Food to Take on Plane

[maciec]

What foods do you take on the plane for snacks (if any) ?

I have a 4yo and a 1yo. Our flight leaves at 7:45am

I am planning on getting some fish, but other than that I am at a total loss as to what to take.

 

[striker3636]

We flew to San Diego from Toronto last year with our then 1 1/2 yr old and 3 1/2 year old. I packed way too much for them to eat, however I didn't know how the "kids meals" they had would go over etc...Here are a few things I packed...

I used a thermal lunch bag and put in a frozen water bottle to keep the following cool:
-frozen yogurt tubes
-cheese sticks
-drinks for the kids in their no-spill cups (which I filled later with things from the plane/airport)
-a bagel with cream cheese, cut into quarters

I wanted them to have a few healthier things so I also brought the "fruit to go" 100% dried fruit strips that my son loves.

I let my son pick out a few treats to bring...the individual snack size of ritz bits crackers, cookies etc. I tried to limit the junk, but he was allowed to pick a pouch of the "fruit" ju jube snacks (Mickey of course, as we were also making a day trip to Disneyland).

My 1 1/2 year old dd was a little harder to plan for as she was still a pretty messy eater...I brought single serving sizes of fruit cups and pudding too. Between all this, a few measly granola bars for the adults, and all the zillion things I crammed into my backpack to keep the kids busy, it made the pack a little heavy, however, I would rather have too much than not enough when travelling with little ones. Any extra stuff we didn't eat on the way down, I saved for the return trip. Since we were travelling about 8 hours with plane changes and layovers, we had lots of little "plane picnics"...

good luck and have fun...

Are you looking for activity ideas too??

Annette

 

[Dopey Sharon]

Originally posted by maciec

I am planning on getting some fish,

I'm sorry, but this struck me as funny! Of all the foods, in the world, fish is the last thing my kids would want!

We usually buy Philly soft pretzels, at the airport, to take on the plane. It's only a little over a two hour flight, so we really don't need anything.

 

[NotUrsula]

LOL! By "fish" I'm guessing you meant Goldfish Crackers, right?

When I first met my college roomate, over 20 years ago, and one of the first things she said to me was that Goldfish were her favorite snacks. At the time, I hadn't encountered the crackers yet--I was envisioning her swallowing live goldfish. She said the look on my face was absolutely priceless, and she never lets me forget it.

RE: Goldfish; be careful with the cheese-flavoured ones. Even though it is just cheese-powder coating, it is still a form of dairy, and if a child is prone to airsickness, eating anything containing dairy will make them more likely to throw up.

For breakfast-type foods, things like granola bars, mini-boxes of cereal and plastic cups of pre-cut fruit (w plastic spoon) are best. Have them eat the cereal dry. We like to get those Little Debbie pecan rolls that come individually wrapped, too; no icing, so they are not very messy. Water or clear juice are best if they have never flown before; again, dairy can be dangerous if airsickness is an issue.

We seldom fly really early, so we usually are dealing w/ other meals. I usually get a Lunchable for DS; he is not normally allowed to have them, so it's a special deal for him. For the grownups, I order deli sandwiches wrapped to go and pick them up en route to the airport. Always be considerate about strongly-scented foods; your fellow passengers will not want to smell your food through the entire flight, so try to pick things that are NOT strongly scented.

 

[Lambert808]

Boy, I am hoping she means gold fish

We are going to pack granola type breakfast bars, and some little snacks for our flight. We fly out at 6:10am A little early for my liking, but I would rather get out early than later!

 

[lc1965]

I can't speak to carrying so much food for a 5-hour flight. But, I have to say it sounds somewhat excessive. I mean, no one is going to starve & 1 or 2 favorite snacks should be sufficient. Having said that, I always bring snacks for myself -- anything I can eat w/o the slightest chance of making a a mess -- & that means nothing in a zipped plastic bag. It's gotta be factory-packaged because it's so much simpler. A cereal bar & a piece of hard fruit (like an apple) or a bag of trail mix. Things like that, but not many. Always gum & hard candy because I have sensitive ears, but that's always in my purse anyway.

 

[Lambert808]

Originally posted by lc1965
I can't speak to carrying so much food for a 5-hour flight.

hee hee - you obviously haven't been stuck somewhere with a hungry young child Not enough food would be torture for everyone around us. LOL! Seriously though, since she is flying out at breakfast time - I am sure that is why she wants to cover her bases Of course - I am a notrorious overpacker!

 

[lc1965]

 

[Dopey Sharon]

Originally posted by lc1965

 

[CareBearYN]

I can't comment on things for kids specifically, but I've always been a bad flyer...usually just the smell of airplane food makes me feel sick. For some reason, the only thing I'll eat on a plane is cereal, so I always bring along a few mini-cereal boxes.

 

[prncess674]

I fly all the time for work and regardless of how short the flight is SCHEDULED to be I am always prepared for the worst. Bring a bottle of water and several pre-packaged snacks. (granola bars, mini boxes of raisins, trail mix, cereal bars, string cheese, peanuts, etc). I couldn't tell you how many times I have been on a flight from Chicago to New Orleans that turned into a 6 hour ordeal. Even adults get cranky if they haven't eaten. Whatever I don't need to eat on the plane either stays in my laptop bag for another flight (these are only factory sealed snacks) or are consumed during midnight munchies in the hotel.

Also remember that just because you are flying at breakfast time doesn't mean you have to limit yourself to breakfast time. Make it an adventure.

 

[maciec]

Boy, I am hoping she means gold fish

yes, I mean goldfish


Our day will start at 5am and we will end up at the condo finally around 2, so I will have to feed the kids along the way.

Thanks for all of tyhe good suggestions. DH gets pretty fussy too when he doesn't eat breakfast, so I have to pack for him also. Heck, me too for that matter!

 

[ErinInCT]

Macie,
We flew out of BWI. It is only about a 2 hr flight. You must be on one of the 1st flights out so less chance of a delay. We just got back & my kids are 4 & 1 too!! For the 4yo we put a waffle (already toasted) into a ziploc for her breakfast & a piece of fruit and a sippy cup of juice. For the 1yo we brought a cut up toasted waffle, cut up grapes, and a sippy of juice (she already had her milk when she got up). We also brought those Gerber sweet potato puffs (to feed her whenever she was fussy), she is not a Cheerios eater!
The 1 yo slept almost the whole way there, the 4yo slept almost the whole way home!!
I ALWAYS have extra snacks in the diaper bag (fruit snacks - princess ones of course, cheese or p-nut butter & cracker packages, raisins, etc) just to be on the safe side.
Have a great time!
Can I give you one more tip that was helpful for kids - bring bubbles! Whenever the kids were lagging & we had to wait in line or for a show I got out the bubbles & it revived them. Other parents were looking at me like "THANK YOU" when all the kids were rushing up to pop bubbles while waiting for Cindy's Surprise Celebration!
Have fun!

 

[maciec]

ErinInCT .... we are actually flying outo of Salisbury and then to Philly and then to MCO. It's about 4 hours total that we are in airports.

Bubbles is a great idea also! Thanks!

Oh, I cannot believe that I forgot about grapes! My dd eats them like they are going out of style. Awesome idea!

 

[jmminarik]

Freeze the grapes (whole). Try them frozen. You may never go back.

-Joe

 

[jeancbpugh]

Every time we fly, regardless of the flight length, we take on a small hard-sided cooler. It's the size they sell to hold a six pack. We pack hardy sandwichs (that won't get soggy after a few hours), fruit, and crackers.

One of our sons has a peanut allergy. If our flight is delayed, or we are stuck in an airport, we might not be able to get any safe food for him.

So pack more than you need. You'll eat it eventually.

And we'd be happier if you didn't pack peanuts or peanut butter please. There are a lot of allergic kids out there....allergies are on the rise. It's certainly your right to bring peanuts, but we'd be ever so grateful if you didn't. It's not like we can leave the room if it bothers us on the plane...and it's a long way to life support.

 

[HenDuck]

I like the idea of bringing Eggo's for my DS. That's what he eats every morning anyway.

I was planning on packing DS a sandwich, cheese and crackers, animal crackers, cookies, and taking his drinking cup with straw, all in our little cooler bag.

We will probably grab something at the airport first thing in the morning for the rest of us and then suffer with airplane food until we get to L.A.

If our flight didn't leave so early in the morning, I'd stop at Dunkin Donuts and get a box of "munchkins".

 

[Lambert808]

Originally posted by HenDuck
If our flight didn't leave so early in the morning, I'd stop at Dunkin Donuts and get a box of "munchkins".

Now there is a good idea! Yummy!

 

[LoriMistress]

I brought cookies, bottled water, and some snacks on the plane for our trip.

 

[pjlla]

Here is my .02 worth...

I packed dinner for my family on our evening trip to Orlando this past January.... flight left NH too early for a real dinner and arrived in Orlando too late... and I wanted to keep the kids occupied on the flight.

I packed the tuna "kits" for my DH and DD, pb&j for my DS, and the canned seafood salad "kits" for myself. Along with this I packed fruit chews, Atkins bars (for DH), apples, juice boxes, cans of soda and some pringles (for a treat). It was more than enough for food and snacks for the entire trip. I threw away everything except the collapsible lunch cooler (which I folded and put in my carry-on) when we were done. It saved us $$ and time. Plus we got a reasonably healthy meal. And it was very easy to bring along.

For the ride home I didn't/couldn't plan so well. But I did bring home all of the leftover snacks we had from our hotel room. This included some pb &j for DS, atkins bars for DH, pb crackers, and a few juice boxes.... and we were glad to have them. We got a bit lost on our way to Orlando and BARELY made our flight (after we got lost on the road I sent us to the wrong gate... oops). Our flight from Orlando to Philadelphia got in VERY LATE and we literally had to SPRINT to the gate to make the connection. By this time it was after lunch and the kids were starving (we should have had time to pick up a quick lunch inthe airport in PA, but we didn't). Thank goodness for the snacks! They saved the day! And saved me from having to buy a waaaaaay overpriced airline sandwich! (which they probably wouldn't have liked anyhow!)

Anyhow, enough of my story.... here are my "flying foods" suggestions.....

STarkist Tuna kits (come complete with small mayo pack and crackers... no fridge required and no can opener required)

Bumblebee Seafood salad/ham salad kits... same as above.

Hardboiled eggs

crackers

fruit chews

juice boxes

squeeze yogurt (freeze ahead if necessary)

cheese stick or rounds (like the Baby Bel)

pudding packs (with plastic spoon)

Lunchables (not a thing I regularly suggest.... I think that they are overpriced and over packaged.... but great for this kind of situation)

mini cereal boxes

HOPE THIS HELPS....................P