Larry’s Log

Last night, flying back from Philadelphia to Atlanta there was a baby on board. That wouldn’t have normally been a problem but this baby cried almost the entire flight. The few minutes of reprieve we would have from this baby he would be hanging on to the back of the seat looking at the woman behind him. I felt sorry for her but she appeared to be enjoying the game of peek-a-boo.

I try to be understanding with crying babies and and active toddlers even in restaurants. I remember when my sons were that age and how difficult they could be at times in public even though most of the time they were well behaved. However with my being tired from the weeks work this baby just got on my last nerve.

The problem seemed to be mainly that he hadn’t had a nap. People, don’t think that keeping a baby up will help them to sleep through the flight. It might work for the first nine months but after that babies are aware enough of their surroundings that this new experience of being on a plane will just cause them to fight sleep and make everyone around them as miserable as they are.

On the way up to cruising altitude the crying changed from the type of crying babies do when they are tired to the type of crying they do when they are uncomfortable. Most likely the baby couldn’t POP its ears and it was suffering from pressure on the eardrum. Here’s another tip for you, don’t let the baby have any dairy products for about six hours before boarding the flight. The milk promotes mucous production which makes it more difficult for the baby to equilize the pressure on both sides of the eardrum. Give the baby juice or water and feed the baby baby food that doesn’t contain milk.

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