At What Age Can A Baby Travel By Air?
If you have a family that loves to travel and a baby has recently been born, you are no doubt anxious to know from what age it can start traveling by air.
It’s great that you want to integrate your little one into family adventures, but you also have to do it the right way and safely. Therefore, we want to help you so that you have the best information available.
When can we start traveling by air?
With the exception of specific cases , there is no contraindication for the newborn to travel by airplane. But if it is not absolutely necessary, it is a good idea to avoid exposing them to a closed environment with many people, due to the risk of infections.
If you have an urgent obligation and the journey is short, you can travel with your baby on a plane already after you have been released from childbirth. But to comply with this condition, your baby must have been born after a pregnancy that lasted nine months and be completely healthy.
It is not advisable to travel with children who are born prematurely or who have heart disease or respiratory diseases during the first month of life. This is due to the risks of secondary diseases due to variations in pressure and oxygen that occur in the aircraft cabin.
How to avoid earache in infants when traveling by air
All people who travel by air must deal with the strange feeling in their ears during takeoff and landing. For infants, you need to take certain steps to avoid this uncomfortable situation:
- Make sure that the baby is breastfeeding during sudden movements (takeoff, landing, turbulence), either by holding them to the breast or by giving them a bottle or pacifier. The sucking movement helps to prevent the ears from clogging up again.
- Make faces at the child so that they imitate you. If the child is already paying attention to your face, another possible strategy is to play to get them to imitate your gestures. By opening and closing the mouth, the same effect is achieved as when sucking.
Other tips for traveling with your baby by air
Before traveling with your child by air, we recommend that you consider the following points:
Bring a bottle of water
Infants become dehydrated quickly due to dry air and warming of the plane. For this reason, if your child is old enough to drink water, it is important that they do so at regular intervals throughout the flight. If your baby is under 6 months old, you should offer to breastfeed or bottle-feed frequently.
Dress the child in layers
Traveling by air is beautiful, but in different stages of the flight we experience different environments and at different temperatures. Therefore, it is best to dress your little one in comfortable and layered clothes so that you can remove or add clothes depending on the moment.
Hand luggage
Bring diapers, a changing mat and hygiene items for the child in your hand luggage. Also, don’t forget their stuffed animals and their favorite blanket!
Does your child need his own seat?
This decision must be made when you buy the ticket. Always check with the airline, as children under the age of two generally do not pay for a ticket. These little ones have no assigned seat and can travel sitting in their parents’ lap.
It is also possible to order an empty seat where you can put your car seat. However, you should check this with the airline to find out if you need to buy an extra ticket. Although it is more expensive, it is the safest way to travel with the child.
About air travel with babies
Despite the information, you should consult your pediatrician and the airline before traveling with a baby by air. In this way, you can take the necessary precautions, both to preserve your health and to follow the airline’s policy.
Now that you know at what age a child can travel by air, you just need to pack your bags and enjoy your first trip with your little one!
