Flying with a four month old tomorrow.

[Challenged]

The wife and baby and I are flying out tomorrow morning to spend the weekend with her family, and it'll be the first time I've taken him up in the plane. I did purchase the baby some hearing protection already, but I was just wondering if any "old pros" had some wisdom to share in regards to the flight, packing, comfort, etc... One thing in my favor, I guess, is that it's only 100nm airport to airport.

 

[DavidWhite]

Give him a shot or 2 of old grand-dad 114 before you take off and he'll sleep like a bear in hibernation for a few hours.

 

[MAKG1]

Put the wife in the back seat with the kid. There are a lot of new sensations flying. If you can, give him a view. Even a really young baby can appreciate that. Mine got his first 737 ride at not much older than that (about 8 months), and he made a lot of nose prints on the window. It was a spectacular flight over the Rockies in winter in CAVU conditions.

Let him cruise in Mommy's lap unless there is turbulence. Use a rear facing car seat (with the FAA sticker) for takeoff, taxi and landing.

Make sure he'll wear the hearing protection at home before you try it in the airplane.

I might suggest a short and non-time-critical sightseeing flight first, so he can see the airport he took off from, maybe see some familiar landmarks, and you can go back if he gets freaked out. You know his temperament by now, so you'll have some idea if that's likely or not. But it's a good idea to test it when time is not critical.

With my own kid, I was worried about ear block. We gave him a feeding high in climb out and forgot on the descent. It was a nonissue.

 

[PPC1052]

What type of hearing protection? Please report the results. We have a six month old, and I would like to take him to visit some family by plane.

 

[happypilot876]

We bought Moggies for my daughter http://www.moggiesearmuffs.com/ and they have worked great. We took her on her first GA flight at about 6 months (a long XC in a 182RG) and she has been up several times since then. She was a little startled when we put the moggies on at first, but as soon as the engine started running she was good to go.

We put the car-seat in the back seat, and my wife sat next to her. We brought the car seat base from the car so it helped make loading & unloading easier. Plus it was nice to have the base to put in the car when we landed at our destination.

 

[kyleb]

Plenty of good advice here. I would add that infants have trouble equalizing pressure in their ears. To help, time things so the child is hungry at takeoff and landing, then provide a bottle so they are swallowing frequently during climb and descent.

 

[Ted]

He'll probably fall asleep as you get to full power. Nothing else is really required. We had no issues.

 

[Challenged]

Besides taking much more time to get setup than when it's just my wife and I, the flight went well. A 30 knot headwind didn't make the pilot happy, but the baby seemed fine with his earplugs and just ate most of the time.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[Geico266]

Put the wife in the back seat with the kid. There are a lot of new sensations flying. If you can, give him a view. Even a really young baby can appreciate that. Mine got his first 737 ride at not much older than that (about 8 months), and he made a lot of nose prints on the window. It was a spectacular flight over the Rockies in winter in CAVU conditions.

Let him cruise in Mommy's lap unless there is turbulence. Use a rear facing car seat (with the FAA sticker) for takeoff, taxi and landing.

Make sure he'll wear the hearing protection at home before you try it in the airplane.

I might suggest a short and non-time-critical sightseeing flight first, so he can see the airport he took off from, maybe see some familiar landmarks, and you can go back if he gets freaked out. You know his temperament by now, so you'll have some idea if that's likely or not. But it's a good idea to test it when time is not critical.

With my own kid, I was worried about ear block. We gave him a feeding high in climb out and forgot on the descent. It was a nonissue.

Weight and balance?

 

[MAKG1]

Weight and balance?

The only airplane I have access to for which I can't put my wife and kid both in the back is a 152.

I've done W&B for everything I have access to, more than once, with that exact configuration.

Try it. Just how heavy do the back seat passengers have to be in a 172 to get an aft CG? Try it with zero fuel, as that will be the worst case. I get 550 lb. I hope the OP's wife isn't anywhere near that heavy.

Now, there may be a problem with all the lead bricks in the cargo area, but normal loading does not give you an aft CG.

I find it REALLY tough to get outside the aft CG limit while still being under max gross and within cargo limits (120 lb in a 172) in any aircraft. I can get a 177 or 182 a little outside the forward CG limit with full fuel and two adults in front and nothing else.

Of course, do the calculation. Maybe the aircraft has an 800 lb ELT in the tailcone. But I don't expect any trouble from that.

 

[Challenged]

I purchased Baby Banz hearing protection BTW. They were well reviewed on Amazon and seemed to do the trick for us.

 

[comanchepilot]

The issue is the descent . . . if she is still breast feeding wait to feed until the descent if he'll wait that long - if you have a 2-3 hour leg feed at the beginning and then the child will nap and then wake up just before descent - start the descent just after let down - when she lets down you do as well. The baby will then swallow and clear their ears naturally avoiding the screaming memees.

Do NOT go above 6500 if you can - airliner cabin altitudes are not much higher than that and if you can keep your descent to 500fpm or 400 if possible - your rate of descent will be similar to the descent of the cabin in an airliner . . .

 

[ethank]

I'm going to take my daughter up at 6 months (as per the wife's request). Having my wife in the back will necessitate having my four year old in the front. We're testing that out this weekend in a DA20 to see how he does on a short hop from KVNY to KCMA with me for breakfast.

He's flown with me before but in the back seat in a PA28.

 

[MAKG1]

I can't see a rear facing car seat working in front without interfering with the yoke AND distrscting the pilot. That doesn't sound like a very good idea.

 

[hindsight2020]

We've flown 50 hours with baby on board, from 7 weeks to now close to 8 months. No major problems really. Momma and baby fly in the back seat (28R-200 Arrow II). Weight and balance hasn't been a problem either, with full fuel and even pack n play in the back. Babybanz earmuffs have worked decently. In the beginning it gave him problems because it bumped against the newborn fitting on the headliner of the car seat, but once we removed the headliner he can lay on the seat without the earmuffs hitting anything.

Plenty of opportunity for momma to get him out of the seat and play with him/change him. Concur with the advice to breastfeed/bottle prior to descent and in anticipation for landing. I keep things at -500fpm but babies are resilient. One time the kid had a latent congestion that we didn't identify and he was pretty upset on the descent. But that's live and learn for us new parents. These days we make a better assessment of any potential congestion and as he gets older he'll be able to verbalize his condition. Obviously we would scrap the flight in that case.

Longest flight has been a 3.5 due to headwinds. Not a big problem. That's our typical leg going to friends and family locations circa 400ish NM. I rather do that than drive 10 hours with the infant. Our local 130NM hop to the city on the weekends is a breeze.

Go up and enjoy these moments. They're only this little for a short flash.

 

[Lindberg]

I'm going to take my daughter up at 6 months (as per the wife's request). Having my wife in the back will necessitate having my four year old in the front. We're testing that out this weekend in a DA20 to see how he does on a short hop from KVNY to KCMA with me for breakfast.

He's flown with me before but in the back seat in a PA28.

I can't see a rear facing car seat working in front without interfering with the yoke AND distrscting the pilot. That doesn't sound like a very good idea.

If you're responding to this post, is rear facing an FAA requirement? I wouldn't have a four year old facing backwards in a car.

 

[MAKG1]

If you're responding to this post, is rear facing an FAA requirement? I wouldn't have a four year old facing backwards in a car.

No. I misread. No problem with a four year old in front as long as he doesn't play with controls. He won't be able to see over the panel, but the side view isn't bad.

Most booster seats are illegal on aircraft, though the reasons don't make sense anymore, AND he has to use a shoulder harness. The combination isn't terribly safe, but a big pillow that isn't a "booster" will get around it.

 

[ethank]

No. I misread. No problem with a four year old in front as long as he doesn't play with controls. He won't be able to see over the panel, but the side view isn't bad.

Most booster seats are illegal on aircraft, though the reasons don't make sense anymore, AND he has to use a shoulder harness. The combination isn't terribly safe, but a big pillow that isn't a "booster" will get around it.

The flight school has boosters for the DA20's (for short students), and it has a four point safety harness so he should be fine.

The Piper is a three point and since it isn't a stick you can buy good boosters on Sportys.

 

[Challenged]

Just a quick follow-up: We flew back home this morning with a 25 knot tailwind, smooth as silk. Baby fell asleep about 60 seconds prior to take off and woke up about 5 minutes before landing. Mom said he was laughing and smiling at her the whole time we descended... I think I've solidified still using the plane for travel even with our newest family member. High five!

 

[hindsight2020]

Congrats! It's a great feeling being able to share your passion with the family.

 

[Ruthless53]

Just a quick follow-up: We flew back home this morning with a 25 knot tailwind, smooth as silk. Baby fell asleep about 60 seconds prior to take off and woke up about 5 minutes before landing. Mom said he was laughing and smiling at her the whole time we descended... I think I've solidified still using the plane for travel even with our newest family member. High five!

It is a million times better than driving with a kid. Drove 12 hours to Destin area last year for my wife's sisters wedding with a 4 year old. He'd flown a bunch before this but we had to drive because we had too much stuff. HORRIBLE TRIP! Hard on them being in the car that long stuck in a seat belt. Made the same trip this year in my Archer and it was soooo much better. 4 hours there and 3:15 back sure made the trip a whole lot less stressful for all of us. My usual routine before flying anymore than an hour with him is stopping to get a big gatorade bottle on the way to the airport. When he needs to go he stands up in the seat and I hold the bottle for him. Seal it off and throw away at the airport. Got the wife one of these for the long trips and its pretty sweet besides her being a tad shy about it at first. I told her we weren't stopping so if she had a better idea how to handle her small bladder then feel free. She wasn't so embarrased when she realized i really was not going to stop.
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