Babies on Board

Yikes. Just weeks to go until Thanksgiving, the busiest airline travel holiday of the year. If the thought of flying with your baby has you thinking it might be easier just to hunker down at home this holiday season, you’re not alone. But air travel with your infant can be safe and (OK, relatively) comfortable. It just takes some planning and a little good advice.

Buckling Up Baby

It doesn’t take an airline disaster to put passengers, especially vulnerable infants, at risk while flying, says Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kirsti Dunn. “Turbulence is the leading cause of injuries to passengers,” she says, adding that rough air can occur unexpectedly. So it’s important to keep your child safely restrained.

“All the adults on a plane--and even the coffee pots--are buckled in more securely than a child under 2,” says Dr. Gary Smith, a pediatric emergency-room physician at Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention.

FAA regulations allow a parent to hold an infant on his or her lap during a flight. “But if there is sudden turbulence, it doesn’t matter how strong you are,” Smith says. “The child’s weight will suddenly become more than you can hold.”

“We don’t have current regulations requiring parents to purchase an airline seat for a child under 2 or to restrain him in a child-safety seat,” Dunn says. “But we strongly recommend that all children, regardless of age, be protected by a child-restraint system appropriate to their size and weight.”

Infants weighing less than 20 pounds should be in a rear-facing car seat approved for airline use. Children weighing 20 to 40 pounds should be in a forward-facing approved car seat, says the FAA. Check the bottom of the car seat for an approval sticker. Seats manufactured after 1985 should be approved for use on an aircraft, Smith says.

After a child reaches 40 pounds, a regular airplane seat belt can be used. Car booster seats are not approved for airline use, Dunn says. Most airlines offer a discount when you purchase a seat for an infant, Dunn added. (We called three major airlines and all offered a 50% discount for passengers under age 2.)

If you do plan to purchase a seat for your baby, make sure it’s a window seat, says Smith. Airlines require car seats to be used only in window seats so that passengers don’t have to climb over the car seat in an emergency. For more information, call the FAA’s consumer hotline at (800) 322-7873.

Avoiding Cabin Germs

First, the bad news: You really can’t protect your baby--or yourself--from coming into contact with some of the germs carried on board by fellow passengers “because you’re all breathing the same air,” says Dr. Ruth Demonteverde, a Manhattan Beach pediatrician with special training in pediatric infectious diseases. “That’s part of the risk you take when you fly.”

But there are some things you can do to help minimize the risk, she says. It’s easier said than done in such tight quarters, but “try to avoid being around people who are actively sneezing,” advises Demonteverde. Also, politely refrain if fellow passengers ask if they can touch or hold the baby. And wash your hands frequently--especially after visiting that lovely communal restroom.

Protecting Tiny Ears

Giving your baby something to suck on during takeoff and landing can help open up the Eustachian tubes and equalize the pressure between the middle ear and the pressurized aircraft cabin, says Demonteverde. So arranging feeding times around your flight schedule (no easy task, we know), can help. Distraction helps too, she says. So be sure to pack a few favorite books and toys. And don’t be above resorting to making silly faces and funny noises for your child’s amusement during takeoff and landing.

Demonteverde doesn’t recommend giving infants a pediatric decongestant before flying. “But if your child tends to get ear pain from the pressure, you might want to give Tylenol before the flight,” she advises.

Above all, don’t travel by plane if your baby is sick, Demonteverde says. “Even if he doesn’t have a full-blown ear infection, fluid in the middle ear can cause pain during a flight.”

Flying in (Relative) Comfort

Prepare for possible flight delays by packing more diapers and baby food than you think you’ll need. Dress your baby in layers, as planes can go from cold to hot quickly. And pack two changes of clothing for baby--and two for yourself. On long plane rides, as in life, spit-up happens.