Infant First Flight

you will get alot of responses on this as i did as well. i took my daughter at 3 months on her first flight as well. my suggestion is hold off feeding him until you are in the process of getting to the runway. i did that and i had no problems at take off and then she slept the entire flight. good luck

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It's been a while since I've had an infant, but I do remember trying to time the feedings to coincide with take off so that he would be sucking at the time when his ears would bother him. The sucking of a bottle or breast should help clear the pressure. However, with delays, etc. take off time isn't always what you think it will be. How about a pacifier - does he use one? I would also take more diapers than you think he'll need (hate to be stuck somewhere and run out!) and also at least one change of clothes for you and him. Never know when an explosive diaper or spit up will require a new outfit for either of you.

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Since your little one cannot adjust to the pressure on his own, when taking off make sure he is swallowing something as you TAKEOFF. Whether it be a juice bottle, formula or nurse him, he needs to be swallowing as you increase in the air to adjust the pressure. Make sure you are on the runway wwhen you begin feeding him, we got stuck in line for takeoff and waited for 30 minutes once we left the gate on the taxiway. This happened to us once and I was so happy my little one was not fussy while we waited.

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Just make sure he is sucking on something during take off and landing. I just started nursing my son right when the plane actually started speeding up down the runway, and then when my ears started to pop during the descent I began nursing him again. Good luck!

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Good Morning J.,

When my daughters were little the Pediatrician said to make sure they were either nursing or taking a bottle on take off and landing. There were never any issues as long as I did this.

Good Luck and have a safe flight!

N.

I took my 8 month old and 2 yr old on a flight from KS to FL. The airlines would not keep the bottles in a cool place as my son had to have special formula. So I carried a cooler and got ice whenever I could. Hopefully they are more lenient now. As for the ear thing, sucking on the bottle or breast will normally help keep his ears from filling up. Good luck.

Hi J.,
I'm expecting my first child in September, so my advice isn't from personal experience, but I actually read some info in a magazine recently & thought it may be helpful. It suggested that you have your baby drink a bottle at take-off & landing to help avoid ear problems from air pressure changes. It also recommended that if he's had an ear infection recently to talk to your doctor before your flight. The article also stated that the safest way for your baby to travel on an airplane is in a carseat that is strapped in securely by the plane seat belt. You'll probably have to buy an extra ticket, but sometimes you can get it discounted. Perhaps contact your airline to see if they have any recommendation for traveling with an infant.

Good Luck!
J.

Make sure he is sucking on something during take off and landing. It can be breast, bottle, binkie - whatever. That will help him to pop his ears during the pressure change.

I've found that giving my babies either a binkie or a bottle helps them with the cabin pressure when taking off/landing. i didn't use a bottle warmer, but i did see at Babies R Us a bottle warmer that uses a car charger. Good Luck!

My little guy is 3 months also and we've just returned from a trip home to the UK. I was really worried about the ear thing as too. I tried to make sure he was sucking his pacifier or nursing during takeoff and landing but it didn't always work out (he'll take his paci when he's sleepy). To be honest though, it didn't seem to bother him at all. I also have a 3 year old and she didn't complain about her ears either. I don't understand it as landing, in particular, kills my ears. Perhaps it doesn't affect children so badly. Good luck.

If you can feed him a bottle during take-off, that may help with his ears. The sucking should help, similar to when we chew gum. Good luck and have fun!

I don't know about bottle warmers....BUT if you give him a bottle to drink while you are going up in the air, and when you are landing, that should help with his ears.

Last summer we took our son (who was then seven months) on his first flight as well. This is what worked for us (he never cried):
1. Feed your son a bottle or nurse during take-off and landings
2. If your son takes a pacifier, have your son suck on it through out the flight(especially during take-off and landings if not drinking).
3. Seat towards the back of the plane (that way if he does cry, the engines drown out the sound)

The flight crew on both the to and from trips were wonderful and very accommodating.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any good bottle warmers... Good luck!

Hi J., nursing or or giving him water or formula from a bottle during take off helps.At this age he might just fall asleep as soon as the motors start humming. I have flown a lot with my 2 kids, have some distractions for him if him gets restless, his favorite toy. Best advice I ever got about flying was - buy a set of new toys. I always do that and it saved me going over to Europe.

When our first son was younger, we took him on flights all the time! Sometimes by myself, sometimes as a family. Anyway, don't worry about a bottle warmer... just ask at the restaurants you will already be at if you can have hot water in a coffee mug to warm the bottle. If you have fat bottles that might not fit in a coffee mug (we do), ask to have hot water in a bowl to warm the bottle. It will take just a few minutes.
Everyone else has given you great advice about pressure changes.
Good luck! Three months is a great age to travel with!

Hi J.,
What helped when we traveled with our baby was having an infant carrier to carry him in once we got to the airport; this freed up my hands to pull my suitcase since my husband couldn't carry it all in certain areas of the airport. Other things that were helpful was a pacifier for him to suck on during take-off and during the flight for his ears; he did just fine. Disposable bottle liners were another lifesaver as it made making bottles and clean-up afterwards so much easier. Have a great trip!

Just have your baby's bottle ready on take-off and landing, that should handle the ear discomfort. Most likely, he'll sleep. We traveled with our daughter for the first time at 5 months . It was a breeze! If there is room on the plane, bring your infant carrier and ask for the seat next to you. It was very simple this way.

We adopted, so lived our first week as parents in a hotel room. We used hot water from the sink to heat the bottles. Later, I would microwave the water and put the bottle in that hot water for a few minutes. Frankly, traveling with a bottle warmer is not realistic, especially with the limits airlines are putting on baggage these days.

Mostly, just be relaxed, your baby will pick up on that. And also, accept the help & advice from the flight attendants...they have been of GREAT help to me when traveling with our daughter. We travel all the time and our daughter just turned 2. She is totally comfortable with airports and planes.

How exciting! Definitely offer a bottle to your son when the plane is taking off and landing this will help with his ears. My daughter is 10 months old and we have now traveled by plane 3 times. Take plastic baggies, these are great for soiled diapers, bibs, clothes,etc. I also placed food in one plastic bag, diapers and wipes in another, toys, clothes, etc...so that when you needed something you can just grab the bag that you need instead of digging in your diaper bag. This really made it easy to find what I needed. I took 2 carry-on bags. One was full of what I needed immediately and placed under my seat. The other had the back-up's and was placed in the overhead bin. When you get to the gate you can ask if there are extra seats available and request it. It is great to have the extra seat to place the carry on car seat it...I was lucky enough to get an extra seat and my daughter slept for 80% of the flight!! Regarding the bottle warmer I would test to see if your son will drink formula at room temperature. Similac and Enfamil offer ready to use cans that are GREAT for traveling! I highly suggest these! Good Luck! I was terrified of flying for the first time with her but it truly was a breeze!

Good Morning J., the other Mama's have given awesome advice about your son's ears and what will help. I am not sure you would actually need to purchase a warmer, most Hotels now have microwaves, the airlines can assist in warming a bottle also. If no microwave is available in a hotel hot water in the sink will warm it nicely. I would use bottled water to mix formula when going on trips.

God Bless and have a Wonderful trip
K. Nana of 5

take a coffee thermos full of hot water for the bottles. We used our thermos about everyday because it became a convenient way to have warm water for the bottles instantly. We would boil a pan of water every morning and pour in the thermos and the first few bottles of the day we would have to cool them down with cold water but is easier to cool one than to get warm water everywhere you go and made it really nice to just grab the thermos and diaper bag which always had a clean empty bottle in it and container of powdered formula. You can also put the hot water in the bottle about 30 minutes ahead of time when you think the next feeding will be and let it start cooling, always check the bottles to make sure they aren't too hot though but this method worked a lot better than waiting for bottle warmers as they take a while to heat up a bottle. As for the flight, If your baby uses a pacifier that may help their ears pop, if not you can have them try to take a bottle during take off and landing.

Hey!

My little guy used a pacifier and that seemed to help with the ears popping or if you don't use a pacifier just have a bottle of juice ready for departure and landing.

Thanks!

J.,
My husband and I have taken our son on 2 flights so far. One when he was 3 months, and the other when he was 5 months (he is 7.5 months old now). Neither time did we do anything specific for his ears. We just figured we would deal with it if and when he got upset. He did not get upset either time, so it all worked out. And I don't have any good advice on a bottle warmer since I didn't use one, sorry! Good luck to you, and have a good flight!

we took our son on a flight at 6 weeks, and all went great. since they suck on a pacifier or a bottel that will help the pressure for him..

My two cousins are Captins for two of the major air lines and they actually "fly" their daughter to visit grandma and grandpa weekly! It's pretty cool! I was told that she automatically knows to suck her thumb when the pressure changes so i would guess to put their binkie in during that time, That's about the best advise i can give you at this point. Good luck with your flight!!