Holiday just after baby is due...

[30somethingandtired]

Just found out we're expecting, which is very exciting!

By my estimates I'm due at the end of June. We already have a holiday booked for the end of August....

Has anyone flown with a very small baby? Was it ok?

How quickly can you get a passport for a newborn?

Are there any issues with being on holiday with a tiny baby?

Just for context: we're due to travel with family that have booked separately for a family event. The event and other people's holiday dates were originally planned around our availability (school holidays) and it's already been more expensive for the others as a result.

What do we do? Am I totally crazy for planning to go on holiday with a newborn?

Additionally - the others have only part-booked (paid for flights but not booked hotel yet). I don't want to make an announcement until after the 12 week scan, but also feel like I need to tell people sooner in case plans need to change.

Help!

Is this your first baby? It somewhat makes a difference as to how confident you'll feel.

However more importantly do not forget that there is a 25% chance of ending up with a cesarean, including a completely unexpected emergency or unplanned cesarean. If you have a cesarean at two weeks overdue (you'll be left til 2 weeks overdue in a low risk pregnancy) you won't be fit to fly until 8 weeks after your due date - the baby isn't really the issue.

Haven’t travelled with a baby yet but two years ago on a snowboarding holiday met a couple who were travelling with their 8 week old newborn. They said the newborn was much easier to travel with than their 2 year old!

I had caesareans and wouldn’t have wanted to fly anywhere that soon after. The amount of stuff you have to take with you is huge as well. When are you 12 weeks? Is the holiday refundable?

I took dc3 on holiday to Italy when he was 4 weeks old and it wasn't a problem with a bit of common sense about keeping him in the shade - we only live 4 hours drive from the destination though (outside Italy so we did technically go abroad, but we didn't fly).

I wouldn't want to pre-book a large number of flights all dependent on being fit to fly very close to due date, because of the risk of unexpected problems - baby in NICU, you recovering from abdominal surgery, all the other potential complications of birth. It's not about flying with a baby - that's really easy especially if you're breastfeeding (I've flown with both Dc1 and dc2 at 3 months old - dc2 as the only adult with 3 month old baby and well behaved toddler - easy, especially the baby).

Where are you going? Length of flight?

It's definitely doable. My friend is on holiday with her 2 month old at the moment. My other friend drove hers across Europe at about the same age. Passports are very quick. I believe you can apply for them as soon as they are registered and when I countersigned for the baby driving across Europe it was all done online.

You will need to take a lot of stuff and you will need to be organised to have all the paperwork done but please try. You also might need to change some plans, stay in a villa not a hotel etc.
Mumsnet seems so negative about this stuff and so keen for you to let down friends and family who will be financially inconvenienced by your actions.
You don't know how the birth will go, you may have an easy birth or may have a difficult one incidentally the two friends listed above one had an emergency c section and the other a 3rd degree tear.
I am still pregnant with my first so don't have my own experience but wish you luck.

I would have been fine with this with both of mine. But I had pretty easy births and recovery, was ebf so no need to worry about bottles and sterilisers etc. But i could have been laid up having a really difficult recovery. Can't really predict it! But all being well there's no reason not to take a little baby on holiday.

Lots of people travel with newborns. Personally I wouldn't. Baby could have colic or any other thing that would mean you would just want to be home. Congratulations! This seems like a massive issue now but just let people know you cannot make it. It will take a huge weight off your shoulders.

Many congrats OP.

Usually travel insurance covers for cancellation in these circumstances, so if you already have a policy in place you may be able to claim should you decide not to travel due to pregnancy.

Having had two children myself, I wouldn’t feel comfortable travelling with such a young baby.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Thanks all. This will be number 2. I'm feeling much calmer this time round, I was totally neurotic the first time I went abroad with DC1, and that was at 18months. Holiday would be within Europe, approx 4 hour flight.

Have wondered about a c-section or other complications, and that would probably totally wipe us out. DC1 was a straightforward vb, but no guarantees I suppose.

Feel bad letting people down though, and DC1 is already very excited.

Wouldn't be too bad if I could talk through options with family but it's way too early to say anything.

I did this (albeit a slightly less tight time scale) with DS2 this summer - he was due early June and my sister got married in Germany in mid-August. She'd booked the venue etc before I'd told her I was pregnant.

We managed fine. He ended up coming a little early on May 31st, we got the first appointment we could to get him registered (just over a week but be aware other register offices have longer waits). Then did his passport application online and got it back within about 4 weeks. Flying with him was fine- as others have said, easier than with the toddler! I EBF so didn't need to take any feeding kit, and the hotel provided a cot. Good luck!

I flew alone with my baby at 2.5 months for a family funeral (flight was just an hour). We had the passport already - I think we got the passport in less than 10 working days after sending in the application, just had a 2-week wait for a birth registration appt.

I found the flying / being away with small baby fine - small babies just sleep and feed, no need for entertaining, or keeping up routines (at least not for us then)! (I was breastfeeding too - if you use bottles, it may be a bit more hassle) Also recommend babywearing, it's quite useful when you're travelling / out and about.

So definitely doable - but as others have said, it'll also depend on the birth and how you're feeling.

I would have managed it with first child. She was born at 41 weeks and then it was two weeks before we got out of hospital. I was very ill and struggling to feed.

Remember under 6 weeks they can only be in car seats for 30 mins unless you buy a specialist lie flat car seat.

I could have managed it with my second but honestly I would not have been comfortable with my body and exhausted still from the lack of sleep.

Planning on flying with mine in May when he will be 9-12 weeks, Cape Verde for a long awaited extended family holiday. He’s number 2 so should be fine and aim is to bf so less stuff required. Can’t wait

My daughter was a brilliant little traveller. And I wouldn’t hesitate to travel with another young baby. Yes, there are lots of what ifs?! But there always will be. Assuming you have insurance in place in case you need to cancel the holiday why don’t you just plan for and look forward to it? People will understand if you have to cancel even if they’ve had to invest more due to school holidays. You didn’t plan for this outcome. And if they don’t understand they’re arseholes.

@Pineappleofmyeye most of the answers to all questions on Mumsnet always seem so negative. Why is this?

Ive recently come back from California where I was a guest at a wedding.

There was a couple there with a 5 week old baby. They had flown from Canada.

They had no issues! I think all they had to do was book extra weight for the luggage to account for bottles/nappies etc etc

Pineappleofmyeye and bluemarie87 she'd be letting the extended family down if she assumed the power of positive thinking will prevent her being unable to fly when the time comes - whether due to going 2 weeks overdue and needing an emergency caesarean or suffering birth injuries, or her baby needing extra care after the birth - being blindly positive and refusing to engage brain and think things through means allowing the extended family to pay out more money without forewarning them that there is a possibility of being unable to travel.

The OP says that the extended family members haven't yet paid in full and will be paying the balance unaware of her pregnancy and unable to make their own decisions in full possession of the facts.

Some people seem to make no distinction between being pragmatic and being negative, or being positive and being selfish and in denial, or plain stupid.

Weighing up the possible problems with the plan and being honest with the people who stand to lose money is sensible, not negative.

Assuming that everything will work out on the back of a half remembered conversation with strangers you met once is stupid.

Flying with a 2-3 month old is easy, flying 4 weeks after a cesarean section would be stupid. Airlines won't let you fly within 2 weeks of a caesarean (obviously they won't know unless you tell them or something happens) but deep vein thrombosis risk, reduced movement and significant discomfort would make flying before the 6 weeks mark pretty unpleasant. In the 4-6 weeks post section plenty of people are readmitted as emergencies requiring intravenous antibiotics or restitching. Especially if they've overdone it.

Putting yourself at risk to please extended family is stupid martyrdom.

The thing that makes this holiday most likely to be achievable is the fact that this is OP's second baby, and her first was a straightforward delivery. That's multiple times more relevant than anecdotes about steangers who told sanitised upbeat accounts at weddings - people don't tell strangers if they were pushed into a plan which has turned out to have been ill advised and caused them discomfort and risk. People put a positive spin on things when talking to strangers at weddings.

Flying with babies is easy, but that's really not the issue when deciding during the first trimester what to do about a plan tofly shortly after giving birth, which might cause extended family to lose money if things don't go smoothly.

Your baby will be nearly 3 months old and very easy to travel with. Even if you had minor complications by that point you should be okay to travel

GrumpyHoonMain she's due at the end of June and planning to fly at the end of August. The baby will be only just 2 months if born on it's due date, and 6 weeks if she goes two weeks overdue. It'll only be 3 months if it's premature!