PresRDC

So, my wife and I may be adopting a child within the next month. The baby is in TX (DFW area). We could be cleared to leave TX as early as the baby's 12th day. Should we plan to fly home (around a 3 hour flight) or drive (a 3 day journey, in all likelihood)?

This whole thing has come up very fast and this one of about 100 decisions we need to make in a few weeks.

Thanks!

VickiSoCal

Fly. 3 days in a car with a newborn will not be fun for anyone.

Big4Flyer

Definitely fly. Flying with a newborn is probably the easiest age you'll fly with them for the next 5 years. Swaddle them up, pop a bottle in, and the sound of the engines will have them out in no time.

Also, congrats on the adoption, I hope everything works out well for you. It can be a roller coaster but it will be be worth it

Redhead

Fly. The doctors at the birth hospital will let you know if, heaven forbid, there are any health complications that would counter-indicate flying but they are unlikely. Driving with a newborn would be a hellish experience since they wouldn't want to be in the car seat for long long periods and you would have to stop the car every time they wanted to feed (which can take a while)

CDTraveler

First, how does a 3 hour flight translate to a 3 day drive?

Second, why would anyone voluntarily take an unimmunized infant into a sealed metal tube during cold and flu season? In just the past 14 days we've received alerts that in my son's school there is both chicken pox and pertussis - infectious diseases are on the upswing nationwide. Texas Department of State Health Services estimates that pertussis cases are currently on the increase in the state.

Driving with a newborn was a breeze. They sleep most of the time. When they need to eat, if they are bottle fed (most likely with an adopted baby) an adult can sit next to them and feed them while the car continues to move.

My son came down with influenza at 19 days of age. I would not wish that on anyone!

icedancer

I don't understand why the plane wouldn't be perfectly safe if the parents use plenty of hand sanitizer, keep a light cover over the car seat bucket, and don't let strangers stick their faces into the baby's or touch the baby's hands. I think there's far more to worry about when the kid is mobile and curious and putting their hands on everything and then in their mouths vs. an immobile newborn who will likely sleep the entire flight.

Also, aren't there recommendations against keeping infants in their buckets for as many hours a day as the driving-equivalent-of-a-3-hour-flight would require?

Doc Savage

Congrats, Pres!

I'd recommend flying. That's a loooooooong drive.

CDTraveler

Influenza is transmitted by breathing it in, not touching surfaces. A blanket over the car seat bucket would do nothing to stop it, and the contact with crowds wouldn't be just the flight. There's getting through security, waiting at the gate and just being the in the airport in general.

Are there?

icedancer

It kind of sounds like you wouldn't be in favor of taking an infant out in public at all during flu season, which isn't practical for 99.9% of families -- how is the airport any worse than, say, taking the child to the doctor's office for their required checkups? Or to a busy grocery store on a weekend afternoon? Or to the mall? If that's your prerogative, that's fine, but it's not the plane/airport that's particularly dangerous -- it's *everywhere* that's a threat. As I recall, one can't get a flu shot until they're at least 6 months old -- so you'd keep them away from crowds for 6 months?

Redhead

There are indeed recommendations against keeping an infant in a car seat that long. Talk to the pediatrician that you plan to use when you bring the little one home (fingers crossed!)

Often1

Plan on flying. No way do you want to spend 2 nights in hotels with a newborn and long days in a car.

But, discuss this with your baby's pediatrician and don't fly without a final check to make sure the baby isn't congested or otherwise not good for a flight.

CDTraveler

Actually, my pediatrician's recommendation was 4 months (after the second round of immunizations) for crowds, and I think you are distorting what I said. Take your pediatrician example: every one we've gone to has had separate waiting rooms for "Well Child" and "Sick Visits" so that wasn't an issue.

And it's not "*everywhere*" that is particularly dangerous per se. The amount of time one spends in proximity to the germ source, i.e. sick person, effects the amount of risk you are exposed to. Walking past someone in the grocery store for 10 seconds has a much lower risk than sitting in the row behind them for 3 hours.

Can you provide a link to a reputable source for that?

Big4Flyer

Well, I don't know if the American Academy of Pediatrics is reputable, but if so, here you go:

https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-...-Newborns.aspx

Also, if you're interested, here's a BBC article where a consultory respiratory pediatrician in London recommends minimizing car seat time particularly during the first 3 months.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1526517.stm

icedancer

Everything we do in life is obviously a calculated risk. If I were considering taking a flight, what are the chances of someone with an active case of the flu actually being on the same flight as me? (probably fairly low). And then, given that someone is on the plane with the flu, what are the chances they're sitting within, say, 6 feet of me? (Also pretty low). probability of event 2 conditional on event 1 = tiny; a risk I'm willing to take.

If I'm in the security line, my exposure to someone with the flu is probably about the same amount of time as at the grocery store.

And if I'm not stuck in the metal tube and see someone who looks obviously sick, I'm just going to move myself and my kids away from that person.

BTW, thanks, Big4Flyer, for the links!

PresRDC

Thanks all.

I think we're going to fly. I see it as the lesser of two evils. The plan is to buy F seats for the flight home on the hope that more spacing between the seats will minimize the close contact with other people. Ideally, we will pick a mid day flight so as to increase the chance (however slim) of a less than full flight.