Dengue And Other Arboviruses
Pediatric VFR travelers with frequent or prolonged travel to areas where dengue or other arboviruses are endemic or epidemic may be at increased risk for severe infection. Dengue can cause mild to severe illness. Most infections are asymptomatic, but some people with dengue virus infection can develop life-threatening illness. Among 8 children who were diagnosed with acute dengue virus infection after visiting friends and relatives in the Caribbean, 3 developed severe dengue.
Children traveling to areas with dengue or other arboviruses should use the same mosquito protection measures described for malaria. However, families should be counseled that, unlike the mosquitoes that transmit malaria, the Aedes mosquitoes that transmit dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, and Zika are aggressive daytime biters and can also bite at night. Clinicians should consider dengue or other arboviral infections in children with fever if they have recently been in the tropics.
Flying With A Baby Everything You Need To Know
Flying with a baby for the first time can be intimidating, but dont let that stop you from planning a trip. In reality even flying long haul with a baby is really only a very small portion of your entire trip.
A long haul flight with a baby might seem like an eternity at the time, especially if your baby is fussy on the airplane. Just know that you will get through it and once its all over its time to enjoy your trip.
Or the other likely possibility is that flying with a baby wont be nearly as bad as you imagine or have built up in your head. And if theres one thing we know for sure its that your last flight with baby will not necessarily be indicative of whats to come.
Babies change so fast. Flying with a 3 month old baby is very different than flying with a 8 month old baby, for example. Every flight and every time you travel with baby will be different. So even if youve had a bad experience flying with your baby in the past, dont let that stop you!
So with that out of the way, here are all our best tips for flying with babies. Whether you are flying domestic flights or flying with a baby internationally, youll find everything you need to know in this post!
Flying with a Baby
This post contains compensated links.
Managing Your Babys Crying And Schedule While Flying
Babies are notoriously unpredictable in the first few weeks, with irregular sleeping, feeding, and crying times. While this can certainly be managed, it may be very draining to mom and dad to travel before a baby has settled. Some babies do this by two weeks, others not until three months. Youre going to have to be the judge of when you think your baby has settled.
Even when your baby seems to be in a routine, getting on a plane can bring out the worst in them. Weve all heard stories about airline passengers yelling at crying babies. While you cant control when your baby is going to have an outburst or start crying, you can make sure they have plenty of food and something to soothe them. Pacifiers or a lovey never hurt and can help little ones get some needed Zen while on a plane. Be sure to pack more than one pacifier in your diaper bag and have some options when it comes to toys and soothers. Babies can get bored quickly, so anything new can help.
Read Also: What To Use On Newborn Face Rash
Rent Baby Equipment At Your Destination
This is a little unknown secret, but you can actually rent baby equipment at your destination including high chairs, cribs, playpens, and bassinets.
This way, you dont have to haul these items to the airport and pay extra checked baggage fees. Rental companies can deliver equipment to your hotel, resort, or relatives house.
Bring Plenty Of Sanitizer Wipes And Other Key Items
Make sure to read our full guide on packing and traveling with a baby for more tips and tricks on what to bring when flying.
When it comes to pandemic-era travel with your infant, make sure to have plenty of baby-safe sanitizer and wipes to scrub down tray tables, armrests and more. Babies touch everything and often put things in their mouths that they shouldn’t, so making sure all surfaces are wiped down is a good plan of action. You can also use a baby-safe sanitizer to clean hotel cribs, taxi cab car seats or anything else your baby might frequently touch when traveling.
Bring toys that are harder to throw on the floor and clear away any of the in-flight materials they might be able to reach. This may help keep your baby safe from all sorts of germs lurking during the flight.
Don’t Miss: How To Deal With Reflux In Newborn
When Can You Travel With A Newborn By Car
However, if you are driving instead of flying, it is safe to travel short distances of a couple of hours or less with your newborn baby. But for long car journeys of over 3 hours, it is recommended to wait until your baby is around 2-3 months. When driving with a baby, it is important to take at least a 15-minute break every 2 hours to get your infant out of their car seat and allow them to stretch. This is a good time to feed your baby and change their diaper.
If you are traveling a long distance, you may consider flying with your newborn. Flying with a baby is often more comfortable than car travel because you can both get up and move around, and your baby is not strapped in a car seat for hours on end. You can feed and change your baby while the flight continues, so you dont have to stop traveling to take a break. Keep this in mind when deciding how you can travel with a newborn baby.
Can I Use A Car Seat On A Plane
- Yes, in most cases. You have the option to use an airline approved car seat on most but not all airlines. USA and Canadian based airlines allow airline and FAA approved car seats at any age. Find out more about child restraint devices and car seats regulations here. The FAA car seat rules are here for US readers and for UK readers the CAA are here. If your little one flies as lap baby, on a non USA/Canadian airline, then you will be given a lap belt to secure to them to your seatbelt if you havent purchased a seat to use your car seat.
You May Like: What Is Nec In Newborns
Can You Eat Ladybugs
Ladybugs are small, plentiful, and insect-eating bugs that can invade your home by the jarful during warm months. Fortunately these often-colorful insects are not poisonous to humans and only harmful to pets if they eat the ladybugs.
What if I ate fly eggs?
Most flies lay eggs, but some give birth to live maggots. What happens if I accidentally eat a flys egg? Nothing will happen to you if you eat a fly egg. The fly egg will die.
Are flies deadly to people?
Yes , you should worry. Houseflies are strongly suspected of transmitting at least 65 different diseases to humans, including typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera, anthrax, leprosy, and tuberculosis. A single housefly can carry over one million bacteria. Before modern antibiotics were invented, flies were definitely deadly.
Check Airline Rules And Restrictions
All airlines have different rules and restrictions regarding traveling with a baby. Some airlines allow you to board before anyone else if you have a baby under two years old. This can be a relief and from personal experience, this helped me get everything sorted out in my seat without any stress.
In terms of diaper changing, while all planes have to change tables in the toilets these are not the most comfortable and spacious to use but needs must.
There are definitely pros and cons to flying with a young baby so you need to weigh these up and do whatever is right for you.
You should be able to find most rules and restrictions on the official website of the airline that you are flying with but if you have any other concerns, give customer care a ring and they should be able to answer any queries that you may have.
Recommended Reading: What To Do When Newborn Has Diarrhea
Flying With A Newborn Baby Tips
Firstly, rest assured, flying with a newborn is so much easier than when they are crawling or walking! But if this is your first baby, then just driving the car with a newborn baby inside can be daunting , let alone flying in a plane.
Here are some flying with a newborn tips and information to help you on your travel adventure. and my bumper guide for flying with a baby is here.
Is It Safe To Eat Flies
The reality is that the risks associated with eating food touched by a fly are comparatively low. Food hygiene expert Dr Cameron Webb has explained that any germs transferred by a fly are unlikely to make you ill. A single touch down is unlikely to affect the average healthy person.
What happens if I eat a fly?
Dont worry, youre not going to turn into a fly! If you swallowed it then its probably ended up in your stomach. It will get digested along with anything else youve eaten and then whatevers left will come out the other end when you visit the toilet.
Do flies have nutritional value?
In addition to the protein, the insects have a phenomenal nutritional value as they are packed with iron, calcium and magnesium nutrients that often are lacking in diets based on only one or two staple crops. The flies also are easier to farm and scale than some other insects, Gronich said.
Don’t Miss: How Do I Get The Birth Certificate For My Newborn
When Is It Safe To Travel With A Newborn By Car
When it comes to traveling with a newborn by car, short distances such as to local doctors appointments and errands around town will be safe from birth as long as your newborn has no complicated medical issues.
For longer car journeys of an hour or more, stick to the guideline of waiting until maturity of the immune system, to be safe, 3 months plus.
Do Children Need Id To Fly
If you are traveling internationally with a 5 month old, then a passport is always needed. If you are flying domestically in the USA or Canada you do not need ID for your baby, but I always recommend taking a copy of their birth certificate.
Various other countries require all different sorts of ID and paperwork. With some airlines, lap babies may not be issued a boarding card but may need a boarding verification document. There is more information on travel documents here.
Also Check: How Many Soiled Diapers Should A Newborn Have
Also Check: How To Add Newborn To Caresource
Flying With A Baby Is Free Or Almost Free
One reason why many people decide to take a small child on a plane rather than any other method of transport is that it is free or almost free, depending on the airline.
Tickets can often be crazy high to travel so to have this benefit when your child is yang. Make the most of the free airplane travel with your baby before they turn two.
Things To Do Before The Flight
- Contact the airline to make seating arrangements for your child.
- Notify the airline if your child has any food allergies.
- Make sure your childs vaccinations are up to date.
- Ask your doctor for nausea medication if your child experiences motion sickness.
- Notify the flight attendants if your child has any disease.
- If your child is old enough, explaining that youll be taking a trip can help prevent anxiety.
- Check with the airline about what you can bring in checked and carry-on luggage.
- Pack extra clothes for you and the baby in your carry-on luggage.
- Get to the airport early.
What seats to book
When youre flying with an infant, the best seats are the ones furthest from the aisle. That way, your child wont be disturbed by people trying to move around you to get to the aisle. Especially if your child is in a car seat, having other people trying to get past can be uncomfortable for everyone.
Recommended Reading: How Much Milk Per Feeding Newborn
Read Also: Can A Newborn Drink Cold Formula
When Is It Safe To Travel With A Newborn
- Its always best to ask your medical professional for advice on this as there so many variables. Eg consider where you are travelling to, whether any additional vaccinations are needed, general health etc. We opted to fly international with our newborn after she had her first two rounds of injections and then we flew to South Africa.
- Travelling with a newborn on the plane means they will possibly be exposed to more germs than at home. Tray-tables, TV handsets, air vent etc can all be breeding grounds for germs. Although, it is unlikely your newborn will touch them as they wont be as mobile as an older baby, other people, including you will. Therefore adding anti-bacterial wipes to your carry on is probably a good idea.
Safety When Traveling With A Newborn
Jaunty Junto / Digital Vision / Getty Images
While you can travel with a newborn baby, including airplane travel, it doesn’t mean that you should. A lot depends on your baby’s age and health. Generally, travel before one week old is not recommended and many doctors will also advise you to limit travel for several months. Using caution is not about the oxygen levels, the pressurized cabin on the plane, or the effects of high altitude. There is no proven connection between airplane travel and SIDS.
Instead, most experts advise limiting newborns’ and younger infants’ exposure to large groups of people so that they don’t get sick. Traveling through an airport, onto an airplane , through another airport , and then visiting a lot of peopleeven if they are family membersexposes your baby to viral illnesses and other infections. This exposure is the main issue to consider when you travel with a baby, especially by air.
Vaccine-preventable diseases are also a concern at this age, as babies haven’t had time to get vaccines and be fully protected against these illnesses. From measles and pertussis to the flu, it isn’t a good idea to expose a newborn baby or young infant to these diseases unnecessarily, whether in an airport or at your destination. Traveling by bus or train would also expose your baby to many unfamiliar people and diseases.
Also Check: How To Relieve Colic In Newborn
Is It Possible To Fly Without A Stroller
I can speak from experience that it is possible to fly without an infant travel stroller. We have on several occasions flown with just a baby carrier, to keep it light.
We hadnt brought the car seat with us and rented a stroller at our destination through a reputable baby equipment rental company, so we checked our bag and brought only carry on essentials for baby with us.
We only recommend this if you are traveling light!
Here is a wonderful post on trusting your instincts as a parent and .
Do I Need A Passport For Baby
If you plan to fly internationally with a baby, your baby needs a passport. If you are flying domestically, you likely only need your babys birth certificate to travel. Either way, you will need proper identification to fly with your baby.
Dont forget, typically passports need to be valid for 6 months beyond the time of your trip.
You May Like: How To Take Care Of A Newborn Baby
If You Do Buy Anything Specifically For Your Trip Use It At Home First
For your newborn, this further helps with the familiarity of anything you want to use while away. For example, if you decide you need to take a travel cot, get baby sleeping in it at home for a few weeks before going away
For you, it means youll also become accustomed with how to use any new contraptions and devices. Some travel cots/Pack n Plays can be particularly challenging to put up and the last thing you want to do is have a battle late at night after a long journey
In addition, most of the cheaper ones are heavy and bulky and not ideal for traveling with your newborn. If youre going to travel or stay away from home regularly, Id advise investing in a lightweight and easy to assemble travel cot/Pack n Play like this one.
When Is It Safe For A Baby To Fly
As long as your child has no health complications and the airline says it is OK, you can fly with your baby from 7 days and onwards.
As long as your child has no health complications and the airline says it is OK, you can fly with your baby from 7 days and onwards.
Your doctor might usually recommend that your baby is between 3-6 months before you travel but usually, this is not necessary. It does depend on a few factors like where you are going, your own personal opinion on the matter and so on.
Lets delve into this topic a little deeper including some awesome tips from a mom that should make your journey with little one somewhat easier.
Recommended Reading: Where To Find Newborn Kittens