Flying with a newborn

[flyboycpa]

Hey all,

My wife and I just had our first born, a beautiful baby boy. We are both pilots and are interested in your thoughts as to when it is ok to fly.

We consulted our pediatrician and he said there are no problems anytime. He was referring to airline flying. He had no General Aviation experience and didn't understand the noise levels inside a small plane.

Any ideas regarding noise control for babies??

Also, any other issues besides diaper changes in the backseat?

thanks,
fb

 

[milehye]

We started flying with our youngest when he was 3 weeks and now at 8 yrs has flown more than most do in a lifetime and he treats it no different than a car ride....

It's amazing to see how many people don't understand pressurization problems in infants.... My advice is to try and plan your feedings to fit around take-off and landings.... We always did that and he never cried or had problems...

Diaper changes are a pain in the butt - An empty seat is gross and not very pleasant to those sitting by and the lavs or even worse... Try balancing a baby on the toilet seat cover in an RJ during turbulance...

Good luck..

 

[timeoff]

I just took my 18 month old up this past weekend for his first flight. We bought those junior headset-type ear muffs. Unfortunately they ended up on the floor before I got to the runup area.

I have heard that cotton balls and a knitted hat will work, if they are still young enough to leave them on. Also try to find those pliable wax ear plugs that can be molded to fit in their little ears.

He went the whole flight without anything and basically slept the whole time. Occasional flying without protection won't do any damage. It would take a prolonged exposure to do any sort of damage, imo.

 

[JimG]

We took my oldest on her first flight when she was a little over a week old.

(My ex-wife's OBGYN was worried my ex was going to deliver her IN the airplane the previous week while we were on a trip)

We bundled her head up in a bonnet that covered her ears and put some padding around them underneath it for sound (the Bonanza was actually pretty quiet anyway).

I flew low (8500') and made my climb/descents pretty shallow, and we timed the flights around meal-time, so my ex could breast feed her too.

No problems.

Both my older kids now have close to 1000 hours in the air (17 & 15 y/o). The youngest (10) is catching up fast now.