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Original poster

Flying with 8 month old - What can I take in hand luggage for him?

52 replies

chargedproton · 12/06/2019 20:57

He is formula fed. I am going to take ready to drink formula. We are going for 5 nights and he has 4 bottles a day.

I am going to take 40 bottles of 200ml ready made.

Plus 6 lunches and 6 evening meals and 6 breakfasts.

I want to take all these with me via hand luggage for him.

Will I be able to take all that?

I don’t trust putting it in normal luggage in case it bursts or something.

We want to take a travel stroller too.

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TanMateix · 12/06/2019 21:37

Bottled water is good enough to make bottles.

dementedpixie · 12/06/2019 21:38

Why are you taking all that food? Surely there will be foods there he can eat

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Aquilla · 12/06/2019 21:38

We flew emirates and qantas with an 11 week old formula fed baby. To be honest it was a massive pain and we felt like a real inconvenience asking for boiled water etc. All we could really do (once we had exhausted our pre sterilized bottles) was give the unsterilized ones a shake with boiling water. No microwave was on offer!
At this point we abandoned sterilising bottles full stop. It's a bit unnecessary really (certainly in your case at over 6 months ).
Good luck op!

PatriciaHolm · 12/06/2019 21:39

Why not just take a tin of powder and use bottle water there? I wouldn't take the food either, it won't be hard to feed an 8 month old surely. Maybe some porridge for breakfast but he'll eat bits of your plate for the rest?

PatriciaHolm · 12/06/2019 21:40

And no the the plane won't have a microwave.

sohypnotic · 12/06/2019 21:41

I had similar questions before I went to Spain with a similar aged baby a couple of years ago, and found out most foreign countries sell bottled water suitable for babies. The bottles had a symbol on indicating it was ok for babies (as bottled mineral juice after is not suitable for babies). Alternatively you can boil and cool tap water to mix with powder. We took a mixture of ready made and powder, none of the readymade burst in luggage - just seal it in bags and pack it in the middle. Whilst at villa we used the powder, and a mixture of bottled water or boiled tap water, and saved the readymade for when out and about. We had no issues with baby not agreeing with anything and she drank as normal. Could be trickier if in hotel room depending on facilities, but most have a kettle at least I guess. You could also use the cold water sterilising tablets which just a bowl of water to use (or ice bucket?)

TanMateix · 12/06/2019 21:43

One important thing to accept is that his diet and routines will change slightly. You just go with the flow and what is available, nothing will happen to baby if his diet is a bit repetitive while you are away for a short time. Mine used to live in pasta with tomato sauce and grilled chicken with chips when we were away. I used to take wheetabix for the breakfast as that was what he was used to.

dementedpixie · 12/06/2019 21:43

Don't use boiled tap water either. Use boiled bottled water. Take ready made for the plane and powder for when you are there

TanMateix · 12/06/2019 21:48

Pack a kettle, you won’t find many in Turkey. Argos do a small one for about £8 that you can leave there with no regrets... also pack electric adaptors.

Pythonesque · 12/06/2019 22:02

Hope you have a good trip.

I just thought I'd share the tale I've heard many times from my mother. She travelled with me age 12 months, from Sydney to London. She was coming back because her father was seriously ill, I think we stayed 3 months. I was dairy allergic and on tinned soy formula (used it till I was 12 in fact, when commercial soy milks became more commonly available). So her hand luggage was packed full of tins (they were diluted for use). Going through security this obviously set everything off, and apparently they weren't allowed to open the bag to check it under rules at the time ... Cue lots of feeling around the outside trying to determine if they would allow it or something.

But given that our luggage actually did get lost that trip I think she was very glad she'd kept it on her!

Stuckforthefourthtime · 12/06/2019 22:04

And no the the plane won't have a microwave

Of course not, but the 40L of milk would not all be for the plane...

Yogurtcoveredricecake · 12/06/2019 22:15

You wouldn't be able to take that much milk or food, it would be so heavy! We ordered to Boots airside when we went with DS who was FF. There will be food in Turkey surely so I wouldn't bother with anything other than stuff for that day and some snacks. Stroller will be fine to take, you leave it at the plane but I recommend a sling as well as you don't then get the stroller back till baggage.

Original poster
chargedproton · 12/06/2019 22:24

It’s a cabin sized pram. Thank you all for the help.

Weaning isn’t going great, he has good days and bad days so thought the food I know he likes is a bonus.

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Shelbybear · 12/06/2019 22:34

I took a sealed box of formula in the case and some ready made bottles for when we were out and about.

It was a 4.5hr flight I took 3 bottles with us. It's only supposed to be enough for the flight/journey. They took them away and tested them I don't know how as they didn't break the seal. You won't get through with 40 bottles.

You can order from Boots if they have one at ur airport and collect after security.

I also took some fruit pouches n food pouches. Take as many as u can in ur case as it was quite expensive to buy, we went to Spain. Nappies were cheap enough out there but we took swim nappies as hey were expensive there.

Stuckforthefourthtime · 13/06/2019 06:15

Weaning isn’t going great, he has good days and bad days so thought the food I know he likes is a bonus.

Off topic, but if you're already restricting his food to things he likes, you'll set yourself up for a very fussy eater! At 8 months it's fine if he's just having lots of tastes and not necessarily actually eating much, so long as he's taking plenty of milk and not losing weight

FenellaMaxwell · 13/06/2019 07:10

It’s a really, really bad idea to just offer food you already know he likes, considering he’s only been eating food for about 8 weeks!! Offer 3-4 different things each meal - for example, cucumber, cheese, toast and cherry tomatoes, one or two of which you know he likes, one of which you’d like him to try again and one of which is new. It takes multiple tries for children to form proper likes and dislikes.

Original poster
chargedproton · 13/06/2019 09:00

Sorry let me clarify,

I do give him a wide range of food to try everyday. I cook at home so hardly ever give him pouches anymore. He has what we eat most of the time for dinner, I change what he has everyday for breakfast and for lunch it’s something I’ve batched cooked and frozen like quiche etc.

I just wanted to some food on holiday he likes so I can relax and not worry about if he hasn’t eaten much. They are a back up, but I am taking snacks and Ella’s yoghurt as I don’t want him to to have their yoghurt in case it’s not pasteurised.

He’s just had a bout of gastroenteritis, last few weeks were horrendous so that’s why I’m being abit OTT to be honest.

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TanMateix · 13/06/2019 14:15

Forget about the yoghurt, it will be off by the time you get to Turkey. Also... most countries will fine you if they find dairy or meat products in your luggage, and also fruit.

Please also bear in mind that you are going to Turkey, not the Gobi desert, they have supermarkets, pasteurised dairy, etc but they will be slightly different. IME they don’t put as much preservatives in food as we do, so food tends to be fresher because it goes off more quickly, they don’t decorate their fruit with wax and tend to add far less sugar to children products. Also IME, it would be impossible to adhere to what he eats at home unless you want to keep him on chips. Go with the flow (and a good Turkey dictionary), their food is amazing but as it happens when you are in a new place with a new diet and language, it is difficult to check what goes in the food. If in doubt, keep to rice, chips and grilled meats when it comes to the baby. And relax, try to remember it is a holiday.

Caterina99 · 13/06/2019 20:06

I’ve flown quite a lot with my kids at various stages of babyhood. The easiest for me was to take an unopened tub of formula in the hold luggage, and then a few cartons of ready made for the flight and out and about. Don’t forget you’ll need some for the journey back too. Definitely you will have problems with 40 cartons. Although you could potentially order them from boots after security?

For food I’d just take a few pouches and snacks and then go with the flow. At 8 months it’s not the end of the world if they don’t eat well. My kids were always happy with a bit of whatever off our plates. Bread, fruit, cheese etc.

justanswerthephone · 13/06/2019 20:17

You can buy formula in turkey. And food.

I think this is a massive over reaction and completely impossible to do.

fudge7 · 14/06/2019 13:01

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Original poster
chargedproton · 14/06/2019 13:57

Can I take all the formula in the hold luggage or is that not possible neither?

I have disposable tests that screw on the bottles so i don’t have to worry about boiling water, sterialising etc. I can truly relax this way. I don’t think I am overreacting. I want to relax and I don’t find making bottles relaxing when he’s screaming! All I have to do is unseal, pop on the disaposable teat and he’s ready to go. I don’t have to worry about going back to the room if I’m on the beach or near the pool etc.

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Original poster
chargedproton · 14/06/2019 14:02

Thank you Fudge7!! So helpful

“Baby milk – you can pre-order up to two tubs or 56 ready-to-drink cartons.”

This has answered my question! However I’ll just what I’ve bought already in the hood luggage.

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Caspianberg · 16/06/2019 14:00

You can't use tap water in Turkey for babies or adults. But regular bottles water is fine.

Just take powder with you for the majority of his milk, and just a few ready made for actual travel. Take an empty flask and you can just boil the bottled water in hotel room kettle, or at apartment.

You can also take empty flask in hand luggage, and get a cafe to fill with boiled water once through security.