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babies and alitude

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
We are expecting a baby in march so can't go skiing this year (the only cost saving exercise this baby done and proably will do) . But we are planning on going next year in march and therefore the baby will be about 10 months.

The question I ask is how high is safe for the baby to go upto. based on the initially stopping at resort level for the first couple of days, but after that it would be good to get parent (babysitter) and baby up the mountain to meet them for lunch.

Also due to us thinking about going 2nd week of march we were wanting to go to more snow sure resorts.

What resort levels are safe? and what levels for a couple of hours up the mountian during the day?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
acanno, people live in the Alps at altitude and have babies all the time.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Helen Beaumont, Very Happy common sense personified!
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acanno, we stayed in Plagne 1800 with our 10 month old, with no issues at all. And the nannies would usually bring the kids up to Plagne Centre during the day, which I guess must be a couple of hundred metres higher. I'm not sure what the issue is with altitude? More the cold that's an issue. Anyway, congratulations - it'll be great! Very Happy
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From memory if you stay under 1500m the baby should be OK. A baby can't regulate the pressure so easily and so avoid cable cars and lifts that go above this level. Probably best to pick a resort where the mid station is under 1500m so you can meet there rather than be confined to the valley.
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I was dragged to a ski resort aged five months & look what it did to me Shocked
Mind you, it was low in Austria. But I dont think planes were pressurised back then . . .
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Previous discussion here

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=9887&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=babies+altitude+sickness
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
1500m is ridiculously cautious. provided the baby is over 3 months they are fine up to 3500m, like most people.

i saw babies thriving in the himalayas at altitudes above that.
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goaty, assume they are residents and hence used to it?

We've never had a problem with ours, but have stayed below 2000m, mainly as cold is the issue after that!
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from experience they will possibly refused access to some lifts such as gondolas etc - Brevent in Chamonix the liftie wouldn't allow up with a 10mth old saying the altitude was not good for them - cold wasn't an issue as it was May at the time but.....
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goaty wrote:
1500m is ridiculously cautious. provided the baby is over 3 months they are fine up to 3500m, like most people.

i saw babies thriving in the himalayas at altitudes above that.


1500m is cautious but it was from an Austrian doctor. From what I remember it was more to do with a fast change in altitude rather than the ultimate level (in Europe). We were advised to avoid long cable car rides with big changes in altitude.


Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Fri 9-02-07 13:03; edited 1 time in total
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Cheers for all your replies, I'll show this to the wife and we'll be back skiing soon Very Happy
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http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/travel/highaltitudeholidays/


Some advice on here.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Took my 10 month old up the Dachstein Glacier cable car in Austria a couple of weeks back, just under 3000m He wasn't bothered at all, though he wasn't too sure about the blizzard at the top.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
DB, over 3 months the baby won't be any more affected than you are by a sudden change in altitude. going up to the aiguille de midi from the valley floor in cham makes most people feel pretty odd, but will only very rarely cause HAPE or HACE and that is alot higher than 1500m. each to their own i suppose, but i don't consider anything under 3000m as high altitude and therefore dangerous to anyone.

oh and yes, they lived at those altitudes, but i was just trying to make a point.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I found that our then-15 month-old's sleep was disturbed, which my sister said she found with their little one, too, at that age. Plus snottier noses and hacking coughs (although no chest infection) which only seemed to appear when we arrived in resort (ditto for my sister). But heck, who knows if something else is going on too, and it was nothing to do with the altitude (1800 m ish)?

Don't think my sister's had problems with either of her two since (now 6 and 4) and I don't have any further experience to comment, as I travelled without the children this time round.
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Perhaps we should send a few thousand aloft in met balloons to get some statistically significant results. Twisted Evil
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
I think it is risky to take them above 1500m if they are less than one. I know, technically, it shouldnt make a difference but i am speaking practically .I know i feel dehydrated and my sleep is disturbed suring the first few days even at relatively low heights such as 1800m . We have experienced our little one feeling grumpy and disorientated when we took him to the grotte de glace above les arcs (2300 -2500m ?). It was the actual altitude but the rate of change of altitude. He always has restless sleep when at any altitude above 1500m or so.
I dont think it will be dangerous to go to altitudes of 2000m + with a child but it might simply be uncomfortable and disruptive to the holiday. Also, as mentioned, there is the cold. dont they say 1°C drop for every 100m climb so from 1000m to 2000m can make a 10°C drop in temp. We are staying in montchavin - 1250m. partly because of the altitude partly for other reasons (ie esprit special offer, close to vanoise express).
The points made about babies who live in the alps are a little misleading - they are born there, live there and thus have aclimatised.as i said earlier its not the absolute altitude but the rate of change that is relevant (think about everest climbers - thats why they spend so long at base camp in order to aclimatise !)
what doesnt help is that a lot of tour operators / websites say "consult your GP" - my wife is a GP and she is not in position to comment on babies at altitude as we dont really have problems of this nature in flat lincolnshire which is about 100m high !!!! LOL seriously though, most UK GPs will be no better qualified to advise on this than us lot on here !!!
cheers
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Quote:

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/travel/highaltitudeholidays/

Helen Beaumont, are you a member of the above???? I am and have been since 2002.
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Quote:

Perhaps we should send a few thousand aloft in met balloons to get some statistically significant results.

laundryman, You are bad but I like you Very Happy
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Leis, well that's nice - not many do, you know. Smile
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Quote:

Also due to us thinking about going 2nd week of march we were wanting to go to more snow sure resorts.

That's mid season! You shouldn't have to worry about snow, but do worry about the French school hols and check dates. This year they don't finish till 10 March. Go somewhere a bit lower (though not low) and family friendly, where baby and babysitter can get up the mountain and still be at a sensible altitude. High altitude resorts can be a bit grim for non skiers. We see heaps of babies around in Les Saisies (1650, top restaurant 2000m and a nice one you can walk to at 1850) and they all look perfectly happy to me. There are loads of other similar altitude resorts to go to.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Thanks for all your help, just needed a bit of re-assuring
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If you are worried about going over 1,500 metres you should not go on the plane to get there. I think they run at an atmospheric pressure similar to 3,000 metres.

I think the dry environment is the the key factor which, although not harmful, can cause discomfort. A previous topic suggested a wet towel on the radiator at night to help that dry throat.

Its the heavy smokers with damaged lungs and coronaries who should worry excercising over 1,500 metres not healthy babies!
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bbski wrote:
If you are worried about going over 1,500 metres you should not go on the plane to get there. I think they run at an atmospheric pressure similar to 3,000 metres.

Was about to say the same thing and their is never an issue with needing to acclimatise before hand to the change in air pressure in planes.
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I think the plane journey will be worse than the resort. I know this because babies always cry (more like SCREAM!!) on planes. It must hurt them???
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
I think the reason babies cry on planes and maybe on fast cable cars is that their ears hurt - they don't naturally know how to pop them. Isn't the answer for them to be eating or drinking something - then the pressure will equalise?
Ok I am not a mum so I'm sure a mum will tell me that its impossible to get a grumpy crying baby to have a drink if they don't want a drink!!!!!
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When taking off in a plane or travelling in a cable car we always give our little girl a drink or sweet so that her ears pop.

As I said before a resort with a mid station not over 1500m means your chances of the child not being happy at altitude are very slim. If the baby is happy there then you can try a higher station. If the baby for whatever reason (altitude, cold etc) is not happy at a higher elevation and there's no other lower place to meet up on the mountain then it normally means Mum & junior get stuck down in the valley while Dad skis (esp if the mother is still breast feeding). Meet up points on the hill are very important for family skiing.
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 You know it makes sense.
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Quote:

If you are worried about going over 1,500 metres you should not go on the plane to get there. I think they run at an atmospheric pressure similar to 3,000 metres.


Quite correct, my old man was a flight engineer an longhaul passenger jets and they allow the plane to naturally depressurise to 10,000ft and then hold the pressure at that. Something to do with partial pressures of oxygen and not feeling drowsy. Only wish they would allow the pressure to go a bit lower, that way I may be able to actually get some kip on a plane Toofy Grin
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bbski wrote:
If you are worried about going over 1,500 metres you should not go on the plane to get there. I think they run at an atmospheric pressure similar to 3,000 metres.


2200 according to the altimeter on my watch.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
According to BA, most commercial airliners fly with a cabin altitude of 4000-8000 feet
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Quote:

According to BA, most commercial airliners fly with a cabin altitude of 4000-8000 feet

Hmmm things must have changed since my dad retired (mid 90s) cause he used to dial it in to 10,000ft. Oh, and he was on BA Jumbo's Very Happy I know it costs to keep a cabin pressurised, so maybe what they admit to publicly is not exactly what they actually practice...surely not Twisted Evil
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Helen Beaumont wrote:
acanno, people live in the Alps at altitude and have babies all the time.

They should find out what causes it and stop doing it, then. It's no good complaining to us lowlanders about it.
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The guide for physicians used to be on the BA website, it seems to have disappeared.

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/healthmedcond/public/en_gb#medical

now says 6-8000 ft
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acanno, regardless of the altitude, I don't see the point of taking a 10 moth old nipper on a ski hol. They'll get nothing out of it and they'll cramp your style. If poss, leave it at home with a grandparent or two, or something similar.
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Quote:

acanno, regardless of the altitude, I don't see the point of taking a 10 moth old nipper on a ski hol. They'll get nothing out of it and they'll cramp your style. If poss, leave it at home with a grandparent or two, or something similar.


...or better still just don't have any at all and then you can go skiing whenever you like. Twisted Evil
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