safe to do air travel with 7 week old - before 8 week vaccinations?

[Anonymous]

You can't predict who will get sick on a plane. It is different for everyone and we all take a risk when travelling or being in close proximity to others. What other's think isnt relevant. If you want to play it safe, don't go. If you feel that the benefits outweigh the risk, go for it.

[Anonymous]

http://www.parenting.com/article/Pregnancy/Care/Ask-Dr.-Sears-Traveling-With-a-Newborn

Here is the link from Dr. Sears. He says the first month is the general rule of thumb but gives advice on how to do it with a 2 week old while minimizing risks.

[Anonymous]

Our own ped. did not have much to say on this but we talked with a friend - a Johns Hopkins ped. and his advice was the following: You can travel if you want to and most likely it will be fine. However, in babies less than 3 months old who come to him with high fevers and have been on a flight recently, he gets nervous and will run *every* test in the book (including spinal tap)..... just in case. His advice: if you must travel go ahead but if you can wait until baby is 3 months old then wait.

[Anonymous]

I flew with a 5 wk old and didn't even bother to ask our Ped. I figured breastfeeding was airtight.

However, I personally know a neighbor child who actually DID come down with the thing that we all worry about at 2 mos., the reason for the spinal taps -- bacterial meningitis. She was in ICU for more than a month and nearly died. She hadn't flown, and she was EBF, but she had tons of exposure in those early weeks to little relative kids who hadn't had all their vax as well as teens.

Her near-miss with death taught me not to be as cavalier as I am naturally inclined to be.

[Anonymous]

OP, why do you need to fly?

[Anonymous]

Flew home with adopted DC at 9 days old and no problems - we had even hoped for clearance the previous Friday (when DC would have been 6 days old). Adoptive parents do this ALL the time.

Also flew to meet family for a holiday celebration when DC was seven weeks old and again, absolutely no problems.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Wow, 20:53, this is the 12:18 adoptive parent. Pretty impressive management of the Interstate Compact! We had a comedy of errors - new fingerprints that smeared and were unreadable, bureaucrats who locked important papers in desks while beginning a holiday weekend early, etc., etc., etc. That's why we weren't as speedy as you.

[Anonymous]

I flew from DC to Chicago with my 7 week old very fussy daughter and she absolutely loved it -- was captivated by the new sights and sounds both times. She had her DTaP, hib, and PC shots 48 hours prior (FDA approved and pediatrician recommended), I carried her on in a Baby Bjorn, used her car seat stroller as a luggage cart, checked it at the gate, breastfed her during takeoff and landing, and let her nap in the Bjorn the remainder of the flight. Try to get the bulkhead seat -- the white noise effect is like a sleeping pill for babies. It went so well we are going to Colorado when she is 12 weeks old.

[Anonymous]

Moved overseas for work with our daughter at 7 weeks. No problems whatsoever. She slept for 6.5 out of the 8 hour flight, both legs, making her the ideal traveler!

[Anonymous]

Flew with 7-week old from DC to West Coast and all went beautifully well. DS did not get sick and pediatrician said the vaccinations given at 8-weeks would do nothing to prevent a virus. I did carry DS in new native sling and wiped his hands frequently with hand sanatizer. He slept like a champ in his Kiddopotamus.

[Anonymous]

16:47 poster - did you have any trouble with immigration when you moved overseas such as having to show proof of shots etc? We're moving overseas at 10 weeks and am curious what we need to do to prepare other than arranging visas. Thanks for any advice!

[Anonymous]

you can always have the shots earlier... my babyhad hers at 6 weeks (they wouldn't pierce her ears until she had her shots, and I really wanted to do it before travelign overseas at 8 weeks).
ped said no problem, shots can be given as early as 6 weeks
as for traveling abroad, no proof of vaccines, just the passport is all you need

[Anonymous]

OP -- as I think a previous poster pointed out -- I think the issue of whether your baby has had his 8 weeks shots isn't so much a big deal, as is the issue of a child under 3 months in general travelling and possibly getting exposed to illness.

AFter 3 months, whether they had their shots or not, would be a different story.

Personally, if I didn't have to travel somewhere (whether by car or plane makes no difference) I woudl prefer not to, until my infant was over three months. This is just because, infants do get sick, and if my baby got any kind of fever, I would prefer to have him evaluated by his own doctor, and if he needed to be hospitalized, I'd prefer it to be at home.

To my mind, it isn't so much a matter of playing it safe. If I had a funeral I really needed to be at, I would fly (though I'd prefer to go in a car because I do think you pick up more germs while flying. Plus, flying nowadays just sucks.) If I were adopting a child, yes, of course, I woiuld fly with that baby as soon as possible to get BACK HOME where her doctor would be!

But I would try to postpone nonessential flying until the three month mark.

Here is one good article about the way fever is treated in children under 3 months.

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/fever/a/0707_baby_fever.htm

Unlike older children, it can be difficult to tell when a newborn or young infant is seriously ill. In fact, an infant under two or three months of age may have a serious bacterial infection, such as meningitis (an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord), bacteremia (a blood infection), or a urinary tract infection and still appear totally fine. That is why doctors routinely do a septic work-up on infants who are under two or three months old when they have a rectal temperature that is at or above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit.