When would /did you fly first time with your newborn baby?
- Thread starter sanny07
- Start date
Hi Sanny,
We'll be flying to Australia with our son for Christmas this year. He will be 10 weeks old.
According to the information I have it is possible for a new born to fly as young as 2 weeks old providing both mother and baby are well.
I think it would be wise to check with your doctor / pedeatrician first if planning on flying very young however. I know that I would not have felt up to it when he was that age!
Depending on your nationality, you may find getting documents in order to travel will be your determining factor. It will take us every bit of the 2 1/2 months from his birth to when we fly to get the following processed for our son, so he can fly to another country:
Hong Kong birth certificate
Australian citizenship
Photos for passport to meet specifications
Australian passport
Hong Kong visa
I will leave it to those who have experience to comment on the jet lag and climate changes parts of your question.
Happy travels.
We'll be flying to Australia with our son for Christmas this year. He will be 10 weeks old.
According to the information I have it is possible for a new born to fly as young as 2 weeks old providing both mother and baby are well.
I think it would be wise to check with your doctor / pedeatrician first if planning on flying very young however. I know that I would not have felt up to it when he was that age!
Depending on your nationality, you may find getting documents in order to travel will be your determining factor. It will take us every bit of the 2 1/2 months from his birth to when we fly to get the following processed for our son, so he can fly to another country:
Hong Kong birth certificate
Australian citizenship
Photos for passport to meet specifications
Australian passport
Hong Kong visa
I will leave it to those who have experience to comment on the jet lag and climate changes parts of your question.
Happy travels.
Last edited:
I flew from Tokyo to Hong Kong when my baby turned 2 months old.
The flight was about 4 or 5 hours.
She didnt sleep much, so I had to keep amusing her, in addition to the usual feeding and changing.
The distance was too short for jet lag.
It was cold in Tokyo and hot in Hong Kong. She sweated a lot in HK.
No other discernable adjustment problems.
The flight was about 4 or 5 hours.
She didnt sleep much, so I had to keep amusing her, in addition to the usual feeding and changing.
The distance was too short for jet lag.
It was cold in Tokyo and hot in Hong Kong. She sweated a lot in HK.
No other discernable adjustment problems.
barbwong_130
Registered User
My first baby was born in Hong Kong in June and when she was seven weeks old I travelled to England with her. I didn?t notice that she had jet lag on the trip over to England as she was still waking every three to four hours day and night at that stage. She was 12 weeks old when we returned to Hong Kong. We travelled on Gulf Air and the flight, with changes, took 23 hours with six take offs and six landings! I was advised to feed both taking off and landing so we spent most of that 23 hours feeding. Once back in Hong Kong we both slept for ages and the only thing that happened was my periods returned a couple of weeks later. (I later found out this is common when your baby goes more than six hours without a feed ? even if it is the only time she does it.) The English summer was much cooler than the Hong Kong one but she adjusted fine except for one windy walk where she cried because she was cold but I put her inside my coat and she was fine after that.
My third child was born in England and we flew to Hong Kong when he was 18 days old. I had to travel to Liverpool to get his passport as waiting for a postal application would have taken weeks longer. I remember on the flight the women in the next seat to me had a 12 day old. I remember being worried about travelling with such a young baby so I contacted Cathay Pacific to ask if they had any guidelines. I was told that a healthy full-term new-born can fly from being 24 hours but that they don?t recommend a new mother to fly for at least two weeks because of the risk of postpartum haemorrhage. I found flying with such a young baby easier than when they are older. All they do is feed and sleep ? same as if they are at home. So it really just depends on the mother's comfort at feeding and coping in public.
I have four children and have flown with babies of just about all ages. I found toddlers to be the hardest to fly with. They aren?t use to sitting still for such long periods and take-off, landing and turbulence can be trying when they need to wear their seat belts and not move around. I usually ask for a child seat belt so they can sit on my knee even if they have their own seat, as it is nice to be able have both choices open to me depending on how the child is behaving at the time. Jet lag is much more of an issue in a toddler too.
The only thing I noticed with young babies is that the time that they poo is affected by jet lag. Quite early on my babies started to poo in the daytime and not the middle of the night. But with jet lag they would poo in the middle of the night. And somehow a baby needs to be awake to poo ? which meant I was awake too.
Best wishes with your travels,
Barb
My third child was born in England and we flew to Hong Kong when he was 18 days old. I had to travel to Liverpool to get his passport as waiting for a postal application would have taken weeks longer. I remember on the flight the women in the next seat to me had a 12 day old. I remember being worried about travelling with such a young baby so I contacted Cathay Pacific to ask if they had any guidelines. I was told that a healthy full-term new-born can fly from being 24 hours but that they don?t recommend a new mother to fly for at least two weeks because of the risk of postpartum haemorrhage. I found flying with such a young baby easier than when they are older. All they do is feed and sleep ? same as if they are at home. So it really just depends on the mother's comfort at feeding and coping in public.
I have four children and have flown with babies of just about all ages. I found toddlers to be the hardest to fly with. They aren?t use to sitting still for such long periods and take-off, landing and turbulence can be trying when they need to wear their seat belts and not move around. I usually ask for a child seat belt so they can sit on my knee even if they have their own seat, as it is nice to be able have both choices open to me depending on how the child is behaving at the time. Jet lag is much more of an issue in a toddler too.
The only thing I noticed with young babies is that the time that they poo is affected by jet lag. Quite early on my babies started to poo in the daytime and not the middle of the night. But with jet lag they would poo in the middle of the night. And somehow a baby needs to be awake to poo ? which meant I was awake too.
Best wishes with your travels,
Barb
My son was 2 months old when we first took him to China. It took a while to get his birth certifcate and passport sorted in our home country. I also took him to his pedia before flying (just to get clearance), I also gave birth via c-section so was not advised until after i healed and had less risk for internal hemorrhage.
1.) Starting from which age is it possible to fly?
My Ob told me it was safe for the baby to fly almost immediately HOWEVER it was not safe for a Mother to fly until 6 weeks after the birth. So, we waited until our son was 6 weeks old to fly from Australia to Hong Kong.
2.) Will a baby have jetlack?
For us, travelling between Western Australia & Hong Kong there is no time difference so our son did not experience jet lag. At this age he just slept the whole way - he was just fantastic - I made sure I fed him on ascent and descent to alleviate the pressure on his ears. I put him in the bassinet to sleep the whole way (taking him out for a feed or two) and I slept while he slept. If you travel between countries with a time difference it is likely that your baby WILL have jetlag - but when you get to your destination just make sure you keep your baby to their normal routine and within 7 - 10 days your baby should be back on track with sleeping.
3.) Will a baby have a problem to adobt to new climate?
I can only speak from my own experience - and our son did not notice any change at all at this age - I think new born babies are more easily adapatable to new situations than older babies. Even if your baby did experience some difficulty in adapting - I'm sure that after a week or two they would settle down into their new environment and be back to normal.
My Ob told me it was safe for the baby to fly almost immediately HOWEVER it was not safe for a Mother to fly until 6 weeks after the birth. So, we waited until our son was 6 weeks old to fly from Australia to Hong Kong.
2.) Will a baby have jetlack?
For us, travelling between Western Australia & Hong Kong there is no time difference so our son did not experience jet lag. At this age he just slept the whole way - he was just fantastic - I made sure I fed him on ascent and descent to alleviate the pressure on his ears. I put him in the bassinet to sleep the whole way (taking him out for a feed or two) and I slept while he slept. If you travel between countries with a time difference it is likely that your baby WILL have jetlag - but when you get to your destination just make sure you keep your baby to their normal routine and within 7 - 10 days your baby should be back on track with sleeping.
3.) Will a baby have a problem to adobt to new climate?
I can only speak from my own experience - and our son did not notice any change at all at this age - I think new born babies are more easily adapatable to new situations than older babies. Even if your baby did experience some difficulty in adapting - I'm sure that after a week or two they would settle down into their new environment and be back to normal.
Am flying on Sunday with our four week old baby on a 12 hour flight, will let you know how it goes! Am a little apprehensive about the journey but have had so many people tell me that it is much eaiser flying with a tiny baby than an older baby- am trying to take comfort in this! Our baby still has no set night/day sleeping pattern really so not too worried about jet lag.
First baby: Flew HK-Europe and a few days later Europe-US at about 3 months of age
Second baby: Flew US-HK at 3 weeks
It's easier travelling with babies before they are mobile. We didn't have any major problems especially as I was breastfeeding. It gets a bit trickier once they are on the move---worst long haul flights for us were at about 12-15 months of age. We fly go back to the US every Christmas and summer so our kids are used to flying long haul. Shorter flights in Asia are no problem.
As for jet lag, you just have to deal with it. It's a bit easier on babies because they nap a lot.
Second baby: Flew US-HK at 3 weeks
It's easier travelling with babies before they are mobile. We didn't have any major problems especially as I was breastfeeding. It gets a bit trickier once they are on the move---worst long haul flights for us were at about 12-15 months of age. We fly go back to the US every Christmas and summer so our kids are used to flying long haul. Shorter flights in Asia are no problem.
As for jet lag, you just have to deal with it. It's a bit easier on babies because they nap a lot.
our daughter was 6 weeks old and we flew Miami to Italy. I also recommend to have the baby "sucking" during take off and landing. also, dress the baby super warm, since it can feel like its below freezing on some planes... I found that it was easier to travel when they are younger. (Since you dont have to "entertain " as much...) Good luck!!!!
we flew from New Zealand to Germany when our son was 4 months old. That added up to around 30 travel time. It was OK since he slept quite a bit.
I would also advise to feed strategically when the plane is starting and landing to ease the pressure on babies ears. Mind: don't start when the plane is positioned on the runway, but start when it is taking off. Sometimes planes take forever to get into the air and your baby might have drank up all the milk.
yes, babies do have jetlag, so you will have some company with yours. Howeve, our baby adjusted much faster then the rest of us. just get a routine going and expose her to a lot of light during daytime.
Don't worry. we flewn quite a bit since then and things were quite easy at the beginning it is getting much tricky now as our baby is older, sleeps less and wants move around all the time.
Good luck
I would also advise to feed strategically when the plane is starting and landing to ease the pressure on babies ears. Mind: don't start when the plane is positioned on the runway, but start when it is taking off. Sometimes planes take forever to get into the air and your baby might have drank up all the milk.
yes, babies do have jetlag, so you will have some company with yours. Howeve, our baby adjusted much faster then the rest of us. just get a routine going and expose her to a lot of light during daytime.
Don't worry. we flewn quite a bit since then and things were quite easy at the beginning it is getting much tricky now as our baby is older, sleeps less and wants move around all the time.
Good luck
i took my 3 weeks old baby to philippines, he is not a crying baby so i guess he did not react to the air pressure. people ask if he is breastfeeding or awake on tako off and landing, but he is up. (its like older kids need to chew on gum for the air pressure
immigration needs birth certificate, and his sticker (status sticker in the passport) but not critical, i get away with it.. we are going back again for xmass
immigration needs birth certificate, and his sticker (status sticker in the passport) but not critical, i get away with it.. we are going back again for xmass
question re citizenship
I have a question for the Australian and British mothers on this board.
I'm British and my SO is Australian. I have Australian citizenship but have not lived in Britain since immigrating at birth.
I wonder what do I need to do to gain citizenship for my baby once it arrives (or should I start arranging this before the due date). I would like to get both British and Australian, if possible.
Would greatly appreciate any advice.
Thanks, Tutor1
I have a question for the Australian and British mothers on this board.
I'm British and my SO is Australian. I have Australian citizenship but have not lived in Britain since immigrating at birth.
I wonder what do I need to do to gain citizenship for my baby once it arrives (or should I start arranging this before the due date). I would like to get both British and Australian, if possible.
Would greatly appreciate any advice.
Thanks, Tutor1
Hi tutor1, I would suggest contacting the British consulate in HK, they are very helpful and answer questions very quickly.
Were you born in the UK? Do you hold a British passport? If so then your child should automatically get British citizenship regardless of where they are born and regardless of your SO nationality.
The problem comes if you are British by descent, for example, I am British but my parents were working abroad when I was born. Because my husband is not British and our son was born her in HK, he is not entitled to a British passport- very annoying, and rather unfair!
Once your baby is born you just need to apply for a British passport as you would apply for once yourself.
However if your child is not born in the UK, and they go on to marry a non British citizen, and their children are born outside the UK, their children will not be entitled to British citizenship!
Were you born in the UK? Do you hold a British passport? If so then your child should automatically get British citizenship regardless of where they are born and regardless of your SO nationality.
The problem comes if you are British by descent, for example, I am British but my parents were working abroad when I was born. Because my husband is not British and our son was born her in HK, he is not entitled to a British passport- very annoying, and rather unfair!
Once your baby is born you just need to apply for a British passport as you would apply for once yourself.
However if your child is not born in the UK, and they go on to marry a non British citizen, and their children are born outside the UK, their children will not be entitled to British citizenship!
rani
Administrator
bekyboo44 said:
There was another GeoBaby Mom who had the same problem. I think it was her husband who was British by descent, (he was born here) and their son was born here too. They had a bit of trouble getting their son a British passport, but after appealing to the consulate they finally approved his application for citzenship.
My parents are British (ethnic Chinese) and I was born in HK, so I became British by descent. My husband is a local HK-er
My daughter was born in HK and I was able to get a British passport for her. At first the consulate asked for my naturalisation papers (which I've never ever had), all I had were some of my previous passports (not the very first baby one though). It took them about 3-4 weeks to do some investigating back in the UK before we got everything approved.
So its really important to keep those old passports unlike my parents who were unaware how important these things will become in like 30 years time ....
The form for the eligibility sticker on the passport is:-
http://www.immd.gov.hk/pdforms/rop145.pdf
although I've yet to get one for my daughter. It's quite an easy process apparently.
My daughter was born in HK and I was able to get a British passport for her. At first the consulate asked for my naturalisation papers (which I've never ever had), all I had were some of my previous passports (not the very first baby one though). It took them about 3-4 weeks to do some investigating back in the UK before we got everything approved.
So its really important to keep those old passports unlike my parents who were unaware how important these things will become in like 30 years time ....
The form for the eligibility sticker on the passport is:-
http://www.immd.gov.hk/pdforms/rop145.pdf
although I've yet to get one for my daughter. It's quite an easy process apparently.
I will be travelling to UK in mid-Jun and need to get a British Passport for my son. I am a full British Passport holder as I was born in UK hence my son will not have a problem gaining one. When is the best time to apply for my son's passort as I do not know how long it take to process one? Do I need to go in person with my baby or is there a postal system and I pick up the passport in person? Appreciate any advice.
I would reccomend visiting the british consulate website here in hk.
You can apply for passport in person, or by post. It doesn't take that long, but the earlier you apply, faster it will be done. When you fill in the application form it asks you when you will be travelling, so assume they take that into account when processing it.
Not sure if it takes longer to get a brand new passport, than to reapply for an existing one.
All the info. is on the consulate website. They are also very helpful if you need any advice.
You can apply for passport in person, or by post. It doesn't take that long, but the earlier you apply, faster it will be done. When you fill in the application form it asks you when you will be travelling, so assume they take that into account when processing it.
Not sure if it takes longer to get a brand new passport, than to reapply for an existing one.
All the info. is on the consulate website. They are also very helpful if you need any advice.