Road Trip with a Food Allergic Child ~ Part 1: Packing

We are leaving today for our family vacation to Maine. Any parent knows there is a lot to pack when traveling with young children but when you add a food allergic child to the mix the packing can be stressful. As I mentally prepared for the trip (I often lay in bed thinking about these things), I decided to share the process on my blog. I plan to write throughout my trip to document our travel with a child who is anaphylactic to milk, eggs and nuts.


What I packed:

• medic alert bracelet (she never takes it off)
• epi-pens (talk to your physician about how many epi-pens you should carry and what dosage is safe for your child)
• benadryl (for skin contact)
• insulated travel case for epi-pens and benadryl (I use the drawstring insulated drink/bottle bag that came with my diaper bag -it works perfectly)
• Norwex travel enviro cloth for wiping down surfaces to avoid risk of cross-contamination
• Norwex dish detergent (I also use this for laundry if I need to wash something by hand)
• pillow with 2 cases (I remove one if it gets dirty and then have another)
• sleeping bag
• hot plate with double burner
• pot with lid (for cooking rice, soup, etc.) - I prepare all of her meals myself as I prefer her not to eat at restaurants
• frying pan
• sharp knife
• her own cutlery
• her own plate, bowl and cup
• napkins and papertowels
• her own placemat to put down when eating her packed food at restaurants (to prevent cross-contamination from the restaurant tables)
• Pyrex dishes for transporting food to restaurants and out and about
• lunch box with Mabel's label indicating her allergies
• cartons of rice milk
• cereal
• rice
• crackers and other safe snack foods
• canned beans, chick peas
• Bragg's soy seasoning (some soy sauces have caramel colour and we prefer the bragg's as it is healthier than reg. Soy sauce so I bring it along)
• Imagine brand Organic cream of tomato soup carton (dairy free)
• safe hot dog buns
• Shopsy's all beef weiner (sometimes it is hard to find dairy free weiners and buns and these ate a good treat for lunch when we are eating out so that she is happy to have a treat for lunch too)
• apple sauce (the only fruit k eats - I suspect she is allergic to fruits as well)
• Sunbutter (Organic Sunflower Seed butter that does not contain traces of nuts)

We leave this afternoon and will drive ten hours straight so that we are traveling when the children are sleeping rather than during the day when they are less likely to want to sit for that long! I will have snacks for the car and our stainless steel water bottles. We will be stopping for dinner so I am packing one of K's favourite dinners - chicken legs, peas and noodles with olive oil. She is such a trouper and never complains about not being able to eat off the menu like the rest of us. She is amazing and I am so proud if her and how responsible
she is at the young age of four.

Epi-pens and passports ready...as my husband keeps reminding me, if I have those than anything else can be purchased en route if needed... I still can't help asking myself, am I forgetting anything?!

The Allergy Mom