Nursing and flying

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cjra - 13 Nov 2006 15:01 GMT

So everyone says to nurse during take off and landing, but how the heck
do you get a kid to nurse who doesn't want to???

DD is an experienced traveller now - a total of 8 flight segments (2
trips). The first trip at 9-11 weeks she was great. She slept most of
the time, even tho she didn't really want to nurse during take off and
landing. But the trip this weekend - ouch! The last segment was the
worst. She nursed just before we boarded (she was hungry, I couldn't
put it off) and fell asleep, and stayed asleep til I had to put my seat
belt on, at which time she started yelling. I tried and tried toget her
to nurse but she just refused. I could tell her ears were hurting her
too and tried just my finger to suck (which usually works) but no go...
fortunately after about 30 mins she settled down then slept.

We've got 2 more trips in the next two months, and maybe a 3rd in Feb.

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Rebecca Jo - 13 Nov 2006 17:22 GMT

> So everyone says to nurse during take off and landing, but how the heck
> do you get a kid to nurse who doesn't want to???
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> We've got 2 more trips in the next two months, and maybe a 3rd in Feb.

When Alexander wouldn't nurse on one flight we took, I sort of squirted milk
in his mouth so he had to swallow, which made his ears feel better. He also
thought it was funny. :-P

rj

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dkhedmo - 13 Nov 2006 21:07 GMT

Not everyone says to nurse during take-off and landing. My
understanding is these are the most dangerous portions of the flight and
everyone, including infants, should be secured in their appropriate
safety restraints.

Karen

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Anne Rogers - 14 Nov 2006 01:46 GMT

> Not everyone says to nurse during take-off and landing. My understanding
> is these are the most dangerous portions of the flight and everyone,
> including infants, should be secured in their appropriate safety
> restraints.

well if you've made the decision to have a separate seat for the child, then
yes, I'd strongly recommend using it at take off and landing, but if you
haven't gone that route, then you might as well take advantage of the
ability to nurse if the child is willing. But of course they aren't always,
it might be one occasion to have a pacifier handy, they may take it even if
they don't usually and on just this specific occasion, they shouldn't really
develop a habit.

Cheers

Anne

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JJ - 14 Nov 2006 03:07 GMT

Good timing, I'm taking my 3 month old and 2 year old on another flight
tomorrow. Both are experienced travelers. We usually buy a baby seat,
but DD (the two year old) gets a regular seat belt now. M&M's,
stuffed into a tantrumming mouth were quite effective, especially since
she rarely gets sweets.

DD was colicky, and yet we took her a lot of places. One thing that
worked for us was using a medicine dropper to squirt milk into her
mouth. Or sometimes I pumped and gave her a bottle in her seat. Or
took her out and nursed her. However, sometimes she just ddn't want
to.

The only annoying thing was all the people who would (well meaning)
tell me "oh, it's probably her ears...." like I didn;t know.

If it makes you feel any better, screaming is just as effective as
swallowing at clearing eustachian tubes.

Good luck

JJ

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cjra - 14 Nov 2006 14:16 GMT

> Good timing, I'm taking my 3 month old and 2 year old on another flight
> tomorrow. Both are experienced travelers. We usually buy a baby seat,
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> took her out and nursed her. However, sometimes she just ddn't want
> to.

The squirt thing is a good idea. I have to remember to bring some EBM
so I can do that. Trying to squirt from my breasts can get kind of
tricky in a crowded row of strangers ;-)

> The only annoying thing was all the people who would (well meaning)
> tell me "oh, it's probably her ears...." like I didn;t know.

Ah yes. I made the mistake of looking up and heard everyone around me
saying that. Um, DUH!

> If it makes you feel any better, screaming is just as effective as
> swallowing at clearing eustachian tubes.

That's good to know! Once I accepted she wouldn't nurse, I just kept
rocking her. I'm getting really good at rocking her in an airplane
seat!

btw - I usually keep her in my sling when flying, she hates the carseat
and that just makes her scream more.

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Notchalk - 17 Nov 2006 00:48 GMT

>> So everyone says to nurse during take off and landing, but how the heck
>> do you get a kid to nurse who doesn't want to???
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> Karen

I don't know what other airlines are like, but if a child/baby is too
young to occupy their own airline seat, they are on the lap of an
adult, with a special seatbelt hooked on to the adult's one. I found
it easy to breastfeed my son (13 months at the time) while he was
suitably restrained. A child old enough to have their own seat could
be given a lolly or something to suck on if breastfeeding is too
awkward or not wanted, etc. We needed a dummy at one stage as Will
wasn't hungry, but otherwise breastfeeding worked well.

Jo

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Woman, Wife, Mother, Midwife

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Amy Austin - 19 Nov 2006 15:57 GMT

I'm in Waco, TX right now and flying home with DD at 3 pm today!

On the way here, she didn't want to nurse on take off so I gave her a
sippy of water. On our trip to France last month we learned that
Hershey Kisses will buy a lot of good behavior! She's 15 mos. old.

Amy

(on a PDA so it's hard to type)

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Amy Austin - 19 Nov 2006 15:57 GMT

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Family Forum / Pregnancy / Breastfeeding / November 2006

Nursing and flying