Infant crying during aircraft descent

The phenomenon of infant crying during aircraft descent is described, based on in-flight observations of 37 infant-mother pairs and mother interviews. The hallmark was crying during descent that was not alleviated by mothers' strategies that had been effective prior to descent. A significant relationship was found between bottle feeding and crying during descent; 18 (78%) of nonfeeding infants cried, compared with 4 (29%) of the bottle feeders. All infants with colds cried during descent, and descent crying always occurred more than 9 minutes after adults perceived the need to clear their ears. Only 4 of the 22 mothers (18%) with crying infants attributed the crying to ear pain, yet the findings support the explanation of otalgia due to inadequate middle ear ventilation. Developmental factors that put airborne infants at risk for otic barotrauma, educational implications, and directions for future research are discussed.