A question for you re: families & travel safety

[Alicia64]

37 minutes ago, xahm said:

I remembered another thing. I was worried about getting separated from my preschool age kids on the metro/underground. Since every station had a bench that was against the wall/ well back from the tracks, I told them that if they were ever away from me, get of the train at the next stop and stand on the bench. I would be able to see them easily and get them. We would point out these benches each time and went over the plan often. I think they were really disappointed they never got to do it!

 

Kids are hilarious. This is a great tip!

[skimomma]

I always carried a sharpie, just like others, to write info directly on a child too young to remember info.  Instead of arms, I usually wrote on the lower back as this concealed the info from anyone unless/until needed.  I did not stop at phone numbers.  Sometimes I wrote campsite numbers, hotel names,  passport numbers, or whatever I thought would be most useful in the situation.  When traveling oversees I would stash a photocopy of dd's passport and hotel address in an old sock safety pinned inside her clothing somewhere.  We usually move around a lot and this was the easiest way to update info on a daily basis since sharpie takes awhile to wash off.  Plus we are often in places where finding English-speaking help is not always easy.  

Another thing we learned the hard way....talk to your kids about what to do should you get separated on subways/trains/buses....especially in an area where you don't speak the language.  Doors close fast and twice now we have had one or more of our party not make it on.  Plans vary but for my family, the rule is to exit the train/bus at the very next stop and WAIT there until an adult can catch up.  If a kid is left behind, they are to stay there until an adult can travel back.   This lead to the next rule, kids always sandwiched between adults when exiting/entering.  If only one adult is present, adult enters last.  Kids must always carry a photocopy of passport in case that train was just about to go over a border (don't ask how big of a mess that can be.......).  

[Farrar]

1 hour ago, Alicia64 said:

What a sweet, amazing story. Thank you! (I'm thinking of doing the conf. in Atlanta just because you'll be there!! Is there anything for homeschoolers of 15 yr. olds. Feel free to PM me.)

You should totally come! I'm psyched to IRL meet people I know from here and SEA. ? There are a lot of middle and high school geared talks and some stuff about getting ready for college. (I'd PM you, but your box is full... everyone's is now that we have more limited space on the new forum!).

[mommyoffive]

4 hours ago, Alicia64 said:

 

This is excellent. Thank you!

The blog is about how to save sanity when traveling, our families health, and money. I guess I wasn't very clear from the get-go.

All of these tips are so good -- I hope more people post!

Alley

 

Now the ideas you have make total sense to me. 

[Cinder]

On 5/2/2018 at 11:13 AM, Jean in Newcastle said:

Oh I have another tip. If you are in a country where you aren’t drinking the water, don’t forget products that are made with the local water. We scrupulously drank bottled water and used it to brush our teeth but then I let dd have a local popsicle from a vender. She threw up for hours and hours. After that, we only got factory made and sealed food products. 

 

This tip reminds me of the time ds1 was little and we traveled to my IL's. He was on formula and was having tummy troubles there. My SIL recommended using distilled water for his formula because every water supply is just a little bit different and babies' digestive systems might not be able to handle those differences. That did the trick! That tip has been helpful over the years for traveling/trips when our dc were young.

[Dmmetler]

On 5/1/2018 at 5:50 PM, Quill said:

This is nothing monumental, and it doesn’t really come under the heading of safety, but when my DD was little (5, I think), we flew to Disney. She had a special stuffed animal dog that was required to go through the xray scanner at the airport. I wished I had thought to explain this to her ahead of time. She didn’t understand what would happen to her “buddy” and was crying. She thought they were going to cut it apart to look inside. If I had thought about it, I would have role-played this beforehand. 

Along the same lines, I had a friend who took her kid on a plane trip and he was terrified throughout the flight. When he finally confessed his fear, it was that he “would not have the courage to jump out of the plane.” Poor little guy thought everyone skydives off the plane! 

So those would be my advice nuggets - just explain procedures to kids so they have some idea how things work. Some kids are very sensitive to unfamiliar procedures and it can be frightening. 

A similar story when DD was a preschooler. She has a stuffed sea serpent that she was very attached to for years, and she was nervous about giving her up, so the TSA agent told her he just wanted to see Draggy’s bones (I figure he was a parent). When we returned, she put the dragon up to be scanned and stated “you can look at his bones now”. The poor TSA agent looked very confused...

 

We’ve learned that both small, light, fragile stuff (like snake sheds and vertebrae. That one caused questions from both TSA and the USDA agent with her adorable beagle, who was supposed to be looking for plants, but found snake parts quite interesting) and heavy stuff (like Herpetology textbooks) benefit from being mailed. 

[Tanaqui]

Quote

Oh, I thought of another - if your kids have to take a pill while traveling, like malaria meds, practice with a mini-M&M beforehand. Because putting that toxic thing in yogurt so doesn't work. 

 

When we taught the younger kiddo to take pills, mini-M&Ms were too big. We started with sprinkles. Then nerds (small first, then larger). THEN mini-m&ms, and our next step I think was tic tacs. For two or three weeks, twice a day we'd start with a size she'd mastered, move up to the bigger, then finish with the first size to guarantee a success. (And then she'd be able to eat the leftover candy, which was her incentive.)

[Tsuga]

I have a million, having travelled thousands of miles internationally with  small children and babies, but one thing that I think cannot be overstated is the need to buy every child a seat on the plane, and to put children in five point harness carseats, and to ensure you have a child safety harness (5 point) for each child.

https://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/Plane-Crash-Survivor-Fights-for-Lap-Children-Ban-267443051.html

Laps are not safe. The ONLY reason airlines allow this is the dubious assumption that "if it wasn't free people would drive and that is more dangerous." Which may be true (it is a huge assumption about human behavior), but the point is that the ONLY safe thing for you and your baby is to have them belted in in a car seat for the majority of the flight. 

You cannot hold a baby when g forces get you. They have tested this. The plan they have is not a safety plan for you. It is a plan to get you to fly rather than drive. 

Another way to think about it: imagine they gave you a $500 discount but you would have to stand in the aisle, no seat belt. Would you take it? But that is what people do with their babies because they believe it would not be allowed if it were not safe. That is wrong. It is not safe.

There are many existing blogs on this, so if I were you I would think about a niche. Focus on one region, one type of vacation, one age range, printable checklists, street safety, etc.

[ikslo]

On 5/1/2018 at 3:40 PM, madteaparty said:

chewing gum for take off and landing?

 

I received this advice back in ‘94 before my month-long trip to Germany.  I was 17 and stayed with the parents of my grandmother’s previous exchange student.  They were great, but I didn’t want to impose the minute I got there and make them take me to the dentist.  (Dumb, I know.)  I spent the first two weeks of my stay first packing my tooth with bread, then applying bourbon to dull the pain of my exposed nerve.  They finally figured it out when I was in too much pain to hide it.  

So anyway, part of “chew gum on take off/landing” might be to visit your dentist before your trip to make sure any fillings aren’t going to come out! ?

(The “temporary” filling I got while there is still in my mouth, btw.  I’m now 41. LOL)

[Alicia64]

1 hour ago, ikslo said:

 visit your dentist before your trip to make sure any fillings aren’t going to come out! ?

(The “temporary” filling I got while there is still in my mouth, btw.  I’m now 41. LOL)

 

Now that's a great tip!!! I never would have thought of that -- even though DH has also had serious tooth problems on trips. Thank you so much!! You rock!