Aibu to expect an airline to offer allergy friendly food for my almost 2 year old son?

[danishkids]

We will be traveling with Qatar airlines in July. We will be traveling with your 22 month old son who has allergies. To milk egg and almonds. He carries an epi-pen for the milk allergy.

We have been informed that they can only offer baby glass jar food for our son and some apples and bananas. The glass jars he can have (due to his allergies) are age 6-9 months.

He eats the same food as us. We have ask for a child’s meal instead, I have even offered to pay for it. The reply I get is that I should take my own food. However with no microwave or fridge. With 3 flights over 26 hours.

Baby fruit will not sustain him for that long.
I feel Like they are being unreasonable.

FYI you can order allergy meals for adults.

Can you order him an adults allergy meal?
But yes you’re right, they should accommodate it. 6-9 month jar food is not suitable for a nearly 2 year old.

Can you order an allergy meal for you and a children’s meal for hjm and then do some swapping of bits so he gets a meal and you have the kids meal and what he doesn’t eat from the adult one?

(You shouldnt have to but trying to think of a practical solution)

Are you paying for a seat for him or is he travelling free on your lap?

If he’s under two and you’re using the free travel therefore, then technically he doesn’t “count” as a passenger on board, so they don’t have to provide food for him

It’s harsh though

Order yourself an allergy meal. Pack a load of crap for you to eat.

Agree with sirzy. Order adult allergy meal and child meal.

One of my DC has severe multiple allergies. We always just bring loads of food for DC when we fly - my worst nightmare is them having a severe allergic response whilst trapped in a plane!

With our own food, it feels safer and with the added bonus of knowing we will pack things DC will like.

If you can order allergy meals for adults and he eats the same food as you anyway can't you just do that? Or do the airline not allow it?

Is he in his own seat? If you’ve paid for a seat then I would order an adult allergy meal. If you haven’t got a seat for him and he’s on your lap then I think yabu to expect them to provide him something. And you can always pack a lot of bread sticks, carrot sticks etc.

Have you tried requesting a vegan meal for him? If not I'd order a vegan meal for me and then let him have what he wants and I'd eat the child's meal. Not perfect but I've done it when necessary.

I’m assuming they won’t do it as he’s on your lap? Therefore the only argument I can see for them about food is that as he has no seat of his own there is no space to take an extra meal. Can you take a pre packed toddler meal then heat it in a bowl of hot water or if he’ll take it eat at room temperature?

Friends and family travel frequently to NZ and Australia with young children under 2 and the jar thing seems to be the norm, they just take their own food for the children. Two of the children are now just over 2 and will have their own seat so I'm not sure what happens there but I imagine they will get a child's meal?

Yabu. If you don't pay for a seat, you don't get a meal. That's the norm.

I take sandwiches and fruit and things like that when I fly to Australia with my anaphylactic dd. It's not worth the risk.

I fly Qatar frequently and food is not their strong point.I always take extra stuff for my children and myself. I hope you have a seat for your son, its a hellishly long way to have someone on your lap.

I loathe eating on a plane (hate the fact you are all couped up and then the trays don't get cleared for ages) so I always eat at the airport.

Why don't you do that and order an allergy meal for if you child needs something on the plane.

I could have written sunshine journey's post word for word.

I used to buy Ella's pouches and other stuff online and have them delivered to the air side store at the airport.

If you really want a non 'under 2 year old meal', best to pay for a seat and order an allergy meal that will go with the seat.

Definitely try sirzy’s idea, but otherwise what’s wrong with sandwiches? Does it have have a hot meal?

Can you not order an adult allergy meal and pay the difference if they're too stingy to provide it?

You aren't paying for a seat so can't expect food!

I’ve had this when flying with most of the major airlines in the Middle East region, child under two means no actual meal for them. Last time I asked for a banana and got handed a jar. I told them I wanted an actual banana and the air hostess got shirty with me.

I’ve started packing sandwiches/snacks for me, hubby and kiddo as sometimes the food is horrid. That and we get airport lounge access so we don’t need to actual eat much on the plane.

If you aren’t paying for a seat for your toddler then most Asian airlines expect you to cater for him yourself. Just bring dry food with you and then buy the dips / condiments / wet food from the airports. You could even dip the crackers in the baby jar food.

A few tweets to mention this and a phone call to Sky with the story might help (the airline sponsor the weather forecast).

I lived in Qatar and I wouldn’t trust them to get it right anyway (seeing as it’s an epipen allergy - we are a bit more relaxed with our son as his dairy allergy is mild). Take your own food. You’ll need to anyway if he’s booked as a lap infant.

Last time I asked for a banana and got handed a jar. I told them I wanted an actual banana and the air hostess got shirty with me

Why would you think they have bananas on a plane?

They serve set meals on trays; even in Business and First class the menu is set in advance.

They don't have a big store cupboard to fulfil the needs of passengers who don't take the items they specifically require.

Allergy UK's theme this year is travelling with allergies, they did a report on it why not see what you can find on their website - they also do translation cards wherein your child's allergies are precisely described in local languages of your choice, to order. Worth a look.

www.allergyuk.org