Flying w. a 3 month old baby

N

nightflyerDFW

New Member
I plan to take a 30 minute flight on Thanksgiving with my wife and 3 month old son. What sort of special precautions need to be taken with my son? I plan to strap him in his carrier in the backseat, rear facing like in the car. My main concern is with noise/hearing protection. Anyone done this before? We'll be in a Skyhawk 172 and I don't plan on going too high (2000ft.).
 
For a 30 minute flight don't worry about hearing protection. It's too short a flight to have any effect.

If you flew with him a LOT, I might suggest ear plugs cut in half, or possibly trying to get him to wear a smaller size headset, but for a one or two time occasion, don't worry about it.
 
I don't know that there is a minimum time of noise exposure that will cause hearing loss, but I've always been told that loss is cumulative. I would think - - underline think, it's just my opinion - - that you can't be too careful, especially with young, developing bodies.

I wouldn't try anything that goes in the ear canal for a 3-mo-old. It might be painful or uncomfortable, and it might wind up in his mouth. But I'd definitely use one of those wool caps with the straps you tie under the chin so the little guy couldn't knock it off. Another possibility would be one of those straps that looks like a sweat band. Anything to cover the ears ought to help.


I'd be MORE concerned about discomfort during the descent. The largest pressure changes occur in the lower altitudes. Don't think that "only" 2000 feet makes it a non-issue. Make sure he has something to suck on during the descent.



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We took our child flying when he was six weeks of age from the east coast to Chicago. It was fine--as was mentioned, just make sure your child is sucking on ascent and descent.
 
I took my son flying at about 5-6 months, and he went to sleep. Basicly he considered it a very noisy car.

I tried to cut some foam ear plugs in half, but he pulled them out right away.

He has a headset now (20 months) and he just pulls it off and chews on it.
 
My youngest and he would never keep his ear protection on. We started with basically a knit cap and headband. He graduated to a headset but always took it off. He was usually asleep before we left the runway, so the noise couldn't have bothered him too much. Now he just turned 3 and keeps the headset on just fine.
 
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