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Plane rides: Snacks to pack to keep the kids from complaining |
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by Kristen  (November 2006) (rank 20th) |
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We all know that the food on the airplane (if you still get any) is usually less than appetizing unless of course you are sitting in business or first class. For those of us who have given up business class with the arrival of children, how do we manage to
get these kids from point A to point B with the least amount of complaining about hunger?
- Pack a variety of high protein, high energy snacks. Granola bars are great for this. If you have a child that isn't very interested in granola bars, you might want to even consider those nutritional bars that mix in colorful candy like chocolate. Sometimes you just have to give in a little on special occasions to make sure that your child is getting enough to eat or at least enough to keep him from complaining too much.
- Have your child help you decide what kinds of snacks to bring. If you ask your child what he might like to have as a special treat for the plane, he will be more likely to eat it when it is offered. If you are concerned about keeping it healthy, just give your child a choice between several healthy snacks. You can also make a mix of dried cereal such as Cheerios and then throw in some Goldfish.
- Bring healthy drinks along because they will be harder to find on the plane. For areas that have restrictions on bringing your own liquid drinks through security but still allow you to purchase drinks in the gate area, search out the healthy alternatives to purchase right before boarding. You can get juice on the plane but sometimes the juice options are "cocktail juices" which contain little juice and lots of sugar. Just remember that the more sugar your child gets, the more likely he is to be amped up. Keep in mind how small those airline seats are and how time seems to stop when you get on a plane.
- Pack more than you think you'll need. No one wants to lug around extra stuff but there is nothing worse than getting stuck in a delay and having to rely on the tiny bag of pretzels the flight attendants are passing out. If your children are smaller, a variety of snacks is better because we all know that sometimes you have to offer a few options before you are taken up on one.
Nobody wants their child to be cranky and certainly not on a plane. We have used these ideas with Ethan and they seem to keep him happy AND make the time go by faster. And isn't that really what it's all about?
