A Small Sampling of Our Multi-Lingual Medicine Cabinet
A topic came up on the Saverocity Podcast at FT4RL: what you wish you knew before traveling with kids.
I volunteered one I’ve learned the hard way and realized I’ve never shared before on the blog: pack more kids’ medicines than you need because you might not be able to get them at your destination, even in developed countries. I’ve found Chewable Advil Junior Strength Tablets are an absolute life-saver.
I came across this twice in Europe during Camp Mom:
- Deal Girl got a rash after sunburn in Austria. In the states I would have grabbed some Cortaid, but Austrian pharmacies won’t sell steroid cream to kids. I had to go with the stuff above, which helped but not nearly as quickly as cortisone cream could have.
- Deal Kid came down with a tummy bug in Paris and I wanted kid’s Pepto or Immodium. No dice: turns out the standard treatment in France is a pricey “probiotique”. The probiotics did the trick in 1/2 day, so kudos to the French!
This leads me to lesson #2: daily probiotics for kids on the road. At home I’m pretty much a Flinstones gal but now when we travel I give the kids a daily probiotic to ward off the nasties. It took me a while to find one in the states that the kids would take without gagging. Luckily, I recently received a sample of BioGaia to review and they did the trick. At a buck a tablet they’re not cheap, but compared to missing a day of vacation I’ll take it.
And lesson #3 I’ve mentioned before but is worth re-stating: Travel Insurance. I just bought a policy that covers all medical and $2000 of travel expenses (basically what I would need to pay to redeposit miles and non-refundable hotel) for a month for $26/person through Allianz Travel Insurance. Total no-brainer, especially after I had to file a claim and they paid out right away.
Any keep well must-dos with kids on the road I missed? Please share in the comments.
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Not specific to kids, but…
In Australia, pharmacies do not sell OTC antibiotics (i.e. neosporin). Not cool when you get a cut while diving on the GBR and all they have to “treat” it with is betadine (iodine) ointment.
I should clarify that Queensland, Australia (i.e. Cairns), does not sell OTC antibiotics. Can’t say for sure if other states do.
Hi Ben,
That’s exactly why my travel medical kit has doubled in size. The “I can buy it there if I need it” mentality gets thrown out the window when you’re talking meds.
I’m pretty sure that’s true in the whole country of Australia, but I can also confirm it is also true in the ACT (i.e. Canberra). I still have the betadine ointment I got there, because it cracks me up how old school it is. On that one, I don’t feel like I missed out (neosporin is one of those things where I’m always wondering if it helps much or just makes me feel like I’m doing something.), but I completely agree on the general point. It’s also nice to know this ahead of time and skip the confusing conversation where you ask for neosporin and they eventually get you to understand that you can’t have it without a prescription (something I wouldn’t have considered as a possibility). Now I keep things like cortisone and neosporin in my “bathroom bag” for all trips, because frankly it’s easier than remembering to put it in for international trips only. The tubes are so tiny, anyway.
PS – I have made it my mission in life to teach people that tylenol/acetaminophin is called “paracetamol” in the UK and Ireland. 🙂 That’s one that dawned on me slowly when we lived there.
I’d also say – remember that kids can probably take tablets at a younger age than you think. So, if they need ibuprofen or something when you are overseas it is much easier to both carry with you or obtain when you’re there the solid form. Even though you child may be used to the liquid, just figure out what dose they need and either just give them one tablet, or cut one in half.
Good tips, Jamie. I’ve also found chewable kids Advil and Pepto that are staples in the med bag now. (And I remember Tyenol being “Panadol”).
yeah, Panadol is one of the brand names. Also Calpol is common. Paracetamol is the generic name.
PS – I didn’t realize there was chewable kids advil. That’s a good one to know. My kids love chewable medicine.
A dollar a tablet for probiotic? Good grief! I get 120 gummy probiotics at Costco for around $20. Works wonders. A buck a tablet is obscene.
Thanks, Lindy. Hadn’t thought of Costco for the kids version. I had trouble sourcing kids probiotics that the kids didn’t reject but will definitely keep an eye out for them.
I had a similar problem. The first cruise we took I bought every type of medicine I thought we might need….adult and child.(immodium, pepto, Tylenol, advil etc) The next year we went on another cruise and everything was expired and I did not feel like spending the money to replace it all…….after all we had not used it. My son got diarrhea in Antigua. I went to the pharmacy there–absolutely nothing. We ended up at the ship doctor and he got quarantined (which was ok because he did not feel great anyway). Lesson learned! Be prepared!!
Thanks for sharing, Lisa. Things I do when traveling to the developing world I just skipped thinking “we can get it there if we need it”. No more!
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On our last trip I walked into a pharmacy in Austria and begged for an antibiotic for my 10 year olds ear infection….I lied and said we left his meds at home and we’re getting on the train to go to Slovenia and really needed an antibiotic (True, we were). I assumed it was infected. She VERY reluctantly she sold us 10 days of antibiotics. Maybe because he was standing there holding his head and crying. Three days in he quit taking them because the pills were so big he couldn’t swollow them without half of it foaming/melting and gagging. We ended up taking him to an ER in Lake Bled and they couldn’t have been nicer. Gave us a script for heavy duty Ibuprofen and a liquid antibiotic. All in it was $40 US. We’ve been to Urgent Care in Canada, Key Largo, Arizona and Niagara Falls. We almost had a Dr call while in St Kitts but we managed to get thru a wicked sunburn with aloe leaves from one of the hotel staff. My husband drove her to get the leaves from her mother’s house.
Where did one NOT get sick? In Paris when he drank the water squirting down from a public fountain people were cooling their legs and feet. Yep. I was the crazy American mother yelling,”Noooooo! Nooooooo!” while running/pushing people out of the way when I noticed his face under the stream drinking away.
We’re headed to Europe this summer and I’ll pack everything under the sun with fingers crossed no one gets sick!
Nic,
Yikes! This is the stuff you’ll laugh about one day…I hope?
The total random-ness of it all is why I carry travel insurance- not for the cost but for the free “call a nurse” line that directs me to the local language word for whatever language word I need and an English-speaking doctor.
Not just internationally, but even states vary. My oldest got sick in Orlando. I learned the hard way that compound drugs are not available at every pharmacy, i.e. No phenergen gel! Never go to Florida without it!
Good to know! I’ve definitely had issues with forgetting prescriptions but this is a new one.