MishpishTaking a vacation with food allergies
March 3rd 2008 23:29
Recommendations for planning a vacation with allergies:
- RESEARCH!!
- Find a great, experienced Travel Agent
- Ensure you contact any airlines before flying regarding getting your epi pen past security checkpoints
- Bring spare epi pens in your luggage
- Get your child to wear a medi-alert bracelet or similar (I got a great one from allergyblock.com.au that was a bright red wide bracelet and only cost $8.00)
- Bring along snacks for the flight
- Take any possible medicines such as tylenol (panadol), ventolin, clarantyne, etc
Planning a family holiday when your child has a severe food allergy takes a lot of forethought, research and planning. But if you do plan it accordingly, you are heavily rewarded for your hard work.
When my husband and I started organising our first family holiday since our daughter's 'anaphylactic episode', we found it was the first time we truly had to digest the far reaching possibilities of our little one's allergy. We realised that special considerations needed to be made in terms of food offerings, kid club facilities, medical assistance as well as the travel options.
I realised that you can take a vacation WITH food allergies, but not FROM them!
Ensure you find a travel agent that understands your situation and requirements. Nowadays many travel agents are only concerned with typing in and printing off an itinerary and costs. Not too many are left that offer the full service deal of knowing the various destinations' pros and cons. It's well worth the effort of finding one who does. They can organise meetings with relevant staff when you arrive to help ensure your vacation goes smoothly, which will in turn help you relax!
Call the place you are thinking of visiting (resort, hotel, etc) to find out if they have dealt with this before and how they can help ensure your stay is enjoyable. We stayed at a Club Med and they were extremely helpful. I've also heard similar compliments regarding Disneyland.
You'll need to consider the types of food available: Are you near a choice of restaurants or are you limited to the food offered where you're staying? If your going to a foreign country, carefully consider any language issues. For example, we couldn't confidently consider a holiday in Thailand, where nuts are common in food and the english would be limited.
If possible, request a meeting with the restaurant management or head chef to see how they can help your family relax while on holiday.
Child care: Are the staff educated on your child's allergy and its ramifications? Do they know how to administer an epi pen if required? Are they able to administer any other medicines if required? Is food available in the child care facilities? If yes, what peanut products are there?
Get your child to wear a bracelet, sticker, etc to alert people to his/her situation. I found a great bracelet (bright red with big letters saying "anaphylaxis alert" fro $8.00 at allergyblock.com.au).
Find out about medical facilities where you're going: is there a doctor, nurse or hospital nearby? Are the staff trained in first aid?
Call the airline you are flying with about requirements for flying with an epi pen in your carry on luggage. Each airline has its own policy. I'm not sure what it's like in the states, but when we went through security, I kept one in its original box with the prescription sticker on it, showed it to the security personnel before placing it in a tray for the x-ray. We had no problems.
- RESEARCH!!
- Find a great, experienced Travel Agent
- Ensure you contact any airlines before flying regarding getting your epi pen past security checkpoints
- Bring spare epi pens in your luggage
- Get your child to wear a medi-alert bracelet or similar (I got a great one from allergyblock.com.au that was a bright red wide bracelet and only cost $8.00)
- Bring along snacks for the flight
- Take any possible medicines such as tylenol (panadol), ventolin, clarantyne, etc
You can relax!
When my husband and I started organising our first family holiday since our daughter's 'anaphylactic episode', we found it was the first time we truly had to digest the far reaching possibilities of our little one's allergy. We realised that special considerations needed to be made in terms of food offerings, kid club facilities, medical assistance as well as the travel options.
I realised that you can take a vacation WITH food allergies, but not FROM them!
Ensure you find a travel agent that understands your situation and requirements. Nowadays many travel agents are only concerned with typing in and printing off an itinerary and costs. Not too many are left that offer the full service deal of knowing the various destinations' pros and cons. It's well worth the effort of finding one who does. They can organise meetings with relevant staff when you arrive to help ensure your vacation goes smoothly, which will in turn help you relax!
Call the place you are thinking of visiting (resort, hotel, etc) to find out if they have dealt with this before and how they can help ensure your stay is enjoyable. We stayed at a Club Med and they were extremely helpful. I've also heard similar compliments regarding Disneyland.
You'll need to consider the types of food available: Are you near a choice of restaurants or are you limited to the food offered where you're staying? If your going to a foreign country, carefully consider any language issues. For example, we couldn't confidently consider a holiday in Thailand, where nuts are common in food and the english would be limited.
If possible, request a meeting with the restaurant management or head chef to see how they can help your family relax while on holiday.
Child care: Are the staff educated on your child's allergy and its ramifications? Do they know how to administer an epi pen if required? Are they able to administer any other medicines if required? Is food available in the child care facilities? If yes, what peanut products are there?
Get your child to wear a bracelet, sticker, etc to alert people to his/her situation. I found a great bracelet (bright red with big letters saying "anaphylaxis alert" fro $8.00 at allergyblock.com.au).
Find out about medical facilities where you're going: is there a doctor, nurse or hospital nearby? Are the staff trained in first aid?
Call the airline you are flying with about requirements for flying with an epi pen in your carry on luggage. Each airline has its own policy. I'm not sure what it's like in the states, but when we went through security, I kept one in its original box with the prescription sticker on it, showed it to the security personnel before placing it in a tray for the x-ray. We had no problems.
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