Travelling with a child means being away from your household’s usual eating and sleeping routines. This explains why sometimes your children might take some time to adjust to the food, water, and air in a new environment.
However, maintaining a small child’s nutritional needs while traveling is no easy task, as many parents will willingly testify.
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One of it is making sure they don’t get too much sugar and that they eat fruit or vegetable every now and then. So how do you ensure your bub is adequately nourished while traveling? Read on for some food ideas as well as ways to keep your little one’s diet healthy while on the move.
Milk
Babies up to the age of two are dependent on milk for their primary nutritional needs. If you are traveling by air, you should not worry on the minimum amount regulation for liquids (100 ml) in carry-on baggage. There’s absolutely no problem in bringing as much as you think your baby will need on the flight.
For older kids, tetra pack milk varieties are the best choice as it can be consumed on the go. Now you know that travelling by train and car is much more convenient in terms of movement and access to supplies, right?
Cereals
Cereal is one of the safest and easiest to feed to a small child. It is cheap and we know it will last the duration of the trip, regardless of hot temperatures or lack of refrigeration.
However, if you plan to pack this snack for your baby, make sure his/her favourite flavour is at stock for easy and fuss-free mealtimes.
Fruits
Make sure the fruits are cut into bite-sized pieces and keep it in a small cooler or add an ice pack to one of the kids’ insulated lunch bags. Other tips, if you want your bub to eat healthily, then pack their favourites! That way, maintaining a healthy diet for your bub would be an easy task.
Rice
If your bub prefers to eat rice more than baby food, try feeding him bites off your plate. If it doesn’t suit his/her taste, then you can try asking for it to be cooked softer than normal. You can also order soup with less or no salt and steamed vegetables as the side dish, which you can mash to serve to your little one with the rice.
Water
This is a must-have when you are traveling with a child. Breastfeeding naturally keeps things simple when you’re travelling, but if your baby has already moved on to drinking water, then here are some useful pointers when preparing their feeds.
While on the move, use only cooled boiled water to keep germs away. If you can’t have access to this, then a trusted brand of bottled water at hand is enough.
Feeding your child in a restaurant
Babies and young children are especially vulnerable to bacteria that can cause food poisoning. While you’re traveling, it can’t help to stop by at the nearest restaurant to fill your hungry stomach. However, traveling with a child means that you have to be very selective in choosing your ideal restaurant. After all your child’s health is at stake here.
Only visit restaurants or eateries which you know have good reputations and those that practice maximum levels of hygiene. At all cost, avoid feeding your child uncooked meals and order only fresh food that won’t have too much salt, sugar or spices.
You can even try some yourself first, to ensure the food’s temperature and consistency before you let your child have a bite.
Useful equipment to prepare kids’ food on the move:
Sterilizer: Whether you’re formula-feeding or expressing breast milk, it’s vital to keep the equipment and your baby’s bottles clean and safe. Sterilising helps to protect your baby against germs and infection. If you are using feeding bottles, then these bottles need to be properly sterilised.
There are many portable sterilizers in the market to choose from. Other options include disposable bottle liners but these aren’t very economical since they need to be thrown away after every use. Besides, if you use bottle liners, you will still need to sterilise the bottle nipples anyhow.
But what if you don’t have any steriliser? Don’t worry. You can simply immerse the bottles and nipples in boiling water for five minutes. Keep in mind that sterilising bottles need to be done often. But if you don’t have the time to do so, then try to travel with more bottles than you normally use.
Portable electric cooker: A small electric cooker is a real plus to have if you are traveling with a child. It can be used to cook healthy, reliable baby food and even be used to boil water for sterilising feeding bottles and utensils.
Bottle warmer: Key item to have when traveling with a child. Bottle warmers are handy to heat milk or ready-made baby food.
Flask or thermos: If your baby is drinking formula, a flask or thermos is the best item to store hot water. You can also use it to carry water to mix with ready-made cereals or even drinking water for your baby.
Visit Motherhood.com.my to get these portable baby items before you head off for your vacation.