Flying with Newborn?

[buzz182]

Firstly CONGRATULATIONS!

I'm pretty much going to echo everyone else.
I, as a first time mum would not have taken Joshua at such a young age for many reasons. I had a great pregnancy, no sickness or anything but had to be induced 14 days after his due date which also resulted in an emergency c - section, so another 4 days stay in hospital. Then suffered with the baby blues for about a week! Not nice! Ladies on here that have gone through that will know exactly what i'm talking about.
You will need time for yourself to recover and to be in your familiar surroundings for the first few weeks. Also like many people have said baby will not have had all of their vaccinations. Even though we took Joshua at 13 months old and had the best time ever, he caught Gastroenteritus and was very poorly and couldn't fly home for 48 hours after our last day.
I know it's horrible knowing you can't go back to the magic but they are not babies for long and the time passes by so quickly! You'll be back before you know it.
We came home late nov last year (always usually go Nov for Thanksgiving and our wedding anniversary) and are going in 6 weeks time as we are trying for baby no 2 after this holiday! So I know we have got to wait 2 years at least before we go back as we will go again when our 2nd child is about the same age as Josh was when he first went.

Enjoy Christmas at home with your new baby and your DH.

Best wishes to you both, and I hope the rest of your pregnancy goes well

Karina

 

[disneyholic family]

we flew to WDW when my son was six weeks old, but that was an internal US flight (about 3 hours flying time)..

i think the earliest i took my daughter on board a flight was when she was 3 months old and that was for 16 hours of flying (13 hours non-stop, followed by a 3 hour flight from NY inland).
It was easy and uneventful, but there's a difference between a 6 week old and a 3 month old.

a plane is a closed system, and any diseases on board are easily spread.......but then again, i did it with my kids....so i don't know what to advise....

 

[alisonbestford]

DD's been 'flying' since she was 4 months old and we've always had a great time
First long haul flight, to Florida, she was two.

I have to agree with all those that have mentioned not travelling before the baby's had it's injections (it's not wise to take them swimming before their first ones so travelling in a plane with all the recycled air etc, IMHO, wouldn't be a good idea)

As others have suggested you never have any idea of how your pregnancy will progress - my 3 pregnancies were all a little 'troublesome' at times Laura was spot on time, Arun 8 days late (never changed much ) and Eve was 5 days late

I wouldn't, necessarily, leave it until the baby's 1 yr old (you'll never manage that long ) but I do think it would be good to 'hold fire' for a little while - also gives you more time to send off for his / her passport

 

[castanea1985]

Hiya

Ok

as many of you know Im pregnant lol, we cancelled our September wdw trip with no problems.

But we have a trip booked for Christmas day, and we were wondering if its doable with a newborn, we were going to a villa and not doing the parks.

expected due date is between the 10th and 20th of November for baby right now I will know for sure in three weeks. so when we fly baby will be between 5 and 7 weeks old

has anybody any experiance of travelling with an infant this young and is it safe.

thanks for any advice

anna

Hi Anna

We flew with our DS when he was 11 weeks and everything was fine!
He had a skycot and slept the majority of the flight (as new baby's do!)
I was feeding him myself, which was great, as I used to feed him in the car before we went anywhere and he was fine for a few hours or so when we walked round! Now if I had been bottle feeding and had to think about sterilizing etc...... no way! Not with all the nappy bag etc...

Hope this helps!

Tracy xx

 

[mushumadness]

Hiya

well thankfully when I get the date they wont let me go over due, to family history. Ive already been told that.

I really dont know what to do, its a trip thats already booked, already paid and travel city are being very awkward about cancelling (they want to keep the money paid) plus the villas booked private

Cant change it to feb or march due to the time I am having off on maternity.

Wish I had of waited to book or booked with a better company, virgin had no problem cancelling

 

[Lizzy Lemon]

Would they be awkward about cancelling even with a doctor's note if you could get one. We had a cottage booked in Devon when our son was 8 weeks old and he spent the first three weeks of his life in Birmingham Childrens Hospital and the Doctors were willing to give us a note to cancel for a refund but we needed the break after the upset but the point is there were willing to help us. Its worth asking. Threaten TCD with some sort of further action. And I forgot to congratulate you both on your news in my previous post. CONGRATULATIONS.

 

[mushumadness]

we flew to WDW when my son was six weeks old, but that was an internal US flight (about 3 hours flying time)..

i think the earliest i took my daughter on board a flight was when she was 3 months old and that was for 16 hours of flying (13 hours non-stop, followed by a 3 hour flight from NY inland).
It was easy and uneventful, but there's a difference between a 6 week old and a 3 month old.

a plane is a closed system, and any diseases on board are easily spread.......but then again, i did it with my kids....so i don't know what to advise....

Hiya I was hoping you would reply as I remember you saying you had flown with a young baby, was it ok?

I have changed the dates to go on the 1st January 2009 (free of charge thankfully)

so the baby will be older and it will give me le way for my recovery.

Plus I guess the bonus is I can pick up baby things from the states.

 

[disneyholic family]

Hiya I was hoping you would reply as I remember you saying you had flown with a young baby, was it ok?

I have changed the dates to go on the 1st January 2009 (free of charge thankfully)

so the baby will be older and it will give me le way for my recovery.

Plus I guess the bonus is I can pick up baby things from the states.

as i posted, the earliest i took either of the two kids on a plane was my son at 6 weeks.....i took my daughter at 3 months, then again at 4 months, then again at 9 months....

and yes it was pretty easy.....i was nursing, so there was no need for bottles/formula/etc...
the doctor told me to be sure to nurse the baby on take off and landing...to keep the ears open...i suppose the same would be true if you're bottle feeding...just be sure the baby is feeding - or sucking on a pacifier...

of course, you will have to drag along lots of diapers and several changes of clothes......but other than that infants are easier than toddlers, since infants will sleep most of the way (hopefully)....at least that was how it was for me...once the kids were more active/mobile, the long flight was a tad more challenging...

i can't remember if the doctor also gave me drops for their ears when they were infants...
i know i had them when they were a bit older, but i can't remember if i also had them when they were infants...the drops were to put into their ears if they had ear pain - it's a kind of topical anesthetic for the ear.....but that might have been for when they were toddlers, not infants (sorry for the faulty memory - this goes back a lot of years)...

another thing to be sure of - you definitely want to have travel health insurance for your trip....god forbid something should happen, but in case it does, you want to be sure you're covered for hospital care in the states....

 

[kristieuk]

Okay, so I know I'm going against the school of thought here, but I would have said go for it - and I have done it. DD was 6 weeks old when we flew last November, and it was an absolute dream. I checked everything, and it was fine to go to the States pre-injections (just think, they are for diptheria, polio etc - I don't think any greater risk there than here).

DD was amazing on the flight - I am more worried about this November when she will be 14 months!

I would be happy to answer any questions you have. I would happily make list of recommendations for the flight etc, just let me know....I can honestly say I think it would be fine, I personally would do it again without hesitation.

Oh, and congratulations to you - fabulous news!

 

[aaronandterri]

I think id also say do it - but then ive had 4 kids so it wouldnt seem as big a deal to me, there much easier as little ones than toddlers, they stay in one place thats for sure!
If your planning on breastfeeding then it will make it easier, and if theres no worry of going overdue then that helps, you could always buy travel insurance and cancel with a docs note nearer the time if you changed your mind, you should be covered that way.

 

[catherine]

Congratulations, that is awesomw news!!

When our youngest DD was born DH's family who all live in CA were really excited to see their new GD and wanted us to fly out there when she was a couple of months old. I spoke with our GP and some other medical people and they all advised us to wait till she was at least 6 months old! So we flew just after she turned 6 months. We had no trouble with the logistics. We had a sky cot and she slept a lot. In fact it got much harder as she got older!!!

 

[mushumadness]

hiya

just spoke to my midwife, she was suprised I asked lol, she said from 4 weeks is ok

so its setteled lol

 

[Netty]

hiya

just spoke to my midwife, she was suprised I asked lol, she said from 4 weeks is ok

so its setteled lol

so does this mean you are going to go??

 

[jen_uk]

hiya

just spoke to my midwife, she was suprised I asked lol, she said from 4 weeks is ok

so its setteled lol

That sounds like good news

 

[wideeyes]

If it was me I would wait till baby was 3 months old, more for me than the baby. I felt horrible the first couple of months after giving birth, it takes time for your body to get back to normal.

 

[Verity Chambers]

If it was me I would wait till baby was 3 months old, more for me than the baby. I felt horrible the first couple of months after giving birth, it takes time for your body to get back to normal.

I have to say I agree. Your first baby is such a shock to the system in EVERY way and it took my a long time to feel "normal" again, physically and mentally.

However, we did go when DD was 6 months and this was a great age to take her.

 

[KayleeUK]

I have to say I agree. Your first baby is such a shock to the system in EVERY way and it took my a long time to feel "normal" again, physically and mentally.

However, we did go when DD was 6 months and this was a great age to take her.

I agree. There is absolutely no way I would take a newborn.

We took DS at 10 months which was a good time too.

 

[mushumadness]

yes we are going on Jan 1st,

baby should be at least six weeks by then.

I am guessing some will think I am being self serving and selfish, but I will have more help around me there than I will at home alone. Plus I have looked into it now and consulted various peoples views

so both Chris and I are happy to go, infact cant wait to baby shop. No parks!!

 

[mushumadness]

forgot to say, obviously if anything is not 100% right with me or the baby we wont be going

 

[Booknut]

I have known a couple of people who have flown back home to Australia/Canada with babies under 3 months and it went ok although with hindsight neither of them would ever do it again and both were going home, not on holiday.

My main concern would be for you, you'll be EXHAUSTED. I know you say you'll have help, I had lots of help too when Matilda was born but you have no idea how your body will cope. I had a good pregnancy and natural labour (fast one too, less than 90 minutes!) and just the shock of the whole thing took weeks to wear off.

Would the agency not let you change the dates for a fee? That seems so unreasonable of them.

Congrats on the pregnancy!!!