Do you travel much with your allergic child?

[Likeaninjanow]

Ds2 has multiple allergies and we carry epipens etc. We've o ly taken him abroad once and never go anywhere too remote.

I thought it might be good to share where we've been and how easy or difficult it was to find suitable food.

We went to the Vendee in France and it was amazing! They were extremely accommodating in restaurants and we had no reactions. The food on childre's menus is very healthy & basic which worked well for us. The only thing we couldn't find was soya free spread. Looked everywhere.

Anyone else like to share? We'd love to go somewhere elsebut it's a bit daunting

well we would like to go to france this year.However we don't eat out in this country (UK).

Sorry, I should have said...we only ate out a few times as we went self catering. Would that be an option for you beachesforme?

We've been to Spain and the USA with DS (nut allergic). USA was fab - the combination of their emphasis on customer service and their paranoia about litigation means they bend over backwards to serve you (manager comes out even in a pizza takeaway to check ingredients etc). I was a bit concerned with Spain as they love their almonds especially but we've never had any problems (been a few times). I work on the theory that we ask for things that clearly shouldn't have been anywhere near nuts (so eg fresh grilled fish, veggies etc) and then just do the 'he's allergic to nuts, there mustn't be any nuts in this dish, it is very important etc'.

We've not had any problems so far, it may help that I speak reasonable Spanish but I presume the allergy cards would substitute if you don't speak the language.

We eat out quite a bit in the UK, the only places we don't go are Chinese/Thai/Indian with DS as I feel they're too high risk for nut allergy.

We live in Luxembourg and recently went to London, plus my husband is French so we often go to France. I'm from NZ, so we also have to do that trip (and have had an allergic reaction in the plane once, that was horrific!) and last year went to Australia on the way. Have also been to Spain and Germany. But we always do self-catering (or sometimes go to vegan restaurants as DS's problem is a dairy allergy) so we are not dependent on what we can get from a restaurant. We also take a few safe ready meals with us that can be reheated in a restaurant.

Have to say though that the allergy does make travel more complicated, scary and exhausting (because of the self catering thing) so maybe we do less than we otherwise would, although to be honest I don't think we'd do loads more anyway.

I am pretty freaked out for this summer as we are going with friends to an island off the west coast of France where there are no cars - but I talked to the tourist office and there is a fire brigade there (who also have paramedic training) and a helicopter can be there in less than 10 minutes for an emergency.

weta, can I just ask whether French bread is generally dairy free? (sorry to hijack likean).

We are going to Switzerland for our hols and will be driving down through France. I know we will have restaurants to deal with but will check with the hotels we want to stay at before we book them to make sure they can do dairy free. Would love to feel that we could at least buy some fresh food to make up picnic lunches on the way

thanks!

mintyneb we lived in France for several years and apparently any baguette you buy in a bakery cannot have milk powder added to it (though obviously you can always ask). I think wholemeal bread would be fine too, but not some specialty breads (eg corn bread or others, and obviously brioche or any cheesy type bread). Sliced bread from a supermarket may well have milk in it (check labels), but bakery bread is far nicer anyway!

The upside of self catering is that it's definitely cheaper than hotel+restaurants :)

We have been to Italy, France, Germany, Spain, denmark with multiple allergic, epipen carrying DS. Soya products have been available in all.

I remember in Rome near the colliseum sending DH and my Dad on ahead with DS in the pram so we could have ice cream so DS wouldn't get upset only to find the ice cream shop made rice milk ice cream. I then sprinted after them carrying ice cream for DS, it was amazing to see him enjoying an ice cream like anyone else on holiday.

That was then countered by the projectile vomiting incident in the not for children toy shop on the Piazza Navone with lots of signs saying DO NOT TOUCH, after being assured the sorbet had no egg or milk in. I think it didn't but we forgot to ask about the cone!!!

For the most part we have found it absolutely fine travelling, although better in Spanish or French speaking countries where I feel confident in making myself understood. We always take Oatly and Pure with us which is s bit of a hassle with weight restrictions.

Ds is allergic to nuts .We have been to US, Canada, Dubai, France ,Italy,Greece,Turkeyand cruised the med.
We always carry translation allergy cards and go self catering with a stock of basics .
Have never had a problem travelling but he does stick to basic food with no sauces etc, like fish and chips,steak and veg.

Cruise was fantastic for allergic people .

Well, after saying we don't go to remote places, our Eater break has turned out to be extremely remote! I've found a good spot up a hill to check replies

Great to hear your travelling experiences. I think we might try Spain next. Ds2 is allergic to dairy, soya, nuts, peas& pulses, eggs and peanuts.
The reason we went to France first is because I speak French. Maybe I should learn Spanish too!

Weta - a reaction on a plane sounds scary! Did you know what the reaction was to? How did they deal with it?

Reaction was to the 'vegetarian no dairy' meal I had ordered for him, 3 hours into a 9-hour flight! They didn't really deal with it at all... I had the meds, which I gave him, though fortunately he didn't need the epipen. He also emerged from the plane half-dressed as I didn't have enough spare clothes to deal with the multiple vomiting.

I have now learnt that the best way to handle the meals is to write to the airline in advance and get something in writing to say that he will receive a lactose-free medical meal (as opposed to the dairy-free vege dietary meal their staff had previously advised by me to order). Last time I boarded with fear and trembling and a large bag of dehydrated meals, but their medical meals were absolutely fine.

On an Air Canada flight with nut allergic ds I had ordered nut/egg free meal for him. Guess what was plonked down on his tray? A large plastic beaker full of nuts .
Crossed wires or what.

We travelled all over the world with DD and her Epipen, and only ate in restaurants, seldom self catered, the only problem we encountered was in Paris, but soon rectified without incident.

DD has travelled on her OWN to Thailand, Columbia, Sri Lanka, Peru, South America and South Africa, Canada, USA, Spain, Italy Germany, Gibraltar, as a young adult with confidence, gained from being given the confidence to take responsibility for her allergies from the age of 11.

I use to worry, and do still, but she is 25 next week and a fantastic young woman! ( very proud mummy emoticon!)

We always travelled business long haul and you get nuts only in business class on BA, the rest get some chippy thingies apparently!

That sounds amazing alibubbles, and good on your DD for being so confident now.

What allergies does she have? in what ways did you let her take responsibility for her own allergies from 11? and what did you do before that?

I don't know whether we are being overprotective doing the self-catering thing, but basically were following specialist's advice not to let anyone else prepare DS1's food... and have had problems in restaurants before even with things like bread (dairy allergy). At the moment it feels easier to take the responsibility ourselves rather than trusting restaurants etc, but I am very aware that at some point he will need to take responsibility for himself.

Weta - I was allergic to dairy until I got pg (not anaphylactic but hives, vomiting etc I used to react to the tiniest amounts of milk). For dairy allergy the Mediterranean area is fab - olive oil instead of butter, mostly tomato based sauces etc. We went to Italy and Spain loads when I was in my 20s (and child-free) and it was great. If the advice from the specialist changes then they might be good places to try. Also Chinese/Japanese food is normally ok as they tend to eat very little dairy...

Thanks, those are good tips - will no doubt discuss it with specialist again sometime, although after last week's reaction I'm in no hurry to take any extra risks! Interesting that you stopped being allergic with pregnancy, not that it offers much hope for my DS :)

That's so encouraging alibubbles! I think I'm a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to DS2s allergies. I do try not to worry him though. My wish is that he becomes as confident as your daughter with his eating.

We were in Scotland on a long weekend break, and in one place he couldn't even have a plate of chips. They were cooked in soya oil . His poor wee face. He ended up with plain chicken breast and boiled potatoes.

we want DD to experience the world ,but we do not speak other languages just a bit of french.she is anaphalatic to peanuts ,other nuts,eggs and sesame and we are veggie.

Hi
My DD2 has a treenut/peanut allergy - we take her epipens everywhere.
We started on holidays in France - no problems, and have since been to Greece and the Canary Islands - also no problems. I always take translation cards (can speak French, but not any other language) - but rarely show them.

I find that self catering is the best way to go, and she eats a lot of chips in restaurants (they tend to use sunflower oil in France and olive oil in Greece for cooking). We just avoid the usual suspects - ice creams, bakery pastries, chocolate, and take a lot of safe snacks and sweets with us so she isn't too disappointed when they offer the usual complimentary chocolates or ice cream etc after the meal. We buy fruit and salad vegs from the local shops so that she gets some vitamins etc, but one week of a rubbish diet won't do any harm. It's probably a good idea to find out in advance if there is a good medical clinic/hospital reasonably close by - I always check to put my mind at rest.
The only worry I have now is that DD2 has stood on a bee twice now on a beach with bare feet (once in France, other time in Greece) and the second time there was a localised allergic reaction and infection that needed a Dr's attention so now I worry about the potential for severe bee allergy and she wears crocks on the beach now at all times! In my 43 years I've never stood on a bee, and my 6 yr old has done it twice - unlucky!!
Flying with epipens has been no problem - we have doctors letter and the pens have the prescription label on - the security people barely look at them. I'm sure you'll have a great time elsewhere too - enjoy wherever you go.

Just interested about people taking own food on flights... what kind of food do you take? It is such a long way to NZ (24 hours in the plane plus 12 hours in Singapore) and we struggle to find enough food that is suitable for the plane. Last time I found some dehydrated meals in the supermarket, but there are only one or two DS1 can have (dairy allergy), and he can't eat snacks alone for such a long time! plus he is a really big eater so we need vast amounts...

What about taking cereal bars for breakfast, filled rolls for lunch and some cold pasta salad for dinner. Then crisps and other snacky stuff. Peperami are good for a bit more substantial snack as they don't have to be kept cold.

It is a bit of a long time to cater for though, so you might have to buy food at some point.

Meant to say if you froze the rolls and took the filling separately then that would help keep everything cold.