Reddit reviews Peltor Sport Earmuffs, Pink, Small, 1/Pack

It's tough at that age. I first flew with my daughter around 8 months. We bought a pair of children's peltor earmuffs. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015V1VX8/. She wouldn't keep them on so we bought silicone ear plugs the moldable stuff. We put the earplugs on and then the muffs over top. She would still get the muffs off, but the plugs stayed in. Around a year and a half the plugs no longer stayed in, but we managed to convince her to leave the muffs on around then.

This summer at 2.5 years we took some very long trips: Seattle to Los Angeles (KPAE to KVNY) and Seattle to Airventure (KPAE KOSH). So we upgraded her to a children's headset with an aux in port and a cheapy amazon tablet. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003M5O4IY/. By the time of Oshkosh she was handling the headset on her own. She puts it on when we tell her to and takes it off while we're taxiing in.

Lots of questions here about headsets, etc. Dad here, have researched this, info incoming!

Age of children - if you can put them in a back seat and have another adult back there with them, it depends on how soon they can wear a headset. Every baby is different.

Headsets. For the little babies, this is the toughest. We couldn't find any true headset, and looked into simple sound-blocking earmuffs. We tried several brands before landing on small Peltor Sport Earmuffs from https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015V1VX8/ . For babies with larger heads, you can probably start them on short flights at 4 months. For smaller heads, they may need to be 6-12 months for their head to be big enough for a proper seal.

For the older kids, get one of the Sigtronics Youth headsets https://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/catalogsearch/result/?q=sigtronics+youth . Durable, and they're not $1000 if they misuse them. I have the S-58Y and they've worked fine. The headbands swap out for adult headbands too, so they can grow with them.

Ages - if you've got an adult to sit with them in back (especially if your audio panel has a pilot isolate button), you can take them at just about any age. My wife rides in back with my little one. I am much more selective about who can ride in front. My own older kids, whom I know real well, I let. EAA wants kids to be at least 8 for Young Eagles, and that's probably as good a guideline as any for other kids.

Get them excited about it before you take them up. My little one likes to watch 5-minute segments from One Six Right with me. We put on our headsets and watch them, and she jabbers about the airplanes. I started her out just letting her hold and feel the headset. I'd show her how I always wore one and waited for her to ask for one too. It only stayed on a few seconds at first, but she wanted to try it briefly every time. With the real little ones, your life will be easier if they are used to thinking about wearing headsets and thinking of planes as exciting things.

The older ones love to watch the GPS. They are interested in how fast we are going, how high up we are, etc.

Keep your climbs and descents shallow. Kids don't know how to clear their ears. I aim for 500FPM max. You don't want them screaming in agony. For the infant/toddler crowd, have them munching on or drinking something during the climbs and descents to help with the ear popping.

Don't be that person that insists "we've gotta make time." When the family wants to stop for a break, you stop for a break. Especially if someone needs to use the bathroom. I bring Travel Johns on longer flights for the males on board. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NV878S My wife has looked at everything on Sporty's and didn't want to try any of their products that claim to work for women, so I got nothin for you there.

Finally, the best compliment you can get as a pilot is when they stay asleep during the landing.