FlyNils
Get started DE

· Oliver Strebel-Mark

Our First Flight with Baby: Why I Built FlyNils

This article is personal. It’s about our first flight with a baby — and why that experience led me to build an app.

The Preparation: Three Weeks of Research

Our son was 8 months old when we flew with him for the first time. I’m a developer, I like to plan. So I started researching three weeks ahead.

What began as “quick Google search” turned into a full-time project:

  • Read at least 12 blog posts
  • Created 3 different packing lists and scrapped all of them
  • Spent hours on the Lufthansa website trying to find out if our stroller can be gate-checked
  • Read 4 forums about whether you can bring formula through security
  • My wife and I kept messaging each other: “Did you think of that?”

At the Airport: The Reality Check

On flight day we had:

  • A full suitcase
  • An overpacked diaper bag
  • A stroller
  • A car seat (that we didn’t end up needing)
  • And the realization that we forgot the pacifiers

Security was stressful. Not because anything bad happened — but because we didn’t know what to expect. Does the stroller go through the scanner? Can the milk come through? Where do I hold the baby?

On the Plane: Forgot About Ear Pressure

During takeoff, our son screamed. Not a little — really screamed. I knew drinking during takeoff helps with ear pressure. But we hadn’t prepared a bottle because he had just been fed. Classic timing mistake.

After 10 minutes, everything was fine. He slept the rest of the flight. But those 10 minutes felt like an hour.

Landing: Forgot Again

The exact same thing happened during landing. We forgot about ear pressure again. At least this time we had a pacifier — which we’d bought at a gate shop in a hurry.

The Return Flight: Much Better

For the return flight, we did everything differently:

  • Prepared a bottle 30 minutes before landing
  • Handed over the stroller at the gate (not at check-in)
  • Diaper bag on top of carry-on
  • Pacifier in my pocket

It was still stressful. But organized stressful.

The Idea: Why Isn’t There an App for This?

On the return flight, while our son was sleeping, I started taking notes. Everything we’d learned, everything that went wrong, everything that needs to be better next time.

And then I thought: Why does every family have to figure this out on their own? Why isn’t there an app that simply says: “You’re flying in 2 weeks with an 8-month-old on Lufthansa — here’s your plan”?

So I started building one.

What FlyNils Does Today

FlyNils does exactly what I wished I’d had back then:

  • A personalized plan tailored to our specific flight
  • A packing list that knows how many diapers we need for 3 hours
  • Reminders that tell us about ear pressure at the right time
  • And the info whether our stroller is gate-checked with our airline

It’s the app I needed as a father. And now I’m sharing it with other parents.

First trip free. Because the first flight is stressful enough.

Read More