Taking an allergic infant abroad...

[torgrosset]

Hi - my family & I are going abroad to Menorca (self catering) - yippee!. DD2 is milk intolerant & on a dairy free diet. She'll be 15 months old when we go. I'm a little worried about how we'll cope abroad & was wanting any tips & advice really...

there is a lovely website where you can print off phrases to say what allergy you have and other useful things like I need a doctor (I think). Really ought to put it in my favourites but I'll look for it later - sure its in the archive somewhere. Main problem is insurance, they may not cover anything related to the intolerance unless you've warned them. Tesco and Zurich are pretty sensible (i.e. don't usually refuse cover/ want exorbitant amounts extra for cover) if you haven't got insurance yet.

Don't rely on getting anything suitable to eat on the plane. When we've asked for a nut free meal we've had revolting food that a child wouldn't eat. Some airlanes have fruit that they can give you but they don't tell you that. We've also been given chocolate with a nut warning.

There are places I wouldn't go on holiday but in menorca you should be OK.

Always carry a bag with snacks she can eat. And don't worry if her diet during the holidays is not as good as it should be, she will have time to get back to normality soon.

I'm not quite sure how bad is your DD intolerance but be aware that in countries where anaphilaxis cases are almost unheard of (and Spain is one of them), they may not take your instructions as seriously or would be able to suggest alternatives (i.e. I mentioned at a restaurant that DS couldn't have dishes with milk, etc. on it and they brang us a lovely fish fried in butter!. I have also asked a baker if the bread had milk, egg or soya in it and I was told it hadn't, well it did! I supose the man believed I was just a histerical mother and I wouldn't notice if he lied!

So be careful, most countries are not as allergy/intolerance concious as good old Britain is. Fortunately milk is not that difficult to avoid, specially in Spain )

P.S. I doubt you will be provided with many food options in such a short flight (if any) but if they do, choose vegan.

Site with translations (although you may not need it in menorca) www.allergyaction.org/allergy_action1.htm

And while looking for it also came across this site which had stories about trips www.foodsmatter.com/Holidays.htm

thanks for the tips - i'll have a look at those sites tatt.

If you need some phrases:

-Mi hija es alergica a los lacteos, me puede sugerir un plato que no los contenga?
(My DD is allergic to dairy, could you suggest a dairy free dish? -I said allergy instead of intolerances as I don't expect much people to be familiar with the term "intolerancias")

If you are in doubt about what to eat, paellas have no milk on them and a vegetable one is a good dish for a small child.

In case you run out of options, there's always Mc Donalds (not an endorsement, but a Happy MEal with a single burger (without no extra condiments), and chips are totally dairy free)

we were given a vegan meal that consisted of pasta in some sort of congealed sauce. It was possibly the most revolting thing I've ever tried (and failed to eat). No chance of a child eating it, mine took one look and said yeuk. It was the memory of that made me suggest taking your own food.

What airline were you traveling with Tatt?, in most of our trips, the vegan choice was much healthier and better than the regular one so I started to think about ordering one for myself too!

P.S. Have also noted that many major airlines don't provide meals for toddlers (especially if you have not booked a seat for them) so, better to take something with you just in case...

virgin - only other food I've ever tried that was so bad was on a Times eat out for £5 deal, think they should have paid me to eat it .

I think you'll be fine in menorca, we've been to spain loads of times with our allergic dds - there is so much lovely fresh food - paella is never made with butter - always olive oil, and you can get lovely ham, melon, fresh fruit, tomato bread, fresh grilled fish, wonderful salads. Take some dairy free margarine with you as well, and maybe some rice milk or whatever she drinks. The plane journey is short too, so I would bring stuff from home for that to avoid the grim fare that passes for food on most airlines. Quite jealous just thinking about it! have fun.