Say no to juice for flying toddlers, say yes to a fruit tea “cocktail”

As I’ve warned many parents in the past, you can’t always expect regular milk to be available on flights–even on those with breakfast service, the only “milk” product offered may be a powder to lighten the color of your coffee. Fruit juice, however, is almost always available on flights and is, unfortunately, almost always the first thing flight attendants offer young children.

Let’s face facts: A mere 6 ounces of regular apple juice (no sugar added) dishes out the equivalent of five teaspoons of sugar. That’s the same sugar content as 6 ounces of Coca-Cola.

Would you knowingly feed five teaspoons of sugar to a toddler on a flight? Or six ounces of Coca-Cola?

Here’s a better option:

Ask your flight attendant for a cup of fruit tea, or peppermint if your child prefers, and a second cup with only ice for your child. Let the tea (with zero grams of sugar) steep on your tray before pouring part of it over the ice. Some of the ice will melt quickly, cooling the tea.

I add half a packet of sugar each time I fix the “fruit tea cocktail” for one of my kids, and I like to make sure they see me do this–they think it’s such a special treat to get straight sugar added to their drinks(!).

Little do they know…

For more tips on safer, saner air travel with a baby, toddler, or young child, visit the online flying tips index here.

Related posts and pages:
Five ways airlines can make happier travelers of us all

Safe journeys,

Shelly Rivoli, author of the award-winning Travels with Baby and Take-Along Travels with Baby 

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