how old for newborn on a plane?

[lurknomore]

I can't remember the rule of thumb...How old does a newborn need to be before flying?  I'm thinking of taking the baby home (with DD1 and DD2...alone...hold me!) when baby is about 6 weeks.  Is that old enough?  It would be May, fwiw, so past the majority of cold and flu season...TIA!

[darnkatz]

I think that's fine. We went when DD2 was eight weeks old, and she was perfectly okay. I had her in a wrap in the airport and no one touched her.

Also, I flew with my two by myself at that time, and it went really well. Go in with little expectations and a lot of bribery.

[brooklyn]

My baby was born in May, and my pedi said no air travel before 2 months.

[turtlegirl]

We went on a short 1 hour flight when he was about 2 months old.

[rikki]

My doctor had no problem with Elijah traveling at 6 weeks. He flew again at 8 weeks, 14 weeks, 17 weeks, 19 weeks, and we will fly again tomorrow. He hasn't been the least bit sick, thankfully, but some bitch on the plane pretty much told me I was a bad mom for traveling with him.

[ryry]

I waited until after DD1's 2 month vaccines, but I don't know if there's a hard and fast rule. I was just more comfortable with it at that point.

[barefootcontessa]

I went at six weeks with one of my kids. We had to have our floored refinished (contractor screwed up) so I needed a place to go. I did not think to ask the doctor. He was okay but it was not yet flu and cold season.

[countthestars]

We flew cross country with DD at 7 weeks. My pedi had no problem with it.

[lolo]

We flew cross country when j was 2 1/2 months old (in summer).

[dbsk8dance]

my personal preference would be after their first vaccinations.

[ginkgoleaf]

We flew with DS at about 10.5 weeks and it was fine.

[chickens987]

My friends brought their baby home from NM (adoption) at 2 weeks old...

[frlcb]

We flew with ds at 6 weeks and dd at 8 weeks. I wore them both and they were fine. But we are a travel loving family so it didn't even occur to us not to do it.

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2014 11:42:20 GMT -5 dbsk8dance said:

my personal preference would be after their first vaccinations.

I totally understand this logic, EXCEPT that when I asked our own GP about this (had thought about taking future baby # 2 on a trip later this summer around 8 weeks) he said that the first vaccines take a few weeks to build SOME immunity, and then don't have full immunity until the rest of the shots.

Our GP basically says that you can travel to "developed" nations anytime after 4-6 weeks, provided they don't have any outbreaks of things like measles, whooping cough, etc., but you should save 'developing" countries until after 1 year.

Since our trip was to China, we have decided to hold off until next year when the kid would be almost 1. We will probably do a US or Euro destination instead.

[rupertpenny]

Our pedi said to wait for shots, but we were traveling to China. I ended up delaying our trip to when she was 10 weeks and didn't ask about it again. I think they would have preferred we didn't take her at all but that wasn't an option for me.

I would travel domestically at 6 weeks.

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2014 21:37:46 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

Jan 13, 2014 21:19:17 GMT -5 @lauriergirl28 said:

I totally understand this logic, EXCEPT that when I asked our own GP about this (had thought about taking future baby # 2 on a trip later this summer around 8 weeks) he said that the first vaccines take a few weeks to build SOME immunity, and then don't have full immunity until the rest of the shots.

This is correct.  The "8 weeks" rule of thumb is because infants <8 weeks have a different protocol for handling any high fever that usually includes admission, antibiotics and a spinal tap to rule out meningitis.  

emedicine.medscape.com/article/801598-overview

Totally make sense, I'm guessing our GP figured as long as there was good medical care if we wre travelling it would be fine, but that would be such a hassle.
Now I'm thinking 8 weeks makes sense unless its kinda urgent.

That said, in the OP's case, I would probably go visit family if its a short plane ride and the kid is otherwise healthy to start. And it's domestic travel.

[Redpoppy]

My brother and SIL flew from coast to coast when my nephew was 3 weeks old. They were going to travel unless SIL was not up to it. Their pediatrician advised them to wear him and wash hand frequently. They knew about the fever and had a pediatrician lined up if needed in Seattle. It was for a wedding, but also seeing her family.

It isn't the first parenting decision they've made that I've questioned in my head, but at least they vaccinate?

[curbsideprophet]

I would not take a six week old on a plane unless it was an emergency situation. Not worth the risk to me.

[zacksbride]

I took both kiddos across the country solo when DS2 was 5 weeks. All was fine... Well after I had my glass of wine on the plane as reward for getting thru the airport

[winecheery]

My preference would be 8 weeks, after the first shots. Esp during cold and flu. But I'm not sure what the actual "rule" is!

[thejackpot]

Jan 13, 2014 10:19:34 GMT -5 darnkatz said:

I think that's fine. We went when DD2 was eight weeks old, and she was perfectly okay. I had her in a wrap in the airport and no one touched her.

Also, I flew with my two by myself at that time, and it went really well. Go in with little expectations and a lot of bribery.

Agree.

I just flew by myself with my two and the anticipation was so much worse than the actual flight. We did fine.