Camping is one amazing activity that can foster forming a strong bond within family members. However, remember that outdoor conditions expose kids to several risks.
It is the responsibility of parents to keep safe at all times. Hence, when you think of camping, you need to arm yourself with healthy and safety tips for you and of course, the kids.
Here’s information at your fingertips for your protection to be Safe While Camping with Kids. All you’ve got to do is follow-through.
Ways to Ensure You Stay Healthy and Safe While Camping with Kids
Take Vaccines
While you’re out there enjoying nature, the possibilities are limitless—in both good and bad ways. This is not to scare you, but rather to prod you on the need to ensure you’re safe from diseases you can be protected from. Vaccines do that—different vaccines protect you from different diseases and illnesses.
Before you go camping, ensure you confirm by your doctor that you and your kids have taken all the necessary vaccines. Depending on your destination, you may be asked to take some specific vaccines.
Shield yourself from temperature changes
Camping is an outdoor activity and you cannot stop the weather from being what it is. One important way of shielding yourself from temperature change is your choice of clothing. Protect yourself and your kids from cold weather conditions (for instance) by dressing in layers.
Dressing them in layers for general protection is also a good idea. When things get too hot, they can always take out a layer. Packing hats, caps and boots for hiking would also do you a lot of good for protection while camping.
Drink a lot of water to keep you from being heat stricken. Sugar-free and alcohol-free fluids are also great options for hot days. Don’t wait until you’re thirsty, just gulp in a lot of fluid on hot days. Take breaks from underneath the sun after a period of activity. Too much sun isn’t great.
Drink Only Purified Water
You can save yourself a lot of trouble by caring about the kind of water that gets into the system of you and your kids while camping. Diarrhea and stomach aches can be contracted when you drink contaminated water.
Bringing many bottles of water may not be a practical solution to your water issues because its water and with kids involved, you never really know how many bottles of water would be enough. Bottled water would also be really difficult to carry.
Taking tablets of iodine that can help purify just any kind of water is more practical. So, take those iodine tablets and let them dissolve in the water you can get at your camping site. You can also take a water ionizer and alkaline water machine along.
Additionally, do not drink the water you swim in. As a rule, any family member with diarrhea should not swim.
Pack Your Edibles
Wild berries are a better fit for Bears. They may not turn out great for humans. Your family shouldn’t try taking a test on that, if you are looking to avoid any illness that would stop your camping experience.
Pack all the food you’ll need. Bread, trail mix, cereals, granola bars, and fruits should make it to your list. They are good enough and a better option to stay healthy.
Teach your kids to avoid poisonous plants and insects.
On your way to your campsite, teach your kids about harmful bugs and their bites. Teach them especially about harmful plants like ivy, sumac and poison oak. You can’t do much with a bite from those plants, so teach them to avoid those.
Apply repellents to fight off insect bites and have an antihistamine in your first-aid box in the case of an allergy. An antihistamine is always a good start before getting medical attention.
Regularly, check for ticks and take them out. Dressing in long-sleeves and other protective clothing would also prevent the kids from spots and bites.
Train the kids on how to act in emergencies
You could set boundaries, but campsites do not exactly confine kids. They can get into danger and they need to know how to react. To reach you, you can put a whistle around their neck and teach them the universal rule of blowing thrice if they are in trouble. Learn about security and teach them the same. Let them know where the first aid kit is located and if the campsite is so big, you could hand them a map.
Wrapping Up
The tips are endless, but this article has done a summary. Other tips to Stay Healthy and Safe While Camping with Kids include using a life jacket (when you plan to swim or ride in a water vehicle), choosing safe activities and watching kids closely.
