BABIES ON BOARD

By Kathy Sena

When you fly with your baby, you're faced with a lot of tough decisions: Do you buy him his own airline seat and drag his car seat along on the plane? Or do you hold him in your lap and pray for a smooth ride? And then there are those horror stories you've heard about babies with ear pain, crying all the way from New York to London. Yikes! If the thought of flying with your baby has you thinking it might be easier to just stay home, you're not alone. But air travel with your infant can be safe and (OK, relatively) comfortable. It just takes some advanced planning and a little good advice.

Buckling Up Baby

It doesn't take an airline disaster to put passengers, especially vulnerable infants, at risk while flying, says U.S. Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Kirsti Dunn. "Turbulence is the leading cause of injuries to passengers," she says, adding that rough air can occur unexpectedly. So it's important to keep your child safely restrained.

"All the adults on a plane - and even the coffee pots - are buckled in more securely than a child under two," says Gary Smith, M.D., a pediatric emergency-room physician at Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention.

FAA regulations allow a parent to hold an infant on his or her lap during a flight. "But if there is sudden turbulence, it doesn't matter how strong you are," says Smith. "The child's weight will suddenly become more than you can hold."

"We don't have current regulations requiring parents to purchase an airline seat for a child under two, or to restrain him in a child-safety seat," says Dunn. "But we strongly recommend that all children, regardless of age, be protected by a child-restraint system appropriate to their size and weight."

Infants weighing less than 20 pounds should be in a rear-facing car seat approved for airline use. Children weighing between 20 and 40 pounds should be in a forward-facing approved car seat, says the FAA. Check the bottom of the car seat for an approval sticker. Seats manufactured after 1985 should be approved for use on an aircraft, according to Smith.

After a child reaches 40 pounds, she should use a regular airplane seatbelt. Car booster seats are not approved for airline use, says Dunn.

Most airlines offer a discount when you purchase a seat for an infant, Dunn added. We called three major airlines and all offered a 50-percent discount for passengers under age two.

If you do plan to purchase a seat for your baby, make sure it's a window seat, says Smith. Airlines require car seats to be used only in window seats so that passengers don't have to climb over the car seat in an emergency.

For more information, call the FAA's Consumer Hotline at (800) 322-7873.

Avoiding Cabin Germs

First, the bad news: You really can't protect your baby - or yourself - from coming in contact with some of the germs carried onboard by fellow passengers "because you're all breathing the same air," says Ruth Demonteverde, M.D., a Manhattan Beach, California pediatrician with special training in pediatric infectious diseases. "That's part of the risk you take when you fly."

But there are some things you can do to help minimize the risk, she says. It's easier said than done in such tight quarters, but "try to avoid being around people who are actively sneezing," advises Demonteverde. Also, politely refrain if fellow passengers ask if they can touch or hold the baby. And wash your hands frequently - especially after visiting that lovely communal restroom - during the flight.

Protecting Tiny Ears

Giving your baby something to suck on during take-off and landing can help open up the Eustachian tubes and help equalize the pressure between the middle ear and the pressurized aircraft cabin, says Demonteverde. So arranging feeding times around your flight schedule (no easy task, we know), can help. Distraction helps, too, she says. So be sure to pack a few favorite books and toys. And don't be above resorting to making silly faces and funny noises for your child's amusement during takeoff and landing. We're in the trenches here.

Demonteverde doesn't recommend giving infants a pediatric decongestant before flying. But if your child tends to get ear pain from the pressure, you might want to give acetaminophen before the flight, she advises.

Above all, don't travel by plane if your baby is sick, says Demonteverde. "Even if he doesn't have a full-blown ear infection, fluid in the middle ear can cause pain during a flight."

Flying in (Relative) Comfort

Be prepared for possible flight delays by packing more diapers and baby food than you think you'll need. Dress your baby in layers, as planes can go from cold to hot quickly. And pack two changes of clothing for baby - and two for yourself. On long plane rides, as in life, spit-up happens.

Kathy Sena is a freelance journalist specializing in health and parenting issues and is the mother of an 9-year-old son. Visit her Web site at www.kathysena.com.