Any tips for flying with infant?

[Hawk]

It has been 7 years since my wife and I flew with an infant. My oldest son will be travelling with his infant daughter (4 months old) to WDW with us. Are there any new tips that may ease the ride from Burlington to JFK (1 hour) and JFK to MCO (2.5 hours)? We are concerned with ear pain. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Tim/Hawk

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

You may want to purchase a seat for the baby so you can have their infant car seat strapped in (that must go into a window seat). Bring along a bottle or pacifier for the baby to suck on during takeoff and landing to ease the pressure in the ears.

Bring plenty of diapers, wipes, toys, books, etc... and be sure to bring 1 or 2 blankets (planes can get chilly!).

We flew with my son when he was 4 months old and he was entertained by watching our portable DVD player with an Elmo DVD.

 

[camtheriot]

I haven't flown with an infant before, but we will be flying with our 9mo old next month to DW. We opted not to purchase a seperate seat and my plans are to hold him during the flight, but in one of those baby carriers that strap onto you. I know it's not as good as a car seat, but I feel a little safer than just holding him in my arms. I don't know if this helps or not (I don't really know if this will even work out or not), but I know sometimes you can't afford another seat. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[squirrlygirl]

DD (1) has flown 4 times and has yet to have any discomfort. We time her flights so she falls asleep usually before we hit the air, and then wake her up before we descend. We do give her a bottle/sippy cup on the descent.

The only thing I recommend is a ziploc baggie for any dirty diapers!

 

[Camno's Mama]

If you do have a carseat, I recommend leaving the baby in it as much as possible. I always found that if I took my boys out to let them stretch their legs, they did not want to go back in and threw a fit. In a car, they can't get out...so, after the first couple of times, I would just let them stay in it and they did much better. I think it helped them to sleep a little better.

As far as the ear pain, I found that nursing works. (Although, it goes against my first advice not to take them out of the seat!) Also, if the baby is at the goldfish and Cheerio stage, those come in handy. As do sippy cups that they can drink from during take off and landing to help with the pressure.

Have fun!

 

[MNMickeyWorldMom]

My pediatrician told me to collect packets of sugar before our trip and mix a couple packs with a cup (or bottle) of water. Infants and toddlers usually won't drink unless they're thirsty, but when they taste the sugar water, they won't turn that down. At least that's what my pediatrician told me. On my oldest son's first 2 trips, I had a huge ziploc full of sugar packets, and he barely touched the sugar water. At 11 months for his first trip and 2 for his second, he was more into candy. We brought caramel with, and kept feeding him tiny pieces of the caramel. It kept him chewing for the entire take-off and landing, and we only went through maybe 3 pieces of caramel. Now I skip the sugar packets and just make sure I have lots of chewy candy (skittles, caramel, fruit snacks, etc.). I like the caramel best, because a little can go a long way without loading them up too much with sugar. My youngest was 3 months for his 1st flight, so I just made sure he was either nursing or taking a bottle during take-off and landing. It was a 3 hour flight, so it worked out well that it was feeding time during both. I did have sugar water with on that flight just in case, but didn't end up needing it.

 

[sbdw]

We flew with our now DD 1yrs when she was 6 months and 9 months.
Best suggestion is to make a bottle just before you get on the plane or
just as you get seated. We gave her the bottle as we were taking off
and she would finish the bottle just when we got to cruise altitude.
As for landing she was sleeping and her ears did not seem to bother her.
Good Luck

 

[NotUrsula]

We opted not to purchase a seperate seat and my plans are to hold him during the flight, but in one of those baby carriers that strap onto you. I know it's not as good as a car seat, but I feel a little safer than just holding him in my arms. I don't know if this helps or not (I don't really know if this will even work out or not)

I'm afraid that it won't work out, because the airline won't let you do that. You can use it for boarding and debarkation, but the FA will make you put the carrier away before takeoff. FAA rules say that devices such as that may only be used at cruising altitude, and only then with the approval of the airline. Most of the time the FA's choose to make sure that you can't cheat when they can't see you and keep the carrier on for landing, so they make you put it away in the overhead for the entire flight.

 

[barnaby1]

We flew with our dd to Australia when she was 3 months old (24 hours in the air). It is absolutely the best time to fly with them as they are fantastically portable and don't really care where they are.
We had no trouble with ear pain. We didn't buy a seperate seat and I held her on my lap. When we had a stopover I just put her on the floor so she could have a good kick and wriggle around.

 

[Minniemouse07]

I agree w/ the others about getting your baby their own seat. Using a car seat on the plane makes it SO much easier for mom and dad...and more comfy for the child!

 

[katied]

DS has flown quite a bit starting around that age. His first flight was to Paris, so I was a bit nervous. I was still nursing, so it was easy to get him to nurse take off and landing. If that's not a option, then bottles are good. He was happiest at that age being held. Now that he's about 1 year, the car seat is really best - otherwise he's too squirmy.

For clothes - I learned that putting him in a sleeper is best (cotton). It keeps his feet covered so he doesn't get cold, and then I just have a lightweight blanket to cover him as needed.

I also always pack some new small toy to carry on that will keep him entertained. He likes to people watch, so that helps some too. Otherwise, 4 mo. is a easy age to fly with, at least for my DS. He was happy being held, looking around, etc.

It also helped to plan travel at normal times (not too early to too late, so less likely to be very cranky).

 

[Reese]

I found nursing worked out very well for take off and landing. For the rest of the flight they mostly slept. A favorite toy and endless games of peek-a-boo at that age worked great. The most important thing is to keep them swallowing during take-off and landing, whether it be a pacifier, bottle or nursing. This will prevent the pressure from building up in the ears.

 

[Hawk]

Thanks for the great tips. I had forgotten many of them.

Tim/Hawk