best sun holiday w/ dairy & wheat allergy

gemini_girl

My family might be lucky enough to go on our first sun holiday this summer. Hoping to go mid sept. Our 2 children aged 3 & 6 years are both allergic to cows milk protein & wheat. We need a place that can cater for their dietary needs. Ideally somewhere in portugal (as ive never been) or spain. The flights need to be from cork & less than 3 hours (phobia of flying). We're a young(ish) family so somewhere family friendly but also with a bit of life would be great. Have praia de rocha in mind but would love some other options. Thanks

ProudDUB

Why not look for somewhere self catering, so that you can take care of the food situation yourself?

gemini_girl

ProudDUB wrote: »

Why not look for somewhere self catering, so that you can take care of the food situation yourself?

Dont mind doing breakfast & lunch but dont want to be cooking. Plus i dont know how easy or hard it is to find wheat free bread & dairy free milk etc

ProudDUB

Could they not just drink water/juice/minerals while they are on holiday? You could also bring a supply of gluten free bread with you. It has a longer expiration date than regular bread. My mother did that when she went away. She was diagnosed as being a coeliac over thirty years ago. She had no problem communicating her dietary requirements in the larger resorts where the staff spoke English. But all it took was one waiter or cook who didn't understand what she was on about and she was in bed sick for days.

She wanted a break from cooking when she went away too too, but after a while thought the worry and stress of what happened when she ate out, just became too big of a worry. So she and my dad would just get a self catering apartment that had shops and restaurants near by. If they came across a restaurant where she felt comfortable ordering something, great, but they enjoyed having the safety net of their own kitchen too.

gemini_girl

ProudDUB wrote: »

Could they not just drink water/juice/minerals while they are on holiday? You could also bring a supply of gluten free bread with you. It has a longer expiration date than regular bread. My mother did that when she went away. She was diagnosed as being a coeliac over thirty years ago. She had no problem communicating her dietary requirements in the larger resorts where the staff spoke English. But all it took was one waiter or cook who didn't understand what she was on about and she was in bed sick for days.

She wanted a break from cooking when she went away too too, but after a while thought the worry and stress of what happened when she ate out, just became too big of a worry. So she and my dad would just get a self catering apartment that had shops and restaurants near by. If they came across a restaurant where she felt comfortable ordering something, great, but they enjoyed having the safety net of their own kitchen too.

My kids are only 3 & 6 so would have milk in cereal, dairy free yogurts, dairy free butter, wheat free bread/cereal/crackers etc. Would I be allowed carry all that food on a plane? We've never been abroad with them so have never dealt with supermarkets in holiday resorts regarding their allergies. Not sure the dairy free stuff would keep ok while travelling either

ProudDUB

Could the kids not have fresh fruit, or a boiled egg for breakfast? Try and be flexible & think outside the box. That is what my mum had to do. Whether you eat out or eat in, you will have your work cut out for you, if you try to duplicate every single meal that they eat here, in a foreign county. If will be even harder, if you want someone else to cook it for you using specialized ingredients.

You would have no problem bringing dry foods, such as crackers, bread, cereal etc etc on the plane...

mel.b

A few years ago I was in Egypt and there was a family at the diving resort i was at who had two young children who had special diets (may have been dairy & wheat free...I can't remember). However they got a letter from their doctor and then spoke to the airline and were able to fly out all the food they needed for the kids for 2 weeks at no extra charge. They were a german family so no idea what airline they flew, but may be worth a try.