Traveling with Babies: Health and Safety Concerns

Crowded places

Going on a trip with your baby involves a lot of responsibility. The younger your baby, the more challenging your travel.  If your baby is only a few months old and you decide that you need to travel for pleasure, select quiet and peaceful destinations with warm, mild weather.  Avoid drastic climate changes and overcrowded attractions.  Babies are weaker and more prone to infections than toddlers and older kids.  Their immunity system has not yet been developed.  They also get tired more easily and need a lot of rest in a quiet peaceful environment. Crowded places are louder, more polluted, and more prone to accidents. When you are traveling with a baby to a crowded destination, you are exposing your baby to all sorts of potential dangers: Someone can accidentally kick or push your baby, you can fall, people may be coughing and sneezing around you... all this will put your baby at additional risk. Traveling with a baby to crowded tourist destinations is dangerous and should be avoided.

Sun screen

If you are traveling with a baby for pleasure, consider going to a family resort somewhere by the sea. Iodine-rich salty sea waters and lots of natural sunshine in safe timing (before 11 a.m. and after 4 p.m.) will be very beneficial for your baby's health.  It is important to avoid sun burns at all costs, but we won't recommend using sun screen, as they often contain dangerous and harmful chemicals.  The rule of thumb is "if you can't take it in, don't put it on either", and that's especially important for infants and babies, whose immunity system hasn't been fully formed yet. Instead of using chemically-loaded sun screens, simply avoid roasting in the sun, but walking, swimming, wave jumping and playing in the sand –are all safe activities that do not require sun screens if you are doing them in proper timing and in moderation. If you are seriously concerned about the sun, take breaks every 15 minutes and keep your baby in the shade, cover yourself and your baby in cotton clothes, put a wide-brimmed hat on your baby's head – and you will be perfectly safe without any sun screen.

Natural fabrics

If your baby's skin is highly sensitive, get some fine cotton or silk clothes and cover your baby well. Ever wondered why you feel tired and unclean after wearing your polyester shirt even for a couple of hours? Unlike nylon and polyester, cotton and silk are natural materials that allow your skin to breathe freely, leaving you with a wonderful feeling of rest and comfort. Try sleeping on 100% cotton sheets for a few days and then switch to polyester sheets – you'll immediately know the difference! So when traveling with babies, bring clothes made out of natural fabrics, like cotton, silk and wool.

Colics and digestive problems

When traveling with babies, keep in mind that a change in the environment and food can lead to digestive discomfort and colic. There are many things you can do to help prevent baby colic.  Some of these things include giving small, frequent feedings and soothing your baby with skin-to-skin contact during feedings.  Feeding your baby in a calm, safe place can help digestion flow more easily. 

If you are breastfeeding, you should avoid gas-producing foods like broccoli, kale, and cabbage as well as onions and garlic, even strawberries! It is also recommended to go easy on the beans, spicy foods and soft drinks. Other foods like chocolate, peanuts, sugar, and white flour can slow intestinal activity and lead to colic, so try cutting these out while traveling with your baby. To ease baby colic during travel, pack some aromatic seeds like dill, anise, and cumin.  Simply pour the cup of boiling water over one teaspoon of any one or combination of seeds and steep for 15 minutes. Pass it through the breast milk or give it directly to your baby. The seed tea offers antispasmodic and carminative effects that will help relieve the colic.  For a small baby, give one dropper full at a time, every half hour until the discomfort eased. It works beautifully!  Please choose the strength level and dosage that feels comfortable for your baby in your situation.

However, when traveling with your baby, do not give your baby anything new that you have not tried before at home. Use only safe time-tested methods to which your baby is accustomed.

 Water

One of the most important things to look after when traveling with babies and young children is water.  Whether you are traveling with your baby nationally or internationally, use only purified bottled water; try to buy purified water that is also chlorine free.  If you drink chlorinated water while nursing, you will pass chlorine to your baby through milk. Chlorine is a poison, it was used as a weapon in the form of a gas during World War I, but because it's cheap, it came to be used for cleaning purposes to kill bacteria. But even small amounts are very harmful for babies, so read the labels and buy bottled water that does not contain chlorine. Chlorine-free water will also taste a lot better!