Flying out tomorrow-SICK kid advice needed!!

[dixielander]

I have experience with ear infections and flying, so I am going to give my advice.

I would GO!! Our daughter has frequent ear infections, and even after the infection, she retains fluid behind her eardrums. Our Ear, Nose and Throat specialist told us it was OK to fly, as long as she was being treated, and most importantly,

USE MOTRIN COLD medicine, as the ibuprofen will help to shrink any inflammation, and help any pain, and the sudafed in the medicine will help dry up secretions. We did this and it worked great, we even gave it to our other 2 children for the plane ride.

We made a emergency trip to a pediatrician while vacationing in San Diego this past August. My daughter was FINE after being on med. for about 24 hours, (or less).

I would go if I were you. Your little one will be fine tomorrow!!

Have a Good Time.

 

[twinmomplus2]

First of all the OP is talking about an ear infection. Unless you are sharing this little ones bottle or binky I think you will be safe from his horrendous germs. The world will survive. That said..... If I did not leave my house every time I had a child with an ear infection I would never leave.
The child is on antibiotics 24 hours and he/she should not be contagious.
A child this age is in a stroller or mom's lap. 95% of the time. He is not touching railings, playgrounds, etc...etc...
I also believe from the op's concern she is not going to drag him around a park if he is feeling poorly.
The baby and mom can stay in the room the first day or 2 and recoup give him lots of rest and you to relax with him.
I have no problem with thi sop's question... Read the trip reports board all the people who WILLINGLY take infectious children repeatedly into the parks, restaurants, shops, in between having the runs and throwing, That is a problem exposing countless 100's of people to a virus that makes me want to scream.
just incase you may think otherwise...mt twins currently have bronchitis we skipped 3 Family Christmas parties this year out of deferance to others. And the boys have not been in a public place in a week. We have taken several field trips to MC Donalds drive thru in the warmth and safety of the car.

 

[Stimpy]

Personally I think it's a pretty bad ear infection that will put the poor baby in a lot of pain on the airplane. If it was a mild infection, I would say go for it. But OP said herself:

"The doc said at first that he would go but then he said that he wouldn't go and that it wasn't worth it."

If the doctor said they shouldn't go after he examined the child, I would follow Dr's advice. Atleast try to postpone for a day or two. Good Luck with whatever you decide!

 

[mcnuss]

Let's be precise about what the OP said:

...The doc said at first that he would go but then he said that he wouldn't go and that it wasn't worth it.

Come on, guys, the doctor told her not to go!

Further, and pls. understand I am neither a doctor nor do I play one on TV, but my uncle is a pedi, and he has told me that ear infections are mostly viral, antibiotics do nothing to touch them, and they are unbelievably over-diagnosed. But I guess that's all beside the point, since the OP has not weighed in again, I am sure she went, and I hope she had a great time. Please also understand I am not flaming the OP here, just that to go is a decision that I definitely would not have made based on the information given here.

As to whether to stay at home with a cold or not...well, in this instance you had a baby with a temp of 101. This was not a 6 yo, but a 10 mo. old baby. I would not leave my house with a child with a fever that high...I disagree that 101 is low grade. All my books say to call the pedi with a baby with a fever of 101. Also, not sure where that stat about 8-10 colds per year on average came from, but I honestly do not know anyone at all whose kids are sick that much. That's almost one cold per month!

Finally, this fascinates me:

Is it a RULE from the school that if your child has a cold you HAVE to keep him/her home? Doubt it. I suggest you ASK what the policy is for your district. I'm very active on a parents board and this dicussion came up recently and none of the parents across the country (on the board) have children that attend a school that makes you keep your child home if they have a fever of less than 100 or a common cold.

It is an explicit rule here that children be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school. They do not give a specific temp - any fever qualifies. I am surprised that not one person on this board had a fever policy bc just for the heck of it I googled "school fever policy" and got 460,000 hits. I went through about 10 pages since they generally start to get weaker in relevance, but about 80% were completely on topic (they were usually links to school websites).

Contagious or not, if your child has a fever, it is a sign that the body is fighting off some form of infection, whether viral or bacterial. I cannot imagine that s/he feels real great, and cannot possibly be learning all that well.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Originally posted by twinmomplus2
First of all the OP is talking about an ear infection. Unless you are sharing this little ones bottle or binky I think you will be safe from his horrendous germs. The world will survive. That said..... If I did not leave my house every time I had a child with an ear infection I would never leave.
The child is on antibiotics 24 hours and he/she should not be contagious.
A child this age is in a stroller or mom's lap. 95% of the time. He is not touching railings, playgrounds, etc...etc...
I also believe from the op's concern she is not going to drag him around a park if he is feeling poorly.
The baby and mom can stay in the room the first day or 2 and recoup give him lots of rest and you to relax with him.

\


Very well said!!!!!!!

1st, do you all realize that while everyone is debating if they should of shouldn't go, they are there (hopefully having a wonderful vacation.) Also, they are from Wisconson. Just being in the warm FLA air and being able to get outside can make a winter cold disapear (I have seen it happen many times myself being from Mich)

As for what the Doc said, some peds are very overly cautious, and only give out advice on the careful side. Mine tend to live in the real world more.

As I found out the hard way, there are good Doctors at Orlando too (2 trips to Centra Care in 2 years.) Sick kids is part of being a parent, and a little cold and slightly infected ear is not the end of the world or a good reason to cancel in entire trip for the whole family. They were proactive and took the baby to the doctor before hand, brought proper medication with them and plan to take it easy. (I normally take DD to the Doc for a one over every time we fly in the winter just to be careful, and will be doing just that in 3 days.)

I hope they are having a wonderful time while we all sit here and debat if they should of went or not.

 

[Hawk]

This has been an informative thread. Sometimes (myself included) we assume too much and based on those assumptons we give our opinions which at times are in error. It is good to hear from those who know in order to keep us on track.

Hawk.

PS - DisneyPhd - are you really a PhD as in MD? or do you just have a clever screen name?

 

[DisneyPhD]

Hawk, I have been guilty of the same! One thing I have noticed is parents can be so critical of other parent's, instead of what everyone really needs, support.

As for the screen name, it was my hubbies, who is a PhD in Chemstiry and is college professor. I kind of stole it since I post more then he does. I am a clinical thearpist, but I only have a masters degree in social work (and can't spell to save my own life.) So really my name should be Disney MSW, but I don't want to change this late in the game.

 

[twinmomplus2]

They are probably there and having a good time.
The most important thing I have learned to ask my pediatrician is if this was your child what would you do? That is the most important measuring stick to me. I trust the judgement of my pedi's and go with almost all of thier recommendations.
Good luck to all who are traveling. happy New Years!

Disney phd, thank you. A little common sense to parenting goes along way.

 

[djm99]

The first "real" vacation since my daughter was taken to LA for 2 weeks. 2 days before we were to depart, she has a fever of 101. I got the call from daycare, and I immediately call her doctor who wants to see her before she prescribes anything (she was 2 years old). Now, mind you my daughter was NEVER sick. This was a Friday afternoon, and I had not finished packing. I spent all afternoon in the doctors office and I debated rather to postpone the trip, although her doctor said she would be fine. The Dr said it was probably a 24 hour virus.

Anyway, I give her the antibiotics that were prescribed by her doctor and she slept all that evening and night. The next moring I checked her fever which was normal, but she still was sluggish.

We had a 7 am flight and off to LA we went. I have to admit was I feeling guilty because my baby was sick. But all of a sudden, my daughter looks up a me and says, "Hi mommy" and then she returns to her normal hyper self. She was fine.

Like so many others on this board I do agree about keeping your child at home when they are sick (I teach high school Special Ed) so I understand how germs quickly spread - I get the flu every year!!!!! If your child was taken to the Dr. and the Dr. said everything is fine, usually 24 hours of antibiotics knocks off contagious child-illness, I think. I'm sure that's not the case for more serious illnesses. Anyway, she was perfectly fine the entire trip. I'm glad I didn't cancel!!!!!

 

[Buckleybunch]

This is just my 2 cents. Dec 2002, 2 days before we were to leave the twins got a cold, and the croup. So we went to the dr, and she put Darby on breathing treatment. I thought forsure we should cancel... but the dr said she if you cancel she will be better the day after you should of left.. And sure enough - she was right. I'm glad we got on the plane with meds on hand.

The day after we arrived you couldn't even tell they were sick.

The ear infection would concern me, but take meds, purchase the ear plugs..

so go, take some handy wipes and tissue and take naps if needed.

Linda

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Just wondering if the OP is back and how things went?????




Jordans' mom

 

[vicb]

Wondering the same??

We traveled to WDW last time when DS age 6 had ear and sinus infection but were able to get him 3 doses of antibiotics before flying, took afrin nasal spray and tylenol before getting on the plane. He did fine, was a little "off" on arrival day but by the next day he felt much better, and yes he did comment on how "good the sun feels"!

I hope the OP went and had a great time. What a shame to miss a special family gathering trip!