Babies on planes

I used to hate them ... babies on planes. Yep – I confess. Now that I'm a dad things are different of course. I tend to feel a bit more empathetic towards the totally stressed out parents trying to calm them down. Although I haven't actually flown with my son yet I can see how it can be tough.

To start with, when is it safe to take a baby on a plane? I know parents who have taken their babies as soon as 2 weeks after giving birth (scary thought). I've heard from others that it's probably safe after 3 months? Who knows – I guess the various ages have their advantages and disadvantages. Early on obviously babies sleep a lot more ... given the monotonous sound of a plane engine, chances are that they just fall asleep. OR they freak out because something’s wrong with their ears (pressure, high-pitched frequencies that usually only dogs can hear, etc).

Then there is the feeding and nappy changing issues on long haul. As previously noted a full nappy can be quite helpful to that extra little bit of personal space. If it's a flight with extended bumpy periods that can be a challenge in itself. I mean it’s difficult enough on a stably changing table. By the way what do you do with the dirty nappies, because as we all know you can’t flush them down the toilet?

Bottle feeding should be quite straight forward but breast feeding on a plane? I wonder how boobs and their contents change with the pressure difference ... anyway, although I have never seen anyone breast feed on a plane I assume it's possible.

And the crying game? I guess it's a matter of taking as many calming devices and tricks that work at home along on board. Some parents of course seem to be completely oblivious to their baby crying her lungs out. At least that’s what happened to me on many flights which brings me back to my earlier point. Babies on planes can be a real nightmare if you need to prepare a presentation or speech and you sit anywhere near them.

So look forward to your first plane trip with the little one! If your baby doesn’t like it and cries throughout the entire flight you can at least annoy all the guys who are trying to prepare some stupid presentation or speech (which nobody generally cares about anyway).

Enjoy
-Stef

Ps.: perhaps if the guys who did "Snakes on a plane" would be so kind as to do "Babies on a plane" ... that would be great!