USVI-On-Line

Hi forumites - I have planning a family vacation for next February for months now - we just got some great news - one of our daughters is pregnant and due 2 weeks before we are due to travel - I am trying to present a case to them about how safe and good it would be travel with a 2 week old baby- any suggestions - would you go?? - I have already made reservations and deposits that I would hate to lose - but I also don't want to go without them - thanks for any help - samoka

In all honesty, I would not travel with the a 2 week old baby. For starters, Planes are germ fests and I don't think that I would want a newborn on a plane, their immune system is so fragile at that age. Plus the pressure change for such a young one can be terrible

Technically, a baby only has to be a week old to fly but in my opnion, 2 weeks is just way too soon for Mom and baby. I know that you would hate to cancel your trip, I would too, but I would never travel with a baby that young.


Maybe others will disagree, but I can not imagine how your daughter would enjoy a STJ vacation with such a little one.

My daugthers first trip to STJ was when she was 9 weeks old and I think that is the youngest I would have had her travel. They are very portable at that stage but there is a concern for germs, etc. We stayed at my parents house on STJ and only ventured to the beach one day. This minimized her exposure to others.

Good luck with your decision!

(We couldn't have traveled with my daughter at 2 weeks even if we had wanted cause she waas born with jaundice. We had her in light therapy 20 hours a day at home.)

Xislandgirl wrote:In all honesty, I would not travel with the a 2 week old baby. For starters, Planes are germ fests and I don't think that I would want a newborn on a plane, their immune system is so fragile at that age. Plus the pressure change for such a young one can be terrible

Technically, a baby only has to be a week old to fly but in my opnion, 2 weeks is just way too soon for Mom and baby. I know that you would hate to cancel your trip, I would too, but I would never travel with a baby that young.



Maybe others will disagree, but I can not imagine how your daughter would enjoy a STJ vacation with such a little one.

DITTO...I agree with xisland girl 100%...

I have to agree. That's also at the height of flu season and who knows what's going to be circulating around then..I just wouldn't want to take the risk..

Sorry, but I have to agree with all said above...just too soon and too risky for mother and baby.

I am not a cutious person --at all-- but i have to agree with X 100%
babies can become really sick really fast.
also, a due date is just a suggestion--babies come in their own time--so that baby might be 5 weeks old OR it might be 2 days old--if this is her first, that also presents issues just around new motherhood--you want to be home--
Not that this is going to happen, but here is a cuationary tale- my daughter had what i THOUGHT was a cold when she was about 5 weeks old--I brought her to the doctor since her congestion just would NOT abate (my husband thought i was being hysterical)
turned out she was in congestive heart failure --we were put in a cab and went straight to the head of Ped. cardiology--she had open heart surgery 2.5 weeks later to repair a large whole in her heartt that had gone undetected (becuase it was so big apparently--weird, right?)--

Can you move the vacation up by a few months? Maybe the owners of the villa will work with you on the deposit.

samoka wrote:Hi forumites - I have planning a family vacation for next February for months now - we just got some great news - one of our daughters is pregnant and due 2 weeks before we are due to travel - I am trying to present a case to them about how safe and good it would be travel with a 2 week old baby- any suggestions - would you go?? - I have already made reservations and deposits that I would hate to lose - but I also don't want to go without them - thanks for any help - samoka

Normally, I am all for travelling with babies. Our first trip by plane was when our son was 3 months old and he has travelled everywhere with us since.

I don't want to sound preachy but, 2 weeks old is too young. At that young age, even the "best" babies (in terms of being settled and content to go about their baby business) are still trying to get used to life on the outside.

Further, the new mom may not be up to the travelling. No one can accurately predict how they will recover.

I have health-nut "I am in the best shape of my life" friends that couldn't walk up stairs for a month after birth while I, who wouldn't fall into the fitness category, did a walking touring of local wineries wearing a baby strapped across my chest two weeks after an emergency C-section.

My cousin could barely function two weeks after she gave birth. I can't imagine that she could've traveled that far on an airplane. I know lots of people who have C-sections can't do stairs for a while, and every villa I've ever stayed in has had some sort of stairs.

I would work with the villa management company and see if you can reschedule and move your deposit to another date either during her travel window before the baby is born or after she and the baby have recuperated.

It is great news that a grandbaby is coming, and it doesn't have to ruin your trip. Just reschedule. I'm sure when you explain the circumstances, the villa folks will be accommodating. Of course, I am not sure if you've booked your airfare, because they will charge you to change regardless of the circumstances!

No, I'm not an alarmist and I traveled with both kids at about 3 months each, but who knows what the lovely swine flu virus might be up to after it's had a fall and winter to mutate. It's not been dangerous to us older folks, but dangerous to young ones. I'm always sick after I fly. Never fails, something coming through the lovely air exchange system hits and and several times my husband has been deathly ill a couple days after we've arrived at a long awaited vacation destination.

Have to agree with everyone else here. Who knows when the baby will come, or how the baby or the mother will feel so soon after birth. Sometimes you end up going to the pediatrician's (or OB's) office almost every day for the first few weeks after a birth -- baby not eating, baby not going to the bathroom, a cough, a fever (automatic trip to the emergency room for any fever in a less than 8 week old baby), mother not recovering, mother has a fever, etc. I really think that taking a trip to St. John, especially since it is a pain to get to (plane to taxi to ferry to house)is probably not a great idea for such a young baby.

I figured as much - I may be able to move the trip back a year and do something in the Keys - my second favorite place - thanks for the feedback - I already knew the reality of the situation - I just had to convince my brain the right thiing to do is postpone - or move up the trip - thanks, samoka

If I couldn't go to St John, I'd be in the Keys in a heartbeat. In fact, I'm trying to figure out how I can do both next year.