Don’t let airports Jamaica you crazy
January 8, 2010
Posted by Hanna
Each week, we will offer readers a guest blog post. Our guests will be nutritionists, doctors and those living with food allergies/intolerances. This week’s guest blogger is Rhonda, who currently works with AllergySense.com and has lived with a nut allergy for about 30 years. She has one daughter with the same allergy and her youngest daughter is currently going through tests to determine if she also has the allergy. Enjoy Life Foods are a family favorite in her kitchen’s pantry.
Here’s a story I wanted to share with you as we recently returned from an amazing family vacation to Jamaica. Because of our nut allergies, we need to be prepared when traveling and always have snacks and foods accessible that we know are safe.
With our current airport security measures, families spend more time in airports and on planes than originally scheduled. Here are a few tips to keep your younger kids going through those long, sometimes drawn out, hours of travel.
- Bring lots of books and coloring. I have found that coloring books work really well and a variety of them. Visit your local dollar store and get creative. Hey for $1, you can go crazy!
- Play-Doh is a good alternative as is play clay. We have made some really creative creatures on plane rides and in airports and I must say, Play-Doh attracts other kids who are also bored waiting for their flights.
- Magnet games such as bingo or checkers are great, especially when the plane encounters turbulence, you won’t lose the pieces.
- Invisible markers are mess-free. We love these because if the kids draw on themselves (or you) by accident, nothing will show up. The markers have a clear tip and the color only comes out on the page when they color.
- Pack the right foods and snacks – You can make your own sandwiches or other foods at home to bring with you especially if you are traveling over mealtime. We usually travel with the Enjoy Life® trail mix (not nuts!TM mountain mamboTM) and the Sunbutter® Crunch bars as they are family favorites. They are portable allowing you to enjoy them anywhere. Applesauce tubes might work well for your allergies and fresh fruit is usually great as well. Just be aware that sometimes security won’t let you travel with fresh fruit. You can always call ahead.
With a bit of extra planning and lots of patience, you can ensure your trip starts off the right way every time. Enjoy your travels (and special family time!).
~Rhonda
Categories: Guest Blogger
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Tags: airports, sunbutter crunch snack bars, trail mix, traveling with food allergies
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Great post! I loved play-doh when younger but now it is a bit of a nightmare since it contains wheat and our son is allergic; I love the other ideas though). My son is on a huge sunbutter bar kick right now too.
ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) – A TSA screener in New Orleans confiscates a Wildwood three-year-old’s favorite toy. Josh Pitney was not allowed to take a pack of play doh on board his return flight to St. Louis, even though play doh is not on the TSA’s list of prohibited items.
Thanks for your comments. Its amazing how quickly things change. Since I wrote this post, many airlines are no longer allowing ANY carry-ons. Best to check with your airline each and every time you travel as chances are your restrictions may be different each time. I’ll be flying with my kids in a few weeks so I’ll be sure to check with the airline just prior to our departure to see what we’re allowed to bring. If not Playdoh, we’ll get creative during a visit to the dollar store and buy something else.
I also wanted to add to Susan’s comment – its so difficult for parents to prepare their kids for air travel if items that are not on the “prohibited” list are still being taken away. I wish that airlines/authorities could give us better information. I feel really badly for that parent traveling with a child who has their favorite toy taken away!
Even at the airport, with TSA agents, you can still ask to talk to a supervisor which is what I would do if something *NOT* on the banned list was being confiscated.
Other options for keeping kids busy at airports or on airplanes would be to pack things they don’t normally get to play with. Kind of like having a special bag of travel only toys/items. Mad-Libs are great for kids that are old enough to know some basic grammar.
What airlines aren’t allowing *any* carry ons? I’ve been looking at several airlines for a planned trip this summer and have yet to see anything about no carry-ons. That seems like a sure fire way to make air travel even more stressful than it already is…
I so know what you mean. Our FAs our gluten,milk and soy. Last summer I had a conference to go to and I brought my 6 yr old to New Orleans. I did a ton of research and was totally freaked out considering they batter and fry everything in wheat and milk. But we managed. Besides my carry on food to get us through the day at the airport, I stocked my suitcase full of extra foods. Thankfully we did not get sick while on our trip due to my research and careful planning. We even ate out a couple times and places I verified had safe items.
I also brought a letter from the doctor stating my child had FAs that way if they tried to take the food away I could pitch a fit. For my carry on I really did not pack anything that was even near liquid like so I would not risk it being taken away. I also checked each airport ahead of time mapping out possible fast food places that has safe food or can make accommodations just incase we needed that back up.
So research and plan ahead when it comes to FAs. I even got the hotel to wave the daily refrigerator cost in our room due to our FAs.
For entertainment I downloaded several kid shows to my ipod, brought the laptop & also the nintendo ds that keep my son busy for our long airport travel day flying from California to New Orleans.
Great suggestions. We travel a lot as a family and keeping the kids occupied is often a challenge. As well, we make a habit of informing flight attendants of our kids food allergies (nuts) when we walk onto a plane and ask they make an announcement to other passengers just to be safe.