ladylonghorn

What can I or can't I bring through secuirty food wise for my 1 (just turned 1) and 3 year old? I'm wanting to bring a cooler with chopped up items for the toddler and a sandwich, yogurt, etc for the 3 year old along with milk but am wondering how to keep it cold. Since it's for the kids, can I use an ice pack?

vicarious_MR'er

a sandwich isn't a problem. However, I don't know why it would be better to try and bring milk and/or yogurt. Both are readily available in the airport terminals, and flights have milk onboard, too.

Yogurt is one of those items that I'm honestly not sure if they'd try to call it a liquid or a solid.

Just for ease of it, I'd personally make a PB&J sandwich that can go without refrigeration and pass on the cooler packs, the milk, and the yogurt and buy those as I needed them instead.

Less hassle AND less junk to carry around.

I've brought baby formula through and stuff like that because those aren't readily available. The stuff that can be found anywhere, though, isn't worth the trouble IMO.

GBeckman

I'm pretty sure they'd confiscate the yogurt. They will let milk through if it's for a baby/toddler, but honestly, it's not really worth the hassle to me. I'll go to a coffee place and get a sippy cup fill-up of milk, or buy a single size serving from a restaurant. I wouldn't necessarily count on there being milk onboard the plane, though. I'd say my experience has been about 50/50 at best. Easier to get it in the airport before boarding.

I agree, try to keep it to stuff that doesn't need to be kept cold, and avoid the hassle of the ice pack and cooler. I pack crackers, pb&j, apple slices, raisins, pretzels, etc. Not necessarily what I would choose to feed my child if we were at home, but perfectly ok for an occasional plane trip.

Jon Maiman

We have a three year old daughter. When she was younger we had no trouble getting a small soft side cooler (i.e. bottle holder) through security with a blue ice pack, a few milk and/or juice bottles, yogurt, etc. Now they say she is a toddler and our experience has been variable. Maui (OGG) and Cincinnati (CVG) were very difficult and confiscated stuff. On the other hand, our home airport Pittsburgh (PIT) and Chicago (ORD) didn't give us any trouble. The last time we went to Florida (FLL and PBI) she was only 2 years old and we didn't have any problems. We have also found that liquids packed in Sippy cups or bottles seem to get less attention and cause fewer problems with the TSA than pre-packed individual serving milk boxes or juice boxes.

In you specific case, I think they will be pretty lenient for the stuff for the 1 year old. The 3 year old would be more questionable but they might be given more slack because you also have a 1 year old.

For milk onboard planes, our luck has been better recently. I can only speak for UA but they did have milk onboard and gave us some without a hassle. In the past either they didn't have it or said it was only to be used with coffee.

I agree with the GBeckman that it isn't worth the hassle to bring yogurt and/or milk through security. My wife feels otherwise. If there are some items you can't buy at the airport go ahead and take them through security. Try to minimize the amount of stuff you take and place your cooler with the items in a separate caddy with the top open and let the TSA know it is for your 1 year old. That will give you the best chance of getting through hassle free.

--Jon

oldpenny16

Put some grapes in a Zip-Loc bag. Freeze them! I use this method instead of blue packs. When the grapes thaw they are OK to eat. No waste.

ArizonaRoadWarrior

We have a 3-YO son and based upon our experiences, we have been able to get 98% of the items through security.

Length of Trip: If the flight is only one hour long, don't bring the whole refrigerator with you...they are not going to allow it. We were going to LAS and my wife just brought too much food\liquid items and the TSA disallow most of the items.

If your flight is only an hour but you connect to a 10-hr flight...show the TSA agent your boarding pass/etc.

A few times, the TSA agent asked about the quantity and we said that we are at the airport 2 hours before our flight and our flight is 4 hours.

Disclosure\Organize: We never have any problem when you put all of the liquid items, ice paks and into a single tray. Once my wife left a bottle in the bag and it was confiscated.

Attitude: Be nice.

2nd Opinion\Ask for the Supervisor: A few times, we have asked for the supervisor when the TSA agent wanted to confiscate our items. Every time, the supervisors allowed the items through security.

gobluetwo

Note that the TSA website explicitly allows ice packs if they are to keep medications or baby items cold. You may even want to print out that page in case you run into a group that doesn't know the rule (as we did at LAX).

We also have 1 and 3 year olds and have had no issue with milk, juice boxes, sandwiches, fruit. Haven't tried yogurt, honestly. Tend to get more pushback from the smaller stations (CMH, CLE) than the larger ones (SFO, ORD, ATL). Not a trend, just my observation.

legionnaire

Traveling with a 5 yr old, carrying a 8 fl oz tetra pak of chocolate milk for in-flight consumption. Will TSA let it pass? If it matters relevant airports are SFO, BOS and BWI (next week).

CPRich

Unless there's something unique about a "tetra pak", 8oz is over the 3oz limit and doesn't seems to fall into the "formula, breast milk, or juice" exemption.

hfly

We were able to bring large amounts of milk and chocolate milk with us when our child was then 2-3 years old, then again we did not carry it in opaque tetra paks, try doing it in a clear bottle.

Jon Maiman

I have a 3.5 year old daughter. When she was <=2 years old we virtually never got questioned about milk, juice, yogurt, etc. Now we get questioned much more often and in some airports they flat out refuse to let us take the stuff. So for a 5 year old, unless they look younger than they are, I suspect you will run into problems. There is a wide degree of variance in treatment depending on the airport. I don't have experience with the airports you listed so I can't comment on them specifically.

--Jon

legionnaire

We decided to check it in and get it to the kid after arrival and picking up the bags.

ArizonaRoadWarrior

I agree...we had no problem when our son was younger but since he is now 3 1/2 YO, we do get questions but we responded back that the flight is 4 hours long and they let the liquid in quesiton go through.

gaobest

We are flying on UA with our baby, and we are now feeding him formula. May we bring an unopened (or open) can of formula with us in our carry-on bag? This way we can just buy water past TSA and make formula at that time.

Thanks,
Michael

Eclipsepearl

It should be allowed. Here's the TSA page on formula;
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtrav...n/formula.shtm

I've never heard of the "reasonable" amount challenged. Bring what you need.

If the water is meant for the baby, you should be able to bring a bottle too, without having to buy an overpriced one after security. If they say, they just take it away.

You can also pack the cans in your checked bags and bring on board individual packs (if we're talking powder) or if you have bottles with disposable liners, just premeasure the powder into those and roll them up. Place in a ziplock and use and discard. Very convenient if you have a long trip.