This is Part 2 of a two part series. To read Part 1, please click here. You need not be under suspicion of possessing narcotics to be hassled by security and customs inspectors at airports. Families have been hassled for merely carrying everyday, over-the-counter medications, have had the medications confiscated, missed their flights and, very […]
Infants /Becoming Ill during Air travel/Infectious diseases
October 23, 2011 by
Are infants likely to catch colds and other infectious diseases during air travel? I have been asked that question hundreds of times, more than any other involving children and travel. And even though I’ve had decades in pediatrics and travel medicine to think about it, read all I could find on the subject, and talked […]
Children/Airport Security/New Procedures
September 17, 2011 by
Children/Airport Security/ New Rules Good news for parents traveling by air with their children. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has announced that it is easing airport security screening procedures for children under the age of 12 years, and is also easing the rules for carrying liquid medications. But expect occasional exceptions to the new […]
Children/Measles /Travel
March 4, 2011 by
Caution: travel is hazardous for children who are not fully immunized. And it doesn’t matter who is doing the traveling – your child or perfect strangers. • Example: Last month, a woman with a communicable case of measles traveled by air from London to New Mexico, stopping at airports in Baltimore, Denver, and Albuquerque. Similar […]
Do infants’ safety seats make air travel safer?
February 14, 2011 by
• Infants are the only items on an aircraft that need not be battened down for takeoff, turbulence and landing. In case of severe turbulence or survivable crashes, an unrestrained 20-pound (9 kilos) infant sitting on your lap effectively and instantaneously becomes a 300-pound weight (136 kilos) that you cannot restrain. Such infants have hit the ceiling of […]
Air travel/ infants/crying/remedies
December 6, 2010 by
For many people one of the biggest fear of flying is sitting next to a screaming child, says the New York Times, “Please Refrain from Tantrums Aboard,” (November 14.) According to the article, some travelers are doing some fussing of their own. They’re calling for airlines to implement child-free flights, designate “family-only” sections, or provide […]
Air travel/children/hot beverages/aisle seats/injuries
October 3, 2010 by
Skip your hot tea and coffee when flying with young children – and hope that passengers in adjacent seats do the same. Every year hundreds of passengers, many of them children, are burned by such beverages spilling on them. The combination of hot drinks, crowding, turbulence, and children is a formula for an accident waiting […]
Air Travel/Breast feeding/Infant death
September 11, 2010 by
Recently a four-week old infant died on a flight from Washington to Kuwait. The probable cause was the mother accidentally smothered the baby when the mother fell asleep while nursing her infant. This tragic event does not mean that nursing is unsafe during air travel. As far as is known this is the first time […]
Infants and Young Children/Air Travel/Ear Problems
September 2, 2010 by
Ask pediatricians whether infants and young children can travel by air with ear infections and the likely answer is, no, they cannot. Ask pediatricians if they have ever seen a child with serious ear issues resulting from air travel and the likely answer is, no, they have not. There is virtually nothing in the medical […]
Infants/Air travel/Dehydration
August 12, 2010 by
Blame well-meaning parents for many an infant’s miserable air travel. Conventional wisdom says that infants become dehydrated in flight unless you keep pouring fluids into them. Columnists write, “Make infants drink a bottle for every hour in the air.” “Never let a flight attendant pass by without asking for fluids.” “Make them drink, drink, drink.” […]
