Taking your own food

[ChipIn]

DH and I are going to the UK from Aus for Christmas with DD who will be just over 1 year old. The airline has added baby food to our booking but it's jars so I presume purée of some kind.

DD is pretty much eating family meals I don't know whether purée will be enough for her (plus, who knows what's in it ) so I'd like to take our own food. Has anyone ever done this? What kind of food could we take that will last 24 hours and be at least halfway nutritious?

Thanks

Can't you just tell the airline your child eats food rather than baby jars?

Order a children's meal instead and take some purée pouches with you?

Yes, order the children's meals. But you can take food on with you...you just can't take it off the plane. I've done the flight from UK to Oz with children a lot...they're very helpful.

Just declare any food. Take sealed things and show them.

We flew to USA with a layover in Iceland with icelandair - no frills - you pay extra for food which didn't sound great. DTs who were 2.5 had a full breakfast with us in the airport, we bought sandwiches at EAT for all of us and took a load of snacks - breadsticks, fruit yo yo, babybel, some frozen yogurt tubes, got some yoghurt airside, little packages of mixed fruit. It wasn't healthy but means to an end and all that, it was fine.

Check with the airline first. We went to the US with friends who had a little one. My BF spent a fortune on organic plum babyfood which she knew her DS would eat - enough for the fortnight.

It all got taken away. Every last bit of it. She was gutted.

Thanks for the suggestions for what to take. I called today regarding food and was told it's jars or we bring our own. As we haven't paid for a seat for DD she isn't entitled to a full meal. I thought she'd get a kids size too but apparently not.

Did you offer to pay for the meal?

In practice a lot of airlines allow "seconds" if there are leftovers, so you could chance it and ask on-board. If not, could she share one of yours / combined with purees? Take extra snacks and bits on board with you.

You can take 'food for an infant' which is over the 100mls allowance as long as you declare it. They may ask you to taste it.

You can take other food as long as it doesn't break the 100mls rule when you go through security. So you can't take yogurt for example. You can take fruit, sandwiches etc.

I always take enough food for the 26 hours for my dd as she's anaphylactic. They eat far less on planes as they aren't moving around.
It counts in your baggage allowance if you are buying before check in.

Take an empty sippy cup.

Just an aside but ig you can afford it, pay for a seat!!! Long haul with toddlers is tricky and they are too big to fit in the bassinets but having them on your laps for 12 hours +is horrible.

As we haven't paid for a seat for DD she isn't entitled to a full meal. but you could order and pay for one for her

Lizs I didn't think to specify paying extra when I called them, I did ask whether she could have a proper meal and was told only infant. I thought she would have said then "yes, for an additional charge" which we'd be happy to pay. I'll call back on Monday to ask again.
Bythebeach I'd love to be able to pay for her own seat but we just don't have another $2k for a ticket.
Dixiewishbone, thanks for the heads up - sounds like you're speaking from experience!
Also, happy for her to share ours but she's got a decent appetite so she'd eat close to a full one herself! Hopefully I can just buy her a meal when I call back.

Thanks everyone. Flying between Aus and uk is old hat for us now but with a baby is a whole new ball game!

Who are you flying with ?
I still used the bassinets for my children till they were about 16 months with Emirates , Etihad and Qatar .
They were not small babies either.
As for food , those airlines would heat stuff I'd brought on board. Also I'd advise bringing tons of wipes , old baby onesies that I'd just chuck away after the flight and a big rubbish sack for all the crud you generate . My biggest challenge was having a tray of food to juggle whilst nursing a grabby baby . With a rubbish sack you can just tip it all away when you are done .

I've never had a problem taking food onto the plane provided it's not wet. Normally I go mad in the little M&S food stores near arrivals partic for fresh fruit/veggie pasta salad, cheese sarnies and other things that don't spoil too faat

I've taken food there/back on a trip to the US with DS who has ASD and eats a very restricted diet. I did order children's meals but it wasn't anything he'd eat. As long as it's dry, you can take it through security. Anything wet needs to be bought airside. I would find out what outlets are available where you're flying from and plan what to buy her. You may find the airline has no facility to take payment for a meal if it's a flight where food/drink are complimentary.