Does one need a birth certificate to travel by plane with one's baby?

[DKinTX]

My sis is coming to visit me with her son, my nephew (he just turned 1yo). Someone told my sis that she'd need a birth certificate to fly with him, but she doesn't have a copy and now it's too late for her to get one in time. Can anyone here tell me if you needed to have a birth certificate to travel with your baby? Thanks!

[Mrs Mungo]

My sis is coming to visit me with her son, my nephew (he just turned 1yo). Someone told my sis that she'd need a birth certificate to fly with him, but she doesn't have a copy and now it's too late for her to get one in time. Can anyone here tell me if you needed to have a birth certificate to travel with your baby? Thanks!

Usually, yes, you do need a birth certificate to fly with an infant (especially if you aren't paying for a seat for the baby). She can call the airline to find out for sure, I know the rules vary. However, I managed to get a copy of my daughter's birth certificate overnighted to me once from CA. How much time does she have?

[DKinTX]

She didn't buy a seat for him. She is leaving Tuesday morning, so she does have a few days. I'm thinking she's never filed for a bc? Is that possible? I seem to remember when one of my children was born, I got paperwork from the hospital that I was supposed to file in order to get a bc for my child. But I took forever to actually do it...in fact I don't think I did it until I needed a copy for taxes or something. Does this sound possible? Or how does it work? When a baby is born it isn't automatically issued a certificate, right? I'm sorry for sounding ignorant, my youngest is seven and my memory does not reach back anywhere near that far...if for some reason I'm correct (unlikely!) it wouldn't be a matter of getting a copy of the certificate, but creating an original certificate. Does that make any sense at all? Thanks for reading this muddled mess!

[Mrs Mungo]

She didn't buy a seat for him. She is leaving Tuesday morning, so she does have a few days. I'm thinking she's never filed for a bc? Is that possible? I seem to remember when one of my children was born, I got paperwork from the hospital that I was supposed to file in order to get a bc for my child. But I took forever to actually do it...in fact I don't think I did it until I needed a copy for taxes or something. Does this sound possible? Or how does it work? When a baby is born it isn't automatically issued a certificate, right? I'm sorry for sounding ignorant, my youngest is seven and my memory does not reach back anywhere near that far...if for some reason I'm correct (unlikely!) it wouldn't be a matter of getting a copy of the certificate, but creating an original certificate. Does that make any sense at all? Thanks for reading this muddled mess!

I'm afraid I couldn't tell you, I'm sure every state is different though. I remember having to fill out a paper with my eldest but she was born in a military hospital in CA. The other two were born in Germany and WOW! The paperwork was astounding! We had to have both mine and DH's birth certificates and our marriage certificate translated into German and a whole slew of stuff.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Is this a new thing? I traveled several times with my kids, and never had to bring a birth certificate. Is it to prove their age?

I suppose she should check with the airline to confirm.

There are several internet sources to get birth certificates. Just google "birth certificates". I'm sure that if she's willing to pay a premium, she can get expedited service.

[Mrs Mungo]

Is this a new thing? I traveled several times with my kids, and never had to bring a birth certificate. Is it to prove their age?

I suppose she should check with the airline to confirm.

There are several internet sources to get birth certificates. Just google "birth certificates". I'm sure that if she's willing to pay a premium, she can get expedited service.

I had to show a birth certificate when I flew with my eldest as a baby and she's 12. It is to usually to prove they are under two years old if you're not buying a seat. I would call the airline before I did anything.

[Sugarfoot]

We have a 20 month old and a 6 month old. They've both flown several times, and I've never been asked for a birth certificate. All of our kids have passports, and we bring them just in case, but we've never been asked to show any kind of ID for any of them. They ask for their names and ages and write it on our boarding passes. We always use curbside check-in if available, but even when we had to stand in line at the check-in counter, we weren't asked for anything.

That being said, I used an online service to obtain my youngest baby's birth certificate faster, so that I could get his passport, so that he could cruise through the Bahamas and British Virgin Islands. It really helped me. It probably did cost more than doing it myself, but it was easier and a lot faster. Hope this helps!

[Unicorn]

We get copies of our dc's birth cert. in about 10 minutes. All we have to do is go down to our courthouse, show our id, fill out the paperwork, and in a few minutes we have an official bc. I don't know if they do this everywhere, but in TX you don't have to wait for one.

I don't fly, but I have never heard of anyone needing one unless it is international.

HTH

[sherylwinter]

we have to travel on planes lots with our littles living way up North. With the ones under one year old I never even had a birth certificate...gave birth south and travelled back home jet with small babies...only had the ankle bracelet from hospital and copy of live birth form. The only thing they want from us is the health care card for the littles...I would call them for sure to find out, each airline probally has their own rules. :001_smile:

[snickelfritz]

Their child was almost 2 and they had not bought a seat.

We flew when dd was 22 months and they did not ask us for one. We had a passport with us, just in case. My dd's do get hair late and look younger than they are.

[cin]

Our girls are Asian and we are not, so for us, this would be a definite. I don't know what the rules are, though.

[wagnfun]

My sis is coming to visit me with her son, my nephew (he just turned 1yo). Someone told my sis that she'd need a birth certificate to fly with him, but she doesn't have a copy and now it's too late for her to get one in time. Can anyone here tell me if you needed to have a birth certificate to travel with your baby? Thanks!

A few months ago flying out of LAX (California) I heard the flight attendent tell a young mother w/ an 18month old because she was traveling alone (without the father) she had to show a birth certificate & ID.

[KAR120C]

It can be required to prove that they're young enough not to need a seat. Younger than that it shouldn't be a problem, but when we traveled with 4-month-old DS (ages ago!) the woman at the check-in counter wanted a birth certificate to prove he was under two. Um. He's like 12 pounds and doesn't even crawl yet, and you want us to prove he's not two?? And we HAD bought him a seat, so that whole line of questioning should have been moot. But then that whole trip was full of official people who didn't know what they were doing... the gate attendant even wanted to keep us from putting his carseat in his (airplane) seat until she made sure the plane wasn't full! He had a ticket! it was his!! Sheesh...

Anyway short version is, it shouldn't be a problem, but I like to have it just in case. DS has had a passport since he was 18 months, so since then we've dealt with it that way.

[woodstockmom]

We have taken her all over the world since she was 3 months old and have never been asked for a birth certificate.

[Janet in WA]

We get copies of our dc's birth cert. in about 10 minutes. All we have to do is go down to our courthouse, show our id, fill out the paperwork, and in a few minutes we have an official bc. I don't know if they do this everywhere, but in TX you don't have to wait for one.

I don't fly, but I have never heard of anyone needing one unless it is international.

HTHIt's that easy only if you still live where your children were born.

[Mrs Mungo]

We have taken her all over the world since she was 3 months old and have never been asked for a birth certificate.

Just because that's been your experience it doesn't make it true for everyone. I'm from Oklahoma but have lived on both coasts. Two of my children were born in Europe, we now live in Hawaii. We've flown a *lot* with our kids and I *have* been required to show their birth certificates. Like I said, it largely depends upon the airline. As I said (and KAR1200) it is particularly true if the baby in question looks close to 2 years old and you haven't purchased a seat for them. Sometimes they'll want a birth certificate (or passport works too but most people in the US don't have them) if you're not flying with the dad. The rules vary from state to state, airline to airline, official to official. It's unfortunate that the rules aren't set in stone but they aren't. I'm not saying you absolutely must show the baby's birth certificate, I'm saying *I* have had to show birth certificates.