Taking a 12 day old baby on holiday ?

[Jencottage]

Desperate to get away as feel like I've been exhausted all third trimester, have a 8 year old daughter who would love a holiday, hubby coming along too. I've found an amazing deal in Sardinia, 7 nights at half term, full board and kids club for the 9 year old and golf for hubby. Me and baby could be on the beach all day chilling ! It's a 3.5 hour flight, shall I book it or is baby too young ? What would you do ?!?

No way. I bleed loads after both babies (c sections) and couldn't think of anything worse than being sat on a beach in swimming costume with a maternity pad in.

Also what if there are any issues. You get an infection or baby is unwell would be happy to be abroad for that or lose money if you don't go?

I’m not convinced you’d get a passport in time. We went on holiday with a 4 week old, we ended up having to do a 8 hour round trip to a passport office in a other part of the country to get an appointment to process the application, the office near to us didn’t have any, then a first passport takes a week to process, there are no on the spot/24 hour options.

So once the baby had arrived we had to book an appointment to register the birth, it took nearly 2 weeks to get an appointment. We then had to book an appointment to get the fast track 1 week service passport (quickest you can get a babies passport) and you have to go into the office. Again no appointments available, we waited another week and then that was 4 hours drive away. We then had to sit tight a week and hope it came in time before we were leaving. It was stressful! I’ll add it was July though so that could have had an effect on the wait times.

This is before you’ve considered how you’ll actually be physically, whether the baby will be fine and allowed home immediately. I had amazing recoveries after both my births, literally fine after a day or 2, I still wouldn’t book a holiday abroad less than 2 weeks after giving birth when we have number 3. Why not get an air bnb in this country near a beach somewhere? You’ll still be away but without the additional worries of going abroad.

serin we were supposed to be going to Watergate Bay with family 2 weeks after my due date and cancelled.
As it was DD came early and we possibly could've made it
I agree though, I wouldn't have gone anywhere at 12 days pp!

Not a chance. Travelling so soon after a section would be madness. You have no idea how your recovery will be and your insurance may not cover you if you pull out at the last minute seeing as it is a planned surgery. Flying would likely cause a higher risk of clots. Bleeding aside, you couldn't risk getting into a pool post op and getting an infection in the wound. While it sounds like it may be a lovely holiday, its much too soon after birth and you really need yours and baby's health to be a priority.

I took baby in a plane at 14 days old. GP signed baby and me fit to fly with no problems. It was a brilliant holiday where family did everything and I sat around breastfeeding.

We didn’t need a passport where we flew though so that might be an issue. I hadn’t had a c section either but a complicated birth.

Haven’t read all the thread so sorry if it’s been said- you are not going to be all clear to fly........

No way.

OP, I am that woman who bounced back from birth so quickly that I stay silent almost all the time in conversations about post-natal stuff as I don't want to piss people off. I often read about how difficult people found it to do straightforward things after giving birth on here and feel awful for them as I was (literally) down the shops within hours of having my first - to show her off obviously.

But I just wouldn't have done this. The heat! Sardinia can be brutal and tiny babies dehydrate so quickly. Mine always fed constantly when it was UK hot and they were tiny. I can't imagine what it would be like there (I'm assuming this is a few weeks off when the Italian summer has really got going). Just constant exhausting feeding for you, with your DH off playing golf. You'd need to be in the shade the whole time with no swimming.

And the practicalities. Again I had it ridiculously easy as I had home births in a district with no hospitals in so the registrar could have seen me the day I gave birth. My friends in the neighbouring borough, with a hospital in it!, had a three week wait. Could you pre-book I wonder? But even then, you're stuck having to do photo and passport application more or less immediately, so admin stuff becomes a priority at a time when you probably don't want the hassle. If your baby is in special care for even a couple of days, for even something very minor, that puts your whole schedule into doubt, and it's not a worry you need on top of the medical issues.

That is assuming of course that you bounce back from the C section, that the baby is fine to fly on day 12, etc etc. All of which could well be the case but it's such a fragile arrangement. Have a look for holidays even a couple of weeks later. There are ALWAYS deals going.

We went on holiday when ds3 was 16 days old. But we went to a luxury hotel in the UK with a kids club. So we got all the benefit of hotel room, not having to cook, fun stuff for the older kids so I could just sit around and feed, but only had to drive rather than negotiate airports etc. I appreciate luxury UK hotels (watergate bay, ickworth etc) are probably more expensive than an inclusive foreign holiday these days. If it’s May half term though it could be glorious weather in the UK!

Terrible idea! The baby won't have had any vaccinations and you'll be in a foreign country with no guarantee of medical care in English. What if something went wrong with your c-section recovery or with the baby?

Can you not book something right now to give yourself a break now, while you're pregnant and exhausted? Even if it's too late for you to fly, you can always go to Bluestone in Wales or somewhere nice and family friendly in Cornwall or Devon and get some time to relax while your husband takes your eldest off for some alone time?

I wouldn’t because it will be a logistical pain in the neck - you will have had major abdominal surgery so hardly up to carrying baby and bags about on the plane and your husband and 8 year old can’t carry everything without a lot of mucking about.

Nurse and midwife here... sounds like you are longing for some sense of normality and relaxation. Could you not get that from booking a luxury holiday here in the UK... quite honestly I think it’s not the most sensible decision and potentially dangerous for you and baby and I’d be concerned that you couldn’t see that when the time came. Also I think you are underestimating the stress of a newborn in a hot and unknown country, regardless of your plans to feed etc. I think you’ll enjoy a holiday so much more if you wait a little while longer

Luxury U.K. holiday sounds much better idea - there are some amazing hotels with great activities and indoor pool etc and then the only logistics you have to worry about are getting in and out of the car.

Bonkers. YABU

Also can you guarantee that hotel will have suitable SAFE sleeping cot/Moses basket for a newborn? It won’t be a brand new mattress of course...also baby will sleep most of the day and will need to be kept cool indoors. I think this is just one of the many considerations.

12 days post c section I was still wearing my dvt stockings, maternity pad, breast pads, hobbling about and feeling like I'd been hit by a bus (and I thought I actually had a fairly quick and straightforward recovery!).

Can't even contemplate sitting on a hot, sweaty, sandy beach, getting sand in every leaky crevice and in my scar and overhanging shelf

We went to Cornwall (from north London) by car with our 6 week old following a relatively straight forward birth, it was height of the Summer and we had an older DC.

Lots of people thought I was brave (or slightly mad) to do this, but DC was a dream and I found it easy. However I wouldn’t have wanted to go much earlier as it took a while to work out how to look after 2 and to recover from the birth.

No way would I have taken my tiny baby on a germ plane before 6 months, sorry.

I wouldn’t. Germs galore on a packed out flight, not great for a baby so young. Also, what happens if your section doesn’t go ahead on time for whatever reason?

Oh God know! I wouldn't risk being in a foreign country with such a young baby. I think you're nuts!

There is no guarantee of a complication-free delivery or recovery.

There is no guarantee that your baby won't need support in hospital or other special care after the birth.

Maybe if everything goes perfectly to plan (including getting passport in time etc) then it's doable, but it all seems a bit like tempting fate to me.

I wonder whether holiday insurance would consider complications 12 days PP as a valid reason to pay out if you had to cancel. I would be checking that out before booking, or book only if you are willing to risk losing the cost of the holiday.

Frankly it sounds borderline irresponsible, and also a bit unfair to the poor hotel staff who will be having to clean up bloody sheets, milky sheets, and how are you going to do all the newborn washing?

I had an absolutely straightforward section and recovery but still sweated, leaked and bled everywhere for a good few weeks.

Pretty idiotic idea in my opinion... sorry OP, I think you’re forgetting what life with a newborn is like plus you’re almost a decade older this time so it’s probably going to hit you harder (considering baby isn’t here yet and you’re already knackered - it’s only going to get worse!) if you plan on breastfeeding you’ll probably be only getting to grips with it and if the baby has colic or reflux the flight could be a bloody nightmare.

I’d be very concerned about exposing a newborn to all the germs too.

I’d plan it for summer when the baby is over the 3 month mark and any newborn issues usually settle down. And you’ll be fully recovered. Or if you really want to get away Maybe go somewhere closer to home? There are great holiday destinations in the UK for families. I know the weather is a potential problem but honestly wouldn’t it be worse if you shelled out for a week in Sardinia and it was a complete shit show and money down the drain?

I think you're mad to even consider this.

I've had 2 c sections. There is no way I'd have been up to doing anywhere near as much travelling as that. Also after my second baby I ended up back in hospital 2 weeks in with an infection. And what if the baby has any complications and needs medical care? You never know.

You won't be comfortable on a plane or lugging everything around an airport. You will still be recovering from major surgery on top of having a newborn to deal with.

Why not wait a few months?

Fuck. That.