No Vax + Travel, Need Help

[1stTimeMama4-4-10]

I have a trip planned from Connecticut to Chicago in November for Thanksgiving to see my family, including my very elderly grandmother. DD was born this April, and will be seven months old at the time of the trip. It is important to me that my family meet my daughter, particularly my grandmother, who turns ninety next year.

However, we are currently indefinitely delaying vaccinating, and may decide to just not vax at all. I do not feel safe bringing DD on a plane at that young age since I frequently get sick following air travel, and goodness knows what kinds of awful things she would be exposed to, including but certainly not limited to some (supposedly) vaccine preventable illnesses.

So air travel seems like a bad idea at least until she is a little older, but car travel sounds pretty awful too - 15 hours in a carseat would be incredibly difficult since she hates her carseat and I don't relish the idea of riding in the backseat with her the entire trip.

So what have you mamas done in this situation? Do you feel comfortable traveling with such a young child at all, and if so how? Even though seeing family is important, it is nowhere near as important as DD's health. Would any of you consider vaxxing if you chose airtavel? The ones our ped is very gently suggesting are dtap, hib, and prevnar. DD is ebf, and does not attend daycare. Thoughts? Suggestions?

nak, tia

[yarngoddess]

I would NOT vax to be "safer" during Air Travel. To me, it's the vacines and their ingredients that are more dangerous than the VPD. Just my opinion. Hope other's have more thought provoking suggestions than I have. Just to be clear, I would travel by plane and would NOT vax just to travel.

[1stTimeMama4-4-10]

Yeah, if we chose to vax, it would have to be for a better reason that air travel. I'm considering not going at all at this point because I don't know that I'm comfortable taking her on a plane at 7 months old regardless of vaccination. Is that a gross overreaction?

[littlest birds]

It wouldn't be an issue for me. I expected my LOs to be around and exposed to various things at various times. Your LO will be around 6mos and you will keep her close. I just doubt there is much to be exposed to while she's pretty much on your body or next to you the whole time. I don't know why vax status would be a factor one way or the other. If you would shelter your child due to being unvaxed I would suggest reevaluating whether you are actually comfortable with that decision, because it seems maybe you aren't sure.

There are so many busy public places you might go with a baby that age. My children's vax status has never been decisive about what public places we visit. And exposure chances may be higher in some places but we can't control it really--exposure can happen in a restaurant or store or park as well. The place I am most worried about exposure is a hospital--much worse than an airport IMO.

Just be glad she won't be big enough to run away, climb, lick the counters, and pet all the walls. Good luck with your decision. I hope you go.

[1stTimeMama4-4-10]

Honestly, I keep going back and forth on the vaccination issue. On the one hand, I'm terrified of the dangers posed by vaccines and if my child was damaged, temporarily or permanently, I know that I would take it VERY hard since I would be responsible. Otoh, I am pretty scared of pertussis, and somewhat scared of HiB and Pc. Most of the time, I am more frightened of the vaccines than of the vpd's.

I also feel like the first year is the time that she is most vulnerable both to vaccines and the vpd's, so I probably would want to shelter her during the first year. After that, I am more comfortable just allowing her to get fully exposed to the world to build her immune system.

And you're right, this isn't entirely about her vaccination status, as I'm not only concerned about vpd's, but just general exposure to a filthy airplane with recycled filthy air. I'm a very healthy person and the ONLY time I ever get sick is within a week of being on an airplane - which is what concerns me about her developing immune system. It's possible I'm just totally overreacting though!

Thanks for the replies, I'm definitely starting to feel a little better. Keep em comin!

[littlest birds]

I see your point about just being that protective while young. Maybe you could drive. In a few months she might love the car seat and feel soothed on drives. You can stop as much as you want on the way and just plan for extra-long drive time to accommodate that. We've taken a few trips where we left in the evening and drove hours and hours into the night just because all the kids would crash for most of the trip. It's hard but doable one way or another. Maybe she wouldn't like driving but I personally would be willing to make a LO uncomfortable to go on a journey that mattered a LOT and just roll with a "for better or for worse" attitude toward how comfortable they were once I'd made my best effort to plan for their needs. I guess I am a little more used to having at least one child really unhappy with something like that and just pushing on through. Given your concerns driving seems pretty attractive.

[ammiga]

Dd took her first flight when she was 4 months old (she has had no vaccines). It never really occurred to me not to take her anyplace. Dd has been all over the place, including two flights before she turned 1 and several since then. We also go to many international tourist traps.

I know dd will get sick sometimes, but I also know that she will get better. When she was younger, it was actually easier to keep her away from all the yuckiness at the airport. I held/wore her, she didn't crawl, she was happy with her toys, and nursed to sleep on the plane. It's when they get older that they run around, are on the ground, touch everything they can get their hands on, and are exposed to more. But, they also do that everywhere (library, mall, etc.).

We're careful about the stuff that dd gets into, but not overly worried about it. She's a kid, she'll get into stuff, sometimes she'll get sick, she'll get better, and life will go on.

[Mama Khi]

I took unvaxed DD on her first plane trip
at ten weeks. I was freaked about the germs at first, too, but after doing some rseearch learned that plane air is really not that dirty. Fresh air is taken in during flght and the air is refreshed at a rate that is more often than air is refreshed in an office building. I don't have any sources handy but I just did some Internet searches so I'm sure you could find it, too.

[SuburbanHippie]

I would nurse throughout the flight and not give it another thought. I know it seems scary right now, but really I think your DD will be perfectly fine.

[alegna]

Air travel is much safer than car travel. I don't shelter my kids at all and they're entirely unvaxed.

-Angela

[mum4vr]

trust your mama- ness

Ultimately you are going to have to trust your mothering ability. You have already carried her inside your body for almost a whole year, and then you gave birth to her in pain and peril of your life-- you can now make the next best decision for your dd w your dh of course.

It seems like this is a very crucial trip family wise, and I can see that you want to go and feel you should go, but naturally are concerned about your child. Of course a good mama is concerned about her child-- don't feel bad, even if you think you may be over reacting-- it is bc you love her and want the absolute best for her.

But how to decide what IS best? You will decide, and it will be ok-- even if she manages to get sick. Since you have a good immune system and you BF-- that is a huge benefit to her already-- everytime you've been sick from air travel, you have developed antibodies and have passed this immunity onto her thru BF-- great job mama.

For me, if I could possibly manage to fly, I would. My children are great travelers-- it never occured to me not to travel w them. They do car trips very well, but it is a lot LONGER hassle then hopping a flight. Let us know how it goes

[mama1803]

Originally Posted by littlest birds

It wouldn't be an issue for me. I expected my LOs to be around and exposed to various things at various times.

It's not any issue for me either. We frequently flew with our LOs at that age and had no problems.

[russsk]

I would worry far more about the risk of a car accident on a long trip than the risk of catching a deadly disease on a plane. DS took his first flight at 8 weeks and his first international flight at 12 weeks. Regardless of whether we vax or not, at that age even kids on schedule haven't had a lot of vaxes. It's not really a concern for me, and we're planning another international trip when the new baby is about 3 months.

[mama2soren]

DS went on his first plane ride at 3 weeks adjusted age with no vaxes. He nursed a bunch, stayed in his sling so no one would touch him, and I washed my hands a lot. He did just fine.

What illnesses are you worried about her catching on the plane? Common viral illnesses like colds obviously wouldn't be prevented by vaccines anyway. Pertussis might be the only one I'd have far, far in the back of my head, but it's not as if a fully vaxed kid is immune to pertussis, since the vax has such a dismal rate of effectiveness.

Go. See your grandma. And take lots of pictures!