Children getting sick post-travel
May 18, 2009, 7:42 am
#16
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Potomac Falls, VA
Programs: AA Plat 2MM, MR Gold, Avis Pref
Posts: 41,109
if its that important to you, you may want to charter an aircraft or otherwise fly private. Not only do commercial aircraft have these nasty germs but so do the airports you go into to get to these airports and lord forgive if your kid touches anything in the parking garage, cab or other means of transportation you take to a commercial aircraft. You are asking for a bubble basically. Otherwise you just do have to suck it up. I have two kids who have been sick although none can be attributed (at least by me and I'm not a doctor or even in health care) to aircraft, other pax, airports, cabs, public transportation or parking garages. School now thats another issue all together but I still don't try to insulate them from every germ. I want to let them build up a little natural resistance as well as the appropriate shots etc.
I'm still baffled as to how you pin pointed this to the aircraft and even more so the car seat. So she wasn't in a car seat. My kids in car seats still managed to get their paws on everything from the seat back in front of them, the windows, the arm rests and whatever else was in their reach. Did your kid not touch a thing anywhere else? is your house, or the place you came from (hotel, family etc) sterile that they could not have picked any thing up there? Were they in a bubble till boarding the plane?
others may not have been condescending but I'm having a hard time not to be. If you want to minimize germs fine.. have an unlimited supply of hot cloths to keep wiping your kid down, put a swine flu mask on her (although I hear thats useless but what do I know), and have one of the parents board early and decontaminate your row. Then don't allow anyone to even invade your airspace.. even with that.. germs will happen
I'm still baffled as to how you pin pointed this to the aircraft and even more so the car seat. So she wasn't in a car seat. My kids in car seats still managed to get their paws on everything from the seat back in front of them, the windows, the arm rests and whatever else was in their reach. Did your kid not touch a thing anywhere else? is your house, or the place you came from (hotel, family etc) sterile that they could not have picked any thing up there? Were they in a bubble till boarding the plane?
others may not have been condescending but I'm having a hard time not to be. If you want to minimize germs fine.. have an unlimited supply of hot cloths to keep wiping your kid down, put a swine flu mask on her (although I hear thats useless but what do I know), and have one of the parents board early and decontaminate your row. Then don't allow anyone to even invade your airspace.. even with that.. germs will happen
May 18, 2009, 1:22 pm
#17
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: NorCal
Posts: 658
Could be coincidence or it could be Hawaii (heat and humidity and constantly going from that weather back into cold a/c could have caused it as well), but I think me and my kid got sick from the plane on our trip a couple weeks ago. Timing seemed about right.
May 19, 2009, 1:36 am
#18
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: France
Programs: United Plus
Posts: 1,761
No, colds and flus are not caused by air conditioning or temperature changes. This is an old wives' tale.
Modern medicine confirms that they are caused by viruses and bacteria. When you travel, you can come into contact with new ones that your body hasn't encountered before, and therefore has to immunity to. On an airplane, lots of people from lots of different places in such close contact is the perfect environment to exchange "bugs". Think of all those seatbacks you touch, and the doorknobs on the restrooms, countertops in the galley, etc.
Travel is also tiring and that can also keep your body from fighting off any sicknesses it comes in contact with.
It's so difficult with teething babies who are mobile and put their hands in their mouths all the time.
As both passengers and parents, we can only do X, Y and Z (i.e. wash hands, get enough sleep, etc.) to keep ourselves healthy. After that, exposure to germs is a reality with travel. Our only alternative is to stay home, or at least limit flights.
Modern medicine confirms that they are caused by viruses and bacteria. When you travel, you can come into contact with new ones that your body hasn't encountered before, and therefore has to immunity to. On an airplane, lots of people from lots of different places in such close contact is the perfect environment to exchange "bugs". Think of all those seatbacks you touch, and the doorknobs on the restrooms, countertops in the galley, etc.
Travel is also tiring and that can also keep your body from fighting off any sicknesses it comes in contact with.
It's so difficult with teething babies who are mobile and put their hands in their mouths all the time.
As both passengers and parents, we can only do X, Y and Z (i.e. wash hands, get enough sleep, etc.) to keep ourselves healthy. After that, exposure to germs is a reality with travel. Our only alternative is to stay home, or at least limit flights.