Plane Travel - Id's Needed for Infants???

Hi A.,

I travel on SouthWest a lot and they told me I must have a birth cert. for each lap child as they need to account for all passengers on the plane (not just age). Better to be safe than sorry. I always bring birth cert and have been asked each time so I guess it depends on the airline.

You might want to bring a copy of her birth certificate. I would not bring the original. This is really only an issue to prove that she is under age 2 (which she obviously is). 9 times out of 10 we haven't been asked for anytyhing. Now that our son is older (22 months) we sometimes get asked about his age, and we've been told by flight attendents that *technicallY* we should have a copy of his certificate just in case.

I would call your airline and then call again to make sure both employees tell you the same thing. I would assume birth certificate... what else it could possibly be unless it's social security cards? If you are traveling overseas, I would have a passport for them and I believe it's required.

I ordered "wallet size" birth certificates for the children and had those with just in case there was a question (both about ID and about their age when they were lap babies).

I've never had to show anything in the four years I have been traveling with my kids.

I question them accepting a birth certficate anyways since a BC is not a valid form of i.d. Not sue what else you would show. My kids have passports but that's a lot of expense for nothing if you are not traveling overseas.

Just like the previous posters have said-- If you are traveling domestically and your child is flying free as a "lapbaby" you'll want to bring a birth certificate in case someone questions her age. This is rarely going to happen with a 4 month old but the Airline does have a right for you to prove your child's age so why risk it?
If you flying internationally, you will also need a passport. If this is the case, you will want to apply for one ASAP because they can take a while to come in the mail.
Good Luck!
J.

We've never been asked anything while flying within the US.

A..

I just traveled with my one year old and I didn't have any identification or any problems. They just asked for her name and age to put on the ticket. I wouldn't worry about it. We traveled on American Airlines.

We are traveling in June and were instructed to bring our son's, who is 2 ,birth certificate for ID purposes.

Hi A.,

I have traveled with a 4 month old as well. I had the same questions so I copied the birth certificate and brought the copy along. I have never been asked for any kind of id for my kids since starting to travel with them 11 years ago.

Good luck
C.

Nothing needed if flying within the United States. We have traveled by air at least 4 times a year with our daughter since she was born (she is 7 now) and have never been asked for any ID.

If it's domestic, we just bring the birth certificate just in case but no one has ever asked. If it's international, you need a passport.

I travel with my 3 little ones all the time. I have never been asked for anything regarding their travel. They ask me how old and that is it.