Holidays with a child in Turkey, Greece or Egypt. The doctor tells you what to remember

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Turkey, Greece and Egypt are the most popular foreign destinations this summer, also among families with children. However, for a trip with the youngest to be successful, you need to properly prepare for it – especially in terms of health. What steps should I take before my vacation? What to do if you forget to pack your prescription medications? What to do in the event of a child’s illness? The pediatrician advises the drug. Alicja Sapała-Smoczyńska.

1. The doctor advises you to visit and consult a pediatrician before the planned vacation
2. It is a good idea to have a first aid kit with you when you are on holiday abroad. Bow. Alicja Sapała-Smoczyńska lists what medicines a child must take
3. Also, do not forget about the most important documents that may be needed in the event of a child’s health problems
4. You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page

How to prepare for a vacation with a child? Advice from the doctor

I know from experience that many parents are afraid of further trips with their children, especially young ones. Of course, it is not recommended to travel with toddlers under 3 months of age due to their immune system and the risk of severe infection, but if our child is older and healthy, there are no contraindications from a medical point of view. You only need to prepare yourself properly for such a trip and stay and know what to do if your child is ill. Meanwhile, as shown by the data from the study commissioned by Doctor.One, caregivers most often obtain information on this subject from the Internet – discussion forums, social media groups, websites or blogs (41%). There, however, you can come across a lot of unreliable advice. So what steps should be taken before traveling?

A visit to the doctor before traveling with a child

I recommend that you make an appointment with your pediatrician at least two weeks before departure, consult him on all health issues and examine the child. This is especially important in the case of infants and younger children, because the smaller the child, the less specific the symptoms of the disease are and the less information we are able to obtain from him. If during the examination it turns out that the toddler has an infection, then it will be a contraindication to travel.

The doctor should also check in the child’s health book whether he has undergone all compulsory vaccinations for his age group under the Preventive Immunization Program and, based on the destination and the child’s health condition, recommend any vaccinations from among the recommended ones. Depending on the regions of a given country, it may also be necessary to consult a travel medicine doctor.

One of the most frequently recommended additional vaccinations in the case of foreign trips is against hepatitis A (hepatitis A), because food jaundice can be infected in any place where we eat food from unconfirmed sources. It is registered for children over 1 year of age. In the case of younger children, I would advise, preventively, during the holidays, to prepare meals on their own, using bottled water or to use, for example, food in “jars”.

First aid kit for a holiday with a child

Another important step is to prepare the first aid kit in consultation with your doctor. For this purpose, we can go to an appointment with a previously prepared list of drugs and other preparations that we plan to take. The specialist will surely advise you which ones will be suitable and which ones are better to replace with others and will tell you what else to pack.

The following drugs should be included in the list:

1. permanently accepted,
2. antipyretic and analgesic (paracetamol or ibuprofen),
3. probiotic,
4. antiallergic,
5. for food poisoning,
6. for motion sickness.

We should also remember to take: electrolytes, disinfectants, saline, plasters, strips for cut wounds, burn gel, bandages and sterile gauze, as well as a preparation for insects and ticks. In the case of the latter, check whether it contains DEET. It is true that the preparations that contain it are the most effective, but at the same time the most toxic, so it is not recommended to use them on the skin of children. A good replacement is icaridin, which is not absorbed through the skin and also repels insects.

1. At Medonet Market you can buy a spray for ticks, mosquitoes, flies, black flies MUGGA. Icaridine 25%.

Holidays with a child – documents and information

The last element that must not be forgotten is the purchase of insurance with the possibility of visiting a pediatrician, and – in the case of a trip to Greece – obtaining an EHIC card. You should have both of these documents with you if you need to consult a pediatrician. For this you will of course also need the identity cards of the child and the parent.

On the other hand, if a toddler is treated for chronic diseases, it is best to prepare information about the child’s health and medications in the language of the country to which you are going. In this case, it is also good to have contact with your regular doctor so that you can contact him quickly if necessary, agree on the next steps together and consult with him any recommendations from a local doctor. This is a good solution, even if our child is healthy. As shown by Doctor.One data – 23 percent. parents would use the advice of a local pediatrician during holidays abroad, but would like to confirm the diagnosis and recommendations with a Polish doctor, and 26 percent. only in a country where they feel safe. You will also need to bring cash with you when visiting your local doctor, as you may need to pay for it. Most insurers will reimburse you on your return against your invoice.

Vacation with a child – travel by plane

Before the flight, we should talk to our child about the feeling of “ear clogging” and how to deal with it. If they have not experienced it before, it can cause anxiety. Even if your toddler has already traveled by plane – he may not remember it. To minimize this feeling, your baby should swallow during take-off and landing. Depending on his age – we can breastfeed him, bottle him or ask him to swallow often.

When it comes to clothes, we do the same as we do with ourselves. Remember that the temperature at the destination will be higher than on the plane, so it is good to have a sweatshirt for the child, which we can take off on the spot. The most important thing is thermal comfort, so we have to be careful not to overheat it and not to wear it too lightly.

During the flight, it would be good if your toddler took a short walk approximately every hour. If the child is not walking yet, it is best to change his position from time to time, ensuring him full freedom of movement. We can also have a body mist with us if the toddler’s skin dries quickly, and during longer flights also nasal saline to moisturize the respiratory tract.

The study for Doctor.One was carried out by Maison & Partners in June 2022 using the CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interview) method on the Ariadna research panel on a group of 532 representative people (in terms of gender, age and place of residence) for parents of children up to 18 years of age.