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Irish Independent - health & living

We're ALL going on a summer holiday
July 10, 2006

Having young children is no longer a barrier to foreign holidays abroad. But medical experts warn that we may be taking unnecessary risks with their health.

Board any flight this summer, whether it be to Benidorm or Bangalore, and chances are that your travelling party will be joined by at lest a dozen babies. With schools closed,, the family season is in full swing and some travellers are barely out of the womb before they're clocking up air miles.

Old wives tales would warn against bringing young children on flights for fear of damaging juvenile ears, but as the Irish public takes to the skies and to sun-drenched holiday destinations with abandon, nobody is going to ground them. However, while tour operators incentivise family travel through promises of free child places and all-day kids'clubs, medical experts are more reticent to greenlight such travel.

However, some parents feel the benefits of bringing young babies on a family holiday outweigh the risks. Furthermore they feel that, once they've put the right precautions in place, holidays en famille neither pose a problem to their children nor cause them any undue stress.

Aisling O'Donoghue (34) took her son, eight month old Fionn, on a three week holiday to Australia when he was three months. Still on maternity leave she travelled with one of her sisters to see another sister living in Sydney, with a three night stopover in Malaysia on both legs of the journey.

Aisling admits the trip caused her some stress. "I was slightly worried," the Dubliner says. "But I did educate myself quite well. I drew up a list of everything I needed to bring to keep him saft. I didn't want to be caught out.

I did stress about his ears, but it was more of a slight concern. I know that if he slept he'd be fint. And I'd saught advice from my GP about potential dangers of different foods. But as he was still on formula, I was assured he'd be fine.

"My main concern was keeping him out of the sun full-stop so I was careful to buy everything I needed. I had full suits and hats with shades that covered his neck. I bought baby shades to protect his eyes and a UV50 tent so that he wouldn't be getting any rays."

Although some might think the combination of a three month old baby and a long haul flight would be a hellish experiene, Aisling claims that the extra luxuries afforded by long-haul carriers made the journey easier.

"We had pre-booked a bassinet and were allocated the seats right at the front of the cabin, which gave us extra space. It meant we could set up our 'camp' without annoying other passengers. On a short flight, you just don't have those options and it's really too cramped to be comfortable or to escape bothering other passengers.

"That's how it was coming from London to Dublin. I was on a tea-time commuter flight so I felt really conscious about a crying baby as the majority of passengers were businesspeople, I was looking around going, 'sorry, sorry', but thankfully most people were understanding."

For those concerned about bringing newborns to a hot country, the advice from Dr Niall O'Cleirigh of the Irish College of General Practitioners is to be extra vigilant of the sun.

"There are no inherent dangers per se but one of the most common things I would see is sunburn. People completely underestimate the power of the sun. You see little kids coming back quite burned.

"It's not good enough to have sun protection - they need to be completely covered. The best exposure is no exposure. We should take a leaf out of the Australians' book and aim for total body coverage."

Having already been Down Under with her son, Aisling O'Donoghue will be taking what she learned with her on her next trip - to New Mexico in September.

"Preparation is everything if you plan to go to a hot country with a baby so when I came home I set up my travel business, babytravelshop.com. I covered every eventuality and I kept him out of the sun. I was worried initially, yes, but I made a checklist and had everything organised before boarding the plane.

"For me, the extra hassle was definitely worth it. And the anticipation of spending some downtime with my sisters abroad really helped me through the latter stages of my pregnancy."

- Regina Lavelle
Health Writer