Become familiar with these 10 summer travel health tips for kids in order to keep them healthy and safe.
*These tips are highly recommended since kids are more susceptible to travel risk than adults.
Things to Consider
- Air travel – If you’ve ever traveled on a plane, you know that altitude can create ear pain. Children can be taught what to expect before getting on a plane and what precautionary methods to use; older children can be taught to chew gum, yawn or swallow. Breastfeeding is considered the best precautionary means for infants.
- Diarrhea is a common illness that can affect children while traveling. Some precautionary strategies are: educate children before hand concerning safe food ingestion and frequent hand washing.
- Malaria – Children can become exposed to malaria and other types of diseases while traveling. To prevent exposure, bug spray can be used; children can wear protective clothing that covers the arms and legs. While sleeping it’s recommended that rooms be air conditioned and screened.
- Rabies – Children being children, when encountering animals, like to touch and pet; which can cause them to become susceptible to rabies. Educating children against petting animals while traveling is always an advisable precaution. However, if animal bites should occur, the wound should be washed thoroughly with soap and water and the child taken to the hospital as soon as possible.
- Vaccines – You want to make sure your child’s regular routine vaccines are kept up to date. If for some reason travel takes place prior to routine scheduled vaccines it’s advisable to inform the child’s regular physician, and to find a medical doctor abroad that can provide vaccines.
- Travel Accidents – Car accidents happen frequently while traveling. Death can also occur from drowning. Make sure young children are protected by using proper car seats. If swimming is on your vacation agenda, children should wear life preservers and never be left unattended or unsupervised.
- Sunscreen – Children enjoy being on beaches and playing outdoors in the sunshine. To prevent sunburn and skin cancers, bring along or purchase sunscreen.
- Hand sanitizers – Children need to frequently wash their hands. Bring along a non-toxic hand sanitizer for kids.
- Asthma – If any of your kids have asthma it isn’t recommended that you take them they go scuba diving.
- Medications – Bring along any medications that your children might take regularly for pain and fever. In case of unexpected allergic reactions you might want to pack some Benadryl in the travel bag.
Travel tips for kids
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/children
http://travel.gc.ca/travelling/health-safety/children
http://pediatrics.about.com/od/childhoodinfections/a/travel_health.htm
