In just a couple of weeks families all over the world will pack their bags and take off to visit family and friends for the holidays. Many of these families are looking forward to what awaits them at their destination but may be dreading the trip itself. Especially for families that are flying there are three main concerns: How do I keep my child healthy at the airport? How do I keep him healthy on the plane? and how do I keep my child entertained during the trip?
We have some answers! According to Jack Maypole, MD, Educational Advisory Board member at The Goddard School and pediatrician for medically complex children at Boston Medical Center by taking simple steps parents can ensure their children don't pick up any extra bugs along the way to their destination.
According to Dr. Maypole, as a general rule, traveling with infants, toddlers and kids in airports and planes does not pose any great risk of getting sick than going to any other crowded place, such as a birthday party or crowded restaurant. But, to maximize your family's chances of staying healthy there are a few things you can do.
Keep Healthy In the Airport.
You never who in a crowded airport is packing some germs along with their luggage. Since you can't rely on other passengers to stay home when they are sick follow these steps to keep those germs away from your family.
1.Avoid crowds. Whenever possible when in long lines or a waiting area, keep your family in a contained area, away from the potentially sniffling crowds. If there are two adults traveling with children consider having one stay in line as long as possible while the other stays with the children in an nearby, less crowded area until it's time to get back in line.
2.Wash Those Hands. Washing hands goes a long way to keeping kids and adults healthy. Infection often occurs when we unconsciously touch our face, mouth or nose. For times when you can't get to soap and water bring some travel sized cleanser gel for washing periodically as you move through the terminal.
3.Don't Touch Stuff. Enough said. At the airport shoes, clothing, personal items, and luggage have been everywhere, and sometimes in contact with a sick traveler. Coach toddlers and older kids to keep their hands on their bodies and opt to hand stuff to them when necessary.
Keep Healthy On the Plane.
Chances are you have never seen a sparkling clean airplane. Since you can't send in your own cleaning crew prior to boarding do what you can with limited time and resources to make your plane ride as sanitary as possible.
Contrary to popular belief, the air circulation system in newer aircraft has less to do with spreading contagion than other means.
1.Wash hands. Wash surfaces. It is more likely family members will pick up something from touching surfaces in these well-used spaces than catch a bug from the air circulation system on the plane. On arriving to your seats a parent should use an antibacterial wipe to clean the tray table and seat arms use hand sanitizer on the kids once seated. Consider cleaning hands once or twice during the trip to lower the likelihood of picking up a nasty bug left by the prior passenger.
2.Situate. Hydrate. To create an optimal healthy environment for your family on the place turn on your air vent (which is mostly fresh, filtered, non-recirculated air) and drink lots of bottled water. Planes dehydrate everybody, and keeping tanked up will make you less vulnerable to viruses.
3.Politely surveil. Look around and react as needed. If there a toddler in your aisle with an obvious boogery nose or cold or a neighboring adult with an active cough a discreet request to the flight attendant to change seats may be warranted. Be firm, but be polite!
Stay Occupied:
Now that you have figured out how to keep your family healthy on your journey it's time to figure out how to keep them occupied. Susan Magsamen, Educational Advisory Board member for The Goddard School and Senior Vice President of Early Learning at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has some suggestions.
There are a variety of ways your child can record your trip.
1.For the data collector:
Use Google Maps to find out the number of miles you traveled. You can compare how much time it would have taken to make such a trip by plane, train, car, horse, kayak, bicycle, scooter or even walking.
Trace your journey on a map. Measure the same distance you traveled but going in a different direction, and see where you would have ended up. For example; if you went 250 miles North, where would you have ended up if you went 250 miles West, or East or South. Would you have traveled through different time zones?
2.For the wordsmith:
Write a rhyme or poem about your trip. Use "At the Seaside" by Robert Louis Stevenson for inspiration:
When I was down beside the sea
A wooden spade they gave to me
To dig the sandy shore.
My holes were empty like a cup,
In every hole the sea came up,
Till it could come no more.
3.For the collector:
Keep receipts, menus, placemats, trinkets, wrappers - all the flotsam and jetsam of travel, and make a collage.
4.Explore Letterboxing:
Letterboxing for kids includes a map-reading game, photo album, story and instructions for making rubber stamps.
5. As a parent, my kids love The Great Zucchini app where kids can watch three live shows from one of the DC area's top children's performers.
Wherever your holiday travels take you this season stay healthy and have fun!