Long haul flight, tips and food advice for 1 year old

[bb800sam]

We fly to Mexico next week with DS who is nearly 14 months. Our flight leaves at approx 11.30am. I'm unsure what food to pack for the little one for during the flight, can you take fruit pouches through security? Are these available airside in places like boots?

Any suggestions for food that will withstand the journey and not be too messy?

Please can you share any tips on longer flights with little ones? Any toys that travel well and won't annoy the poor people sitting near us!!

Which airport and terminal are you departing from?. I ask only as facilities can vary a lot even between terminals in some airports.

I would take enough of your son’s favourite foodstuffs for the flight and do not rely on the airline or airport to fully provide. Milk and food is permitted in hand luggage. Take a spare set of clothes in the event of spills. Leave anything uneaten behind on the aircraft.

If the aircrew warm up milk for you it may well be extremely hot when it comes back.

Does he like sticker books, colouring in books etc. If he has a favourite stuffed toy take this with you but ensure it is not lost!.

Morning,
Thanks for the reply.
We are flying from Birmingham. It's not an airport we usually fly from, I've only flown from there once pre new baby so I didn't pay much attention to baby supplies.

You used to be able to do an online order with the airside Boots (i.e. the Boots inside the terminal once you're past security) so you could just pick it up and put it in your hand luggage - order pouches for the flight and your holiday (as a back up), also take plain biscuits/bread rolls. And be prepared to walk up and down the aisle A LOT. We also found it helpful to split the childcare between us on a 30-45 minute basis, so you can watch an episode of something and regain your strength for more walking...

No noisy toys. Headphones for tablet use.

I remember the walking. Round and round, pausing only to point at the man with a beard every... single... time we passed.

The Boots at Birmingham has lots of baby food so you can stock up there with pouches, ready to drink milk etc - or do a click and collect order. Things like mixed up dry cereal (cheerios, filled mini shredded wheats, shreddies) and dried fruit (cut up apricots, dried apple, raisins etc etc) are good as a toddler pic and mix that you can put into little snack bags. Also mini rice cakes, oat cakes, breadsticks.

Thank you so much, great idea re the click and collect. Also handn't thought about dried fruit and cereal.

We have 2 older children (11,14) and my MIL is coming so if we time slots at least we can all have a little bit of respite to watch TV ect. My time slot can be when he is asleep!!

Thanks for posting this! I'm travelling to Orlando in August with my 13 year old and my 20 month old and I'm dreading it 🙈

I did find a website called Keepemquiet that do flight packs for lots of different ages that contain things to entertain children. They're a bit pricey but may give you some ideas if you wanted to do one yourself!

Keep the suggestions coming though folks ... I'm adding them to my notes 😂

Weve just flown to spain (no where near as long!) and I had no problem taking home made food and milk through security at the airport.
I took food for lunch and snacks- cold pasta with a little pesto, cucumber and cream cheese sandwich, lots of baby crisp type things, partially boiled carrot sticks, cheese sticks. I had a little cooler lunch box thing with a couple of ice packs (need to show the security) to keep things cool.
With the arrival time at our accommodation planned to be around 7pm I also took a meal for his dinner incase of a delay (we've rented an apartment), I'd made lentil bolognaise (not allowed meat/dairy into the EU now) and packed some more pasta. A baby food pouch would have been easier but he's never had them before so I didn't want to risk it!
In terms of entertainment, he slept half the flight. He loves books so I'd bought a few new books and busted them out on the plane. I also bought some little car/trucks on amazon and wrapped them up along with some paw patrol figures, stickers and a sticker book. He was pretty happy eating his snacks and reading his new book but appreciate you've got 10hrs to get through!!
Enjoy your holiday xx

I woul d,never take a1 yr old on a holiday like that
No fun for them or anyone else on the plane

Take books, little toys, sticker book, and oodles of patience, you'll be walking up and down the aisle a lot. I fed mine whatever the airline provided at that age but I only flew BA long haul and it was a long time ago (airlines were more generous!) take headphones if you plan to let him watch your phone plus a power pack - not fair on other passengers to have volume up

Ps my flew 2-3 times a year long haul from birth, it really was fine, this was before tablets and smartphones too. Kids sleep a lot due to the engine white noise. (We lived overseas)

Great suggestions for the food. @LolaSparkle I will report back when I come back on what worked!! I have got some fidget spinners that have a suction base and a A4 size busy board. I also got some farm finger puppets on the advice of a friend.

@bb800sam ooooh fidget spinners!! What a fantastic ideas! I'm definitely adding those to the list!
Looking forward to hearing what's worked. Have a wonderful holiday!!

With aer lingus I was able to book a baby meal- ellas pouches and bananas. It was grand, and American products on the way home- I wouldn't rely on it thought. I've flown with my 12 month old and we brought pasta in Tupperware, pouches, avocado and banana, liga, rice cakes and blueberries. Basically did an entire bag of snacks for him.

I made up 3 small clear bags of toys (like the plastic bags some sheets come in), each bag had a car, something squishy, a book and I can't remember, but after an hour or two we'd swop bags. We also watched moana on the screen of the seat in front 5,000 times. He wasn't walking so we only left the seat for nappy changes.

we had my dm with us too, so dh and I split it that we had 2 hours then swop (but if he fell asleep on someone it didn't really count) or if he was super tough we'd swop earlier. Dm wasn't in the rotation but was a welcome relief every so often. And a novelty for him.

dm and dh got on the plane first and got everything settled and we were one of the last to board so he just got in his seat and very little waiting. I find the waiting for everyone to board adds so much time to the flight. And trying to get your bags overhead and get out what you need with an extra empty seat was easier for dh and dm.

I thought about using zip lock bags and that has confirmed it for me! If he falls asleep on me I am going to say it counts as a 2 hour slot, if he falls on anyone else I'm going to say it doesn't

We had hours of fun with an etch-a-sketch on the plane and while waiting for meals to be served in restaurants.

Buy lots of new/inexpensive things so they are novel. I used to think of it in 15 minute intervals and bring them out one at a time and rotate. Don't pack anything too precious as you don't want to be scrambling under seats to find his favourite toy throughout the flight.

Mine used to love sticker books and we also had some vinyl ones that they could stick to the plane window. He may be a bit young but it may distract for a bit. Mini figures, books, magazines, fuzzy felt ...
Download favourite tv programmes onto a screen.
Take wipes and a changes of clothing for him as well as you!

Whatever they enjoy doing/eating, take a lot of. And prepare for a worst-case scenario when you pack - multiple poo explosions, flight delays etc. It probably won’t happen but if it does it’s a huge help. (I’m speaking as a person currently stranded at a Greek airport with three under fours - man I’m happy I lugged around an extra days worth of formula, nappies, bibs etc.)

I’ve done long haul a fair few times with two small children. One thing that kept ours entertained was wrapping up small toys- mostly cheap plastic animals- so that they could then be presented with a “gift” every hour or so. Tablet and headphones, mess free water markers, sticker books, fidgets. Definitely make sure someone gets on quickly to make sure you can your bags in the overhead. Then ziplock bags of cereal, cereal bars, fruit pouches and treats for if it all goes super pear shaped. You can also take fruit and cheese with you/ just can’t go out with it on the other side. I also took antibacterial wipes to wipe down the seating area/ babies chew everything. Spare clothing for you and them. We also took a pop up stroller- that meant the baby could be wheeled literally to their seat as it was so narrow it fit down the plane aisles/ then folds to be stored in the overhead. Another thing that helped me was having all liquids bagged up and separated with the electronics all in one bag so when you go through security there’s less faffing whilst juggling children.

Ipad/headphones, sticker books, aquadoodle. Put dry snacks in small ziploc bags (plain popcorn, cheerios, pombears/puffy things etc). Yes, most airside boots will have pouches.

Some great suggestions, thank you! @TheWayTheLightFalls I hope you get home soon!
We are flying from Birmingham and by all accounts it's still a mixed bag, will definitely over pack to account for lengthy airport waits and delays both ways.
I hadn't considered a change of clothes for me, good suggestion, I will throw a t shirt dress in the bag so I don't have to continue the journey wearing an outfit covered in all kinds of baby mess!!