Can 4 1/2 Month Old Fly on Private Plane?

Hi J.,

My husband is a private pilot, and he mostly flies Cessna 172s right now. I had the same concern when my now 2 1/2-year old son was born (I already knew that my 9-year old son could handle it), so I asked my pediatrician. Ironically enough, she told me that HER father had been a private pilot, too, and her family had been flying with him for years with no problems. In other words, she had firsthand knowledge, and I felt confident in her answer when she said that my own son should be perfectly fine flying in a 172. I've always made sure to prepare plenty of bottles (sippy cups now) for the flight, and made sure he had them in his hands when we took off, during the flight, and again at landing. If your son uses a pacifier (mine refused), even better. The sucking motion is the important thing; it helps keep their ears clear, since they are too young to understand yawning and swallowing on command, LOL.

Hope this info helps. Good luck, and enjoy the flight!

My daughter was just under 5 months old when she first flew on a plane. It was wonderful. I have the sweetest picture of the two of us sleeping in one of the reclining seats. I gave her a bottle at takeoff and landing and in between was able to walk around if needed (or nap). I was so blessed to have our first experience not be on a commericial flight. You will be too!

My sister, mother, step-father and myself are all pilots. We have been taking all 4 babies up in the air since they were 3 months old. If you are concerned about the noise, they have malleable ear plugs at academy. If you are concerned about pressurization, you can nurse or bottle feed the baby when you are pressurizing the plane. You can put the car seat in one of the seats and put the baby in there if you are comfortable with that or just leave the baby on the boppy sleeping on your lap if the flight is going to take a while. You can only take advantage of the baby sleeping though the flight a few more months, then they want to climb all over and it will have to be car seat time.

Hi J.!

I have flown lots of times with my 4 kids privately starting at almost birth and have never had any problems. It is a much more pleasant experience for them than flying commercial. These planes actually usually fly at a higher altitude than commercial planes and therefore have less turbulence. Good luck!
K.