Babies can "wing it" comfortably.

• Position: Tips on reducing infant ear discomfort during air travel - Your Life

What can parents taking infants on an airplane do to lessen the chances of their offspring suffering either discomfort or ear damage while flying? Kenneth J. Dormer, associate professor of physiology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, offers some guidelines: The tot "needs to be sucking and swallowing during takeoff and landing. This is especially important when the pilots are adjusting the cabin pressure prior to takeoff and when the cabin pressure is adjusted during descent. The baby needs to be swallowing to open up the eustachian tubes to help equalize the pressure in [the] middle ears."

Although adults can chew gum or suck on hard candy to facilitate swallowing and help relieve pressure, infants can not be given such things for fear they may choke on them. "The simplest thing to do is to just give the infant his or her favorite drink in a bottle to suckle on."

Problems with the pressure changes associated with flying intensify if the child has a...