With Christmas and new year nearing you are bound to plan a vacation within or outside India. In that case you have an infant and are flying by air, there are certain key essentials you need to keep in mind to prevent a mishap.
Take these Precautions:
- Keep a close watch on the sudden changes in your child condition on-board and be extra cautious while feeding you baby.
- If you encounter sudden changes after feeding, your child may be suffering from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Although the cause is unknown, it appears that SIDS might be associated with defects in the portion of an infant’s brain that controls breathing and arousal from sleep.
- You should take extra care while feeding your child. Timing of feeding is very important.
- Never feed your babies while landing, take-off or during sudden change of altitude. On long flights wait for the steady height to be reached.
- Make sure that your baby burp after feeding
- Make your baby to sleep on his or her back, rather than on the stomach or side. Also, hold baby for a while after feeding. Lying on your tummy creates more pressure on the heart and lungs. It compresses the abdomen against the lungs and may create breathing problems. The continuous breathing problem may result in a cardio-respiratory arrest
- During the time of take-off, landing or sudden change of altitude, there are chances that some undigested milk may flow back in the food pipe or lungs, which may lead to choking and death.
- Stay away from bottle feeding: Besides being made of plastic, bottles are carcinogenic as well. Babies swallow more from the bottle in comparison to mother feed, which causes air pockets and sudden gush of milk in babies stomach and food pipe. Small amount of this milk may also flow into air pipe that may lead to irritation and even death.
- Get a travel insurance plan that covers children for free: Chances are you might experience the nightmare moment when your baby wakes up screaming at 2 a.m. with a 103-degree fever. In that situation, if you have travel insurance, you don’t have to panic.
- Pack more than you need: When it comes to international travel with an infant, there’s no such thing as over-packing. If you think you’ll need 10 outfits, pack 15. Remember that basic baby items such as formula or diapers may not be available where you’re staying or may be prohibitively expensive. Always read the guidelines for traveling with children first.
- Get Your Child Vaccinations: Does your baby need shots? Research your destination ahead of time to see if there is a travel advisory. And don’t leave it to the last minute! Some vaccinations require a few weeks or months between shots.
Infant Protection Day is observed on 7 November to spread awareness regarding protecting, promoting and developing infants.
Protect them.
