RelationshipsSEP 30, 2023

Woman Infuriates Her Parents By Not Going On A 10-Hour Flight So They Can See Their Grandbaby

Whether choosing a vacation abroad or going on a business trip, for some people, flying is a frequent occurrence. Reddit user Kthrowaway244's parents live overseas so she also isn't a newbie to the experience.

However, after she and her husband had their first baby, the woman made up her mind not to take the little boy to meet her folks. Even though they really wanted to see their grandson in person, she thought the journey would be too much for her to handle.

The new grandparents were very unhappy to hear this. They started accusing their daughter of being disrespectful and turned against her. She started having doubts about her decision and made a post on the subreddit 'Am I the [Jerk]?' asking the community to help her make sense of the whole ordeal.

This woman has just given birth to her first child, and her parents really want to meet their grandson

Image credits: westend61 (not the actual photo)

But they live overseas, and the woman doesn't want to take a long flight with a newborn

Her parents believe the woman is being disrespectful

Image credits: Ashwin Vaswani (not the actual photo)

Image source: kthrowaway244

Even if the woman's son would be the calmest baby in the world, there's still the aspect of his health

While it is technically OK for babies to fly just a few days after they're born, doctors generally discourage this. Air travel increases a newborn's risk of catching an infectious disease, and babies born prematurely, with chronic heart or lung problems, or with upper or lower respiratory symptoms may also have problems with the change in oxygen level within the air cabin.

But "Around 3 to 6 months can be a good time to fly," Mollie Greves Grow, MD, MPH, a pediatrician at Seattle Children’s Hospital, told Verywell Family. "This is after they have started or completed the primary immunization series and after the worst of fussiness/colic has passed, which usually peaks around six weeks."

The vaccines, however, aren't the end-all-be-all for why babies should fly after a certain age. "As a general rule, I advise against air travel under 2 months of age unless it is absolutely necessary," pediatrician Gary Kramer, MD, PA, told the same outlet. "The reason has nothing to do with the first vaccines but rather with the consequence that any infant below that age developing a fever will require a complete emergency evaluation for infection."

This is especially concerning while flying because there are many people packed into a small, contained space. While airplane air is very clean—Boeing compares the air in its airplanes to hospital air—that doesn't account for the other parts of airplane travel, like hired cars, public transportation, and the airport itself, where babies can pick up germs that could make them sick.

It's hard to judge the woman for prioritizing her baby's well-being and comfort (as well as her own), and, after all, she did offer to pay for her parents' tickets. Sometimes it's truly hard to understand if a person is fighting for their values or is just having an ego trip.