5 hacks for keeping kids healthy while traveling.
I don’t know about you; I darn do love hacks – anything and everything that promises to make my life easier – you can be pretty sure, I’d be checking it out in no time. Now, that’s not to say, I’m reckless, but after juggling work, house chores and taking care of two boisterous youngsters I’m all in hands and feet with anything that saves me time.
It’s pretty hard striving to maintain a healthy home front but what do you do when you have to travel with your young ones? Things can pretty spiral out of hands – and if you’re a mum with kids – you’d understand what a panicky experience it is trying to keep everything together.
From wondering if there’s adequate pack space to fit in a bunch of few clothes to whether the kids’ favorite playbooks are already packed – it’s pretty much a hell of a rush – especially if you haven’t done enough planning earlier. You’d also worry your heart out about maintaining the health of your kids while on the road – all these could take their toll on you and even ruin the trip for everyone.
To keep this last minute panic attack at bay, I usually start planning for our family trips weeks ahead – Jotting down and taking notes of what we might need, places to drop by, what to eat, etc. I pretty much cover everything – the truth is, it has not always been like that – I was averse to planning and honestly paid for it.
So I’ll be sharing with you my checklist to-dos which enables me to take care of pretty much everything we’d be needing for each trip and to be frank, it has eased the task of getting ready for trips with our children.
A healthy breakfast
Whether we are going on a long road trip or visiting another country one of the rules is getting something into the stomach before beginning the journey.
What I noticed is whenever we had a nourishing breakfast before the travels everyone seems to be in a better mood – it’s a no-brainer right? I remembered one time we were going on a road trip; we were in such a hurry that there was no time to grab any food – worst of it I didn’t even pack any edibles either – that particular journey could pass as the worst road trip we’ve ever had.
After that trip, I learned a big lesson – never again should we embark on a journey without making adequate provisions of what everyone will eat. So, here’s what I do, on the morning of the trip, I wake up way earlier than I usually do – head to the kitchen and prepare a meal for the family.
The benefits of doing this are everyone gets to have something to bite on before the trip begins and even when you don’t feel like eating, you’d merely pack it up and bring along with you pending when you feel like it.
Again, for a sizable length of the journey, I get to focus on getting the kids entertained without having to endure their incessant hunger whining.
Now, this simple tip has saved us tons of bucks and time on our recent road trips, and I’m glad we don’t have to eat just about anything again.
Provide water, lots of it
Water is our first line of defense against most ailments. I’ve always encouraged every member of my family to take lots of water – at least it’s the cheapest medication one can get – and you can’t overdose on it.
It’s easier to get everyone to take sufficient quantity of water in a day while at home, but, it’s a different kettle of fish when we’re on the go. One becomes acutely aware of this when traveling to a different country – especially one where it’s difficult getting potable water.
My solution for this: Get each person their own bottled water – that way I’m able to keep an eye on them and track whose getting adequately hydrated and who’s not. If maybe it’s an international trip, I check beforehand whether there’s potable water available in our destination and make appropriate preparations.
For safety measures, make sure the bottled water is completely sealed to be sure you’re not merely drinking tap water. Also, as much as you can avoid ice except when you’re sure the place purifies water for their ice.
There are several benefits of keeping hydrated both for yourself and the kids; it helps fight jet legs, boosts your immunity to fight new germs and you’re pretty sure of not getting sugar crash as sweetened drinks will.
Vaccinate the kids
This tip is especially true if you’re traveling abroad. In this case, the first thing we do is check up on the Centers for Disease Control’s traveler’s health page for information about the place we planned to visit. We’d usually check out for any health risks there in addition to recommended shots.
Armed with these details, we usually visit a travel health clinic for more information about the location we intend visiting – this way we’re able to stay up to date with our immunization and have professional advice on what to do when we get there.
To prevent travel tummy, have your kids and everyone else traveling with you to begin taking probiotics way before the travel – say a week before the traveling date. This way your body is primed to fight against any germ invasion.
Grab lots of sleep time
Honestly, this simple trick will save you and your young ones lots of stress – I meant that literally! A good dose of sleep means you’re adequately refreshed and energized to face the day.
The benefits of being well rested cannot be over-emphasized, from a robust immune system ready to fight off sickness to waking up with a cheerful mood, plus not to forget the chance your body had to repair itself. It’s one powerful secret that has enabled us to keep our kids healthy through our travels.
One advice though is to try as soon as you can to adjust your activities to the local time of the place you visit, this way your body can make the switch seamlessly to accommodate the new environment.
Strict personal hygiene
Staying safe goes beyond eating healthy foods, drinking clean portable water and taking shots – sure enough, they help – but, if you do all these and fail to adhere to simple personal care procedures then all those efforts count for nothing.
For us, hand washing is at the top of our keep-the-kid-healthy list. Of course, several times on the road we’ve come to places with no soap for hand washing, that’s where our hand sanitizer comes in handy. You might say I behave like a germaphobe, carrying around toothbrush cleaners, hand sanitizers or individual travel mugs. Whether we’re going on a long road trip or out of country vacation, these items are always with us.
Final thoughts
Traveling with kids can really be stressful so don’t make it any more stressful than it needs be. I hope these tips outlined here will serve you just as it did for me.