Infants/air travel/in-flight comfort/feeding – Just the facts!

July 3, 2010

Posted in Destinations, Prevention, Travel No Comments »
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

Facts about infants/air travel/in-flight comfort/feeding:

(This is an update of an earlier posting – but bears repeating).

In-flight dehydration is a myth – and, for infants counterproductive.

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 myth – and, for infants counterproductive. That entry is ours – and unquestionably correct.  Click here to see our advice for air travel with infants.

In-flight dehydration is a myth!! It doesn’t exist. Yes, it is frequently repeated by travel writers, advice columns for parents, and physicians. But that does not make it so.

 Adults erroneously interpret their in-flight parched mouths and throats as dehydration. This dry feeling results from air conditioning removing most of the moisture from the cabin air.

Dehydration means that the body has lost fluid and is no longer functioning optimally. Virtually all cases of dehydration are the result of one (or more) of the following: severe and continuous vomiting and/or diarrhea, heavy exercising in a hot environment, profuse sweating, and no access to drinks.

Air travelers are at rest, in a cool environment and not ill. And fluids are available, making dehydration virtually impossible.

Yet adults are advised to drink eight ounces of fluids for each hour of air travel, and parents are told to give infants frequent bottles or breast feedings. While such advice is not harmful for adults, it may cause problems for infants. (For adults, it may even be beneficial; forcing them to walk to the lavatory which helps minimizes swollen feet. Note that swollen feet are signs that the body is retaining, not losing, fluids.

Feeding infants frequently during flight is counterproductive. At cruising altitudes, lower cabin atmospheric pressure causes air — in the cabin and in our stomachs and intestines — to expand by about 20%. For adults, this expansion causes mild bloating. But infants’ organs are far smaller. The act of sucking and the additional (and unnecessary) milk adds bulk, further expanding these organs. At home, overfeeding makes infants uncomfortable and irritable. Likely, in flight, overfeeding makes them feel even worse.

Do not feed infants more often in flight than you do at home. Bottles during takeoff and landing may be beneficial to prevent ear discomfort — but this has not been proven. Stay in touch.

Posted in Destinations, Prevention, Travel No Comments »
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