Best tips for preventing illness before and during a Disney vacay?

[iheartwalt]

Since my family is knee-deep in the Christmas crud, and our Disney trip is exactly one month away, I have illness prevention on my mind. Typically every trip one of us gets sick (either cold/cough/sore throat or fever/mild stomach bug) so I do bring all of our OTC's from home but this year we have fewer rest days (10 park days and 1 rest day vs our usual 10 park days and 4 rest days) so it will be more of a bummer to hang in our room if illness arrises.
I know hand washing/hand sanitizer is key (how often do you apply? just before eating or after every ride?) any other tips? Anything you take in the days, weeks leading up to the trip? We are in Northern MN which is just a big ol' cesspool of illness right now, DH and I work from home but DS 4 brings home plenty of germs from daycare.
Thanks so much!

 

[TinkPearl]

Lots of Airborne and Echinacea! I'm a preschool teacher and take them daily in the winter months and it really helps. Before a Disney trip, our whole family takes it. They have Airborne gummies for kids. It will build up your immune system

 

[MrsDuck]

Since my family is knee-deep in the Christmas crud, and our Disney trip is exactly one month away, I have illness prevention on my mind. Typically every trip one of us gets sick (either cold/cough/sore throat or fever/mild stomach bug) so I do bring all of our OTC's from home but this year we have fewer rest days (10 park days and 1 rest day vs our usual 10 park days and 4 rest days) so it will be more of a bummer to hang in our room if illness arrises.
I know hand washing/hand sanitizer is key (how often do you apply? just before eating or after every ride?) any other tips? Anything you take in the days, weeks leading up to the trip? We are in Northern MN which is just a big ol' cesspool of illness right now, DH and I work from home but DS 4 brings home plenty of germs from daycare.
Thanks so much!

If you don't regularly take vitamins, I would start now!

When we are at Disney, we pack hand sanitizier and wash our hands more frequently than normal - especially before eating. But, I've found the biggest things that help are constantly being aware of not touching things that don't need to be touched and keeping your hands away from your face.

Hope you have a great, healthy trip!

 

[NYEmomma]

I just started taking elderberry syrup for a cold I caught on Christmas Eve and I LOVE it!! You can also use it as a prophylactic.

ETA: My oldest has gotten really good about washing hands and not touching her face with her hands but my 2yos are horrible about it, naturally. So I'll probably keep them home from story time & preschool the week before we leave.

 

[gottaluvPluto]

Airborne never worked for our family. I would eat more green veggies, garlic, ginger and other antivirus foods. I also put seaweed in our diet and we hardly (almost never) get sick. We will also gargle with listerine because it stops a virus or bad bacteria from getting our of control. Another thing to consider, if you have dirty hands or haven't washed them in awhile, don't touch your mouth, nose or eyes.

The things listed above was given to me by a friend that was a doctor and it has helped my family.

 

[niffer5150]

good luck as 4 year olds tend to forget anything you teach them about cross contamination. not touching your face or putting things in your mouth that don't belong there is key. germs need an entry point. don't invite them in by rubbing an eye with a hand that touched the same rail typhoid mary sneezed on.

 

[Delirium]

Try very hard to get sick about 3 weeks before you go. And, then get your Dr. to prescribe some antibiotics. They should still be in your system by the time you go, so it's unlikely you would get sick again.

 

[goldwest]

My trilogy of health is sleep, exercise and nutrition! It is almost impossible to completely avoid every virus but a healthy immune system can fight off invaders.

 

[Stefecatzz]

I wash my hands every chance I get. It's not hard to do since there's a restroom every 20 feet or so in any given park. Especially after entering having to put your finger on the scanner, after a ride & before eating.

Keep in mind if you do get sick & need an OTC med, there are first aid stations in each park that will give you one at no charge.

Keep hydrated, even in the winter months because with all the walking you can still work up a sweat. Heat stroke sneaks up on you & really is not fun to experience.

Have a fun & healthy trip!

 

[minnie mum]

Unless you can barricade your family until you leave, and can create a sterile bubble around yourselves on the plane and in the parks, there is no way to avoid exposure to all of the pathogens around you.

Maintaining a good nutritional diet and adequate hydration will probably do you more good than gulping down handfuls of nutritional supplements and OTC "preventatives" that promise more than they can deliver. And trying to take antibiotics in the hopes of avoiding a future illness is both futile and harmful in the long run.

Wash your hands after every bathroom visit and before putting anything in your mouth. Use hand sanitizer only if hand washing facilities aren't available. Teach everyone not to touch their face with unwashed hands. Keep hydrated!!!! Pay attention to what you are eating. A change in diet for several days can spell trouble. Keep Hydrated!!!! Get enough rest. Exhaustion lowers your resistance to illness. Oh, and KEEP HYDRATED. And use common sense.

 

[Dis703]

With little ones I've found you can prepare as much as you like but it may not matter. We picked up hand foot and mouth last trip. Not surprisingly the first to get sick was the 2 (almost 3) year old who kept eating the backs of his chairs, rolling on the floor and even snagged a mug from someone else's stroller and was drinking it before I could stop him. All the hand washing and sanitizing was useless with that little guy. I guess I'm just glad it didn't happen until the last day so we had a miserable time at the airport and he didn't do much that last day but the rest of our trip was good.

Good luck!

 

[niffer5150]

Unless you can barricade your family until you leave, and can create a sterile bubble around yourselves on the plane and in the parks, there is no way to avoid exposure to all of the pathogens around you.

Maintaining a good nutritional diet and adequate hydration will probably do you more good than gulping down handfuls of nutritional supplements and OTC "preventatives" that promise more than they can deliver. And trying to take antibiotics in the hopes of avoiding a future illness is both futile and harmful in the long run.

Wash your hands after every bathroom visit and before putting anything in your mouth. Use hand sanitizer only if hand washing facilities aren't available. Teach everyone not to touch their face with unwashed hands. Keep hydrated!!!! Pay attention to what you are eating. A change in diet for several days can spell trouble. Keep Hydrated!!!! Get enough rest. Exhaustion lowers your resistance to illness. Oh, and KEEP HYDRATED. And use common sense.

found the medical professional!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Airborne never worked for our family. I would eat more green veggies, garlic, ginger and other antivirus foods. I also put seaweed in our diet and we hardly (almost never) get sick.

Add drinking plenty of water, and eating yogurt. When we added these items and fish oils pills, we stopped getting sick.

Other probiotic foods are sauerkraut, kimchi, hard cheese, probiotic pills (like Pearls).

Fiber foods are also good!

I don't take vitamins (much), but I eat a variety of naturally colorful foods. (fruits and veggies). Cut down on high sugar/high starch/high glycemic/white foods. The same nutrients that make kale green, sweet potato orange and blueberries blue are all antioxidants/phytonutrients that give your body the strength to fight disease naturally.

Oh, and it also doesn't hurt to get in shape a bit before you go to WDW. Every bit of walking helps! Park further out, take the stairs, walk the long way around, get up and move at least once an hour.

As others said, over using ha sanitizer isn't good, but washing your hands before eating is wise. When you can't, then a little hand sanitizer can help. I also use it to disinfect cuts if I can't get to first aid quickly/easily.

Also, well, it isn't just illness. Eating junk food makes me feel tired, bloated, lethargic. I little sweet as a treat makes life fun, but overloading all the time is not good. I love the old adage, everything in moderation.

 

[CoP I Love You]

in my opinion the more you do to stop potential germs the more you end up with.

I NEVER EVER EVER use hand sanitizer at Disney world.

I wash my hands with soap after using the bathroom and that's about it.

before you go I would perhaps take a few doses of airborne to help boost your immune system for the trip.

and just bring any medication you may need.
for me that's advil, Imodium, gas-x, tums, and Dramamine (it works for nausea whether its brought on by motion sickness or just feeling ill).

if your family tends to fall ill with a cough/sore throat/cold then bring medication like Dayquil and Nyquil and other cold medicines.

 

[KingofSwing3000]

With Oregano Oil pills. If you're already healthy, take one a day or every other day. If you feel something coming on or have something, take one in the morning at one at night. Fish Oil pills are good once a day too.

 

[gottaluvPluto]

Add drinking plenty of water, and eating yogurt. When we added these items and fish oils pills, we stopped getting sick.

Other probiotic foods are sauerkraut, kimchi, hard cheese, probiotic pills (like Pearls).

Fiber foods are also good!

I don't take vitamins (much), but I eat a variety of naturally colorful foods. (fruits and veggies). Cut down on high sugar/high starch/high glycemic/white foods. The same nutrients that make kale green, sweet potato orange and blueberries blue are all antioxidants/phytonutrients that give your body the strength to fight disease naturally.

Oh, and it also doesn't hurt to get in shape a bit before you go to WDW. Every bit of walking helps! Park further out, take the stairs, walk the long way around, get up and move at least once an hour.

As others said, over using ha sanitizer isn't good, but washing your hands before eating is wise. When you can't, then a little hand sanitizer can help. I also use it to disinfect cuts if I can't get to first aid quickly/easily.

Also, well, it isn't just illness. Eating junk food makes me feel tired, bloated, lethargic. I little sweet as a treat makes life fun, but overloading all the time is not good. I love the old adage, everything in moderation.

I love mixing kale and spinach together. It is amazing what a diet can do for a persons health.

 

[DOOM1001]

I'm doing the Goofy challenge in marathon weekend in less than two weeks,so I basically can't be sick.Around January 1st I was going to buy a 30 pack of Emergency-C and take like 2-3 a day every day through both race days anyways but this morning I woke up with a scratchy throat,I don't feel sick yet but that's the first sign.I'll be buying that Emergen-C pack today to see if I can prevent the cold from coming on.

 

[cattywampus]

Besides the hand washing protocol and eating cleanly, exercise cankeep your body working well, and it can also raise your body temperature, which can help kill baddies. You get fevers for a reason when sick.

 

[missnic]

Start taking Emergen-C a week or so before you go. I take one every time I feel a cold or something coming on and it usually wards it off. Recommended dose is 1 pkt per day, so I probably wouldn't take more than that - One packet provides 1667% of your daily Vitamin C.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Frequent hand washing and drinking plenty of water.