Considering traveling abroad with 8 week old...

[SpringCrane]

My husband participates in a conference in Italy every year. We've gone with him the last two years. The first time we flew with him and then traveled in Italy after the conference. The next year my son and I met him in Ireland after the conference. I hate the idea of missing out on a fun adventure this year, let alone having my husband go off to Italy for a week leaving me with a newborn and toddler.

My son will be a few months shy of 3, and he's a tremendous traveler. I'm not worried about him. The concern would be baby... if baby arrives on his/her due date, baby would be exactly 8 weeks old the day before my husband would have to leave for the conference. I'm not exactly concerned about traveling with a young baby, though I know it won't be a picnic. What I'm worried about is vaccines. I'm trying to get an email into our pediatrician, but the site is down so it'll have to wait. We'd likely be able to get my mom to come along on the trip, too. (She lives in my town but works long hours. So, if husband goes on trip solo she wouldn't be able to help much. But if there's a trip involved, she'd take vacation time happily. She'd probably take it to just stay here and help me, but I'd never ask.) Anyway... since there's no guarantee when baby would be here, we'd possibly be in a situation where baby was too young for vaccines (ie, 6 weeks old) and I wouldn't be comfortable taking baby abroad yet. However, it's just as possible baby comes a little early and baby gets vaccines a week or two before departing.

My questions are... would you do it? Do you know if vaccines are immediately protective? Am I crazy? Do vaccines matter as much as I'm thinking at this point? Baby would likely spend the vast majority of the time in a carrier... though, Italians were very friendly with my son when he went and were often touching him, etc... but he was 8 months old so more interactive.

We'd only go if flight prices aren't outrageous, and we'd get travel insurance to cover us if we have to cancel. Hotel is covered by conference. It's in a beautiful, small town in northern Italy, and I'm just so green thinking my husband gets to go and I don't! I don't want to be hasty and selfish and do something that's not great for our family though.

 

[Septie]

Are you in the UK or US? If the US, I'd say no way...In the UK, I'd still worry about the airport/plane travel in particular - they are favorite germ spreaders including for measles etc. Plus, it's highly unlikely the vaccines will have taken effect by the time you leave, as it takes a few weeks for them to work. I'd also worry about possibly having to visit a hospital in Italy, especially if I am not fluent in Italian. That said, that young, the baby may still have some of your immunities from the pregnancy...and chances are slim that something severe would happen. But remember - a fever that age means an emergency room visit and often a spinal tap to rule out meningitis (here in the US at least) - not pleasant in a foreign country! I was always super careful the first 3 months.

 

[MindUtopia]

Vaccines generally take about 2 weeks to be effective, give or take. So you wouldn't have much vaccine protection. Does that matter? Maybe, maybe not? It's more a matter of what you feel comfortable with and the health issues of where you will be traveling. There is not much to worry about in Italy (though if you have a layover somewhere, you might consider that), but I would check on whooping cough outbreaks in the local area where you'll be staying and definitely get the shot when you're pregnant. My concern would be more about getting a passport and making sure your airline is comfortable with a small infant. Airlines do have age restrictions on how young a baby can be when they fly. Often it's not before 2-6 weeks, but I would just check your specific airlines policy. Also, how quickly can you get a passport? And what happens if you book flights and everything and the passport doesn't arrive in time? I know when we got our daughter's passports (she is a dual citizen, UK and US), one took maybe 6 weeks, the other (I think it was the US one) was probably more like 8 weeks or even longer. I know I was worried about whether it had gotten lost (and we weren't even traveling imminently). I would look into seeing how quickly an expedited service would get it back to you and if you're willing to pay extra for it. I think I'd be most worried about booking flights and then having the passport not turn up and having to cancel everything last minute. In terms of the actual experience of travel, an 8 week old will be pretty portable and sleep loads at that age, so should be not much more challenging than what you've done in the past. And if you take your mom along, gosh, you might even get a night out alone for dinner in Italy. That sounds pretty nice to me. If you can sort the passport issue, I would certainly consider it.

 

[SpringCrane]

That's a good point about flight restrictions. We'd be sure to book everything so we could cancel without much penalty. Passports can generally be expedited, but if they're extra busy at the time, it could be a concern. We are in the US, btw. When I was younger, we got a passport in a single day for a foster sister. My mom is impervious to red tape ;-)

I'll talk it over loads more with husband and pediatrician. Part of me is feeling really determined to make it happen, but the other part of me is just feeling a little wanderlust We'll have other travels across country in August and October, so I really should just hang tight and focus on those. But, it's hard to pass up on Italy! I love planning trips too, so I think that's even part of the appeal, as silly as that sounds.

 

[jessmke]

We live in Canada and are going to Mexico when DD is 10 weeks old, she will have her first set of vaccines at 8 weeks. The passport was no problem, we got her birth certificate 5 weeks after her birth, then applied for the passport which takes an additional 2 weeks, but that could be expedited if we wanted to pay extra. If I were you I would definitely go, but be very careful about not allowing people to interact with my baby, and use lots of hand sanitizer on the plane!

 

[Ava10]

We plan on traveling with our baby too, and my priority is not the vaccinations, it's getting proper travel medical insurance. Your baby has a greater chance of getting a cold than anything else. Vaccines are not 100% effective, esp the whooping cough one ( 7 out of 10 get immunity after the shot, and that only lasts for 4-5 years according to CDC website ). I don't see the passport as a problem either, they can get those out ASAP in a day or two if they have to. Unless you guys are planning on leaving baby in a local daycare everyday, I would just enjoy the trip- Italy is gorgeous!