We have all been there. Standing in a long line at the airport and sitting on an airplane with a young child - or maybe taking a long road trip in the car to a fun destination.

Travelling with children can be exciting and fun for the whole family, yet a plane or car ride as well as eating in unfamiliar restaurants and sleeping at hotels can not only be stressful for us parents but can pose potential hazards for our children.

The following information provides safety tips for travelling with children by plane or car and how to avoid germs in restaurants and hotels. Also, just in case you have to visit an unfamiliar hospital’s emergency room (ER), you will be better prepared.

Hopefully this information will allow for less stress and avoidance of accidents and infections while enjoying time with your child away from home.

For specific information on travel abroad with children, including specific illnesses and vaccines, go to International travel. Airplane safety is only covered here in Travel safety.

Preparation is very important before taking your child on a trip. Depending on your destination, consider these supplies to take along on your trip:

1.  First aid kit

2.  Your child’s regular medications

3.  Water and snacks

4.  Alcohol-based hand sanitizer

5.  Child-safe hand wipes

6.  Baby formula

7.  Diaper rash ointment

8.  Diaper changing supplies

9.  Children’s Benadryl or another antihistamine for allergic reactions

10. Insect repellent

11. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) rectal suppositories

12. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin) for oral use

13. Topical antibacterial antibiotics (Neosporine)

14. Sunscreen

15. A portable high chair. A compact, easy-to-pack high chair is invaluable on the road.

16. A new bag of safe toys for the car or plane.

17. A combination stroller/car seat.

Also, consider creating a medical history form for your child in case you end up in an ER that includes the following information:

•   child’s and parent’s name, address, and home phone number

•    blood type

•   immunizations

•    doctor’s name, address, and office and emergency phone numbers

•    health insurance information

•    a list of any ongoing health problems

•    a list of current medications 

•   a list of allergies to medications, food

A couple of useful planning tips I found from www.travelforkids.com include:

• Involve the kids. Planning a trip carefully is the first step in insuring its success.

• Plan for some down time every day of your trip. This could mean a leisurely bike ride, an afternoon matinee, a swim in the hotel pool or just reading a book.

In all the excitement of planning a trip, it is easy to forget about what you would if your child needed medical attention.

Plan ahead:

1. Check to see if a children’s hospital is near where you are visiting. If not, is their a facility where pediatricians evaluate children in the ER. If not, at least know the location of the nearest ER.
   
2. Check to make sure the facility accepts your insurance.

For more information to prepare for a trip to the ER and what to expect, go to http://www.kidemergencies.com/ERchecklist.pdf.

The following are a summary of recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP):

1. Always use a car safety seat for infants and children under 40 pounds.  A rear-facing car seat should be used until your child has reached one year of age AND weighs at least 20 pounds.  Once your child is at least one year of age and at least 20 pounds, he can ride in a forward-facing car seat, but it is better to keep him rear-facing to the highest weight and/or height allowed by his car safety seat.
   
   
2. A child who has outgrown their car safety seat with a harness (they have reached the top weight or height allowed for their seat, their shoulders are above the top harness slots, or their ears have reached the top of the seat) should ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until the vehicle’s seat belt fits properly (usually when the child reaches about 4’ 9" in height and is between 8 to 12 years of age).
   
   
3. All children under 13 years of age should ride in the rear seat of vehicles.
   
   
4. Never place a child in a rear-facing car safety seat in the front seat of a vehicle that has an airbag.
   
   
5. Children can easily become restless or irritable when on a long road trip.  Try to keep them occupied by pointing out interesting sights along the way and by bringing soft, lightweight toys and favorite CDs.
   
   
6. With my kids, we play a game where you get points based on the type of animal or object that you see while driving (e.g., a cow is worth 5 points). We also play “I Spy” where they have to find something that I spot from the car while riding.
   
   
7. Plan to stop driving and give yourself and your child a break about every two hours.
   
   
8. Never leave your child alone in a car. Temperatures inside the car can reach deadly levels in minutes, and the child can die of heat stroke.
   
   
   

• Plan ahead: Take all essential items for the children in carry-on luggage: Take enough food, diapers, medicine, and other items to last through possible flight delays and lost luggage.

• Bring along safe toys: Try to avoid bringing along toys that are sharp, heavy, or that break easily.

• Consult your pediatrician before flying with a newborn or infant who has chronic heart or lung problems or with upper or lower respiratory symptoms.
  
  
• Consult your pediatrician if flying within 2 weeks of an episode of an ear infection or ear surgery. 
  
  
• Sedative medications may cause over sedation or sometimes agitation. Benadryl can be useful for some children but, similar to any medication for sedation, should be administered as a test dose before travel to determine the effect on the individual child.
  
  
  

Stressed about security lines at the airport? You’re not alone. Here is a summary of tips form the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to make the screening process with your child a little less stressful:

1. Allow yourself and your family extra time to get through security.
   
2. Talk to your children before coming to the airport about the security screening process. 
   
3. Let them know that their bags (backpack, dolls, etc.) will be put in the X-ray machine and will come out the other end and be returned to them. 
   
4. Discuss the fact that it’s against the law to make threats such as; “I have a bomb in my bag.”  Threats made jokingly (even by a child) can result in the entire family being delayed and could result in fines.
   
5. All child-related equipment that will fit through the X-ray machine must go through the X-ray machine. Examples include: strollers, umbrella-strollers, baby carriers and car and booster seats.
   
6. When you arrive at the checkpoint, collapse or fold your child-related equipment. 
   
7. Secure items that are in the pockets, baskets, or attached to the equipment and place it on the X-ray belt for inspection.
   
   
   

1. If your child can walk without your assistance, we recommend that you and your child walk through the metal detector separately. 
   
2. If you are carrying your child through the metal detector and the alarm sounds, our Security Officer will have to additionally screen both you and your child.
   
3. Remove babies and children from their strollers or infant carriers so that our Security Officers can screen them individually.
   
4. You may not pass the child to another person behind you or in front of you during this process.
   
5. Do not pass your child to our Security Officer to hold.

• Medications, baby formula and food, breast milk, and juice are allowed in reasonable quantities exceeding three ounces and are not required to be in the zip-top bag. Declare these items for inspection at the checkpoint.
  
• All items including formula, breast milk, and juice will be inspected, however, you or your infant or toddler will not be asked to test or taste breast milk, formula, or juice.
  
• Our Security Officers may test liquid exemptions (exempt items more than 3 ounces) for explosives.
  
• All liquids, gels and aerosols must be in three-ounce or smaller containers.
  
• Larger containers that are half-full or toothpaste tubes rolled up are not allowed.
  
• Each container must be three ounces or smaller.
  
  
  

From www.flyingwithkids.com:

• Ask if your flight is full when checking in. Some assistants will block out the seat next to you in a less full flight or offer you the option of seating next to a vacant seat.  This is particularly valuable if traveling with a toddler under 24 months without a seat.

• Get on the plane first to get a better chance of assistance from cabin crew.
  
  
  

Injuries and deaths can occur in children held on adult laps during turbulence and nonfatal crashes. The AAP recommends:

• children should be placed in a rear-facing Federal Aviation Authority (FAA)-approved child-safety seat until they are at least 1 year old and weigh at least 20 pounds.
  
  
• children older than 1 year of age and 20-40 pounds in body weight should use a forward-facing FAA-approved child safety seat, while children weighing more than 40 pounds can be secured in the aircraft seat belt.
  
  

Based on analyses of dozens of aviation incidents and accidents involving children, www.airsafe.com provides the following tips that can make the trip safer for children.

1. Child safety seat as above

2. Seat your child away from an aisle: Small children enjoy reaching out and exploring, but if they are on the aisle they could get hurt if their arms get bumped by a person or serving cart passing down the aisle.

3. Supervise your child at all times.

5. Keep your child belted or in a child restraint system at all times as turbulence can happen at anytime.

6. If emergency oxygen masks deploy, put your mask on first so that you will be of sound mind to help your child.

7. If your child has a medical condition that may become an issue during the flight, make a flight attendant, counter agent, or gate agent aware of that possibility before the flight.

8. Pay attention to the standard preflight emergency briefing

• In order to decrease ear pain during descent, encourage your infant to nurse or suck on a bottle.  Older children can try chewing gum, filling up a glass of water and blowing bubbles through a straw (4 years of age or older), or blowing up balloons (8 years of age or older).
  
  

Diaper changing