A family vacation is something to really look forward to. It’s perhaps the one part of the year when you are able to spend real quality time with your family and your spouse or partner, so it’s no wonder that we all look forward to it so much. Yet ensuring that everyone is safe the whole time can sometimes be difficult, and in some cases, it can even deter families from booking their much-needed break away. Here are some useful tips on keeping everyone safe when you’re away from home so that you can enjoy your vacation without any cause for concern.

Contact Details

If you want to really have a great time on your family vacation, you won’t want to be worrying about anything, so to give yourself some peace of mind when it comes to your children and their safety, you should make sure that they all have the right contact details with them. These contact details include your own cell number, the phone number for the hotel you’re staying in, and the address of your accommodation too. Write this down on a piece of paper and give it to each child to keep safe with them in a zipped pocket or a backpack. If they were to get lost, they can find someone to help them and let them know where they are staying, or who to contact.

If you’re worried that the paper is going to get lost or become unreadable (which can easily happen if it gets wet on the beach or around the pool), then you could invest in ID bracelets with the correct information on them.

Find A Meeting Point

Whenever you arrive somewhere, make one of the very first tasks you do finding a meeting point. This is even more important in a place with lots of crowds where getting lost is easier, but it should be your habit to do it wherever you are. One of the very worst feelings that a parent can ever have is realizing that their child has slipped away from them and can’t be seen. It happens so easily, despite every parents’ best efforts, so arranging a meeting place in advance will make it all much better – you can head directly for that spot when you know the child is missing and wait for them there. This saves everyone rushing off in different directions and potentially missing one another in the panic.

As a backup plan, just in case the meeting point is inaccessible, make sure that all the children in your party know what to do if they can’t get there. They will need to find someone to help them, and that person should be a police officer or someone with children of around the same age.

Do Your Research

Whether you are going on vacation or simply out on a day trip, you will need to research your destination before you go. This can often be done online, but your hotel should be able to give you some advice as well. You will want to go somewhere that is definitely family friendly, and that it has plenty of age-appropriate activities for children to do.

Work out what the hazards might be (wild animals, strong currents, big crowds, and so on) so that you can be prepared in advance and have your contingency plans in place.

Take A First Aid Kit

No matter where you are going or what you are doing, taking a first aid kit with you is essential. If necessary do your research before into what you may need to take, as well as being prepared for anything. You can be even more prepared by researching for local resources, wherever you are. This can ensure you can find what you need easily, for example if you were in need of a Canada pharmacy. The kit should contain medications in case anyone gets sick while you’re away from home, as well as band-aids, antiseptic wipes and cream, and tweezers which can be used for removing splinters, for example. The sooner you can fix any bumps and scrapes or make someone feel better, the sooner you can continue to enjoy the day.

Use Sun Block

Sun block can be so easily forgotten, and it is such an important part of keeping a child safe and protected. Your kids may not enjoy wearing it, they may even kick up a fuss about it, but you must insist that they put it on – or even do it for them if they are young or being problematic. They should wear it whenever they are outside, even if the clouds are covering the sun and the day seems rather hazy. The sun’s rays are strong and will still get through, even if you don’t actually notice at the time.

Everyone should wear at least a factor 30 sunblock, but higher is even better. It should be re-applied regularly throughout the day, and this is particularly important if the kids are swimming.

Watch The Water

Even if your child is a great swimmer, you should never leave them alone in the water, whether that’s a pool, a water park, or in the sea. If you can’t go into the water with them, then you should ask someone you trust to help out. If your child wants to go in the water and they’re not a strong swimmer, give them some form of floatation device. This can be worn like a vest or held, or perhaps you might opt for a rubber ring or water wings. Use whatever is most comfortable for your child, as if they don’t like wearing the device they may take it off, or they might decide not to go into the water, and their vacation could be much less fun.

Remember Allergies

Allergies can often be a problem for children, and they should be carefully thought about when you go on vacation. If you’re in a foreign country, for example, it’s a good idea to learn the correct phrases so that you can let the waiting staff in restaurants know what you can and can’t eat, and perhaps even why so that you can impress upon them how serious it is. If you need to take allergy medication, then make sure that is packed as well.