How much formula/food on flight?

[HGD24]

We're scheduled on a non-stop 3-hour flight this Sunday. DD has a bottle around 3pm (we'll be in flight) and dinner around 6:30-7pm.

We plan to take at least 2 bottles worth of formula to cover her 3pm and 7pm feedings and we're taking at least one container of baby food for her 7pm feeding. I also want to pack a 3rd bottle and a small bottle of juice so that we can give her some during takeoff and landing. I'm paranoid about the possibility of our flight being delayed or re-routed so would it be too much if I packed a 3rd bottle of formula?

How strict is TSA on how much you can bring with you for a baby? Do they take your flight times into consideration at all?

 

[islangrl]

Have you ever seen those containers, in the baby aisle, that have dividers in them? Oh, here I found a link.
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...=aps&hvadid=1100311901&ref=pd_sl_2s520qqtfq_b
The blue one at the top. They sell them at walmart, babiesr'us etc. My advice is to bring more than you think you'll need, just in case! You can get bottled water from the flight attendant to mix it. And if you don't use it on the flight it will still be good for your vacation.

 

[islangrl]

Here is the link to TSA's guidelines regarding baby formula.
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/children/formula.shtm
Good Luck!

 

[NotUrsula]

24 hours' worth. Same for diapers/clothes, or any meds your child customarily needs. If your baby needs it daily and they don't sell it on planes, you need to carry it onboard.

NEVER trust the airlines to get you there without delays -- they cannot control the weather. (And don't think that you don't have to worry about that if it isn't snow season; thunderstorms actually cause more delays than snow.) I've been stuck on a runway for 5 hours when flying with a baby. It happens.

TSA can make all the suggestions they like, but they cannot insist that you only take "sufficient for the flight" because they cannot promise you that you will not be delayed. Be smart -- take 24 hours worth of supplies.

 

[thepeach80]

I think we ended up w/ 3 or 4 CANS of formula when we went. Then another 3 or 4 in the luggague (I think we took 7 total). Ilana is on rx formula so if something happened to our luggage or we would've been delayed we would've been SOL and she couldn't have solids so we took lots of formula. No one said anything, even about the snacks we packed the older boys or juice boxes, but the unopened water was a problem.

 

[HGD24]

24 hours' worth. Same for diapers/clothes, or any meds your child customarily needs. If your baby needs it daily and they don't sell it on planes, you need to carry it onboard.

TSA can make all the suggestions they like, but they cannot insist that you only take "sufficient for the flight" because they cannot promise you that you will not be delayed. Be smart -- take 24 hours worth of supplies.

Good advice - 24 hours worth it is!

...but the unopened water was a problem.

Why was unopened water a problem? Was it because you had cans of formula which I assume were ready to feed cans? We were thinking of bringing ready to feed glass bottles for the flights and are now considering bringing extra powdered formula in case of delays, re-routing, etc. We would then need bottled water to mix it with. DD will not drink cold bottles and all you can buy in the airports in cold water.

 

[two-foxes]

We were delayed 9 hours leaving Orlando last December and needless to say, we ran out of enough formula for the flight. (I had just stopped BF that week, too, which needless to say, I regretted....) So the above poster has it right....bring 24 hours worth and use the munchkin dividers you can get at Target for ease of carrying.

 

[mom2aredhead]

We plan to take at least 2 bottles worth of formula to cover her 3pm and 7pm feedings and we're taking at least one container of baby food for her 7pm feeding. I also want to pack a 3rd bottle and a small bottle of juice so that we can give her some during takeoff and landing. I'm paranoid about the possibility of our flight being delayed or re-routed so would it be too much if I packed a 3rd bottle of formula?

I would say pack 24 hours worth too.

I was recently traveling with my sister and newborn niece, and our flight was delayed significantly...like about 6 hours, then another 3 hours on the runway. Add in the actual flight time, then time in the airport getting baggage, transportation, etc. and it was a full day ordeal.

And my niece was on that special reflux/colic formula which my sister wouldn't have just been able to go pick up in a grocery store, so she made sure she packed enough ready to feed (the small bottles like in the hospital) in her carry-on for a full day, plus some extra powder to last another full day in the event of lost luggage, which thankfully didn't happen.

She had all of the little bottles in a large ziploc which she took out of her bag so they could see the label and that they were unopened. Honestly, the TSA people didn't even bat an eye - we went right through security.

 

[HGD24]

Will we be able to bring our own bottled water through? That's my big concern now. DD will not drink a bottle made with cold water and there's no way to heat them in the airport.

We have the dispenser by Avent and we love it for traveling to other people's houses, so that will be going with us along with the RTF's.

We also have the Munchikin dispenser but I don't trust the top on it. It moves around so easily that the formula could move from one compartment to the next if it's not kept upright - this happened to my SIL, so we just use keep it on our kitchen counter and use it for pre-measuring DD's morning formula.

 

[crashbb]

Will we be able to bring our own bottled water through? That's my big concern now. DD will not drink a bottle made with cold water and there's no way to heat them in the airport.

We have the dispenser by Avent and we love it for traveling to other people's houses, so that will be going with us along with the RTF's.

We also have the Munchikin dispenser but I don't trust the top on it. It moves around so easily that the formula could move from one compartment to the next if it's not kept upright - this happened to my SIL, so we just use keep it on our kitchen counter and use it for pre-measuring DD's morning formula.

Officially, you cannot bring water through security as it is not on of the liquids that falls under the "infant exception". Some people have reported being allowed to take it through, because, as we all know, the TSA are not consistent. I wouldn't count on it though.

You could ask a store/restaurant if they have water that they haven't yet put in the cooler, run the bottle under hot water, use a water fountain, or make up enough for the first feed and by the time of the second feed, the bottle of water you buy will have warmed up.

 

[HGD24]

Officially, you cannot bring water through security as it is not on of the liquids that falls under the "infant exception". Some people have reported being allowed to take it through, because, as we all know, the TSA are not consistent. I wouldn't count on it though.

You could ask a store/restaurant if they have water that they haven't yet put in the cooler, run the bottle under hot water, use a water fountain, or make up enough for the first feed and by the time of the second feed, the bottle of water you buy will have warmed up.

I've read and re-read the TSA website these past few days and the bottled water thing is the one thing I couldn't get an answer about so thanks for the tips.

 

[islangrl]

Will we be able to bring our own bottled water through? That's my big concern now. DD will not drink a bottle made with cold water and there's no way to heat them in the airport.

The flight attendants will have bottled water, big ones that they pour into cups.
Not small bottles for sale. They are not kept cold.

 

[NotUrsula]

The flight attendants will have bottled water, big ones that they pour into cups.

Oh, do NOT count on this to cover you in the event of an on-plane delay. The amount of bottled water carried on most flights is just barely enough to get by with normal demand; they very seldom have extra.

You would need to buy your bottled water airside and just let it warm to room temp in your diaper bag. FWIW, I have heard reports that people have had better luck getting specially marked "Nursery Water" past TSA, but that's by no means certain.

 

[HGD24]

Oh, do NOT count on this to cover you in the event of an on-plane delay. The amount of bottled water carried on most flights is just barely enough to get by with normal demand; they very seldom have extra.

You would need to buy your bottled water airside and just let it warm to room temp in your diaper bag. FWIW, I have heard reports that people have had better luck getting specially marked "Nursery Water" past TSA, but that's by no means certain.

We were once stuck on the plane, at the gate for 5 hours and our flight was only supposed to 2 hours long. After 2 hours of sitting on the plane, they brought out the water and peanuts, but used all they had for the flight so they had to get more delivered - so I've seen it happen where they run out. We will be sure to buy a couple of bottles of water before getting onboard.

 

[laughinplace199]

You should definitely bring 24 hrs worth of all baby supplies (formula, food, diapers, wipes, etc.). When my DS was on formula, we used the ready to feed kind. I brought six 6 oz ready to feed bottles on each flight. I also brought an empty bottle and a can of powder, just in case.

 

[thepeach80]

The water was o.k. when we flew out of KC, but not when we flew from Savannah, it all depends on the place and person you see. And no, the cans we had were not RTD, we really did take 3-4 FULL sized FULL cans of formula w/ us on board.

 

[ktmt]

We're leaving on Wednesday and I'm hoping to take the Nursery Water through security. That's definitely something they don't sell by the gate, so I'm hoping the TSA folks permit it -- I'm not a fan of using spring water for making formula (I heard that it can sometimes have bacteria in it bc it doesn't go through the same purification process...but I have NO idea if that's true.) Plus, pediatrician said to use flouridated water, which is hard to find in an airport. Even worse, my DS doesn't drink room temp water, he only drinks warm formula...so I'm hoping to pass through warmed Nursery Water in our Foogo.

Good luck with the baby!!!

 

[tjmw2727]

We're leaving on Wednesday and I'm hoping to take the Nursery Water through security. That's definitely something they don't sell by the gate, so I'm hoping the TSA folks permit it -- I'm not a fan of using spring water for making formula (I heard that it can sometimes have bacteria in it bc it doesn't go through the same purification process...but I have NO idea if that's true.) Plus, pediatrician said to use flouridated water, which is hard to find in an airport. Even worse, my DS doesn't drink room temp water, he only drinks warm formula...so I'm hoping to pass through warmed Nursery Water in our Foogo.

Good luck with the baby!!!

I fly alot - and I would advise you that water is not going to make it through security 99 % of the time. Be prepared to discard it and have a backup plan.

If you check the TSA website water is not listed under the exceptions for flying with babies. If you insist on making your formula with nursery water then you should really consder making the formula with it and then bring it though as formula, not water. In addition bring some powder and purchase bottled water after clearing security- as a backup just in case. As a pp mentioned there is not always water available on every flight. We always purchase water, juice and whatever we like to drink after security and bring it on board.

As far as temperature, you are allowed to bring an ice pack to keep the formula cold. The FA's will give you a cup of hot water to warm the bottle to the temp you like. A bit of advice - serve the formula a bit cooler each time until you can serve it room temp. It will save you lots of trouble in the long run - take it or leave it

Again - I hope things work out but some pp's are planning on things that are not usually allowed. www.tsa.gov is a great resource, if you plan according to the restrictions you will be ok.

TJ

 

[ktmt]

tjmw -- Now I'm worried since chances are high they won't let the water through. I really wish DS would just drink room temp water...we've tried but he gives us a good fight. I leave on Wed so I'm going to work on the room temp part.

hgd -- Are you just planning to buy spring water? I would hate to bring all that nursery water and then have to throw it out. Those little 9oz bottles are so expensive!

 

[crashbb]

I was assuming that by "warm" you meant near room-temperature (as opposed to refrigerated). How are you planning on keeping the water you bring from home warm? Even if you live beside the airport, by the time you factor in check-in, security, etc. you are leaving your house 2+ hours before your flight (again, assuming you have no airport travel time). Won't the water be room temperature (or there about) by the time you need to use it anyway?