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 [...]

Posted in Air Travel, Prevention, Safe & Healthy Travel, Travel Comments Off
Tags: Air Travel, air travel with infants, breast-feed, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, Dr. Karl Neumann, Dr. Neumann, Forest Hills Pediatrics, health and safety, infant death, Kids Travel Doc, kids travel doctor, Kuwait flight, nursing, pediatric advice, pre-flight examination, smothered

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.” [...]

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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 [...]

Posted in Destinations, Safe & Healthy Travel, Travel No Comments »
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 [...]

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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

Facts about infants/air travel/in-flight comfort/feeding: (This is an update of an earlier posting – but bears repeating). Check the top twenty entries on Google regarding infants/air travel/feeding or air travel/infants/health. Nineteen say that you must give infants lots of fluids to prevent them from becoming dehydrated. One entry says that in flight dehydration is a [...]

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Tags: Air Travel, air travel with infants, air travelers, Diarrhea, feeding infants, in flight dehydration, in-flight comfort, infant feeding, infant health, Infants, Kids Travel Doc, kids travel doctor, sweating, Vomiting

Quarantines* and other restrictions on international travel do little to limit the spread of disease, in this case, H1N1flu, when the disease already exists in most countries, says World Health Organization. Nevertheless, public health authorities in some countries, mostly in the Middle East and Asia, are monitoring arriving travelers for symptoms suggestive of H1N1 and [...]

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Tags: Air Travel, anti-flu, anti-flu medication, body aches, bubonic plague, chills, chronic diseases, contagious diseases, cough, Cruise ships, daycare, decontaminating, Diarrhea, epidemic, Fatigue, fever, flu outbreaks, flu season, flu virus, flu-like illnesses, flu-related, H1N1, h1n1 flu, h1n1 for travelers, h1n1 immunization, h1n1 outbreaks, h1n1 related, h1n1 symptoms, hand sanitizer, Headache, hospitalization, immunize, immunized, international travel, meningitis, meningitis vaccination, nasal congestion, nasal swab, pandemic, quaranti giorni, quarantine, rapid nasal swab, school, seasonal flu, self-medicate, sickbay, Sore throat, spread of disease, spread widely, swine flu, tamiflu, temperature scanning, traveler's assistance insurance, traveler's insurance, vaccinated, Vomiting, World Health Organization

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 [...]

Posted in Destinations, Outdoor Recreation, Safe & Healthy Travel, Travel No Comments »

Here are ten of the most healthful tips from the forty topics posted in the past year: 1. June is the month for maximum sun exposure. In June, in the Northern Hemisphere, the sun is closest to Earth, straight above you, and there are more hours of sunshine, all increasing exposure. Weather is generally cooler [...]

Posted in Outdoor Recreation, Prevention, Safe & Healthy Travel, Sun, Travel No Comments »
Tags: auto travel, benadryl, dramamine, Insect bites, insect repellent, motion sickness, outdoors, preventing bites, radiation, Sun exposure, sun protection, Sunburn, Sunscreen, swimming, treating bites, waterfront safety, weather

If infants are accidentally left on conveyer belts at supermarket checkout counters, it is unlikely that they will be packed with the groceries. But if they’re placed on belts at airport security they pass through the machine. It has happened. The scenario: Parent places infant on non-moving belt. Parent distracted. Belt moves. Infant enters machine. [...]

Posted in Safe & Healthy Travel, Travel No Comments »
Tags: Airplane, Altitude, Travel

Warning: holiday family get-togethers can be hazardous for your children’s health and safety. The same events that make the season fun and festive for kids – visiting family, lighting candles, and receiving toys, for example, can cause mishaps. Fortunately, most such problems are preventable – but only with forethought. Here is what you should know: [...]

Posted in Safe & Healthy Travel, Travel No Comments »
Tags: Health, influenza, Vaccine