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Child headsets/ flying with kids?

jcarne

Well Known Member
Patron
Hello, my instructor and I are going to cross country it to pickup the family and I'm having a hard time deciding what to do about my kid and listening to us/ noise protection. He is about 18 months old and my wife would be in the back with him. Does anyone have recommendations on headsets/ headphones / what works best? Thanks! I feel like I'm in uncharted territory here.
 
Muffs

At that age I'd recommend earmuffs, but whether that's just plain earmuffs or a headset is really up to you. Kids that age tend to dislike stuff poked in their ears in my experience, which kinda rules out plugs or in-ear headsets. I suggest leaving the mic out (at least at critical times) if you're on a headset as kids don't always comprehend when you need silence to concentrate.

I flew with my boys when they were a bit older, probably closer to 3 before I had them "co-piloting" the 172 with me, and at that age they just wore normal headsets.
 
Playing it safe

First, congrats! Flying with my daughter and wife as a family has been one of my greatest joys.

For what it’s worth, we have been making it work without too much hassle around that age using (a) slim in-ear plugs before engine start and (b) placing a child’s headset on top. Well, whenever she let us or after she fell asleep soon after takeoff. :). You can try the same if you’re comfortable with it.

Couple pointers:
- Buy the slim / small foam earplugs that are more appropriate for kids’ narrower ear canals. We use the Mack's Dreamgirl Soft Foam Earplugs, 50 Pair, Pink - Small Ear Plugs (ordered online)

- Do the regular roll between your fingers to squish the plug as narrow as possible. On the upper rear portion of the pinna/floppy part of the ear, gently hold tension slightly outboard and back while you gently insert the plug. Then hold your finger over the remaining end to minimize outward shift as the plug expands.

- Some place a simple sweat-/headband to minimize chances of the little one pulling a plug out during the flight. (Or the headset accomplishes the same once it’s on top, and verification check of plug placement every 15 min until then.)

- Use your cool, calm pilot voice as you get the plugs in / headset on. (Reminder that kids feed off our calm/nervous energy.)

- Consider getting him used to the headset at home by using it with an occasional iPad video. (While still minimizing / avoiding screen time at that age.) ;)

- Child headset or Bose A20 (with single hinge on top) seems to work well for the kid-size cranium

The usual medical-like disclaimers apply; don’t try this at home, etc.

I’ll shoot ya a PM as well if you want to talk some more.

Ryan
(USAF pediatrician, turned flight surgeon who loves to fly with my family)
 
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At that age I'd recommend earmuffs, but whether that's just plain earmuffs or a headset is really up to you. Kids that age tend to dislike stuff poked in their ears in my experience, which kinda rules out plugs or in-ear headsets. I suggest leaving the mic out (at least at critical times) if you're on a headset as kids don't always comprehend when you need silence to concentrate.

I flew with my boys when they were a bit older, probably closer to 3 before I had them "co-piloting" the 172 with me, and at that age they just wore normal headsets.

I suspected in ear stuff might not be a big hit, thanks for confirming and your recommendations. Luckily I also am flying a plane with pretty nice avionics and I can use the audio panel to isolate just crew if needed. Although I have instructed the wife that she will be the one that has to keep him happy while me and my instructor focus on safely flying.

First, congrats! Flying with my daughter and wife as a family has been one of my greatest joys.

For what it’s worth, we have been making it work without too much hassle around that age using (a) slim in-ear plugs before engine start and (b) placing a child’s headset on top. Well, whenever she let us or after she fell asleep soon after takeoff. :). You can try the same if you’re comfortable with it.

Couple pointers:
- Buy the slim / small foam earplugs that are more appropriate for kids’ narrower ear canals. We use the Mack's Dreamgirl Soft Foam Earplugs, 50 Pair, Pink - Small Ear Plugs (ordered online)

- Do the regular roll between your fingers to squish the plug as narrow as possible. On the upper rear portion of the pinna/floppy part of the ear, gently hold tension slightly outboard and back while you gently insert the plug. Then hold your finger over the remaining end to minimize outward shift as the plug expands.

- Some place a simple sweat-/headband to minimize chances of the little one pulling a plug out during the flight. (Or the headset accomplishes the same once it’s on top, and verification check of plug placement every 15 min until then.)

- Use your cool, calm pilot voice as you get the plugs in / headset on. (Reminder that kids feed off our calm/nervous energy.)

- Consider getting him used to the headset at home by using it with an occasional iPad video. (While still minimizing / avoiding screen time at that age.) ;)

- Child headset or Bose A20 (with single hinge on top) seems to work well for the kid-size cranium

The usual medical-like disclaimers apply; don’t try this at home, etc.

I’ll shoot ya a PM as well if you want to talk some more.

Ryan
(USAF pediatrician, turned flight surgeon who loves to fly with my family)

Ryan, thanks for such a detailed post and the PM you sent me. After looking at your guys' posts I think I have a plan of attack now. The one good thing about my kid is his head circumference is in the 97th percentile so I should be able to get a headset on him. haha I just ordered him a kids size headset so we will see how that goes. In the meantime I will start practicing putting mine on him so he gets used to it. I don't think he loves it right now but he didn't hate it so we will make some progress. I'll definitely give you a call if I can think of any questions.

Also, duly noted on your avoiding screen time right now. haha I hate it when I see kids pacified with an iPad. Although an iPad and ForeFlight passifies me pretty nicely so I can't judge too much. ;)
 
I've used child sized cheaper headsets and regular child sized muffs. I've had the best luck using my standard lightspeed headset, I did have them send me a "tall" head cushion that works for my kiddos and adults. If the 18 month old is still in the rearward facing reclined car seat it helps to hold the headset on their head. I've had 2 kiddos that have been flying with me at several weeks old. I've never had a complaint about discomfort from them wearing the Lightspeed.
Here's my Lil' Dude on the way home from KOSH 2018 almost 3 years old and crashed out, check out the fit of the standard sized lightspeed and the tall head cushion.

IMG_0176-L.jpg


2 days ago (almost 5 now) eating a cookie on the way home, he even has the regular sized head cushion headset that fits just fine. I leave the tall head cushion headset on the pilots side now cuz it doesn't slide off my head quite as easy during loops.

IMG_8987-L.jpg
 
Looks like that one fits your little one just right! Thanks for posting your recommendation! Now I'm off to bed... oh wait I still need to look at the FARS about child seats. lol
 
All of my kids started flying with me <1 yr old, I've had the best luck with my old Bose X headset. Although my 3 year old will tolerate the in-ear when I take both him and the 2 year old flying at the same time. Pro tip, if you have music input on the intercom play some of their favorite music when you first put them on. My middle child especially wanted to pull his off on his first flight w/o mom, but on the second attempt I put music on and he didn't even fidget with them.

At 18 months I'd put the car seat in if there's an open seat, depending on the length of the flight and your child's temperament that can be a long time to try to hold a toddler on a lap.
 
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The advice I was once given was to skip the 'kids' headsets, and go with an adult headset and then buy a kids headband so it fits. The comment was that you'd end up with a better headset and one that will last longer as the kid grows.
 
+ 1 In ear plugs for 18 month old. We put a Lightspeed headset on the kids in addition to in ear plugs at that age. Once they could talk well enough to let us know there was a problem with their headset placement (fell off, moved etc.) we got rid of the in ear plugs. Make sure you watch the volume controls on the headset as well. The sliders can move and seldom do the kids say "my volume is super loud and its blasting my ears".

+ 1 Tall pad for the Lightspeeds when coupled with a kid sized baseball hat to help keep the headset on without moving around their head. Lightspeed will send these tall pads free if you ask nicely.

+ 1 Music/movie track for child to listen in on. The flight can be long when you cannot see out the windows for a little person. This also helps ensure the kid will alert you to a problem with their headset as they are wanting their music back. My wife always puts the kids headsets on her head to check the volume.

+1 On using intercom isolate switch on panel. This is a must when flying with the kids. Before our first fight with the kids I made sure to discuss with my wife that the primary role of the pilot is to ensure the safety of the flight. Flying along we hit some turbulence while in the clouds. Cheese-Its go flying and the two kids in the back start crying as the turbulence scared them and their crackers flew EVERYWHERE. Hit the isolate switch on the panel and let the wife handle the kids while I kept up with ATC. Just know how the switch works well in advance of needing it.

Once out of diapers also consider child sized Travel Johns. In addition to using the bathroom RIGHT before takeoff we have used these many times in flight to prevent an accident in the kids car seat.

- DO NOT BUY Pilot USA Child Size Passive Headsets. They are garbage and I threw them away. Very poor quality all around.

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Thanks for the thoughts guys. I ordered up a Rugged air 250 as they are supposedly more ideal for small heads. We will see how it is. I'll keep you guys posted on how it goes! thanks everyone!
 
Just wanted to say thanks everyone for all the recommendations. The weather today was great so I took the wife and the kid flying.

This was his first airplane ride ever. The headset recommendations and the one I ended up buying worked great! We had a plan B just in case too involving the pink earplugs. Something we noticed for anyone else reading this in a similar situation is that the headset width barely fit in the car seat itself.

24045 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

He fell asleep shortly after takeoff. The turbulance didn't bother him a bit. My wife on the other hand...

24047 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Now all we gotta do is finish up this RV so I don't have to post pictures of a 172 haha :D

24051 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
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