Crying Baby: Newsletter Challenge (02/21/06)

Hold the baby's nose, so that when it cries, huffs, etc, there's a chance it's ears will pop.

For some reason my ears will not pop on their own - I've tried not doing the nose holding thing to see if they'll pop on their own, but the pain of my ear drum being bent out of shape by the change is pressure is excrutiating. I have to pop my ears decending from 500m to sea level when driving - and when a weather front comes over. And for no apparant reason at least five times during a normal day.

I'd also mention that it's probably not wise to take such young babies on flights for just this reason - the distress to the infant must border on cruelty. Has any research been done on whether damage is caused?

You're likely to get some rude comments from the mother and other nearby passengers who don't know why you're holding the baby's nose. Suggest to the mother, instead, to give her baby some milk. The act of swallowing causes the pressure differences in the ear to equalize, although maybe not with one swallow. If that doesn't work, then ask the mother to put her mouth over the baby's nose and mouth and gently blow, causing the same effect that you suggested.

The question said "what do you suggest to the mother". I wasn't planning on holding anybody else's baby's nose!

The ear is an extremely innervated organ. Even the slightest pressure differences between the middle ear and the outer ear canal can be quite discomforting. You need to be very careful with the tympanic membrane (ear drum), so I would not recommend trying to huff and puff your way to equalization nor holding the infants nose. The last thing you need is a law suit over a ruptured ear drum.

Chewing would be the better course. The equalization path for the middle ear is via the eustachian tubes. These run from the middle ear to the back of the nose. Chewing will work muscles that will help open these passages enough to allow equalization. This is why many people chew gum upon ascent and descent in aircraft (unless your destination is in Singapore). In infants this pathway is very short, so swallowing would be the next best thing.

For your ailment I might suggest seeing an ENT (ear nose throat specialist) and let the doctor determine if there is an abnormality that can be addressed. Typically, these channels vary a lot from individual to individual, but if they are not doing their job or if you have noticed changes over time it is a good idea to have an exam.

Thanks for the advice - unfortunately I can't get past the GPs to a specialist. I've tried a number of times over the last 10 years (when I first noticed it) but none of them take it seriously. One even suggested it was because I'd moved to a town with a river! Every place I'd lived was on a river, so I blew that one out of the water.

I've been told I'm too old for grommets

Look at it this way. It's all in your head. ;-)

Hi,
I'd suggest that the mother try to get the baby to nurse or suck on its soother. The working of the jaw muscles will help to equalize the pressure within the ear drums that is likely causing the baby discomfort.

Well since we talk about ruptured eardrums and lawsuits I feel we are moving away from the scientific part of the discussion. It's all about equalizing pressure for the baby, and maybe we should suggest a lawyers forum if we want to start obsessing about law suits etc. Leave the legaleze out of the forum, and we'll all have much more fun. So with no surprise to you, I'd make the suggestion to the mother..."Prehaps you could get out of your seat and sit somewhere else, as I don't care if my snoring along with the pressure build up upset your baby" :)

You lean over and suggest to the mother that she never ever get on the same plane with you and her snot nosed kid again.

I would suggest putting the baby in the overhead compartment - only because I've thought of putting my own in at times. I've run into similar problems with my yard apes - encountered first when crossing through middle PA over the mountains. Making sure the kid has a bottle prior to the ascent works a lot better than waiting for the problem to arise. Unfortunately, we discovered that after 20 minutes of screaming (the kid, not me).

Your suggestion : Please turn your baby away from me so when it thorws up I will not be covered in vomit.

You suggest that the mom try breast feeding ! (and no, there's no lechery involved). The baby is feeling the air pressure changes in the cabin as the plane descends (there is a cavity behind the eardrum that is usually closed off to external pressures. During the flight, the cabin is at a lower air pressure, which then permeates through to this cavity. The eardrum is always open to external pressure changes (cos that's how it works), and the resulting pressure difference on it's eardrum causes pain). The sucking action when the baby is feeding will open a channel between the back of its mouth and the cavity, and relieve the pressure difference. It's the same as chewing gum.

You Pervert!!!

If she has a pacifier that should work as well, the action is the same and most mothers have one with them.

Take it from a mom with a teenager that still has problems. They sell ear plugs specialy designed to deal with the pressure. Gum works for the majority of us, allowing our mouths to open where the tube connecting our inner ear drum to our mouth allows the pressure to equalize. My kid however needs a nice steaming cup of water to allow that eardrum to work. What I would like to know is, how come the plane can not maintain the pressure we are used to? What centuary are we living in?

Although an aircraft is pressurized, when at altitude the aircraft will tend to "puff up" from the pressure differential. The resulting expansion of the aircraft reduces pressure slightly inside the cabin. The reverse happens when you return to land.

Pressurized is a bit of a misnomer. It is more like air tight. There are no pumps to pressurize the aircraft. The mass volume of air that is inside the cabin when the door is closed at the departing gate is the same mass (mostly) of air that is in the cabin when the plane lands.

They hold the pressure in the plane at an equivalent 8,000 ft altitude (gradually they pressurize the cabin relative to the outside as the plane climbs). Although the new Boeing Dreamliner will be held at 6,000 or 5,000 ft altitude pressure. As a side note, half the air in the atmosphere is below 16,000 ft, the air pressure there is about half sea level.

Bleed air from the engine compressors is used for the make-up air to the air conditioning and ventilation system. Although they don't pressurize the plane on the ground they could. I heard of an incident where a flight attendent was blown from the plane to the tarmac when opening the door because the pressurization system malfunctioned.

The problem with the baby may be self correcting. Screaming should help equalize the pressure in its ears. Personally, having a small child kicking the back of my seat for hundreds of miles is much more annoying. Like Chinese water torture, it becomes more annoying the longer it goes on. The only hope is that the child falls asleep as they don't seem to have control over the kicking.

Mom can I have a lolly? yes that is the answer, my mom always took lollies with us when we went on holiday, the person who suggested pacifiers may be a little mistaken as I always found the the ear drums rectified the air pressure when commencing to swallow (not just chew, or suck.)the swallowing action is where the external pressure equilises and stop the build up of pressure difference. So allowing the baby to have a drink would also be an exellent suggestion.

Well, swallowing and chewing achieve the same result because the muscle action massages the eustation tubes that run from the middle ear to the throat or more accurately, the posterior nasal cavity. The massaging actually helps open the passage up so an equalization of air pressure can take place.

One method or the other may work better or worse for some people. So if it works for you, go for it!

I think the descent phase of flight is worse because the increasing cabin pressure will actually help clamp the eustation tubes shut, which aggravates the problem.

W O W!! what a laugh,,, this was a good one,, reading the replys was a very amusing one. lets just say its all in the jaw,,, ha,,ha,, tell her not to get on the plane with me, was a good one,, i did like the others also,,, just when you thought the day was going to be a dull one,,, thanks,,

As one who has actually travelled on an airplane with one or more small children, from new-born to 4.5 years old, I am very familiar with the problem. The bottom line: the cause of the babies' behavior is a pressure imbalance between the outside air and the air inside the inner ear. A baby's or child's Eustation Tubes are not fully formed. Instead of sloping downward from the inner ear to the throat as they do in an adolescent or adult, the tubes tend to be more vertical. That is why babies and young children get more inner ear infections. A common treatment for chronic infections is to install tubes though the ear drum (tympanum or tympanic membrane) to allow for equalization of the pressure. Adults either flying, driving through changes in elevation, or diving (sky, scuba, snorkeling, or just swimming) often experience this pressure imbalance but normally correct the imbalance by simply swallowing, often unconsciously. A common technique is called the Valsalva Maneuver, where one holds his nose and swallows. For a baby, what has worked best for me is to have the baby suck on a bottle or pacifier. In a pinch, a (reasonably clean) finger will work. Nursing may work but may not be possible. One could (ask the Mother to) hold the baby's nose but I definitely would not touch someone elses's child or give the child CPR.

This one is a fine example of how we engineers look to resolve the problem with the tools at our disposal. I fly so often my backside is SHAPED like an airliner seat (although I'm not sure flying is the reason for that, hmmm.) And I used to encounter the crying baby scenario about every third flight. I have two suggestions: the most insightful will understand and change the way they practice at all they do. No.1; Get two books a) The Field, by Lynne McTaggart,(left brain) and The Power of Intention by Dr. Wayne Dyer (right brain). Understand what they say, and why. There's a significant bibliography involved. Get out of your comfort zone. No.2; Learn how to manipulate the Zero Point Field, and EVERYTHING is easier. For the last three years I haven't heard a crying baby on any of my flights. And that's the least significant thing you can do.

From some of the comments castigating the mother and baby (our future), I would surmise that, as we all were babies at one time, some of us have evolved from crying "snot nosed kids" to whining snot-nosed engineers.

Amen