Last minute panic/traveling home with baby

We fly out Saturday morning to take our 7 1/2 month old baby home for the first time.

I'm suddenly worrying myself sick about getting her infant formula through customs (do I declare it? The USDA website just says to declare fruit, veg, plant products, meat products, animals birds and eggs).

And will boiling her water be enough? Will the different mineral content be adjusted by boiling enough to not upset her system? Should I use bottled water? And if so, do I go for spring, filtered, or what?

And do the rest of you experienced travelers have any tips for me?

Infant formula shouldn't be a problem through customs.  I think it's an exemption.  I never had a problem changing water, but if you're worried I'd use bottled. 

Here's a good thread with baby travel tips.   

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=11554.0

Oh honey you are really getting so stressed out about absolutely nothing. Travelling with babies isnt very difficult. Use common sense and pack a nice diaper bag. I always travelled with powdered formula (no need to declare it!) I got a nice little container that holds four 8 oz worth of powder formula at Toys R Us. Its very compact and handy and saves you from scooping powder at 33,000 feet. You can use boiled water from home from a thermos or just use bottled water. The airline will have some for you but you can bring spares of course if you like. The flight attendants should be able to warm it up for you.
Make sure you give her her binky or a drink upon taking off and landing. Dont dress her too warm. Bring books and toys to keep her occupied.
Pack extra extra diapers in case of an unexpected delay or layover.
Take travel size calpol sachets just in case. I find this to be very important. I used to always get stranded in a hotel or on a plane with no calpol/tylonol.
Also dont forget the teething gel in case she is or starts to teethe.

Best of luck. Relax and enjoy the flight!

Boiled water will definitely be ok. (I'm assuming you are going to the US or UK).
Formula doesn't need to be declared. We've taken it on our carryons and in our luggage, and in fact when we immigrated we brought over 5 tins of it! No problem whatsoever.

My best advice (having done is several times) is to accept every single offer of help you receive. Take any notion of "naw, I can do it just fine" and squash it right now! There are definite things you can do (that thread Mindy quoted has loads in it), and being prepared is a big thing.

Also? RELAX. It won't be nearly as bad as your worst fears, and even if it is bad you'll forget about it in no time. Stay relaxed, wear SUPER COMFY clothes, and just keep it calm and easy for yourself. That way you can help keep it calmand easy for your little one.

Something we'll be doing differently next time: bringing my husband's laptop and playing a Baby Einstein DVD for Philip when he is sleepy! That worked wonders for the people beside us with a baby and we WISH we had thought of it.

Something we'll be doing differently next time: bringing my husband's laptop and playing a Baby Einstein DVD for Philip when he is sleepy! That worked wonders for the people beside us with a baby and we WISH we had thought of it.

Great idea! Baby Einstein is my babysitter! 

Let us know how your journey went ... I will be flying to Indianapolis with my husband & baby in September.  Andrew will be about 8 months old then. 

We're back! I went to the other thread about travelling with kids, and found some great ideas... my biggest worry was about getting Elena to sleep on the plane, because she's used to sleeping in her own space and being able to stretch out. But because we had her in our bed for two weeks, by the time we got to the night flight she coped a little better in my lap than I thought she would.

For a little baby who'd never travelled further than the seaside before, she did really well - we did 2700 miles in the car over two weeks (mostly while she slept!)

I do think there's some sort of threshold though around seven/eight months where kids get squirmier and more curious. The journey would have been very different a month ago. What's good though is BA gave us a baby seatbelt that kept her attached to me, so I could be handsfree without worrying about her falling. She was able to stretch and pull as much as she wanted, so in a way it was better than being at home on the sofa.

About accepting offers of help - I definitely agree with that, and would go as far as to ask for help if I had to. Despite all my dozens of international travels I managed to make a couple of mistakes in navigating the airport (including going to the wrong terminal, though that was the travel agent's fault), and it added hours and stress to our journey, which finally ended with the three of us and our suitcases bailing out of the hotel/airport shuttle at the wrong hotel and walking the rest of the way... It pays to make sure your hotel shuttle goes to your terminal. Though I should have known this!