Recently I had a chance to travel to Japan with my husband and 4-month-old baby, and I would like to write about my experience of what it was like traveling there with an infant. Since I am working for a research institute dealing with transportation, I would like to focus on those parts of the trip.
Our first and biggest challenge was a flight to Tokyo from Washington, D.C. (which took about 13 hours!). Of course, we were very nervous about flying with a 4 month old baby…..! We immediately reserved a bassinet through the ANA customer center after we booked the flights. On the day of, as having a baby allowed us prior boarding, we were better able to relax and prepare for seating. Upon boarding, ANA flight attendants gave us warm smiles, saying, “Is there anything we can do to help? Please let us know any time.” They attached a bassinet to the wall in front of us soon after the flight departed. Some bathrooms on the plane had a changing station for babies. Though the space was small like on any other airline, we had no problem working with what was provided. Despite of all of our anxieties, our baby was happy in general and slept well in the bassinet. The return flight was somewhat the same experience as well, and we did not have any major problems, luckily!
