Travel

It is very quick that a parent learns that travelling with a child makes a vacation into more of a trip.  But that doesn’t mean you should not travel with your kiddo.  The younger you start, the more adaptable and worldly your kiddo will be.  But that ability to make awesome travel-oriented memories requires some homework and prep, especially if you are planning on traveling internationally.

Other than making sure you travel with children’s Tylenol and children’s Ibuprofen (for kids over 6 months of age) and children’s Benadryl, just in case they get an allergic reaction in the middle of nowhere, it is good to check in with your kiddo’s doctor to see if the cool country you are travelling to has any recommended travel medications and/or vaccines or kid specific health guidance to make travel safer.  It is best to schedule these 2-4 weeks before the trip as some of the vaccines needed for travel take a bit of time to order and some of them require multiple administrations to build immunity before travel. 

Traveler’s diarrhea can also happen to any traveler anytime anywhere.  I will usually recommend that if a family is traveling internationally that anything the kiddos eat should be boiled, peeled, or cooked, and best to leave ice out of drinks to avoid the most common causes/ways food borne illness spreads to kids.  If your kiddo does get traveler’s diarrhea, it is best to get some Pedialyte or similar electrolyte solution to keep them hydrated while they are pooping or vomiting profusely.  We don’t usually want kids taking antibiotics for traveler’s diarrhea unless there is blood in the stool.  Similarly, we want to avoid any anti-diarrhea medicine because we don’t want to stop the body’s ability to rid the gut of the infectious agent.  If your kiddo is so dehydrated that they are not urinating at least once every 4 hours, then they may need to see a local doctor for IV hydration to help treat their dehydration.