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 literature to [...]

Posted in Air Travel, Outdoor Recreation, Prevention, Safe & Healthy Travel No Comments »
Tags: Air Travel, Ear infections, ear problems, ear problems air travel, flight, Infants, pediatric travel advice, safe to travel, travel safety, young children

When children complain of ear discomfort in the summertime, chances are that they have swimmer’s ear, a condition important for you, the parent, to recognize. Early treatment can save you from a few days of having a very unhappy child on your hands and, perhaps, from having to seek medical care and all the hassle [...]

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Tags: backyard pools, bathing caps, canal opening, chlorinated swimming pools, ear discomfort, ear drainage, ear drops, ear infection, ear wax, earache, eardrum, earlobe, fungi, hot tubs, medical care, muffled hearing. bacteria, non-chlorinated, oral antibiotics, outer ear canal, recreational water, salt water, skin lining the outer ear canal, swimmers earplugs, swimmer’s ear, whirlpools

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.”
In-flight dehydration [...]

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There is nothing novel about infants traveling by air. They have been doing so since time immemorial, long before adults. Legend has it that they were “delivered” by storks, and were never the worse for their trips. Of course, stork flights skimmed rooftops, eliminating concerns of high altitude and accompanying ear issues, dehydration, and excessive [...]

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Tags: Air Travel, Altitude, cabin air, child restraint systems, Ear infections, feeding infants, inflight, nasal allergies, newborn, safe travel, sedation, upper respiratory infections, window seat

Are your children’s vaccinations up-to-date before traveling by air?
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in the past year alone there were more than 3,000 known airline passengers traveling while ill with a contagious disease.
 
1. The aircraft cabin environment abets the spread of disease-causing microorganisms.
Infected passengers cough up, sneeze out and exhale these organisms. [...]

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Tags: air travel children, air travel infants, aircraft cabin, CDC, chickenpox, contagious, disease-causing organisms, diseases transmitted, flu epidemics, ill passengers, ill travelers, in flight, infectious illness, influenza vaccination, measles, medical staff, microorganisms, mumps, passengers traveling with disease, pertussis, spreading disease, symptomatic, traveling with infants, typhoid, unvaccinated children, unvaccinated visitors, vaccinated children, vaccination children, vaccine-preventable, yellow fever

Hi Readers. This is a first for our website, a posting by someone other than myself. This posting is by Chris Van Tilburg, MD, author of Introducing Your Kids to Outdoor Adventure (Stackpole, 2005). 
The question I get most often regarding adventuring with kids is, is it safe?  When people read in magazines about my [...]

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Tags: adventuring, backpack, biking, breast-feed, camping, child-carry backpack, Chris Van Tilburg, Columbia River, exploring outdoors, Health, hiking, Infants, kids, nutrition, Oregon, safety, skiing, Vancouver Island, young children

Infant cars seats – when infants are aboard – belong strapped into the back seat of cars where they prevent injuries and save lives. They do NOT belong on beds, couches, chairs or kitchen counters, says the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Car seats are not totally stable when standing alone. Sometimes they are accidentally tipped over [...]

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Tags: car seats, infant car seats, Infants, Kids Travel Doc

Before traveling with an infant, consider the following: How will he or she sleep (or not sleep) away from home? Should your infant sleep in your bed? Are car seats OK for overnight sleeping? Are hand-me-down cribs at grandmother’s house acceptable? What about cribs available in hotels?
Are portable travel cribs safe?
Here is what [...]

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Tags: Air Travel, car seats, co-sleeping, cradles, crib safety, cribs, crying infants, heirloom cribs, hotel cribs, infant, infant sleep, jetlag, mosquito netting, overnight sleeping, portable travel cribs, safety netting, Sleep, traveling

Keeping kid’s feet dry in snow country is no easy task when kid’s favorite activities include walking in the deepest snow in sight and looking for puddles to step into, or more fun yet, stepping through the ice that may cover puddles.
 
Here is what you should know:
 
1. The difference between frost bite and [...]

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Tags: children snow boots, Cold weather, cold-inflicted, cold-related injuries, dry footwear, frost bite, frost nip, Frostbite, frostnip, frostnipped areas, insulated, kid's feet, my feet are freezing, snow boots, snow country, snowboots, thumb toe, traction, warm feet, water resistant, winter boots, woolen socks

Choosing the most effective cold weather clothing for your kids is becoming more of a hassle – ironically, because such clothing is becoming more protective. Some garments, if not used correctly, are counterproductive, actually increasing a child’s risk of experiencing cold-related problems. 
 
Here is what you should know:
 
1. Sophisticated clothing increases perspiration. Modern garments are [...]

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Tags: absorb moisture, cold air, cold weather. cold weather clothing, cold-induced coughs, cold-related problems, cold-water immersion, cotton, diaper, freezing point, garments, gloves, headwear, inner layer, insulation, kids, layers, loose-fitting, middle layer, mittens, moisture, muscular activity, outdoor activities, perspiration, polyester fabric, rain, rapid cooling, scarf, scarves, serious cold-related problems, skin, snow, snow suit, sweating, synthetic fibers, waterproof, waterproof mittens, wet clothing, wick, wind chill, wind chill factor, windchill, windchill factor, young children