Is flying painful for babies?

Changing cabin pressure during a flight causes temporary changes in middle ear pressure. This can trigger ear pain. To help relieve the discomfort in your baby's ears, offer your baby a breast, bottle or pacifier to suck on during takeoff and the initial descent.



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Will my baby's ears hurt during the flight? Changes in cabin pressure can be painful, especially for younger children with smaller eustachian tubes (a tube in the ear that helps even out pressure).

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Greene's Answer. Flying can cause pain in babies' ears, and it can temporarily reduce hearing, but it is not a cause of permanent hearing loss.

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FLYING WITH AN INFANT: WHEN IS IT SAFE TO TRAVEL WITH A NEWBORN BABY BY PLANE? In general, doctors recommend you wait to fly until your baby's immune system is better developed. This could be as soon as one month for full-term infants, though most doctors recommend anywhere between three months and six months.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against any unnecessary air travel for babies shortly after birth. Air travel increases a newborn's risk of catching an infectious disease.

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Infants and air travel can both be unpredictable, and they don't always mix well. But some advanced planning and preparation can help make for a better experience for your baby, for you, and for everyone else on the plane.

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Because flying takes babies out of their typical environment (and often throws them off schedule), some amount of crying may be unavoidable. Still, there are things you can do to make your baby as happy and comfortable as possible and, hopefully, quell their crying.

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But the pain is only temporary — it won't cause any lasting problems for kids and usually will ease within a few minutes as the Eustachian tubes open to let the air pressure equalize on both sides of the eardrums.

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Helping with nausea is one of the benefits of Gravol, but it and the antihistamine Benadryl are also known to make kids sleepy. Because of this, many parents choose to give their kids these medications to help them settle and get some sleep on a plane ride.

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In general, pediatricians recommend that newborns not fly until their respiratory and immune systems are fully developed. This often means that a newborn should not fly until they're three to six months old. However, these dates can vary greatly from child to child.

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For small infants, feeding can help, as the sucking and swallowing can help to equalize pressure more quickly. Encourage older kids to take small bites of a snack, sips of a drink with a straw, or keep chewing gum throughout takeoff and landing to help equalize the pressure.

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Helping with nausea is one of the benefits of Gravol, but it and the antihistamine Benadryl are also known to make kids sleepy. Because of this, many parents choose to give their kids these medications to help them settle and get some sleep on a plane ride.

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Before she even asks, so that she won't ask as soon as the fasten seatbelt sign goes on.
  1. Keep her fed and hydrated so she's less likely to get grumpy. ...
  2. Distract and entertain. ...
  3. Calm your little one. ...
  4. Calm yourself. ...
  5. Introduce yourself to your neighbors at the start of the flight. ...
  6. As kids get older, teach and pre-teach.


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The safest way for baby to fly Infants weighing less than 20 pounds should be bucked into a rear-facing car seat during airplane travel. Children who weigh 20 to 40 pounds should be restrained in a car seat. They should not be switched to using just the airplane's lap belt until they reach at least 40 pounds.

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Wear earplugs They work to slowly equalize the pressure against your eardrum, easing discomfort and protecting the delicate parts of the ear. They'll also help to block out unwanted noise from other passengers when all you want to do is kick back and relax.

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