amount of breast milk you can bring. But you do need to open each container so they can test with a vapor strip. If you want to bring squeeze pouches of food make sure they are 2 oz or less. If they are the 4.4 oz pouches you will need to open them.
4. If your child has fluid on their middle ear - fly, fly, fly. I tried following the tips I've see on the internet (feeding throughout to release the pressure - popping ears). This caused a fussy baby. I allowed him to sleep throughout the entire second flight and he "slept like a baby." Our pediatrician was right about this. His ears didn't pop/hurt him at all.
5. Sit next to Minnesotans - we did and they were all great :)