Taking infant on 1st plane ride

[Dyanna]

What is the best thing to do for an infant during take-off & landing while on a plane? DD will be 10 months old when we go & she is very good on long road trips (4hrs+) but not sure how she will do when her ears start to bother her.

[mjaclyn]

DH and I are taking our DD on her first plane trip as well this Saturday. I've heard that if you feed them a bottle during take-off & landing the swallowing should help their ears alot. I've also heard about these small ear plugs that you can have the baby wear which minimizes the affect on their ears. I think I'm going to try both although i haven't yet been able to find the ear plugs. I'll let you know how the flight goes this weekend. :mickey:

[robyn221]

We traveled a lot by plane with our son when he was an infant. I fed him a bottle during take-offs & landings & he was okay.

Robyn:mickey:

[Tinkerfreak]

We tried the earplane (ear plug things) for our DD and she said they did not work at all. I think that feeding a bottle at that time would be helpful because the swallowing will help the ears pop. If she will be strapped into her seat anyway you can just feed her while sitting next to her. Maybe if you are lucky she will fall asleep before you even take off. You might want to ask your pediatrician for some suggestions also.

[queen2princesses]

We have traveled a lot with our 2DD now 2 and 3. When they were really young, I would nurse them at takeoff.

When they were older it was sippy cups and lollipops One duaghter used pacifers.

Now that they are older they chew on gum.

We also tried to fly first thing in the am so by the time it was takeoff, they would soon be asleep.

[mulderxcoltrane]

We traveled last year with an 8 month old and feeding him a bottle during takeoff and landing worked fine for him. The only problem we had was that we had a connecting flight, so we had 4 takeoffs and landings to get to Disney, so he ended up eating quite a bit that day! In retrospect, we should have just done some water or something instead of always giving him formula! You could also try a pacifier if your baby uses one- that will work as well. Don't start the bottle too early or you could run out before the ears actually start popping!
Since it was our son's first flight(even though he was a baby), he even got a certificate and wings from the pilot!
Good luck!

[Lucyrella]

When flying with our girls from China to the US, a bottle at take off and landing does help. Also, there are over the counter ear drops you can get. Sometimes hard to find, but a lot of moms swear by them.

[teambricker04]

We have loads of times with our little ones... we are currently on a trip with our 3 mo for the first time and it is going really well (Not at Disney though, bummer!). Anyhoo... I just wait and see how they act. I have never given a bottle but usually use a pacifier. Since your little one is older try offering something to eat like cheerios or what not.

I bet you will be surprised... Good Luck!

[Mommy2boys]

Great suggestions!

[FlaTinkRAMESAM]

Benadryl and a pacifier... amazing stuff. She flew for the first time at 18 months, so it is a bit different though, and every baby reacts differently. DD's ears never bugged her, she actually never fussed, had fun coloring and watching movies on the tv. Shockingly well behaved for a 6 hour flight from Tampa to LA...

just bring stuff for them to do and some stuff to snack on, drink, etc.

[FlaTinkRAMESAM]

We traveled a lot by plane with our son when he was an infant. I fed him a bottle during take-offs & landings & he was okay.

Robyn:mickey:

I just read your signature... MOOOOO with me... :o)

[magicofdisney]

My oldest son was 9mos when he first flew. I do remember offering a bottle or nursing for take offs and landings. BUT I wasn't prepared for the possible side effects (read motion sickness) that flying can cause. He vomited everywhere shortly after our second takeoff. I had no extra clothes with me! Don't ask me what I was thinking. It was awful. He stunk to high heaven, it was winter, cold and he was wet with upchuck. Boy did I learn a valuable lesson.

[SAHDad]

We took something like 4 small baby bottles (filled with water) with us, and some of the formula packets (so we could mix up more, didn't have to worry about keeping them cold or washing the empties before refilling them, etc), and gave our son a bottle on takeoff (like, when the plane actually started taking off, not the taxiing to the runway), and when we started final descent.

IIRC, we did have some of the baby Tylenol or something like that, just in case, but we never needed it. As he got older, we switched the formula for sippy cups of juice, and our next trip will probably use suckers for him, and back to the bottle for his baby sister.