If you've ever flown with a baby, then you know just how incredibly difficult and non-luxurious it is. Aside from the insane amount of baby gear that you have to lug with you just to make it successfully from point A to point B in one piece, the sheer amount of stuff you have to pack in order to make the flight remotely tolerable with an infant is enough to break the strap on any diaper bag.

But regardless of how heavy your carry-on bag may be, there's really just no way around packing a ton of baby items when it comes to air travel. And one woman who was flying to Maui last week with her 9-month-old baby knows this all too well -- because she stashed her breast pump in her bag to bring on board the flight. But considering how threatening breastfeeding women apparently look when it comes to national security, the TSA agent who screened her forbid her to bring her breast pump along because the bottles with it were empty.

Um -- wait a minute. Aren't empty bottles supposed to be a good thing when it comes to bringing liquids on planes? I'm confused.

This woman, of course, wasn't about to hand her pump over to the TSA (those things are expensive, you know) and be on her merry way, so she asked them if they could offer her a private place to pump and fill up the empty bottles that they were all bent out of shape over. And where did they send her? The public women's restroom -- because every breastfeeding mom just loves to hook up her pump right in front of complete and total strangers.

The TSA has since issued a statement apologizing for treating this woman like some sort of criminal, but that still doesn't change the fact that her story reminds us of just how much of a huge hassle it is to fly with a baby. It almost seems like it might be worth it to ditch the air travel altogether until your child gets a bit older and can order his own drink off the beverage cart instead of it having to be packed.

Remember how fun and exciting flying was when we were kids? And remember how the flight attendants and other airline personnel would get all gushy and sweet and help out moms who had babies with them instead of rolling their eyes at them and muttering nasty comments under their breath? Yeah -- me neither. Things like that just don't happen anymore, which is actually kind of sad. A baby on board a plane used to be an absolute delight, but nowadays, they are basically just seen as extra carry-on baggage. No wonder so many people I know prefer to drive.

Have you flown with your baby yet? Do you have any advice for surviving the trip?


Image via Kossy@FINEDAYS/Flickr