plane travel with unvaxed kids

[brenda-sw]

Hi,

Taking 4 and 6 year old to Disney.  First time there for all of us, first time on plane for unvaxed kids.  What can I do to give them a boost before we fly?  We are on a very good vitamin regimn, including probiotics.  Will start elderberry 1x per day.  We've had a rough winter of sickness and are about two weeks healthy and 4 weeks till we leave.  Just really praying they dont get sick before or during the trip!

any thoughts/

THANKS,

Brenda

[sbgrace]

Epicore has some good science behind it's immune boosting effects. Florastor does as well. We do those and also colostrum for my immune issues son. He also takes optizinc. The Eldeberry is a good idea.

I hope you have a great time! I was nervous about getting sick prior to our Disney trip too. We were fine and I hope you are too. I'd be tempted to isolate a little just prior to avoid picking up something myself but I tend to carry things to far and I think this (horrible for one of mine) fall/winter has made me paranoid.

[kathymuggle]

Have fun!

You could stay away from highly crowded places between now and the vacation in order to cut down on the possibility of getting sick, and encourage a lot of handwashing.  

Vit.  D may help ward of sickness and Vit. C might give them a bit of a boost if they do catch something….

For the plane, I would encourage a lot of handwashing (even bring a little bottle of hand sanitizer if you like, generally I am not a fan of the stuff, but for an airport and plane ride I might do it.  Just make sure it is under 3 oz.  )  Drink lots of water.  We tend to bring empty water bottles through  security, and then fill them up with water and keep drinking.

Is it a direct flight?  Are you leaving and getting there at decent times so you can avoid too much sleepiness/exhaustion?

At Disney bring water bottles!  Schedule some downtime, and once again do handwashing/ hand sanitizers to cut down on contracting stuff.  How are you eating at Disney?  Are you on the dining plan - or are you going to wing it?  If you are on the dining plan, you can eat fairly well.  If you intend to do a lot of counter service, it might be worthwhile to have decent food (such as fruit, juice, yoghurt) etc delivered to your room, or borrow a car and go get some.  The counter service is pretty fast-foodish.  The disboards have great disney tips, including (somewhere on their huge site) eating well.   

I personally would not worry about the unvaxxed bit - the only thing you are likely to get anywhere is flu, CP, or rarely pertussis.  I don't think you are any more likely to contract those that at a crowded mall, etc.  

Here is an article and recipe  on natural hand sanitizers if you prefer such things:

http://www.rodale.com/natural-hand-sanitizer

Edited by kathymuggle - 2/24/13 at 6:36pm

[brenda-sw]

Thanks guys!  We are staying at time share so we have a kitchen.  My youngest has a GI disorder so we play no games w/ food and we will pack a healthy lunch to have in the park and I will probably cook most of our dinners too!

Just ordered Thieves and Purification oil to use as well.

Thx again for the suggestions!

Brenda

[blessedwithboys]

Planes are breeding grounds for germs.  Vax status has nothing to do with it.  Have fun at the mouse house!

[landofjuncovill]

There's a Whole Foods market in Orlando so I would do all your shopping before getting to your apartment so you don't have to go back out. We have traveled with our unvaxed kids many times by plane. To different states and to the islands. We've never had a problem. We are crazy about hand washing and do take our own snacks. Once you pass security you can buy bottled water. Unfortunately, we just took a trip to Israel and are sick with the flu. I know this is the flu because we have had fever, diareah, vomit, chills, body aches, sore throat... You name it! Has ruined our trip. Even ended up taking 3 year old to ER. We are sure it was because of a man who was going into overhead compartment and sneezed on our 16 yr old who was sleeping. The 12 year old saw this happen. Guess who was the first one to get sick and pass it along? The 16 year old! if you want to be really aggressive wear a mask. If I ever travel during flu season that's what we're doing. Don't want to freak you out, but people are inconsiderate and sneeze and cough without covering themselves. That's the bottom line. We have little ones that I know will not keep a mask on, if your kids are bigger have them put it on. Or wrap yourself up with a scarf. Who cares what people think. Have a great time!

[LitMom]

I don't think it has anything to do with vax status either. It's usually stuff like colds and flu that get passed around on trains and planes. I wipe down the seat arms and tray tables with sanitary wipes after we're seated. I often turn off the recycled air vents too, but I don't like the feel of them as well as the fact that they seem likely to be germ factories. Regular vitamins, sleep, and hand washing too. We've done that and gotten sick on 2 trips, but not on 10ish others. Most recently, we caught colds from the friends we were visiting but not from the travel itself.