Getting through screening with a 18-month-old
 

Our first flight (9 hours) with an 18-month-old is coming up. A couple questions:

1 - will they let us bring a sippy cup with water, another one with milk and a bag of grapes (grapes are the favorite snack, makes no mess and it works when nothing else does) through the security check?

2 - will they require the toddler to walk through the machine or can we carry her? (I can't believe they're actually making the parents take the little kids' shoes off. Just pathetic.)

Thank you.

I don't know about the liquids but I carried my daughter through security until she was almost three.

You should have no problem with the grapes (whole fruit) are allowed for everyone. (Side note keep meaning to bring a watermelon and see what TSA says).

I would email TSA http://www.tsa.gov/contact/index.shtm and ask your specific question and then print out the response. This is going a bit overboard I know but I find that TSA is so hit and miss with each airport doing things just a little differently.

A month ago I had a similar question see below for their answer:
Individuals are also allowed to bring more than 3 ounces of pre-mixed baby formula (in a liquid or frozen state), juice, gel or liquid-filled teethers, canned, jarred, or processed baby food into the screening checkpoint. These items must be declared to the Security Officers prior to entering the screening checkpoint and be separated from other liquids, gels, and aerosols.



Please note, special purpose water, such as Nursery® Water, is currently the only type of water permitted into the secured area, since it is intended to be mixed with baby formula. Passengers traveling with this type of product through the security checkpoint must:



* be accompanied by an infant or young child;
* declare it to the Security Officer prior to entering the screening checkpoint and prior to x-ray examination;
* inform the Security Officer that it is special purpose water; and
* open the bottle for additional screening, if required by a TSO.

Frozen gels and liquids are permitted if required to cool medical and infant/child exemptions. Frozen gels/liquids for any other purpose are not permitted.



We recognize that the information on our website is not all inclusive and that many passengers have additional concerns regarding traveling with items intended for use by infants and young children. Many of these concerns include how the current screening procedures accommodate the handling of essential food items passengers must carry onboard the plane for their children, such as breast milk, formula (to include related mixing products), baby food, and juice.

Just returned after travelling with almost 3 year old twins. We brought a TON of additional liquids through security. Keep it "reasonable" and declare it seperately and you should have no problem. I put it in a seperate bin and said, "Additional liquids because of the toddlers." and continued unloading stuff. Don't make a big deal about it to them. Make it seem like you've done it a million times before and this is just part of the process. We didn't have a problem. We brought unopened juice boxes, unopened water, and even unopened Gatorade. You could probably bring some shelf stable milk as long as it's unopened. Think about the kind that they sell at Starbucks. Looks like the same kind of packaging as a juice box but it doesn't need to be refridgerated until it's opened.

Don't worry about "declaring" the grapes but I would worry about how they will taste after 9 hours without refrigeration?

Plan on the TSA making the 18 month old walk through alone. Have one of you walk through first, then send the 18 month old and then the other of you.

What could happen to grapes in 9 hours except that they might warm up to room temperature (which will make them taste better)? We're talking about uncut fruit, not a tuna sandwich.

As for sippy cup liquids, it sounds as though you will, as a parent accompanying a toddler, get more latitude regarding liquids - but that those liquids should be in manufacturer-sealed containers prior to completing the security screening process. In other words: (1) empty sippy cup ok; (2) juice box or other sealed container of liquid probably ok; but (3) sippy cup with liquid in it (during security screening) not ok. Bring the sippy cup with liquid to the airport if your toddler needs it before security, pour it out before security and re-fill the sippy cup after you exit security.

Hi

We have travelled with our children a fair amount - (the oldest is now nearly 2). I have always taken his sippy cup with water in it plus a bottle of water and small carton of juice and had no problems. I know what you mean about grapes. I have taken them in a multiple small boxes (portion size) to stop them getting squashed and eaten all at once!!! I have had to dispose of any uneaten grapes immediately on landing due to the restrictions of bringing fresh food into the particular countries we have been to.

Our 2 year old prefers walking so has walked through the scanners between myself and husband, but I have seen others being carried so whatever works and see what happens.

Enjoy your trip.

You have gotten good advice on this thread. The main thing is to make whatever you have easily visible to the TSA when going through the security line. We try to unload it all while we're waiting in line and put it in a separate bin (blue ice packs, zinc ointment, vaseline, drinks, yogurt, cottage cheese, and other food). We rarely run into any problems. When we have, we have asked for a supervisor and it has always turned out okay. If you do encounter some initial resistance, just remain calm and ask for a supervisor. My wife always carries our daughter, who is currently two, through the metal detector. We have never been questioned on that.

I hope you have a great trip.

--Jon

Here's the TSA's official word on this:

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtrav...ren/index.shtm

My own experience has been uneven (I know, it's hard to imagine, isn't it?). ;)

While bottles with milk/formula have always been allowed, I've had TSA people refuse to allow juice boxes. I've even had one TSA person refuse to allow me to bring a bottle filled with water. Basically, if I mixed the formular and water before security, it was fine ... but I coudn't bring it through pre-mixed. I asked him if that made any sense to him ... he just shrugged.

So I think there's a big YMMV on all the advice you may get. But I'd bring a print-out of the TSA Web site quote above ... at least you'd have some info with you that might change their minds.

Yes, beware - I declared infant water for my son, and the first TSA agent in the
line said "fine" and put it down, and before I knew what was happening,
the second TSA agent threw it in the trash! I said, "hey, that was my
declared infant water that was approved!" He shrugged and said, "I
threw it away." Lovely.

But, I have never had trouble with carrying him through, though he
is small for his age (19 months). BTW the infant water event was at
around six months old.

Grapes should be fine (but of course cut in half to avoid choking, at
some point)

--LG

our (extended) family trip to Hawaii in October will be interesting. we'll have kids of the following ages: 9 months, 17 months, two 3 yo's, and a 5 yo. yeah, we're crazy. we'll also have a LOT of stuff to declare, lol.

when we had just one kid, we did encounter a TSO at CMH who had a problem with nursery water. ORD? fine. ATL? fine. LGA? fine. SFO? fine. CMH? banned.

Toddler through security
 

O.K. I realize this is a pretty sad commentary on my life, but my child who just turned three can already pull out a bin and knows to immediately take off her shoes and put the bin on the belt.

That said, we have obviously traveled alot and have never had a problem with taking milk or fruit on a plane. Water I haven't tried because I always just asked a stewardess for one of the mini bottles of water. They have always been VERY accommodating but I think it is more often because the last thing they want is a unhappy toddler which makes for unhappy adults ;). We also used the dry formula in the bottle trick and then mixed with the water on the other side (that is when I finally got my daughter to buy into the whole formula thing). I am convinced my child is destined to be a gourmet but that is a story for another day...

Just wait until your X week old is a selectee.. its quite entertaining.

wonderful
 

You people are great. Thanks for all the helpful replies. This board rocks!

Now, of course - big surprise (not) - everyone's experience is a bit different and treatment is inconsistent. If the liquids don't make it, we'll just bring an empty bottle to fill up past security and once on the plane (Lufthansa) we should be taken care of. I don't even plan on bringing milk and worry about keeping it cold. But the fact that fruit is allowed is great news. Not sure there will be much of that on board.

At least we managed to book flights so that we have to endure just one TSA screening for the whole trip (on the way out), I am not too bothered by what awaits us across the pond.

Oops, need to stock up on those grapes. Another tray is gone! I love the idea of bringing several boxes, since once in sight, all of it is usually devoured in no time :)

Been away from FT these past 3 weeks because of relocation. You know, even when they have packers and movers to do everything, it's still a royal P.I.A. and hassle moving across 4 states...especially with a 3 year old (who started preschool <sniff>) and a 7 month old in tow! 2 adults, 2 kids, 2 dogs, 2 hermit crabs and 2 cars...I need a vacation! Oh wait, I've been off the past 4 weeks :D

You should have no problems with the liquids. When we travel with jonesingkids we usually have 2 baby bottles with water inside for the formula, 2-4 juice boxes, 2-4 similar boxes with room temperature stable milk plus other assorted lotions, gels and items that TSA would normally ban in their War on Things that Go Squish™. Sometimes we don't always offload said items from the diaper bags (we each carry one when traveling) and only once was it an issue but it was quickly cleared up when a senior TSO (probably with kids) stepped in.

I travelled in July - CPH, SEA, LAX, ORD - with my then 3 month old, and had a similar expeirence in all the airports -- no problem. Arriving in Seattle they made us go through the extra agriculture x-ray because of the formula (food?), but that was it. I even had bottles filled with boiled water and it wasn't a problem (since they can't easily boil water for you on the plane). What I did was put all the bottles - some with water, some with pre-mixed formula - and unopened packages of pre-mixed formula in a big ziploc back, so I could easily pull it out to show them -- although at some of the airports, they didn't even care and once I told them, they said to just leave it in the bag.