Peanut Allergy and Airplanes
With dear grandparents, aunts and uncles on the other side of the earth, airplane travel is a regular occurrence in our family. Even though Tanner has a severe peanut allergy and tree nut allergies, we can't let that stop us from staying connected. Compared to 14-hour plane rides, domestic travel is a no brainer! Every few months, we find ourselves banking more frequent flyer miles. Of course, it is with measured safety precautions that we prepare for every trip. For the parents that are apprehensive of airplane travel with food allergies, here are a few tips:
• Pick the right airline. Obviously for us, Southwest is out of the question. We are relatively comfortable with American although they do serve/offer snacks with nuts on their flights.
• Call ahead and ask about their food allergy policy and don't hesitate to inform your ticket agent and your flight attendant about your special needs.
• Be prepared with medication. Along with our auto injectors, we carry a note from the doctor and chewable Benadryl tablets. In our years of traveling, I've only had security check the Epi-pen once and only because I volunteered it.
• We bring our own snacks for the plane and wipes to clean off airplane trays or tables at the airports.
• We cover our seat with a Plane Sheet (see photo above) and now that Tanner is four, we remind him not to be rooting around in the seat pocket or floor. Sometimes he actually listens!
A previous post from last year contains more detailed tips for traveling with food allergies.
Labels: nut allergy, peanut allergy cure, traveling with food allergies
posted by Ria at 1:06 PM
11 Comments:
You have a very nice blog, good post…keep up the good job
I love the airplane seats - I would never have known to look for those. Thanks for the tips - flying would make me a wreck! It helps to get tips from those who've done it.
I was just on a plane the other day that made an announcement about someone aboard the plane having a peanut allergy and asking no one on the flight to eat any nuts during the flight. I think it's awesome for people who do have nut allergies (especially those who are bringing children who have nut allergies) to feel safe while flying, however, I was strange for me (since I'm not allergic to nuts) because I had brought trail mix with me to snack on and couldn't eat it in flight. I just wish that airlines would warn other passengers in advance so they could be prepared (I would have brought something else instead!). Wouldn't it be awesome to live in a world where before you traveled you could have warnings like that -- that way all would be accommodated!
Great post, and great tips. I also enjoyed the post from last year, too!
I was on the same flight! I have a couple of questions: (1) Could someone please provide citations to any scientific literature which justifies telling everyone on an airplane not to eat cashews, because a passenger is allergic to peanuts? (2) And what about the cashews offered to passengers all over the plane on the previous flight -- shouldn't we ban all peanuts on all planes because there may be people with allergies on future flights?
To my understanding there is a standard announcement that the airline attendants read out of a manual if someone has a peanut allergy, so maybe on your flight they were trying to add on to that standard announcement the fact that the person was also allergic to other nuts. What's the big deal, so you couldnt eat your nuts for a few hours.
I was also on a flight the other day and I am the mother of a toddler who has nut allergies. .
I made the airline aware of his allergies when I booked my flight, when I checked in, and again when I boarded the plane. The airline personnel finally made an announcement after the plane had been off the ground for 15 minutes, and after I reminded the airline attendant(who rolled her eyes at me) another two times to make the announcement.
Some people around me understood how difficult of an allergy it is and agreed not to eat the nut products that they had brought on board. I packed extra bags of goodies and offered them to those people. The woman sitting behind me was heartless. She was making a huge issue out of the announcement and complaimimg that she wanted to eat her nuts, that my son started crying. My son felt bad because she couldn't eat her snack because of his allergy. He looked at me tears pouring down his cheeks and said I am sorry mommy that I am allergic to nuts. His little three year old heart was in the right place, and the nut loving woman was obviously lacking one. I would like to tell her now where she can stick her bag of cashews.
Obviously this person has never had or has known anyone who had a severe allergic reaction and maybe should brush up on the subject before they start complaining.
Triggers of anaphylaxis include many substances, but only a trace amount of the trigger may be needed to cause a severe reaction.
Foods, especially high-protein foods - most commonly, shellfish, fish, nuts, fruit, wheat, milk, eggs, soy products.
I think people with food allergies or other medical disabilities have every right to travel and be accommodated on an airline. And to those nut lovers out there who want to have their nuts and eat them on an airplane...go Greyhound.
do you hear yourself? Everyone should bend over backward for your made up disease? Drive in your own climate controlled car. If you were on a Greyhound wouldn't your pathetic weapy eyed son express the same speech while inconveniencing everyone? DRIVE IN YOUR OWN CAR.
Are you kidding me, "Anonymous"???? My son is 16 months old and just had his first taste of peanut butter... followed by a 3 hour visit to the Emergency room when his throat immediately closed over and he could barely get a breath! The memory of the panicked look on his face as he gasped for air for over an hour is enough for me to expect others to bend over backward! Grow up and educate yourself at least before you make a claim that nut allergy is a "made up disease."
Anonymous -- Do you hear yourself?
I have to agree. That complaining woman, though not nice, is not required to care about that child. Why does she have to ride greyhound? She is not imposing limits on anyone. If you require certain conditions, then YOU should drive your own car and that way can have a no peanut zone.
" The memory of the panicked look on his face as he gasped for air for over an hour is enough for me to expect others to bend over backward! "
sorry....dont care about your kid.... WANT TO EAT MY PEANUTS !!!
It's scarry to have a food allergy. To wonder every time you take a bite whether the ingredients on the label are correct, whether at some point that food came in contact with a nut (or which ever allergen ) and that's just the food you eat while on the ground and relatively close to emergency medical help. When flying if a reaction happens, you don't have the access to emergency care, especially if you are over the ocean, where an emergency landing is not going to get you any closer to a hospital.
Then the person beside you opens their nuts and you feel torn apart in two b/c your whole life you have spent requesting friends and family and people sitting beside you to either not eat their peanuts. It sucks always inconveniences others, but then you know that the dust could kill you and you have to ask. we're not asking for the world to be a peanut free bubble. we know we have to live in a world with peanuts. But on an airplane, where we breath the same air that holds that peanut dust, the same air that is ciruclated throughout the cabin for the entire flight, while at the same time we are unable to go and get fresh air. Even people with allergies love flying.
we're not asking you to be our personal nurse, to never have peanuts. enjoy your peanuts!!
but have the courtesy to let us enjoy our flying too!
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