Travel advice with child with food allergies

Hello,

We are off to Switzerland for the 5th time in September, the difference being we will be taking our 2 year old son. We are all sorted with itinerary etc but have a few things we would like to know about little people, we haven't taken any notice before! Lol. Are there minimum age restrictions for cable cars, mountain railways etc? Would I need to carry him in a harness or is he allowed to walk, go in pushchair? Also he has multiple food allergies. He is allergic to cows milk protein (no cheese or chocolate! Eek), tomatoes, strawberries etc. When we go out for meals here we usually take some back up food incase they can't cater for his allergy. Would we be able to do that in Switzerland as well or would we be frowned upon?

Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks.

Hi sally2311,

The general advice is not to take children under 2 years old to places over 2500 m. Or at least consult your pediatrician. Whether you carry him or let him walk is up to you, there are no restrictions.

I don't think there will be restaurants arguing over his spare food. Just ask whether they can cater for his allergy. If not, explain you'll be using your own food for him.

Thank you for your reply. That's great, I have already spoken to the doctor who says she cannot see any problems with the altitudes etc but just to keep an eye on him. I might just keep some back up food then and work out my translation about his allergies before we go. Wish he could have a cheese fondue with us. Maybe I will find somewhere who do a meat fondue so he can join in the fun 😊 Thanks again.

>> I might just keep some back up food then and work out my translation about his allergies before we go.

Hi Sally,

Information from the European Consumer Centre Germany with translations of food items might help.

You can download a PDF document called "Guide: Allergies (GB)" from here:

www.evz.de/en/consumer -topics/health/allergy-dictionnary/

English-German is on page 3.

The yellow card template on the PDF says:

Ich habe eine Allergie gegen ...

I am allergic to ...

As it is your son who is allergic, you could change the wording to:

Mein Sohn hat eine Allergie gegen ...

My son is allergic to ...

Hope this helps.

Alpenrose

That is so helpful. Thank you. Really kind.