Getting my toddler more comfortable flying

[Charles in SC]

Glad to hear you got him happy again. I thought I would post my experiences for the curious. My father had an airplane since before I was born. ( I am 57 now).
When I can first remember flying he was always trying to point out things on the ground to me. I could not follow this until years later. Once or twice when I had had to much junk food from the airport vending machine I filled up his shoe ( he did not carry sick sacks). A couple of lessons here, make sure nothing he ate is going to bother him, it will spoil both of your days. Years later when I was working as a flight instructor quite often an eager person would bring their child/grandchild to the airport to get them a ride in an airplane. Sometimes they love it, sometimes bury their face in the seat cushion, scream and cry, or freeze up etc. Quite often the well meaning adult would be trying to get them to look out the window while we circles their house. This was all in the days when none of us had headsets. In my experience if they are old enough and drive a car they can figure out things on the ground. If not, they are getting a lot of noise and stuff they do not understand and may not be happy. I think it helps to look at it from the child's point of view.

[Infidel]

No doubt about the sensory overload. I think the main occlusion is the headsets and maybe the lack of a view. If you can keep him focused on tasks; such as in his perception, helping look for other aircraft or specific ground references, it may help keep him focused and distracted from "zoning in."

I've witnessed adults react differently when donning this headsets and hearing themselves talk directly into their own ear. It isn't a natural feeling or something they're accustomed to. With that in mind, I would set static in the plane with him, turn on the headsets and have a joyous conversation. I suspect it won't take him long to get acclimated with it and actually enjoy hearing himself talk. Heck, he may even adapt one of those DJ radio voices.

[Greg Baron]

Protecting young ears from aircraft noise is so very important. While it may be a challenge, the low frequency noise of any aircraft RV's included can be quite injurious. All of us should be utilizing ear protection. We often do not appreciate hearing loss until significant changes have occured.

[Guy Prevost]

Rob,

Thanks for these posts. I have a two year old son, and a new daughter. I frequently refer to your posts and blog for ideas about flying with kiddos. We're hoping to build a 10 soon, but my son is now getting some time in the back of my 8a. Family flying is in our shared TB-20 or PA32R.

Guy