If you were sick, would you fly to Mexico with your sick 8mo?

[october]

DD and I have had a nasty cold for almost a week, but today has been the worst for both of us. We are scheduled to fly to Mexico at 5am on Wednesday December 1st (today is Sunday November 28th).

She is still congested, but mostly at night. I am just miserable today. I don't know what to think. I probably should stop trying to think about this but here I go, just looking for some advice/suggestions. We are supposed to spend 3 weeks near Puerto Vallarta, where my husband lived for ten years. This is a big deal for us and also includes a possible business proposition.

Anyone know where I can get baby earplanes? Are they sold in regular baby stores?

What about medication? I tried to give DD a dose of Tylenol when she first got sick and had a fever, but she threw everything up immediately after it went into her mouth. Although it could have been the way it was administered, I'm still nervous about giving anything to her again.

Thank you for your help!

ETA: Our travels plans include THREE flights to Mexico. Yes, that's three take offs and three times to descend. Is this just going to be torture for my little girl?!

[APToddlerMama]

I've flown with a sinus infection and it seriously was some of the worst pain I have ever felt.  The flight attendant told me I should never do it again.  I ended up with an ear infection from the flight, in a foreign country, and it literally took MONTHS for my ear to completely un-pop.  The pain in my face and ears were so unbelievably bad, that I would never fly with my son if he was sick.  Good luck...maybe you can move your departure up a bit?

[maddymama]

Don't know how much this will help you, but our pediatrician talked with us about this a few years ago.  His advice was to saline out the  nose alot in the few days prior to flying, and then to do it before and during each flight.... that should help relieve alot of the congestion and discomfort.  He also advised against the use of Benadryl during flights because of the altitude and how the body responds to dosing differently. 

We did this with our DD1 (tons of saline) and I think it helped her fly much more comfortably.  I also used a neti pot alot in the days leading up to our flights, but used baby saline during the flights.

Good luck!

~maddymama

[LittleBirdy]

Talk to your DC's doctor, definitely.  They may be willing to do something for her that they wouldn't do otherwise, given the circumstances.  (For example, when I was in high school I had an awful sinus infection but we were flying to Florida.  Our family doc told me to use Afrin, which he always told us NEVER to use, because I had to do whatever was necessary to keep the congestion at bay while flying.)

I don't know what the equivalent for a baby would be but you never know until you ask.

[HeatherB]

In that situation, I would probably dose both of you up on as much natural immune boosters and virus fighters as possible.  I'd also be checking with whatever docs you may have about the possibility it's bacterial and, given the circumstances, I'd likely go ahead and do abx ASAP if it's called for.  

At home, you can do neti pot rinses, elderberry (Gaia Herbs makes a really strong one that's $$ but very effective), vitamin c, zinc, Umcka Cold Care (shortens duration of colds AND tastes yummy in the cherry flavor), garlic (tablets or in food, raw being best), echinacea/goldenseal, etc., etc.  You may well be improving substantially in the next couple of days, anyway, but taking those sorts of things will help, for sure!