My Checklist for Traveling with a Gluten Free Child
We are on our way back from San Francisco and we had a marvelous time. I often get questions on how we manage to travel and have fun when we have a child with so many dietary restrictions. Traveling with a gluten free child is not easy by any means, but we’ve had lots of practice and I have a checklist that I always follow when we travel. I use this list when we go on short road trips. Or travel across country or go to Disney. The trick is to always have a plan. I basically plan out our trips around food. Because the child has to eat or he’ll be grumpy. Then his parents will be grumpy, and our trip will SUCK.
So today I am sharing my checklist for traveling with a gluten free child that I use every time we travel. Because it might help someone else….
- Gluten Free Snacks. Because plane rides and car rides demand snacks for any child. AND having gluten free snacks on hand help us be safe until I can arrive and get safe food for Pookah to eat.
- The App Find Me Gluten Free: Usually I do a lot of research beforehand to find out what restaurants are nearby that have either gluten free menus or are dedicated Gluten free facilities. I look for trusted restaurants that we love and grocery stores where I can buy things like rotisserie chickens, yogurt, and other basic gluten free staples that we love.
- Hotels with either a kitchen or a microwave and refrigerator: For the above reasons. If the hotel has a full kitchen, I can cook basic meals like breakfast and have basics for lunch in case we don’t have much time. If I at least have a microwave and refrigerator, I can heat up frozen food and keep basics like lunchmeat and yogurt.
- 2 Epipens: Because if all else fails, and something goes terribly wrong, I can be prepared and save my child’s life.
- A map of hospitals and clinics near us for AFTER the Epipen. I basically have one programmed on my GPS. Just in case.
Does your child have allergies? What do you do to prepare for travel and keep your child safe?
My daughter is deathly allergic to milk and we do a lot of research before we eat out. She’s sensitive to cross contamination so if we stop somewhere where the kitchen uses gloves we request a fresh pair on the prep person. We always mention it’s because of her allergy and not being a super pain in the bum person. Thank goodness for the internet being such a good resource. When dealing with a milk allergy the koshering symbols on packaging are also a great tool. Kd is not safee. K and Ku are okay.