5 Ways to Calm a Fussy Baby on an Airplane

If you’re like many families, you’ll be traveling for spring break around this time of year.

Families with small children are hesitant to travel by air because they worry their kids will be cranky little nightmares that will fuss and irritate other passengers. But it doesn’t have to be like that!

Here are some ways to calm a fussy baby on an airplane.

1. Use the Zipadee-Zip!

The best sleep sack for babies is the Zipadee-Zip. It’s the ideal solution to calm a fussy baby. It’s useful anywhere: at home, at the doctor’s office, in the supermarket, in the car, and of course – on an airplane.

The Zipadee-Zip provides the same warm, secure, comfortable feeling that mentally brings your child back to his or her days in the womb. When they can feel their edges, they’re less likely to become upset or panic at little things.

It also allows your child plenty of movement, so he or she can sit up, lay down, crawl and even walk. Your child will have no problem falling asleep for a mid-flight nap or playing with his/her siblings.

2. Travel around your baby’s nap schedule

The best way to get through a boring ride (for anyone) is to sleep through it!

If you can, choose a flight that coincides with your child’s nap time. The goal is to get them to fall asleep as soon as you get on the plane (or shortly after) so they don’t get cranky and bother anyone else.

Don’t exhaust your child, but it’s alright to let them stay up a bit longer than usual so they fall asleep on the plane. But be careful you don’t let them become overtired or you’ll defeat the purpose!

3. Fill those bellies

Make sure your child has a full tummy for the ride. Bring snacks for the ride that you can dole out to keep them calm and seated.

If you’re still nursing, a feeding is an excellent way to distract a little one from the noise and motion of a plane taking off or landing. Aim to offer a feeding at these times, even if it’s not the normal meal time.

4. Bring distractions

Make sure you have plenty of options handy in a bag to distract your baby from any discomfort. Even if you’re a no-TV household, this is a good time to relax the rules a bit. A portable DVD player and a Disney movie with plenty of songs is a great way to mesmerize your kid for a bit.

Another great distraction is to create a travel toy bag that only is played with when in transit. Kids will be excited to play since they do not have access to the toy bag all the time. You can fill the bag with small toys, games, coloring materials and more.

5. Offer a pacifier

Our ears can be pretty sensitive to pressure changes. If you’ve ever flown, you know how your ears can be painful when you climb or descend. You and I know how to pop our ears to change the pressure, but babies just sit in pain.

The best thing you can do for them is offer a pacifier (or anything else they can suck on – a breast or bottle will do too) during those moments. This is the same motion you make when you pop your ears, so it will automatically help your baby adjust to the new pressure.

When you’re traveling by plane with baby, always keep in mind that most other passengers understand when a baby cries. They know you’re doing everything you can to stop the noise. Focus on having an awesome trip.

How do you keep your kids clam on plane flights?

Written by Stephanie Parker from Sleepingbaby.com, inventors of the Zipadee-Zip

The motto for Sleeping Baby, makers of the Zipadee-Zip, is: "Inspiring Dreams One Night at A time," and that, in a nutshell, is how it all started…with one little dream that has since become the Parker family's reality. When Brett and Stephanie Parker's daughter, Charlotte, was born, the feeling that welled up inside of them was indescribable; they never realized until first looking into those baby blues of hers that they were even capable of that kind of love.

When it was time to transition baby from swaddling, the Parkers tried every sleep sack on the market and everyswaddle weaning trick they could find for nearly two weeks and nothing worked to get baby Charlotte to fall and stay asleep.

Stephanie became determined to restore sleep and sanity to their household and set out to find a solution that would soothe Charlotte's startle reflex and provide her the cozy womb-like environment she loved so much but still give her the freedom to roll over and wiggle around in her crib safely. Out of sheer desperation and exhaustion, the Zipadee-Zip was born. The first Zipadee-Zip(R) Stephanie put together on her little sewing machine worked like magic!

To date tens of thousands of Zipadee-Zips have been sold and all from word-of-mouth marketing. It is so rewarding for the Parkers to see other parents and babies getting the sleep they both need and deserve!

Interested in writing a guest blog for Sleeping Baby? Send your topic idea to pr@sleepingbaby.com.

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