Your child may need extra immunisations if you are travelling overseas. See your GP or a specialist travel doctor six to eight weeks before you intend to travel, especially if visiting developing countries, as some vaccinations have to be administered in several doses over several weeks. If backpacking or going for a longer period see your doctor three months in advance. This is not just a personal health issue. There are countries which require their visitors to have received certain vaccinations. Also, there are countries which recommend medications that should be taken to lower the risk of getting highly prevalent diseases for which there are no vaccinations.
If you are going to a part of the world where there is malaria, a serious infection caught from mosquito bites, your child will need protection against that, too. Malaria is a problem throughout the tropics and can kill. Anti-malaria tablets should be taken from one to two weeks before travelling and must be continued for four weeks after leaving a malaria region.
New Zealand has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. Exposure to sunlight in childhood is the main risk factor for melanoma and other types of skin cancer. Toddlers can burn easily in the sun so precautions to avoid this are vital.
If you go outside:
In the sunshine? Remember to:
Here are a few tips to make travelling with children a little easier:
All children require a passport when travelling overseas
Passport office
0800225050
http://newzealand.govt.nz/
Toddlers are notoriously fussy eaters. Travelling to unfamiliar places with new foods and different mealtime routines can further disrupt your child’s eating habits
Relax and remember that a healthy child will never voluntarily starve themselves. Trust them to eat when they’re hungry. Follow these safety tips when visiting a developing country: