Toddlers and single-engine airplanes

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aranpura

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Ash
Dear all,

I've recently come back to America from 5 years in England, and am in the process of picking up flying again. I've been really enjoying POA for the last month, and am finally de-lurking. I even recognize a few names from the blurry old rec.aviation days!

Since I last flew in the States a few things have changed. On the aviation side -- what the heck happened to fuel prices?!! I was paying $2 a gallon for 100LL when I left, and now look! I don't know what you've all been up to. Turn your back for one minute... :smile:

On the personal side, I now have a little 16 month old passenger! I need some advice on how to accommodate him. I'm planning to strap his car seat into the airplane (either a Six, a 172, or a Warrior at our local club), and to use wax earplugs. If I can somehow manage to keep him from pulling it off, I'd like to find a suitable headset. I'll also keep descent rates moderate to protect his ears, and if the W&B works, I'll ask his mother to sit in the back with him.

Any other advice on flying with toddlers? In particular, are there any headset recommendations?

Thanks!

-Ash.
 
Both my girls have been flying since they were a few month old. It really has been pretty easy. They usually sleep most of the time. I descent slowly and give our youngest a bottle to help clear her ears. We tried the earplugs (cotton) but they would not keep it in. I would not try wax plugs...they need to be able to equalize pressure. Currently my oldest (2.5 years) is wearing a youth headset, but she only will leave it on for about 30 min.
 

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First Welcome to POA glad you decided to "delurk"

When my daughter was young we strapped the car seat in to the plane. Its a bit different than a car so you really need to make aure that its very snug.
 
I have friends who use foam earplugs and an elastic head band device marketed to keep swim plugs in on small kids. If I see it on Google I will foward the info.
 
We use thd silicone swimming ear plugs for our kids,8,6, and 3, with no pressure problems.
I recommend the 6. No, W&B problems and you can bring a crib, a stroller, and several babysitters.
 
Safely. This was 18 years ago. The booster seat is no longer permissible. The headset is a telex 951, which I gave (a pair) to a boarder here with two small kids.

Descend no more than 500 fpm, ever....
 

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My kids have been flying since a few months old.

The other posters pretty much have it covered. A few things that I would add:

1. Something to help them move their mouths to help equalize ear pressure during the descent. A juice bottle or a pacifer seems to work.

2. Even if it's just a short breakfast flight... Pack an extra set of clothes including diapers.

3. If it is a longer trip, esp in the summer, it can get really hot baking in the greenhouse effect of the windows... so a temporary window shade is a great addition for the little ones.

4. Once you get somewhere, you'll probably want a stroller. Be aware that even the fold-up umbrella strollers are longer than you might think, and can be difficult to fit in the baggage area. It's worth a test-fitting before planning a trip.

5. I'd say until the child is older, someone in the back seat to comfort/attend to the child is pretty much a requirement. The distraction of a crying son/daughter does not mix well with flying an airplane.

Headsets. At 16 months, there's about a 1% chance any headset will fit and that your son will keep the headset on for more than a minute.

Now that they're a bit older (5 & 3), my kids actually keep the headsets on for even long x-c(s). We have a few sets of Softcomm C45-10 "Child Prince", and the kids love them (mostly because they are color coded, red for him, purple for her).


aranpura said:
On the personal side, I now have a little 16 month old passenger! I need some advice on how to accommodate him.

Any other advice on flying with toddlers? In particular, are there any headset recommendations?
-Ash.
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alaskaflyer said:
Also keep in mind that some planes (like some light Cessnas) require two persons in the front before you can put anyone in the back, in their operating limitations (to stay legal even if the W&B theoretically works.)
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I'm not familiar with any light Cessna (or even any non-Cessna) with back seats with such a requirement. In every plane I've seen with a back seat, if the W&B is OK, there are no further requirements.
 
I had a pilot friend fly with me a few times in my Warrior. He put is three year old daughter in a car seat in the back. I don't have intercom in the back so she had no head set. The noise didn't seem to bother her at all, nor did the vast changes in altitude, all the way up to 4,500' and back seem to bother her. She slept most of one flight. She did spill something one time on my back seat, that now has a permanent stain.

John
 
Ron Levy said:
I'm not familiar with any light Cessna (or even any non-Cessna) with back seats with such a requirement. In every plane I've seen with a back seat, if the W&B is OK, there are no further requirements.
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I phrased it poorly. Some old Cessnas certified by the CAA have the requirement that you cannot have two people in the back without both front seats occupied. It is listed on the required normal category placard. But it is probably uncommon - even in Cessna 170s the restriction was removed beginning in '53.
 
bbchien said:
The headset is a telex 951, which I gave (a pair) to a boarder here with two small kids.
Click to expand...

A word of caution about those full-up headsets: you may not want to plug them in unless you have a pilot isolate switch in the panel. There are times when your kid(s) start hollerin' that you just have to ignore it and fly the plane instead. That's easier if the hollerin' isn't amplified and right in your ear.

Peltor makes a set of kid-sized hearing protectors that look just like a headset except there's no audio. That's what our kids started out on. Once they were bigger we got them working headsets. Of course by then I was too boring so they unplugged their own headsets. :rolleyes:
 
Less than one day and so many helpful replies! Thank you all very much, for good advice and a warm welcome. The pictures of kids snugly tucked into airplanes were particularly great.

I'm looking forward to taking the kid up, and will post a report back when we've done it.

-Ash.
 
Just flew the grand-toddlers halfway across the country. We found several things helped to while away the hours: a small Magnadoodle drawing pad, a netbook with thumbdrive full of Tom & Jerry cartoons--(no audio needed for a two-year-old), a favorite stuffed toy, a couple of sturdy books, and.... altitude. Babies sleep so nicely at 12000 feet!

We don't eat in the plane much, but for really long trips, we sometimes relent. Ice chips in a sippy cup are better than milk or sticky liquids. Goldfish crackers and little pretzels, dispensed sparingly, are fine- non-sticky and uncrumbly one-bite sized. Baby-bite-sized cookies and unsweetened Cheerios would be ok, too, for the same reasons.

We have the junior earphones, and squishy earplugs, but the little ones prefer the drone of the motor to having something unfamiliar on or in their ears, seems hardly worth the battle to keep putting them back on a fussy baby.

Even babies love looking out the window-- I didn't know that booster seats are no longer permitted, so our five-year-old sits in one so he can see out, pointing out water towers, towns, and 'the ocean'-- also known as the Albemarle Sound. The car-seated one-year-old was entranced with Lake Michigan, and pointed excitedly, yelling, "Bath, Grandma, bath!!" Clouds are a big hit with older kids. One little boy hollers "Splat" as we penetrate a cloud bank, and "Whee" when it gets bumpy. We pointed out the circular rainbow with our shadow in the middle, which made a huge hit, and now he's disappointed if we don't have suitable conditions for him to follow 'us' on the undercast layer.
 
Quick update on this thread. We took the kid up for his first flight yesterday, just a little outing to Put-In-Bay (3W2). It's a short 20-25 minute flight from Metcalf (TDZ) and a nice destination, so it suited both the kid and my partner. Everything went wonderfully!

Based on the advice here, we decided to go without hearing protection -- he really hates any ear muffs we've tried in the past, and the Warrior wasn't terribly noisy. He rode in his car seat, and as you all predicted, fell asleep instantly.

The tourist season hasn't started on the Lake Erie islands, so it was lovely and quiet when we got there. We rented a golf cart from the airport, had a nice lunch, then went for a long walk. The western side of the island is particularly beautiful, but there weren't many public access spots along that shore. If you're in Ohio or Michigan, though, it's a good flying destination, particular in the next few weeks.

Thanks again to all of you for your advice!

-Ash.

ps. The airport is unattended, and there is no fuel. There are tie-down spots, but no tie-down ropes or chocks (we brought our own, there may have been some bits of wood in the grass that others had used as chocks). There is a $10 landing fee, paid on the honor system, and a man renting golf carts for $25 per day. You can easily walk to town from the airport, it's about 2 miles along a fairly boring inland road. We are normally keen walkers, but enjoyed the golf cart with the baby.
 
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Get a headset, if the kid doesn't like wearing them, don't force it, they'll be asleep 2.4 minutes after takeoff and you can put them on then, no worries. Peltor makes very lightweight and comfortable sets for kids. Foam earplugs work as well. Biggest issue with kids is descending. Plan your descents way out so you can just let it ease on down at 150-200 fpm. Kid starts crying and swiping at ears, ease it back up a few hundred feet, pinch the kids nose shut and just as they're about to let out another cry, clamp your hand tight over their mouth and they pop their ears as they try to cry. The look on their face when it happens is hilarious. I've taught more than one person with a small child that trick on an airliner. Try to get to pattern altitude a bit early so their ears can equalize before you drop in on final.
 
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