With an invitation to attend a Food Allergy Documentary Movie Premiere came an introduction to Southern California’s Food Allergy Institute and the TIP (Tolerance Induction Program)…. Here’s how we do travel with food allergies!
California Bound
The only way to have a great trip anywhere is to get there safely! Flying safely with a child with allergies involves some advance preparation…
1. First, a call to the airline to inform them of my daughter’s allergies:
I’m still amazed at how many airlines are serving nuts on board even when notified of passengers with life-threatening, anaphylactic food allergies (not to mention CHILDREN with these allergies). I cannot imagine being ok with putting anyone at risk in this way. Be prepared for nuts to be on your plane if traveling by air. We’ve experienced it all – nuts on the floor and seats (This is why we always bring wipes and seat covers when we travel by air – and ensure that we wipe down all surfaces – Don’t forget the tv! Your child is most likely to touch that, the window, the tray, the arm-rests and the seat belt!). We’ve also had the experience of nuts being roasted while we were flying in the air and the smell filling the cabin, making Kate feel very sick. You may want to pack a face mask in case this happens to you.
Seat sitters offers seat covers for children and adults and even include a tray cover, wipes, and face mask so that all bases are covered! I highly recommend their covers as they are a perfect fit for the seats and do not slip off or obstruct the tv of the person behind you! They are also reusable and washable so well worth the investment!
2. What to pack??? Well I bet you never imagined putting this in your suitcase!!!
We also packed disposable cutlery and plates (which we could have just bought there)… a glass bowl with lid for microwaving and storing food in the fridge, dish soap, cutting board and travel knife, and a tea towel. All of this for setting up a makeshift kitchen at the hotel….
Click the link below to see something you don’t see in hotel rooms everyday!
http://theallergymom.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/img_9266.movYes my kid eats radishes and yes the life of an allergy mom means cooking in your hotel rooms!!!
We also packed a travel lunch bag and thermoses for transporting food for day trips.
3. We brought wipes to wipe down any surfaces that may be contaminated with Kate’s allergens. We prefer to use wipes with lanolin if we can find them as lanolin destroys proteins and these Wet Ones brand wipes worked perfectly! We used them to wipe down the airplane seats, tray tables, television screen, arm rests and seat belt as mentioned above, and any surfaces in public places that may be contaminated with food allergens.
4. A Seat Sitter cover to cover the airplane seat and our own blanket and pillow … Creating barriers between your allergy kid and the surfaces at the airport that may be contaminated with their allergens is a good idea. There is nothing worse (or scarier) than being 30,000 feet in the air and your child starts getting snuffy, itchy, sneezy and wheezy….
5. Snacks!!!! Bring your faves or stock up at the airport! Kate and I spend a small fortune at the airport because there are increasingly more and more allergy-safe options for sale! A sign of the times for sure with increasing prevalence of food intolerances and allergies! Click this link for a video of Kate and I in action at the airport! SNACK ATTACK!!!
https://theallergymom.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/img_8925.movI meant to say “free of dairy” not full of dairy in that video 😆… the kale chips are dairy free! And sooooooooooo delicious!!! 😋
Side note: Don’t wear shoes like these to the airport …. these were horrible to remove at security! 😆
Californication
We sure could get used to the Cali lifestyle and it looks like we will get the chance with our TIP (tolerance induction program) journey beginning!
A Beverly Hills Movie Premiere Dah’ling
It’s not everyday that you get invited to a movie premiere in Beverly Hills! We had so much fun dressing up and walking the red carpet! We are so thankful to Natalie Rhone of No Nuts 4 Me for inviting us to the screening of her Food Allergy documentary, “Risk at First Bite.”
We met families who were starting out in the Tolerance Induction Program or who were on the wait list … we chatted with doctors, Allergy families and those involved with the film. The best part for Kate??? Being at a venue where for once in her life, ALL the snacks were Safe!!! Kate was over the moon and loaded up on snacks before and after the movie!!
The film was great … Natalie shared her investigation into food allergies and treatments (OIT and TIP) and then brought up the doctors featured in the film for a Q & A about treatments and why there aren’t more docs and clinics offering these treatments! Unfortunately, Dr. Rhandawa did not attend but the docs who did were great. My fave quote of the night?
This works!!!
It was explained that the process is time consuming and expensive and therefore a lot of doctors aren’t able to offer this to patients yet.
Click here to see a clip of us at the movie premiere red carpet!
https://theallergymom.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/video-output-86479af7-cb5e-4f03-858b-d10b5c2872ad.movLa La Land
We enjoyed the rest of our weekend checking out Beverly Hills and West L.A. Of course we did a huge Whole Foods run to stock up on allergy safe meals and snacks …
We went to Santa Monica and Venice beach…
We had a blast!!! I’m dating myself here but all I could think of was an early video game I used to play as a kid called California Games where you would roller skate down the boardwalk and play hackey sack!
We went to the Vanderpump Dog rescue in Beverly Hills…
We also went for a tour of the Warner Brothers studios which was awesome! Kate is a huge Ellen fan and I loved Gilmore Girls, Friends and Big Bang Theory so it was really fun to see the sets!
It was a fun and tiring trip!
Returning Safely Home
After some fun in the sun it was time to return home… fortunately our return flight was a much better experience than our trip down.
I’ve used this analogy a thousand times and apparently Adam Geller had the same thought! (Image source below)… I posted on Friday about our experience flying with @aircanada nd the staff having no information about my call to the medical desk ahead of time about my daughter’s allergies and the promises of buffer zones and early boarding to wipe down the plane…. now many people would think I’m nuts (pardon the pun) but if you’ve ever witnessed an anaphylactic food reaction you know that it’s potentially a matter of life and death… so just as someone wouldn’t be comfortable 35,000 feet in the air with deadly snakes, neither are we with her allergens. Just wanted to give an update about our return trip last night. A completely different experience. The attendants were WONDERFUL… went out of their way to show care and attention to this matter. Allowed us time to board and wipe down the seats and then informed surrounding passengers of our daughter’s severe allergies. The attendant even found someone to translate in Chinese for the folks behind us who didn’t speak English. Another gentleman in front also didn’t speak English and I overheard the attendant ask the gentleman beside him to notify her if he saw the man eating nuts. Wow. What a difference. When I shared my story from Friday the attendants were surprised and said they were well versed on the policies for food allergies and that this should not have happened. Looks like @aircanada needs to train their staff on this again. I’d be happy to volunteer to come out and educate ALL of your staff on the risks and realities of the severity of food allergies Air Canada. At the end of the flight, Kate was quite stuffy and itchy and sneezing – likely from traces of her allergens on surfaces. Food Allergies are not going away. 1/13 children are being diagnosed. We need your help Air Canada to take these allergies seriously. #travel #airline #aircanada #travelblogger #allergyblogger #momblogger #mom #mamabear #foodallergy #peanutfree
Image credit and article from Adam about nuts on the plane – https://marketbrief.edweek.org/the-startup-blog/going_nuts_on_a_plane_about_a_decision_edthena/)
Overall we had a wonderful weekend in L.A. and didn’t know at the time that this was only the beginning and that we will have many more trips ahead of us as we begin the Tolerance Induction Program at Southern California Food Allergy Institute. We are beyond excited to embark on this life changing treatment program! Are you thinking of checking out TIP? Please don’t hesitate to reach out in the comments or send me an email! Tried any of the products shared in this post? Let me know how you like them!
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