Travelling with an 8 week old?

[emsparrow]

Though I know this is my own decision ultimately, it would be great to get perspective from some already-parents. I'm due in late October with my first. In late December my dh and I are travelling to be in my brother's wedding, which is also where my whole family lives, and to celebrate Christmas with the family. Just after Christmas, though, one of our closest friends from college is getting married a few states away (i.e. we'd have to fly again). My dh is in the wedding, so he will def. be there, but should I go? I'd really like to be at my friend's wedding, but I know I'll still be in the "fourth trimester" and the baby will have already been on a flight and passed around quite a bit with family who will see her for the first time. What would you do, knowing what you know now about life with a 6-10 week old (obv. we don't know how old she'll be, exactly). Thank you!

[JBaxter]

I would get a sling / carrier and go BUT limit the passing around as much as possible.... Pull the nervous new mommy routine. Also get the MONDO bottle of hand sanitizer and make everyone sanitize before holding the baby.

With the baby in a sling people are much less likely to want to hold them esp if they are sleeping.

[Norasmomma]

We went to a funeral 4 hours away when DS was 2 months old, I wore him in the Moby wrap and he just slept the whole time. I would limit the handling of the baby, and wearing them works wonders.

I have to say my hand sanitizer freakout was gone and forgotten by 2 months, but I also had a 3 year old who was getting colds and such and kissing the baby. There is only so much I could do

[lifeguard]

Ime that is the easiest time to travel with baby. Put 'em in the sling & off you go.

[P.J.]

I say this very gently because I don't want to be a party pooper, but:


I'm only sharing my experience here, but I can tell you our baby had what they call colic. Most people think this is a bellyache thing, and it can be related, but basically a colicky baby is one who cries a lot for no known reason. And by cry I mean scream. For our baby and the 20-25% who are colicky, it has a lot to do with overstimulation. Once we figured that out (with the help of some good books and a colic advisor at our local birth center) we could make some changes and it helped a lot. Also, most babies outgrow colic by 3-4 months. It peaks around 6-7 weeks, and for us at 8 weeks we started to notice the improvement. By 10 weeks it was much much better and now at 13 weeks it's nearly gone. Still, at 6-8 weeks he was definitely not ready to travel, and we could only with great care and caution take him anywhere outside of walks in our neighborhood.

Anyway, I'm rambling a bit about our story, but you never know what kind of baby you'll get. Chances are, though, that you will not get a colicky baby. So I would recommend going ahead and booking all the trips you want....most babies could manage it I think. Just be ready to cancel plans or take a lot of time away from the weddings to calm the baby down, or you and your partner could trade-off in shifts one stays with the baby at the hotel and the other goes to the party.

Also take all I've just said with a big old grain of salt, it's only my perspective and experience as a new mom just emerging from the trenches of colic. Chances are your baby won't be like ours was, and if he or she is, you will be able to handle it I'm sure.

[HonkyTonka]

We traveled 16 hours (by car) to a wedding when DD was 5 weeks. She got passed around to a few family members, which I was fine with. It wasn't the easiest thing to do, but I was super happy I went. It was a great opportunity to see my family and we had a fun time... granted, she's a pretty easy baby and was sleeping through the night.

[mamakaikai]

I had to travel with my firstborn to be in a wedding around that age too. She was 6 weeks. I only needed to travel 4 hours by car. the baby did fine, but we needed to stop driving every hour or so to feed/change her and sometimes more just to comfort her.

So be open to needing to be flexible to the babys needs regardless of what needs to be happening at the time. Sounds obvious, but it could be very frustrating to miss the wedding ceremony if your baby has other ideas in mind. Regardless of schedules, you will be running on baby time.

I also highly recommend a sling. And keep yourself well taken care of too. It's easy to be exhausted in the postpartum, and then you just will not be able to function.

Have fun!!

[CookAMH]

I agree about using the sling and just let them peek. I traveled with DS when he was 8 weeks, across the country and it was pretty easy. Not too many people held him either, maybe just when we were in someone's house but not in a crowded place.

[kayabrink]

I flew to France (8 hours + 2 hours car +6 hours train + painfully long wait times in aeroports and trainstations) with ds the day he turned 2 months. Plus I was travelling alone with him. It was fine- actually, the child NEVER slept as well as he did during that trip. I barely hear a peep out of him- was ready to buy a plane. Seriously. He was normally a loud, frequent cryer, too. But the plane's low-level white noise+constant motion was heaven.
I, on the other hand, came down with severe mastitis the morning I was due to get on the plane. Having no cancellation insurance, and since I was going to be in France for 7 months, I HAD to leave. I had such a high fever, I hallucinated. I puked on the train ticket collector's feet. I slept for three days upon arrival.
Things happen. You can't stop living just because things MIGHT be complicated. Bad or embarassing moments happen with children- often. You will survive, so will they, and years later you'll all laugh about it (hopefully). I think it really boils down to, do you want to go? Then go. And yes, keep your babe in the sling away from too many people, and be prepared for massive amounts of unwanted advice.

[Ninetales]

We did a 10 hour road trip when baby was about 7 weeks. I didn't pass her around too much because she had a very big need to be in my arms anyway, but we did fine. I also didn't bother with sanitizer by then, but it was also spring. In the winter it may be more of a consideration.

[lach]

IME the really little babies actually do great on planes: you nurse them going up and coming down, and while you're up in the air all that white noise puts them right to sleep. We've flown a few times with newborns and it's been a dream. It gets difficult when they're 6 months+, in my experience.

We took a 14 hour (each way) road trip when DD was 5 weeks and that was also fine. She slept most of the way there and back. Most babies like highway driving: white noise, gentle vibrations.

I'm not sure I'd book the tickets now or get a non-refundable hotel room or anything like that. You'll definitely have to see how your baby's temperament is. But in my experience, traveling with a newborn is pretty simple. It gets nightmarish when they get older and want to get down and crawl around a lot.

[texmati]

At 6 weeks pp, I would not have been ready for that kind of travel. My son screamed for the whole pp period, and I was still healing from my section. Walking alot, lifting anything was out of the question.

I'm a pansy, and DS was a very difficult child. I'd just book the tickets in such a way that you could get a refund, and evaluate a few weeks before the trip.
Most newborns that i have seen since would be absolutely fine.

[MamaPhD]

I gotta second texmati. I think the baby will be fine - it's the mommy I'm worried about. I personally could not have traveled at 6-10weeks pp! Even though I had totally easy birth & easy baby, I was still healing from stitches & my bones shifting back, hadn't slept well in like 5 months, etc. I had a really hard time going up and down the stairs in our home for a couple of months pp. So definitely take yourself into consideration, too!