Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsTravel TipsMedical KitsWho Shouldn’t FlyCan Airlines Refuse?
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Travel Tips
Medical Kits
Who Shouldn’t Fly
Can Airlines Refuse?
Traveling with a sick child is often manageable with the right preparations. But if your child has or is suspected to have a serious contagious illness, likewhooping coughor COVID-19, or poses a health risk to others, you will need to delay your trip until your child’s condition is stabilized.
This article explains what medicines you can and cannot take when traveling. It also provides a handful of tips for navigating airports and country-specific regulations.
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Tips for Traveling With a Sick Child
It’s a good idea to keep all medications and supplies in a separate, clear “medical kit,” so that they are easy to find and can be quickly retrieved when you need them.
The following tips and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recommendations can help you organize your medical kit and prepare for your journey with a sick child.
Organizing Medications
Although medications can be packed in checked or carry-on luggage, it’s best to bring them in your carry-on. That way, they will be available if you need them on the plane or in the airport.
While organizing your medical kit, consider including:
TSA does not require passengers to bring medications in prescription bottles, so you can bring them in apill organizerif you like. Laws vary between states and countries regarding prescription labeling, though. Check with theembassy at your destinationto learn the respective laws.
Preparing Liquids and Other Types of Medications
Liquid medications are allowed in carry-on or checked bags, but you will need to follow a few regulations when flying with them:
As for injectables, inhalers, pumps, and aerosols:
Federal regulations prohibit passengers from bringing their own supplemental oxygen onto airplanes. If you or your child require supplemental oxygen, you will need to call the airline at least 72 hours before your flight to arrange in-flight supplemental oxygen.
If you do not want a medical item to be X-rayed, you may request a visual inspection instead. Make this request before sending your items through the X-ray tunnel.
Not Sure if You Can Bring It?Use the TSA “What Can I Bring?” websiteto find specific instructions related to most medications and medical supplies. This website provides instructions for external medical devices (such as feeding tubes), mercury thermometers, personal oxygen, syringes, and more.
Not Sure if You Can Bring It?
Use the TSA “What Can I Bring?” websiteto find specific instructions related to most medications and medical supplies. This website provides instructions for external medical devices (such as feeding tubes), mercury thermometers, personal oxygen, syringes, and more.
Readying a “Back-Up” Plan
Plan where you will go for medical attention if needed. Write important numbers and addresses down and keep them in your medical kit.
Is there a children’s hospital, pediatrician, or clinic where you are staying or on your travel route? This is especially important for international travelers and when you are on a cruise.
Even facilities that promote family travel and provide licensed healthcare providers for sick travelers are not guaranteed to have a pediatrician available in case of severe illness.
The nearest children’s hospital or local medical society may be able to help you find a pediatrician if you are traveling and your child gets sick.
When traveling in another country, aninternational clinic, your travel agency, the U.S. Embassy, or the U.S. Consulate may be able to help you locate a pediatrician.
If your child has a chronic medical problem, consider acquiring amedical alert braceletfor them to wear, just in case they get sick and you aren’t around. This is especially important if your child has severe allergies, diabetes, seizures, or another condition that may require sudden and specific medical care.
What Should Be on a Medical ID Bracelet?
Informing Your Healthcare Provider
Before leaving, schedule a checkup with a pediatrician and/or pediatric specialist to ensure your child’s medical problems are stable.
Be transparent about your plans with the healthcare provider—they may be able to offer you some travel tips that are specific to your child’s condition.
Depending on your destination, certain vaccinations may be recommended for you and/or your child to protect from disease. The CDC provides detailed information aboutrecommended vaccines for every countryin the world.
If you are traveling internationally, take some time to review the country-specific recommendations, and make a list of any vaccines your child does not have. It may help to bring this list to your provider’s office in case you have questions.
Contacting Your Pharmacist for Refills
If you lose a prescription while traveling internationally, contact your healthcare provider and explain your situation. Your provider may be able to write you a new prescription that you can bring to a pharmacy near you. You can also visit a localurgent careto see if they can help.
If you are traveling within the United States, you can:
In the past, in order to have your prescription transferred, you would need to contact your healthcare provider and ask them to cancel the prescription then re-submit it to a new pharmacy. According to regulations updated in 2023, however, all you need to do is contact your home pharmacy directly and ask them to initiate the switch.
Are Booster Shots Common for Vaccines?
Complying with Laws and Regulations
Different states and countries have different laws regarding the types and quantities of medications that travelers are permitted to bring.
For example, France permits travelers to only bring the amount of medication needed for the duration of the trip. And, if the medication is anarcotic, a written letter to customs providing the name and dosage of the medication is required.
Meanwhile, countries like Japan, Singapore, and much of Europe have banned Adderall, Ritalin, and a number of other medications that are common in the United States.
Bringing controlled drugs into a foreign country can come with steep consequences, from local fines, to jail time and deportation. In Singapore, having as little as three grams of morphine can result in the death penalty.
TSA advises international travelers to prepare “requisite medical documentation” from their prescribing physician at least two months before departure. The documentation should include:
Additionally, the name on the prescription, container, and traveler’s passport must match.
If a medication contains narcotics, you may need to submit an application to the country’s Narcotics Control Division or Food and Drug Administration for permission prior to entry.
Forpsychotropic medications, including antidepressants, you may need to notify the medical officer at the embassy in your home country. Do this well in advance so that all appropriate parties are aware before you arrive at customs.
What Else Should Go in a Medical Kit?
Your medical kit should contain everything you need to manage your child’s health condition, as well as other medical items your child may only need on occasion.
Things to include in a travel medicine kit might include:
Keep in mind that if you are bringing an aerosol medication in your carry-on, it must be medically necessary. Aerosol insecticides, for example, are permitted in checked luggage only.
Is My Child Too Sick to Fly?
Do not fly if you or your child has acontagious diseasethat poses a serious threat to other people, such as:
If you or your child has a history of the following conditions, see your healthcare provider for an evaluation before you travel to ensure the condition is stable:
Travel is rarely contraindicated (advised against) during a normal pregnancy. However, it’s best to delay travel if your pregnancy requires close medical supervision. Reasons not to travel when pregnant include:
Will the Airline Refuse My Sick Child?
You or your child may be denied boarding if you have or are suspected to have a serious contagious illness that poses a public health threat.
Airline officials will suspect contagious illness if you or your child has one or more of the following symptoms:
Less than 1% of passengers are denied boarding in the United States each year.Nonetheless, airline officials are permitted to deny boarding or remove any person from a flight who appears obviously sick, or who is believed to pose a health threat to others.
Inform the airport security screener if your child has any special needs for going through security, or if they might get upset during the security procedures because of their medical condition.
Summary
Before you travel with a sick child, give yourself plenty of time to organize a medical bag with daily medications, medical supplies, and any other extras your child may need. Most medications are permitted in carry-on or checked luggage. However, if you plan to fly with a medication that is liquid, aerosol, or involves needles, you will need to declare it to TSA officers at the security checkpoint.
14 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Air travel.Harvard Global Support Services.Tips for traveling with medication.American Diabetes Association.What can I bring with me on the plane.Transportation Security Administration.Can you pack your meds in a pill case and more questions answered.Transportation Security Administration.What can I bring?Transportation Security Administration.Insulin.United States Drug Enforcement Administration.Revised regulation allows DEA-registered pharmacies to transfer electronic prescriptions at a patient’s request.France in the United States.Information for private individuals - Medicine.Transportation Security Administration.Traveling with medication.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Protecting travelers' health from airport to community: Investigating contagious diseases on flights.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Pregnant travelers.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Preventing spread of disease on commercial aircraft: Guidance for cabin crew.GAO.Airline consumer protections.U.S. Department of Transportation.Bumping & oversales.
14 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Air travel.Harvard Global Support Services.Tips for traveling with medication.American Diabetes Association.What can I bring with me on the plane.Transportation Security Administration.Can you pack your meds in a pill case and more questions answered.Transportation Security Administration.What can I bring?Transportation Security Administration.Insulin.United States Drug Enforcement Administration.Revised regulation allows DEA-registered pharmacies to transfer electronic prescriptions at a patient’s request.France in the United States.Information for private individuals - Medicine.Transportation Security Administration.Traveling with medication.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Protecting travelers' health from airport to community: Investigating contagious diseases on flights.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Pregnant travelers.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Preventing spread of disease on commercial aircraft: Guidance for cabin crew.GAO.Airline consumer protections.U.S. Department of Transportation.Bumping & oversales.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Air travel.Harvard Global Support Services.Tips for traveling with medication.American Diabetes Association.What can I bring with me on the plane.Transportation Security Administration.Can you pack your meds in a pill case and more questions answered.Transportation Security Administration.What can I bring?Transportation Security Administration.Insulin.United States Drug Enforcement Administration.Revised regulation allows DEA-registered pharmacies to transfer electronic prescriptions at a patient’s request.France in the United States.Information for private individuals - Medicine.Transportation Security Administration.Traveling with medication.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Protecting travelers' health from airport to community: Investigating contagious diseases on flights.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Pregnant travelers.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Preventing spread of disease on commercial aircraft: Guidance for cabin crew.GAO.Airline consumer protections.U.S. Department of Transportation.Bumping & oversales.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Air travel.
Harvard Global Support Services.Tips for traveling with medication.
American Diabetes Association.What can I bring with me on the plane.
Transportation Security Administration.Can you pack your meds in a pill case and more questions answered.
Transportation Security Administration.What can I bring?
Transportation Security Administration.Insulin.
United States Drug Enforcement Administration.Revised regulation allows DEA-registered pharmacies to transfer electronic prescriptions at a patient’s request.
France in the United States.Information for private individuals - Medicine.
Transportation Security Administration.Traveling with medication.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Protecting travelers' health from airport to community: Investigating contagious diseases on flights.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Pregnant travelers.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Preventing spread of disease on commercial aircraft: Guidance for cabin crew.
GAO.Airline consumer protections.
U.S. Department of Transportation.Bumping & oversales.
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