We have never put our daughter on a plane due to my oldest's airborne peanut and treenut allergies; airplanes use recycled air. On our recent trip to San Francisco it occurred to me to share our experience and steps we take to prepare and enjoy a safe and fun get-away!
In October of 2016, I drove to Nevada for an Allergy Summit. A lot of planning went on for that trip. Not only for myself, but for both my girls. I had to arrange for my mom and aunt to go with me to help care and keep both my babies safe. I took all pre-cooked meals, asked the hotel for a refrigerator to keep our food fresh. There are many hours of planning and preparing. These are things that must be taken: toaster, rice cooker, safe milk, safe snacks, safe food (some pre-made meals are frozen then placed in the rice cookers and steamed to reheat), cutting board, hand soap, dish soap, toiletries, MEDICATION, 6 Epi-Pens, Benadryl, Tylenol, Nebulizer, baby formula, etcetera. I also research our nearest Whole Foods for fresh salads, fruits and water. I take enough of everything to last while on the trip. I usually overpack snacks. We also take tons of disinfecting wipes, our own pillows, blankets and towels.
It has been 3 years since we took a family vacation. It's very stressful, to say the least, because I pack for two young daughters that have completely different allergies. One is medically dependent and the other one is allergic to 65 % of foods! Once everything is packed in the car and ready to go , ALL the stress goes away.
Always when arriving to our destination we wipe down the most common things our daughters can touch- the door knobs, handles to cabinets, toilet handle, kitchen and bathroom sink handles. A MUST! If we stay in a hotel, we always ask for our sheets to be changed (so that way we know our sheets get changed and we ask for the room to be vacuumed again). We also ask for extra bed sheets and place over the carpet if our girls are playing on the floor. It's a must for those who have a child with severe asthma.
Another thing that helps us to eat out safely is a great app called Allergy Eats. It compiles a searchable database of restaurants that try to accommodate to the best of their knowledge for people with food allergies and those that suffer from Celiac's. This app helped us while we were on our trip to San Francisco. We logged on, entered our location and a list of restaurants were at our fingertips...so Rainforest Café was chosen.
In October of 2016, I drove to Nevada for an Allergy Summit. A lot of planning went on for that trip. Not only for myself, but for both my girls. I had to arrange for my mom and aunt to go with me to help care and keep both my babies safe. I took all pre-cooked meals, asked the hotel for a refrigerator to keep our food fresh. There are many hours of planning and preparing. These are things that must be taken: toaster, rice cooker, safe milk, safe snacks, safe food (some pre-made meals are frozen then placed in the rice cookers and steamed to reheat), cutting board, hand soap, dish soap, toiletries, MEDICATION, 6 Epi-Pens, Benadryl, Tylenol, Nebulizer, baby formula, etcetera. I also research our nearest Whole Foods for fresh salads, fruits and water. I take enough of everything to last while on the trip. I usually overpack snacks. We also take tons of disinfecting wipes, our own pillows, blankets and towels.
It has been 3 years since we took a family vacation. It's very stressful, to say the least, because I pack for two young daughters that have completely different allergies. One is medically dependent and the other one is allergic to 65 % of foods! Once everything is packed in the car and ready to go , ALL the stress goes away.
Always when arriving to our destination we wipe down the most common things our daughters can touch- the door knobs, handles to cabinets, toilet handle, kitchen and bathroom sink handles. A MUST! If we stay in a hotel, we always ask for our sheets to be changed (so that way we know our sheets get changed and we ask for the room to be vacuumed again). We also ask for extra bed sheets and place over the carpet if our girls are playing on the floor. It's a must for those who have a child with severe asthma.
Another thing that helps us to eat out safely is a great app called Allergy Eats. It compiles a searchable database of restaurants that try to accommodate to the best of their knowledge for people with food allergies and those that suffer from Celiac's. This app helped us while we were on our trip to San Francisco. We logged on, entered our location and a list of restaurants were at our fingertips...so Rainforest Café was chosen.