Flying with a 7 week old

[Anonymous]

My grandmother was put on hospice yesterday. It's looking like I will need to fly to Florida soon. DD will be 7 weeks on Monday.

I am BFing. I don't pump and she's never had a bottle. She gets breast milk and formula through an SNS. I think I would need to take her with me, but am very concerned about flying with such a young baby.

Has anyone else done this? Any advice? I'm not worried about crying. People can deal with that. I'm worried about all the germs she could pick up in an airplane and hotel.

[Anonymous]

I was most worried abuut the logistics and was very anxious about it. Looking back, traveling with them that young is the best age. Now traveling with a 4 &2 YO I long for the days of one infant in a baby carrier.

I would just practice good hygene, washing hands, etc and not let strangers touch the baby. Other than that, it should be a breeze.

Honestly, the anxiety in preparation for the trip is always worse than the trip (IME).

[Anonymous]

Your baby will be fine. Take the usual precautions - wash hands a lot, protect her from strangers, - the PP noted and you will be okay. They're more resilient than you think. Sorry to hear about your grandmother.

[Anonymous]

This is really the easiest age to travel with a baby. If you are lucky, the baby will sleep the entire time.

[Anonymous]

I am sorry to hear about your grandmother.

It sounds like you feel the need to go to be with your family at this time, but I will voice another opinion. My grandmother died in May and I did not travel to CA for the funeral. My son was 8 months at the time. It was going to be too much for both of us to take him on a x-country flight, and I wasn't willing to spend the time apart from him as I was breastfeeding. It's a personal decision but if thinking about traveling with her is creating too much stress for you, would you consider not going?

She'll be fine if you do go. We flew for the first time when DS was about 3 months and he did great. It was December so rampant germs - we had no issues.

[Anonymous]

And I will provide another perspective, OP.
First, I am terribly sorry to hear the news about your grandmother. 7 weeks is very young but I sense you would not have posted this if seeing her wasn't important to you. At about 10-11 weeks, I made a trip with my husband to the northeast. The flight was about 70' and I was nervous, also BF though my daughter would take BM from bottles. I carried on my pump and though I wasn't alone, it was stressful. We visited a family member (grandma-like) who was essentially near the end.
I cannot tell you the joy that I saw in her face when she saw us and met my daughter. She could not get out of bed so we brought the baby in, sat with her and when she started to doze, took the baby from her arms. We took photos and though it was a small gesture on our end, I heard from my mother how unbelievably happy she was the following few days. She could not stop talking about our visit, the baby, etc. She died a week later.
7 weeks is young but I would just be very careful about not letting anyone touch your baby, etc. and if you can do it, it may be worthwhile. Knowing what our visit meant (and of course I wanted to see her before she passed) is priceless. According to my mom it was almost as if that kind of put her over the top and she was completely at peace. Whether that is true, who knows. BUt I saw her face and know how much it meant to her.
If you feel you can swing the visit with your baby, do it. Trust me.

[Anonymous]

I flew with DS at 8 weeks. It was a breeze. He slept/nursed the whole time.

[Anonymous]

The baby will travel just fine but germs would be my concern. Just be sure not to let the plan air blow on you and wash hands. Maybe also give the baby a bath once you arrive.

I wouldn't worry too much though. If you were a parent with an older child then your baby would be exposed to a lot from day 1. Seriously my older child has a runny nose all the time.

On a side note I would work on the bottle thing because the longer you wait the harder it gets and then you can never leave the baby for very long.

Sorry about your gransmother.

[Anonymous]

Sorry about your grandmother OP. Id go and take the baby. I flew overseas (2 flights, one being 9 hours) with dc # 1 and 2 when they were 5 wks old. They slept all the time. Some tips: carry baby on a carrier to protect her, wash hands often, use a sanitizer if needed, bf during take off and landing. Take a pillow to help support baby if she wont have own seat. And ask peds to give the 2 month vaccines before trip - usually doctors can give them starting at 6 good luck!

[Anonymous]

6 weeks (pp above)

[Anonymous]

I'd just sling her and go. I figure the nursing counteracts any random airplane germs.