Baby Travel Safety Tips

Safety And Plane Travel

Many parents decide to travel to their destination by plane. Some infants and toddlers just can't handle the long car rides, and the travel itinerary includes faraway places. If you'll be doing some plane travel with your infant in tow, there are some safety measures you can take.

• The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says the safest place on the plane for baby is in her own seat in an approved restraint system. This is especially true during heavy flight turbulence.
• If you do decide to buy your child a seat, remember that the FAA requires car seats to be attached at a window seat. Remember that your seat will likely be in the middle.
• Most U.S. made car seats have FAA approval for use on airplanes. If you want to double-check, it should say, “FAA Approved in Accordance with 14CFR 21.305(d), Approved for Aircraft Use Only”. Foreign made seats must have a stamp of approval from their government or the United Nations. However, it's always a good idea to double-check with the airline as car seats wider than 16” across may not fit on an airplane seat.
• An alternative to the infant car seat is the first harness child safety device approved by the FAA in 2006 for use on airplanes only. The Cares Device , by AmSafe Aviation, is a shoulder harness and belt for children 22 pounds to 44 pounds in weight, so it's appropriate for most older infants, toddlers, and young children.

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Road Trip Safety Rules

It's a done deal. You've made the decision to make the six-hour drive across two state lines to get to Grandma's house for the holidays. Getting there with calm nerves is one thing, but getting there safely is another. We've put together some road trip safety rules for traveling with baby.

Rule #1 – Always put your infant in a child safety seat in the backseat. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), it's the safest place.

Rule #2 – Keep your infant in a rear facing infant car seat or convertible until s/he is at least 20 pounds and one year old. After one year, or after your baby hits the 20 pound marker, you can use a forward facing convertible car seat.

Rules #3 – If you have a two-seater car – take heed: the force of an airbag can cause serious injuries or kill children and infants. If you do have the option to turn your airbag off in the passenger seat where your infant will be, do so. It's the safest alternative to suffering the extreme force of an airbag, should it deploy.

Rule #4 – Never, ever take your child out of her car seat while driving. Infants and young children may cry and scream while you're driving in the car seat. Do not remove your child from the one piece of protection that could save his/her life should you get into a car crash. If she's tired, likely she'll fall asleep in the next several minutes. If she's hungry, pull the car over and feed her. At the risk or repeating ourselves, whatever the problem, you can always stop the car at a safe location and attend to your little one.

Rule #5 – Before you hit the road, remember to check that the car seat is attached properly to the car and that your child is harnessed in securely. Remember these rules of thumb:

• A secure car seat should not move more than one inch in either direction.
• If your car seat has a tether and your car seat can accommodate it, use it. It'll restrict the forward motion of the car seat in the event of a crash.
• Make sure your infant is buckled securely. The harness should be snug, but not binding.
  

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Be Prepared – The Travel Emergency Checklist

You're blissfully dreaming of taking a break from the daily doldrums of cleaning spit-up from the high chair, and sailing to warmer waters on the long awaited cruise. But wait. Before you start packing your bags, make sure you have your emergency checklist updated. In a true emergency, you won't want to spend precious time locating essential information. Here's an emergency checklist to keep things calm:

Emergency numbers – Create a list of emergency contacts. This includes your family doctor and medical contacts while away from home.

Insurance information – Have a record of your insurance carrier, medical record number, and insurance contact information. It's also a good idea to find out what you're covered for and where if you're outside of your local coverage area.

Prescriptions –Make sure you have enough to last throughout the trip or a feasible plan to get more medication if you need it.

Baby Proofing – Whether you're actually embarking on a cruise or braving the outdoors, check the accommodations of your destination ahead of time. Think about what items you need to bring to make baby proof your stay.

Immunizations – Check with your public health authorities on recommended immunizations if you're traveling abroad. Find out if any vaccines are appropriate for you or your infant.

Helpful Hint: Don't forget to include emergency contact information for mom, dad and siblings as well. Parents need to be in good health too!

You can create a laminated reference card with emergency numbers and your insurance information as well, including your medical record number and contact information. Pack the reference card in your travel first aid kit and then keep a second set of information with you. Make a separate card or put it on your PDA.

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Put Together A First Aid Kit For Baby Travel Safety

Regardless of whether you're traveling on the road for a weekend out of town or taking a plane to an exotic locale, you should practice baby travel safety by putting together a first aid kit. A first aid kit should have all the basics you need in a pinch, should you need to deal with mishaps or illness. It's always better to be prepared than to scramble around for the things you need if your child falls ill or needs medical attention. A fun way to package everything up is in a child's lunch box. Get trial sizes whenever you can to eliminate bulk.

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Resources For Travel Safety

You've got good intentions. You mean to make travel as safe as possible, but you're really not sure where to look. Well, we've got that covered for you. Whether you need information on health concerns, first aid, or international travel, these resources are all great places to find out about travel safety.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/travel/child_travel.htm
Find out everything from how long you can store breast milk to how you can prevent diarrhea in young children and infants. Worried about health issues relating to a specific destination? You can find that here as well.

Transportation Security Administration
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/children/index.shtm
For information on getting through the screening process, what you can and can't bring on the plane, as well as information specific to packing baby food, formula, and breast milk, check out the Transportation Security Administration Website.

U.S. Consular Affairs
http://travel.state.gov/family/family_1732.html
If you're concerned about travel safety abroad, legal issues pertaining to traveling out of the country with children, finding American doctors in a foreign country, or figuring out who to contact in the event of an emergency, you can find all of the information here.

American Academy of Pediatrics – The American Academy of Pediatrics issues guidelines on car seat safety, plane travel, and sun protection. We've included a few links that you'll find useful for home and during your travels.

• Car Seats: http://www.aap.org/family/carseatguide.htm
• Sun Protection: http://www.aap.org/sections/media/SunSafety.htm
• Vaccinations: http://www.aap.org/healthtopics/immunizations.cfm
• Safety and First Aid Checklist: http://www.aap.org/healthtopics/safety.cfm

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Create Your Own Travel First Aid Kit

Whether you're traveling on a weekend road trip out of town or taking a plane to an exotic locale, have a travel first aid kit on hand you can throw in your suitcase. A first aid kit should have all the basics you need in a pinch, should you need to deal with mishaps or illness. It's always better to be prepared than to scramble around for the things you need if your child falls ill or needs medical attention.

Our suggestion? Package everything up in a child's lunch box – it's fun, easy to spot, and completely self-contained. Get trial sizes whenever you can to eliminate bulk. Here's a list of the basics for your travel first aid kit:

• First aid guide – Get one geared towards children and infants.
• Medical prescriptions - If your baby has any prescriptions, make sure you pack them. Also, include your doctor's phone number and an oral syringe to administer the medicine.
• Thermometer - If your infant gets a fever, you'll want to be able to check as soon as possible to ensure the right medication is administered next.
• Antibiotic ointment – It'll help heal cuts and scrapes as well as stave off infection.
• Liquid soap- Use this tidy package to clean up cuts and scrapes, as well as any baby mishaps.
• Sterile bandages – Use them to stop bleeding from little cuts and scrapes. Petite round or oval shapes are perfect for infants.
• Infant acetaminophen - Use Children's Tylenol or the equivalent. Use this for relieving fevers as well as aches and pains from teething, colds, flu, or chicken pox.
• Gas Reliever – Pack Baby Mylicon or its generic equivalent. If your infant has gas pains, this will help relieve it.
• Pedialyte - If your infant has diarrhea or dehydration, you'll want to replenish her fluids.

Helpful Hint #2: To save space, buy a box of Pedialyte freezer pops. They don't come frozen, so you can pack a few 2.1 oz. packages into your first aid kit.

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To Your Health – And Baby's

Traveling with an infant or toddler means you'll be encountering a great deal of environmental changes and possible travel-related risks. However, if you take the right precautions, there's no reason why your journey shouldn't be injury and illness free. We've gathered some advice on keeping you and your baby healthy.

• The top reported childhood health problems due to travel, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is diarrhea, malaria, and accidents due to motor vehicles and water. For those visiting third world countries, children are at the risk of contracting malaria or tuberculosis.
• If your infant is breastfeeding, you have a built-in solution for preventing illnesses from food and water. Diarrhea can be contracted through a contaminated water source.
• If you're traveling in a country where the water supply is questionable, your best bet is to use purified or bottled water to wash your hands, brush your teeth, and prepare infant foods and formula. Remember to avoid ice cubes if you're not sure about the water source.
• Malaria is a disease transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitos and occurs mostly in tropical and subtropical areas. Africa, Asia, Central America, and South America have statistically harbored higher cases of malaria transmission, according to the CDC. Using mosquito nets, staying in screened areas, and using mosquito coils are effective at keeping mosquitoes at bay. If you decide to use DEET products, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) deems products with up to 30% DEET safe for infants over two months of age. A 50% concentration of DEET is deemed safe for adults. For more information on prevention and treatment, consult the CDC Website (cdc.gov) or your health care provider.
• The top cause of death in children who travel is the car accident. We can't stress enough the importance of child safety seats. For more information on how to keep your child safe, refer to our tip, “Road Trip Safety Rules”.
• The second cause of death in children who travel is drowning. While we certainly don't want to be morbid here, we do want to make you aware of the dangers. When you're traveling, follow all the same precautions you would at home. Never leave an infant or young child unsupervised around water – even if it's only two inches deep.
  

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Childcare and Travel – How To Assess What's Best

It's not always easy leaving your infant in the care of someone else. Especially when you're traveling, you want to make sure you're leaving your baby in the best hands. Childcare can come in the form of agency supplied nannies, baby-sitters for hire, or childcare programs at resorts and hotels. If you have a nanny you can bring along on your trip, great. But for everyone else who needs childcare, we've put together some things you should consider when contemplating childcare away from home.

• Make sure you have childcare in place long before you reach your destination and make a confirmation before you arrive.
• Do the background research on the nanny, babysitter, or agency you're using ahead of time. Ask family and friends for recommendations. Try online parent boards.
• If you are hiring an individual, make sure you speak to her ahead of time and get references. If it's an agency or childcare program, interview the director.
• If you're hiring a nanny or babysitter, ask if she is CPR certified, how much experience she has, what ages she's worked with, and whether you feel she'll be a good fit for your infant. Never discount your gut feeling.
• If you're working with a childcare program, you also need to find out the ratio of childcare providers to children, what necessities do they provide, what activities are included, and what hours they're available.
• Last, but not least, find out what you'll be paying and establish a set number of hours.

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