Grazed knees, bumps and bruises are all a part of growing up – but it’s worth noting that many childhood accidents are preventable with a little forethought, care and attention, and this is particularly true when planning a holiday.
If you’re going away and intend to do any serious walking or climbing, make sure you take the right footwear. A decent pair of walking boots can prevent a sprained knee or ankle, which could lead to a fairly miserable holiday experience either laid-up in bed or hobbling around on crutches – perhaps something to raise a smile in years to come as you look back at the family photo album, but not much fun at the time!
If going abroad, of course get up-to-date medical advice from your GP about any jabs or other protection that might be required. Mosquito repellent may also be an essential, but remember it’s often toxic too, so be careful when applying it and look for a child-friendly version.
It is also vitally important to remember that kids’ skin is much more sensitive than ours, so, if holidaying somewhere hot, apply plenty of strong sunscreen and reapply regularly (especially if the children are splashing about in the water, as this can both make them feel cool when actually they’re burning, and also it washes the sunscreen off). Introduce your little ones to the sun gradually, taking plenty of breaks in the shade, especially in the first few days. As well as being very dangerous to the skin, a case of serious sunburn can all-but ruin a vacation.
Talking of water, beware of strong currents in the sea, and avoid using lilos on open water – these can easily be carried out dangerously far with a few waves or strong gusts of wind.
On top of this apply all the rules you would at home – make sure you know where your kids are and that they’re being supervised. Watch out for steep drops, unguarded fires and so on – not all countries have such stringent health and safety guidelines as the UK. Of course, if an accident happens that spoils your holiday and should’ve been preventable, and your tour operator (for example) is to blame, you may wish to speak to a no win no fee solicitor about possible compensation.
That all said, you can avoid many of these pitfalls with the increasingly popular “staycation”, relaxing at home with all your designer watches or holidaying here in the UK. True, you might not get the sunshine, but there’s an awful lot of fun and fascinating things to do right on our doorstep. And as you won’t be flying, you’ll be cutting back on your carbon footprint too. Your kids probably won’t have carbon emissions as top of their holiday priorities right now of course, but when they grow up they might look back and thank you for having had the foresight to help slow disastrous climate change. What’s more, you can spend the money you save in airfares on an awful lot of fun – and safe! – days out together.
The author, Don Connigale, is a freelance copywriter and blogger, currently working with No Win No Fee UK
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