... or How to Feed Toddlers Something They'll Enjoy That Won't Pump Them Full of Sugar and Make Them Impossible To Control ...
It is an unfortunate truth that individual-sized processed snacks are easiest to find, and generally well-packaged for travel, but they are almost always full of sugar and excess salt - and rarely a good idea. Rather than processed fruit snacks or lollipops, pack carrots, goldfish, raisins, peanut butter crackers, pretzels, seedless orange wedges. (Side note: Some parents swear by lollipops or hard candies, since they take so long to suck, and are therefore good time occupiers as well as useful rewards for good behavior ... the downsides of course being that their child is now fueled with sugar and very likely a fidgety, sticky mess. If you choose this option, pack extra wipes!!)
Our favorite? Grapes are easy to pack, fun to eat, come in a couple of colors - and will rehydrate as well as satisfy snack urges. Before our last trip, the night before we put together veggie snack bags of carrots, snap peas and crunchy cucumber slices and fruit bags with grapes, chilling them overnight. In the morning we put the bags in a lunch bag-sized soft cooler pack. Even midday after two layovers, the snacks were refreshing and hydrating. Luckily we'd more than we needed because we were asked and able to share with other kiddos on the flights!
... and for those that say, your toddler eats snap peas? or in the spring months, sliced green or red peppers?! Well, yes. I should qualify that with the little white lie I use to make that possible. Snap peas have always been referred to as "sugar peas" and sweet peppers as "apple peppers" (because Shae's favorite fruit is apple). We've always eaten pretty healthy, and since my girl is incredibly sensitive to sugar (insert sugar = instant hyperactivity), we've been fairly careful about limiting it on the regular. In small, confined spaces like the car or the airplane, we go so far as to exclude it almost entirely, with the exception of 'reward' or 'treat' organic treats like Clif Kid snacks, which are family (and her microsoccer team's) favorites.
More Healthy Snack Ideas for the Plane, the Car, after school, on the weekend ... en route to anywhere:
- Mom's Team: "Healthy Snacks for the Youth Athlete"
- Suite 101: "Healthy Kid Snack Tips and Recipes"
- Minti.com: "Plane Rides: Snacks to Keep the Kids from Complaining"
- DeliciousBaby.com: "Tips and Advice for Traveling With Severe Food Allergies"
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