Youngest Age for New Borns to Fly

[dakota_pete]

Any advice on what is the youngest reasonable age for a baby to fly in a no-pressurised GA aircraft at? Any other issues to consider such as noise, best safety practice, etc?

[New Bloke]

Hi Pete,

Have a look in the Private Pilots Forum this comes up from time to time.

The general consensus in Non Pressurised GA aircraft is about 2YO as a minimum. My Kids are 4 and 2 and have yet to experience Daddy's cool talents.

In Pressurised Aircraft there was a study that linked flying with Cot Death. I don't know if any other work has been done on this.

[Conky Joe]

Anne Diamond launched the investigation into air travel as a cause of cot death as she had travelled with her eight month old son Sebastian in the week before his death. Medical opinion is still divided on the exact causes of cot death and the parameters are vast - I don't believe that air travel has yet been proved to be a more prominent cause than any other link.

Umm - that doesn't help with the question does it!

[Loadshifta]

My kids started flying from 1 week old and have suffered no harmfull efects. Care is needed to ensure they can clear their ears, drinking from a bottle is a good way during pressure changes, ie climb and descent.

[Topper187]

BE VERY AWARE!!!!!!!!!!

I started flying when I was one!! Apparently i was a very good flyer and my parents always boasted about the fact to their friends. However they stopped laughing when I asked them for £60000 to pursue my passion!!!!.

[DownIn3Green]

My 2 kids were born in Latvia. Each one was restricted by the Latvian medical authorities from flying before their 1 month birthday.

My oldest son (3 yrs old) has been across the Atlantic 13 times (one way) and my youngest (1 year old Dec 4th) 3 times.

So far no ill effects but mom fears they will end up just like dad...horrors abound!!!

[DX Wombat]

We have flown very sick babies only hours old, by helicopter, to other hospitals where more specialist treatment was available so far without mishap. KEMH in Perth flies babies with cardiac malformations to Melbourne but this is in pressurised aircraft. Use a baby car seat if at all possible and this is best used in the recline position as it causes less restriction of movement of the diaphragm. Use a dummy for the baby to suck then the risk of inhalation of milk/water etc is reduced. Hope this helps.
PS Why not ask the airline or even the aircraft manufacturer what they recommend?

[IcePack]

Years ago! a now defunct major carrier used to tell the cabin crew that babes under six months old may not survive a rapid decompression. I guess modern medical opinion may differ, but I bet the jury is still out.

[ 27 November 2001: Message edited by: IcePack ]

[Mac the Knife]

Normal full-term neonates are surprisingly tough (remember, they are designed to survive the stresses of labour and delivery). The foetus has mostly haemoglobin F which is specifically designed to extract oxygen efficiently at low partial pressures [after birth it is gradually replaced by haemoglobin A(dult)]. Also, the middle ear is not pneumatised at birth so ear problems should be minimal. I'm not an expert, but on purely physiological grounds a neonate is probably better equipped to survive a rapid decompression than you are.