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Original poster

Long haul flight with a toddler with food allergies... Help !

17 replies

mumtosp · 26/10/2015 21:48

Hi all,

I will soon be taking a 9 hour non stop flight with my 3 year old who has multiple allergies (wheat, soya, nuts and eggs). The flight is with BA and when I spoke to them today they said they cannot guarantee whether the flight crew would agree to store and reheat any food that I carry !!
I have checked their special allergy menus and nothing on there is free of everyone that DS is allergic too...

I was planning on carrying a sandwich for lunch which he would have as soon we take off... So that doesn't need to be stored. But for dinner, my plan was to carry a pasta dish.... Something that would need to be kept in the fridge and then reheated.... So what do I do if they refuse to store it ?!? Has anyone been in this situation before ? I will be carrying snacks and fruits for the remaining journey, but DS would need something filling for dinner....

Also, he still has a bottle of milk at bed time..... Any idea how I can carry milk? Even if I buy milk from boots after check in, how do I store it ? I am always paranoid about food going bad and that isn't helping this situation

TIA :)

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ffffffedup · 26/10/2015 21:55

Can you buy a bottle of the toddler follow on milk can be stored at room temperature

KatyN · 26/10/2015 21:56

Can you take it in a thermosk thingy that keeps the food warm?? You will have to declare it as a liquid too.

My son are cold beans when we went on a flight, he thought it was brilliant but then he is a big fan of beans!

Only1scoop · 26/10/2015 21:57

I would take all your own food as you plan to and put pasta in a small cold pack lunch style box.

I work for an airline.... not BA I may add, but the only way we can heat the food....milk etc is in a jug of boiling water.

We have no fridges on board and we are no longer allowed to keep anything on ice ....not even medication.

You can buy milk airside.

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drspouse · 26/10/2015 21:58

You can also keep milk cool for quite a while in Frio drinks containers (they hold a small sized drinks can or an Avent baby bottle). But they do tend to like the toddler follow on milk as it is vanilla flavoured... Or rice/oat milk in small long life cartons?
Be warned that anything brought through security you may have to open and taste (so, take 2 or 3 cartons and taste one and throw it away!)

You can eat pasta salad cold I suppose? Or something like chicken drumsticks and potato salad?

Senpai · 27/10/2015 02:58

Can you pack cold lunches like you would for school? So a sandwich (or equivalent) and a bunch of chopped up fruits/veggies?

Boleh · 27/10/2015 03:18

Another person to say they probably won't be able to refrigerate anything for you, my FIL has medication that needs to be kept cold and he got a small cool bag with ice packs to bring it on a 12 hour flight when he came to visit us.
In this situation if you really want something hot I'd go for one of the thermos type boxes that should keep it hot enough for a few hours and make it something where even if it's a bit lukewarm it's unlikely to do much harm (so not chicken for example).

GreenSand · 27/10/2015 03:58

I would plan on cold food only, and take a cool bag with icepacks.
Milk airside, and into the coolbag, or since he's not going into his bed, you may well not need to have the bottle of milk!!!
Remember no liquids over 100 ml unless bought airside. Not sure a 3 yr old will be classed as baby for milk purposes.

BrendaFlange · 27/10/2015 04:21

Just give him a second sandwich. And a banana.

Cool packs will have to be 100ml or under.

Sansoora · 27/10/2015 04:42

Yes, a second sandwich.

Sansoora · 27/10/2015 04:43

Yes, a second sandwich.

The flight really doesn't have to be difficult.

Scotinoz · 28/10/2015 02:12

Just pack a picnic. Kids don't need a hot meal every day, and it's no big deal if they graze for a day. If anything, lots of little snacks provide entertainment on flights.

LeaLeander · 28/10/2015 02:18

Can't you just take a small cooler pack with babybel, veggies, gluten free crackers, etc and graze for a day? Why make it difficult? Millions of kids go days without a hot meal; yours will survive the 24 hours.

Want2bSupermum · 28/10/2015 02:42

I would make sure you have an allergy kit with you at all times that is easily accessible. I bring a packed picnic for the kids. Raw carrots, broccoli, cucumber, olives, cheese sticks and sandwiches. Bring one extra meal in case you are delayed. I buy juice box sized cartons of milk for the kids. They don't always have them after check in nor do they always have them at your destination so I would put a pack in your suitcase.

BA are very good with kids but you should inform them that your child has an allergy. I know for United they will announce at the start of the flight that there is someone on board with a nut allergy so please no nuts to be opened if you want to avoid a detour.

FastForward2 · 28/10/2015 02:47

My coeliac child has existed on chocolate and chips for more than 9 hours when on holiday, and on long car journeys we get crisps and biscuits which I dont normally buy. A 3 year old does not need much food and it does not need to be healthy balanced diet for 9 hours. Just make sandwiches and take crisps/chocolate/biscuits to fill him up, drink water or dilute juice, or get milk airside. Fresh milk won't go off that quickly, but if you are worrried keep it cool in insulated bag.

RitaConnors · 28/10/2015 03:22

Nine hours is not that long really. Especially when you aren't moving around that much.

We flew from Australia today and I took a bag of bread buns, little butters and jams from a hotel, a packet of biscuits and some fruit for my anaphylactic dd. She eats bits of the meals too but I've found that she doesn't need as much as she does on an ordinary day.

UnlurkyForSome · 29/10/2015 14:54

We flew to Australia and back earlier this year with 2.5yr old allergic ds. It was fine and no big deal. We took a bag with just food for him with cake, cut up carrot, fruit, sandwiches with fillings that didn't need to stay cold eg jam, biscuits, those organix crisps etc... To be honest he really wasn't v hungry as he was sitting still for the whole journey and as the air is so dry he mostly wanted the veg and fruit and drinks of juice. He still has one bottle a day but we didn't bother about taking one with us. More concerning was the Emirates staff who were pretty clueless about allergies and although we told them about his allergies they still put a croissant in front of him!!

QuidditchTonedThighs · 29/10/2015 17:57

A sandwich is just as filling as hot pasta if you eat enough of it. :) Don't worry, just take food he can eat cold.

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