Anyone have a recommended max altitude for babies?

cowman

cowman

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I've never really seen anything. Our kid is 9mo now, his doctor only really seemed to know pressurized airliners were no concern so I just tried to keep it to 8,000 and below when he's onboard. He seems fine with flying other than not wanting to be in the carseat. We've gone to 8,500 and there's no apparent difference to him.

I'm wondering if there's any good reason to not take it right up to altitudes I'd be comfortable taking myself 9-10,000 or occasionally 12,500. Any advice?
 
Depends how much noise they are making. Climb higher, put em to sleep :D

I'd worry more about the rate of climb/descent.
 
I would stick to 8000, and compare it to what your doctor suggests. Did a quick search online and there is very little information on the subject. But I picked 8000 as that’s the upper edge of the average pressurization level of a jet aircraft. Use the same advice the doctor gives for jet travel, and translate it to your flight at 8000
 
Mom came into town for the delivery of my second child, a boy. We planned to head straight to the cabin (7,500' MSL) after the birth, because life is so much better in the mountains. She expressed concerns to our OB-GYN at the discharge encounter. "You have a little human being there, treat him as such. Any signs of adversity, seek medical advice. Just so you know, they have been making babies for years up in the mountains. Sometimes a lot of babies, not much else to do up there." Shortly thereafter, multiple trips in planes without pressure up to 11,500.

The lad is due to graduate with an Applied Math major, CS minor, does not seem we hurt his noggin too much.
 
Had a great trip with friend in his Navajo with his 3-4YO. He was all over the cabin on climbout and I wondered, “is he always like this?” Wait til we get to 8K, he’ll be sleep.

Worked perfectly until descending thru 6k, then all over the cabin again until belted.


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Would you or many thousands of of daily others hesitate driving a baby through the Eisenhower tunnel west of Denver (11,200’), or any number of Western mountain passes and towns?

As with others, I’d pay attention to their little ears and moderate the ascent / descent rate before worrying about altitudes over 8k.

And we always used 10k as the “we need some quiet time, let’s give the kids a nap” altitude. And they pretty much turned out ok. ;)
 
It is all about the condition of the ears. Both my children tolerated their first flights just fine. Then, the younger one burst out crying before we reached 2,000 feet, and could not be quieted. He had an ear blockage, and could not compensate, so very painful. End of flight, returned to the field and landed. That was the only 'event' we had with our two, and I cruised as high as 12,500 for hours. They are both in their 50's now. It is wise to plan your descent shallow, as they tend to be sleepy due to the altitude, and less inclined to move their jaws, which improves equalization. My cruise descent was 300 FPM, starting way out, with no decrease in manifold pressure/RPM to recover the speed lost on climb out. From 9,000 feet to sea level, that is 30 minutes out, but my actual target altitude is pattern altitude or FAF, whichever is appropriate. The higher air speeds which this technique produces helps fit in with the big guys at the larger airports, so a win on many levels.

I did not fly with the kids if they had a cold, commercial or my own plane, if the Eustachian tubes clogged at altitude, there is no option of staying there until they are OK.

PS.... The seat belts were always on, throughout the flight. I have experienced singular clear air turbulence events at altitude that were violent, presumably from crossing a vortex from heavy jet at much higher altitude, he could have been 10 minutes ahead of us, equals 20 miles, and several thousand feet higher. We did not see him, ATC did not give us a call out for his passing. This has happened 2 times so should be anticipated on every flight.
 
If you’re worried about oxygen (you shouldn’t be), get one of those $20 pulse oximeters from Amazon and put it on his toe.
 
We always kept it under 6k MSL and slow descents, not knowing if the pressure was an issue. Ours were flying at a couple months old. #3 forced the move from the Archer to the Lance just before the 2 year old mark.
 
There is a point in newborns that they are fully capable of breathing from there lungs instead of relying on the umbilical cord. I wish I remembered more about this conversation but the point he was making is that there is a defined transition for a newborn to fully be capable of breathing on their own and altitude is really not their friend...

I asked Dr. Chien about flying my 6 week old son and his advise was to stay below 5K.
 
Children under about 2 have very small Eustachian tubes. They can have a very difficult time clearing their ears and don’t understand how to automatically do it as most adults do. Children under 1 often can’t clear their ears at all if the have the slightest cold or infection which is often for a baby. When a ear block occurs it’s normally on decent and to compensate for the vacuum in the ear fluid gets pulled into the ear. This leads to infections and permanent hearing loss. There is a reason babies cry on airliners in the decent phase. They are in great pain. On older airliners where we lowered the cabin pressure manually we called it the crying baby switch. You could often hear babies wailing as soon as you started the cabin down.
Those comparing flying to driving or living in the mountains are making a bad comparison. What matters is not the altitude but the rate of change.
 
Jeff767 said:
Children under about 2 have very small Eustachian tubes. They can have a very difficult time clearing their ears and don’t understand how to automatically do it as most adults do. Children under 1 often can’t clear their ears at all if the have the slightest cold or infection which is often for a baby. When a ear block occurs it’s normally on decent and to compensate for the vacuum in the ear fluid gets pulled into the ear.
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We always gave our son a bottle or a pacifier on ascent and descent. That helps little guys equalize.
 
As much as I would recommend looking to a doc's opinion regarding baby health stuff, when asking a health professional a specific and unusual question like taking a 9 month old aboard an unpressurized GA aircraft to a given altitude, I would hazard a guess that the opinions would vary almost as wildly as asking strangers on the street.
 
ElPaso Pilot said:
As much as I would recommend looking to a doc's opinion regarding baby health stuff, when asking a health professional a specific and unusual question like taking a 9 month old aboard an unpressurized GA aircraft to a given altitude, I would hazard a guess that the opinions would vary almost as wildly as asking strangers on the street.
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Get a number of patients where the doctor says "must be flown in a pressurized aircraft"...except that many times we wouldn't be above 8,000 anyway, negating the need for a pressurized aircraft.
 
The lad is due to graduate with an Applied Math major, CS minor, does not seem we hurt his noggin too much.
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Sure, but imagine what he could have accomplished if you hadn't done that.
 
EFACD1D7-BAAA-4B81-8576-40BFB2938F3A.jpeg On a side note.... I got a set of infant ears... I think, we will no longer be needing... urologist made sure of that one. The ones that have the soft strap holding them on. Free to anyone posting up a pic of them with the future pilot, and the obligatory pencil of course.....

Hell, I’ll even ship them fo free.....
 
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Jeff767 said:
Children under about 2 have very small Eustachian tubes. They can have a very difficult time clearing their ears and don’t understand how to automatically do it as most adults do. Children under 1 often can’t clear their ears at all if the have the slightest cold or infection which is often for a baby. When a ear block occurs it’s normally on decent and to compensate for the vacuum in the ear fluid gets pulled into the ear. This leads to infections and permanent hearing loss. There is a reason babies cry on airliners in the decent phase. They are in great pain. On older airliners where we lowered the cabin pressure manually we called it the crying baby switch. You could often hear babies wailing as soon as you started the cabin down.
Those comparing flying to driving or living in the mountains are making a bad comparison. What matters is not the altitude but the rate of change.
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Oh, this, for sure - we did an evac of retirees and expats, taking them to Howard in Panama. One of the infants had an ear block on descent - a bad one, just terrible, howling in pain; we climbed back up, tried slower rate, etc., just yo-yo'ing away. No joy. Got the flight surgeon on tne radio, finally, and beng experiened, he knew most of us had an Afrin or similiar nasal sprayer in a sleeve pocket. Mine saved tbe day, but no way that would fly this century.
 
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