Flying with 4.5 Month Olds

My grandfather's been given 24 hours before his days are up, so I'll be taking the boys down to Florida for the services. Should I be concerned about flying with the boys? They're 4.5 months and the flight is about 3 hours. Will they have a hard time adjusting to the altitude? Any tricks for helping their ears pop?

 

QUOTE(2BMommyof2 @ Oct 23 2007, 10:44 PM) [snapback]464495[/snapback]
My grandfather's been given 24 hours before his days are up, so I'll be taking the boys down to Florida for the services. Should I be concerned about flying with the boys? They're 4.5 months and the flight is about 3 hours. Will they have a hard time adjusting to the altitude? Any tricks for helping their ears pop?

Hi, I did this too, only for my father, and the twins were about the same age. About the same length of flight. My guys have actually flown 5 round trips in 5 months, the first one being at 3 wks of age. What I can say is that it has gotten a little harder as they have gotten older. They were pretty much little zombies for the first flight. The last couple of flights I've nursed them/gave bottles on the way up and the way down. I only use a 4 oz bottle with my guys and all I'd say is don't start nursing them/giving bottle too early as they'll fill up or you'll run out before you get to the altitude change. I started once while we were on the runway because they were acting fussy but because we were delayed taking off, they were done before we were airborne! I bring one toy, diapers, and good blanket for each. We try to get seats toward the back. You get assigned to different rows because there is only one extra oxygen mask per row and if the row is full with other passengers, there aren't enough masks for both lap infants (I am assuming you are carrying them on your lap). Very often I've been able to move to a single row once we're on the plane if the flight is not too packed. I've even gotten my car seats on for free. I get up if I need to, to jolly the babies. I usually change them on my lap on the plane. I'm not crazy about the airplane lavs for myself, let alone for my children. Usually flilght crew are super helpful, fawning over the twins! If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Sotto

 

I gave them a bottle as soon as we started to take off. And when we landed I gave them a pacifier to suck on. That seemed to help, there wasn't any fussing. I also tried to bring toys that they liked and books to read to them. I haven't flown 3 hours with them, but just do the best you can.

 

I did this twice for long-haul flights. The trick is in the planning - i.e. getting through security. At that age, they should be pretty easy on the flight. Mine were either sleeping or checking out all the other passengers with great interest. I recommend that you pack two carry-ons - one with all the liquids in it (tylenol, diaper rash creme, formula if you do it, etc.) and one with stuff that isn't liquid. That way at security you can just dump out everything in *one* of your carry-ons into a gray bin (they make you take out formula and other liquids), then you can just shove the other carry-on through the security machine without opening it. (I had a backpack with toys, diapers, etc. that I just kept zipped up and ran through the machine, and all their bottles and formula, etc. in a small diaper bag, which I dumped the contents of into a gray bin.)

I bought seats for mine, so I had them in their carseats and in the stroller all the way to the gate. If you are taking a stroller, you can ask security to hand-check it instead of having to fold it up and run it through the machine. Most are nice about it. If you are bringing their carseats, you have to run them through the x-ray machine. I was able to gate-check the stroller at the plane door, so I don't see why you wouldn't be able to gate check both the stroller and carseats at the gate if that is an issue for you. I was traveling by myself, so I had to figure out a way to get the girls to the plane with just me. If you are taking the carseats, call the airline to see if they have bags that you can put them in to protect them during the flight, most do. If not, I would bring a large plastic bag or trashbags to wrap them in so they don't get filthy if you check or gate-check them.

Ask for the bulkhead seats once you get to the gate. Especially if you are traveling alone. They usually don't fill that row until the last minute, and if you ask nicely and if there are no disabled passengers onboard, they are likely to give it to you. It is nice to have the extra leg-room and places to put your bags in front of you. I even changed a diaper there.

I tried feeding my girls during take-off and landing, but also started way too early on take-off and they were done with the bottle. I did notice that they did not really seem to be affected by the altitude changes, so I stopped feeding them the 3rd landing. Mine didn't take pacis, but you could try that too if yours do.

Bring lots of wet wipes to wipe down everything they will touch. Even at that age, their hands will be all over the armrests and tables, and who knows what germs the person who sat there before you spread around! I even wiped the seatbelts off.

Good luck. It is actually not that bad traveling with them at that age.

 

I have not read the other posts yet; however, I will say that we flew from FLA to OH when the babies were 3mos. old and did not have ANY problems with the altitude and their ears. My DD does take a paci but was sleeping during take - off so she did not use it then and had 0 complaints. My DS does not take a paci and would not eat during take off and landing and did just fine without sucking on anything.

They did, of course, get colds upon our return and my best advice for you would to not be shy, at all, about telling people to keep their hands off and faces away. I remember there was a little one in front of DH and DS on our flight (they usually make you sit in separate rows if you are all traveling together because of the # of oxygen masks in each row) and the little one kept standing is her seat and pearing over and waving her arms at DH and DS. I could tell she had a cold and it was making me a nervous wreck. If I was the one sitting there I would definilty have said something to her mother but you know how DH's are about that kind of thing .

Have a nice flight and I am so sorry to hear about the reason for your travels.

Amy

 

I agree it's all about planning, getting to the airport, through security and in the plane. Once I am there, I don't worry that much anymore. At age 4 1/2 months they should be fine for 3 hours.

The twins have done 1 international, 1 transatlantic and 2 domestic flights. And although it's definitely not something I do for fun, I don't stay at home either ... sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Be flexible and prepare ... make lists, pack smart, go through the various steps and see whether you're able to carry everything, etc.

We use curb side check in, porters, anything it takes to make our life easier. That's worth an extra $20 without a doubt.

 

I'm too sleepy to post a long reply, but I wanted to let you know that this is completely do-able. We took a 12 hour plane ride (with layovers) with our girls at 3.5 months and a 6 hr plane ride followed by a 4 hour drive at 5 months and they did GREAT both times. They just slept and slept and woke up happy and then slept some more. We did try to make sure they had a paci or a bottle of water on the way up and the way down to help their ears adjust. I know you'll be fine and you'll be the hit of the airport because everyone turns to notice and comment on the family traveling with infant twins!

Okay, I'm off to bed. It's pushing 3am here!

 

Two words - Clorox wipes. Don't try using them on the babies, but a quick wipe down of the trays, belt buckles, etc. before you touch anything takes away at least one concern. Target had sample packs this summer before we flew cross-country. Ours weren't touching much then, it was more about what I was touching before I touched them...

...ours did great at 2 months. Coming down is always a bigger issue than going up, so I didn't sweat the take off but made sure we had multiple pacis for the landing. They seemed to get the idea pretty fast that sucking made things better.

Security was the worst part. Once we were through there, everything else was relatively easy. I had one in a sling and the other in a car seat. We checked the stroller and bought one seat, into which we put the car seat. In Portland, TSA had an employee just to help passengers like us. In DC they just sent us down to an empty line and didn't steer anyone in behind us. If you take breast milk or formula, be prepared to get some out. We didn't have to dump everything out, but they did want to test it in DC (by holding a strip above it) to make sure it wasn't explosive.