Question about flying with young babies.

Okay.. here's the story. My BIL and his FW were getting married this October.. They called of the wedding. They are now talking about getting Married in August. I am due in June. The baby would be 2 months.

The wedding would be in Atlanta. MIL says to me, "It is great because you can bring the baby and we can show it off to everyone."

I told her that I didn't "think" babies could fly that young. I "thought" it had something to do with thier ears but, I could be totally wrong.
I told her that the baby probably wouldn't have all the shots yet either. I don't really know the shot schedule. Can some enlighten me?

She was like, "well your husband's cousin brought his baby to a family wedding at just a few weeks old."

I told her that it is a very different thing to get in a car and drive a few miles than it is to fly! I just think that germs fester on planes and it would be such a bad idea.

Am I just being mean or is this stuff true? I want to go to the wedding and DH will go regardless. I just didn't think I can have a baby fly that young? Can they? I also don't want to pass my baby around a whole wedding! And I am NOT driving to Atlanta with a 2 month old.

And not for nothing (and MIL even said this too), we all arranged things around them and they called it off, now it is thier time to arrange around us!

Message edited 11/10/2008 7:59:33 AM.

Re: Question about flying with young babies.

I probably wouldn't go for all the reasons you mentioned. A newborn is not a "toy" to just pass around. Besides, you have no way of knowing how you are the baby are going to be feeling anyways at that point in time.

Re: Question about flying with young babies.

I'd go.

We flew with DS the day he turned 3 months, it was a perfect age to fly. You can fly with them very young, just make sure they have a pacifer/bottle or nurse on take off and landing.

And you are flying to Atlanta, not Timbucktu!

ETA: As for shots, they get them at 8 weeks, so the baby would be vaccinated.

Message edited 11/10/2008 7:54:58 AM.

Re: Question about flying with young babies.

Inasmuch as it's true that you will have to worry about people trying to pick up/touch your child, and the baby's feeding schedule....

Your DC's shots won't be over for years....

They will already have begun receiving shots, and my DD had begun flying with me at a young age.... Her first flight was when she was 3 months old from the West Coast to the East Coast.

It's truly up to you.

Re: Question about flying with young babies.

I can tell you that last year when our nephew was born (9/6), we had our Thanksgiving reunion planned in Hilton Head SC. My SIL's peditrician told her the baby could ONLY fly if he was 8 weeks old & had all his shots. He was just 10 weeks when we left & they did come. He actually was a champ on the flight!

I would wait to make the decision until the baby is born. If you are not comfy bringing the baby, then you don't!

Re: Question about flying with young babies.

I think it all depends what you feel comfortable with. If you feel comfortable flying with a 2 month old than go for it!

Re: Question about flying with young babies.

In my opinion DC would be too young for an experience like that. I wouldnt go. Its not worth the risk of germs, the aggravation and stress. Its not worth it

Re: Question about flying with young babies.

I tend to err on the side of caution so I wouldn't fly with DD that young. While it would be nice to see the whole family with the new baby, I think it would be overload. I also wouldn't want to be out of my home for any sleep routine that we were trying to establish and/or if she were still waking up every 3 hours throughout the night.

Message edited 11/10/2008 10:31:17 AM.

Re: Question about flying with young babies.

Re: Question about flying with young babies.

Re: Question about flying with young babies.

Well a lot of your questions are more about comfort level rather than actual can and can't. I think they can fly at a few weeks - but I know if it was mine I wouldn't take an 8 week old on a plane and to a wedding with tons of people wanting to hold the baby. Some people are comfortable doing that sort of thing. I personally wasn't - esp after my ped said that babies under 12 weeks get an automatic spinal tap if they get a fever. My ped told us to blame him when people wanted us to go places or hold the baby when we weren't comfortable. If you aren't comfortable I would tell your MIL that your ped said that it wasn't a good idea and that you trust his/her advice. If you want to go - try to have some sort of set plans on who will help you with the baby etc before you get down there and what you will or won't let happen while you are there.

Re: Question about flying with young babies.

i wont be flying with our baby for a while, he is due dec 30th, and our family is in NY, but i am not flying cause it is high time for colds/flu... i refuse to fly w/him till after cold season... if he were due after cold season i probably would have flown w/him at about 3 months... as someone else said, a newborn is not a toy to pass around! some people dont realize that...

Re: Question about flying with young babies.

Thank you for the responses. I just want to make sure I wasn't being nasty (sometimes I can be when it comes to the IL's.) I just thought it was a pretty big expectation for us to be there with such a little one!

I think I am just going to not bring this up again and see how it goes. They did call off the wedding once. Who knows what will happen???

Re: Question about flying with young babies.

honestly flying with a baby that young will probably be a lot easier than flying with an older baby!

my mom flew with me when i was only a few weeks old, and as far as i know, there are no real restrictions on age.

if you give your baby a bottle during takeoff and landing that will help alleviate the pressure in his/her ears. works with kids of any age really.

if it were me, i would go, and bring the baby too. my DS got his first shots at 6 weeks and i felt comfortable bringing him out in public well before then - no one was touching him and the weather was nice.

i would be slightly concerned about being in a contained area with a lot of people (on the plane) since i know colds and other things can be passed around more easily, but because it would be in august, where i would *think* fewer people were sick, i would feel a bit better about it.