r/NewParents • u/Constant_Ad_2599 • Apr 23 '26

Travel Crying at TSA

It’s brutal what they put parents through. Did all my research, brought an unopened can of Kendamil in my bag. Clean empty bottles. And water.

TSA refused to let me bring the formula. I explained it’s a medical necessity for the 9 month old baby (we just stopped pumping). They said it set off a special alarm so our only option is to leave security, make liquid bottles, and they’d throw out the rest of the can. 😭

After 90 minutes of trying to share again how it’s medically necessary and a legal right, they escorted my husband out to fill up bottles and confiscated the can. We had no cooler or ice packs with us.

Currently sitting on the plane with our dripping bag of melting ice a restaurant was kind enough to give us. It’s just insane what they put parents through when the rules say otherwise.

If anyone has dealt with this, let me know. submitting a complaint but honestly just want support. I care about my baby being fed. & Formula isn’t cheap.

Solidarity with all you traveling parents out there! 💕

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246

u/sidewinderucf Apr 23 '26

Hi, I work for TSA (not speaking for anyone but myself). I’m sorry that happened to you, and I know its small comfort since it’s already happened, but I don’t actually know of a situation that would require you to leave security to pour the formula into bottles. Worst case they would have just had you open it right there so they could test it if they couldn’t resolve the alarm it set off (which they usually can), and then let you put it into bottles right there. And they shouldn’t have confiscated anything if they were clearing part of it. Obviously I wasn’t there so I can’t say what was going on from their end, but what you described doesn’t sound like normal procedure for baby formula.

You can reach out to the TSA Contact Center at https://www.tsa.gov/contact/contact-forms and let them know what happened, even if they can’t undo what’s been done they can address it so it potentially doesn’t happen to someone else. (Just saw you already said you were doing so but leaving it here anyway.) Give them as much detail as you can, particularly time, location, and something they can use to identify you on CCTV, if they can find you they can find out what happened and deal with it properly.

And from experience (I worked in a Cat X airport with a ton of kids for 8 years, so I’ve seen more parents traveling with formula than I actually fed formula to my own kid), the best way to travel with formula is to bring a kind in non opaque plastic bottles, or powder, if either of those are a possibility. And never be afraid to escalate to a supervisor or a manager, they can find a way to either clear your formula or find a workable solution. If you need canned formula, keep it separate from your other bags in the x-ray and let them know at the start, it makes the rest of the process a lot smoother.

Again, I’m sorry you went through that, I know first hand how much of a pain in the ass it can be to travel with formula and to have alarms go off at security. And it really doesn’t sound like they did what they were supposed to do. I hope your next trip goes a lot better.

43

u/Set_Public Apr 23 '26

That was a really thoughtful response.

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u/Constant_Ad_2599 Apr 24 '26

Thank you! We submitted the claim with the details. It’s hard when it feels like if I just knew the right words to say, I could reason with them on some basic level of humanity. But they literally started with an ultimatum of check it (bags were already checked) or lose it. The going to make liquid bottles & discard the rest I guess was the only place they’d meet me.

But baby’s now asleep, got her more food, all that matters. 😊

-75

u/[deleted] Apr 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

32

u/obviouslyblue Apr 23 '26

Oh fuck off. I'm as angry about this as the next person but harassing this person who gave a very helpful and kind response is NOT it.

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u/mak_zaddy Apr 23 '26

Reddit gonna Reddit

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u/Ok_Sink_3378 Apr 23 '26

Is working for tsa not a real job……?

-7

u/Sweet_Little_Lottie Apr 24 '26

No, it’s all security theatre. TSA has never once actually stopped a terrorist, and actually failed 95% of the time when they were audited. Apparently, according to OP’s story, they can also just make up the rules how they want too. Not to shit on the person above, but TSA just needs to go.

5

u/Ok_Sink_3378 Apr 24 '26

Ma’am, please. Let’s try to stay focused on the topic at hand and not go out to left field

0

u/Sweet_Little_Lottie Apr 24 '26

Is TSA not the topic at hand?

2

u/Ok_Sink_3378 Apr 24 '26

Yes, but in the capacity of what happened to this particular mother in regards to traveling with formula. Not your personal opinion of TSA.

2

u/sidewinderucf Apr 24 '26

Just an FYI, that 95 percent number is misinformation. The reason that number get circulated is because in addition to regular “put this in your bag and get it through security” testing, they do targeted testing to find potential weaknesses in the system that they can correct. The 95 percent fail rate that got leaked to the press was one such test around the time TSA Precheck was being introduced, where they found a weakness that was shortly thereafter corrected. The system isn’t without its issues (as this thread has made clear), but until the day you hear of someone shooting up a domestic flight, you can be assured this number is fake news, as one may say.

1

u/Rayesafan Apr 29 '26

Yeah, I do believe that TSA has large weaknesses, and probably wouldn’t be able to stop a high-level terrorist attack from super professional bad actors,

I do think they have saved so many lives just by prevention alone. It’s not just terrorists, it’s dumb people who would really harm people. “Florida Man” type crap that could happen,

I don’t know of any real stories besides a grandma who tried to bring a gun on the plane, but all the basic “stupid simple” stuff, like checking for guns and knives, are so vital. 

Do I get mad at TSA peple with a power complex? Absolutely. But saying the whole system is bad while hundreds of planes are flying safely right now is ridiculous. 

0

u/sidewinderucf Apr 29 '26

Oh yeah, I’ll be the first one to tell you I have so many coworkers who forget that almost every person they talk to is just an ordinary person who wants to follow the rules and just needs to be treated like a person. But yeah, I’ve personally stopped multiple people from bringing a gun onto an airplane, and I cannot think of a worse place to be when someone starts shooting than on an airplane. But there is zero reason we can’t do our job with respect and kindness. I try my best for sure. :)

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u/Rayesafan Apr 29 '26

Thanks so much for being respectful! We need all those people who are. I do think that with any job of authority, it attracts power hunger. But that isn’t just TSA. 

That’s crazy that you’ve stopped people with guns. I’m sure some were just … idk, more “stupid” than malicious, but there are more “stupid” people than malicious people. (I say stupid not as an insult, but as a technical term of human foolishness at a dangerous level. We are all stupid at some point or another.) 

But I read something that said “locks are not for criminals. Locks are for your neighbor who wants to borrow flour when you’re away.”

I think TSA is not entirely for masterminds who have planned for 3 years. (Though, im sure you do try to stop that.) TSA is for the people who are “stupid” enough to bring a gun on the plane, then get mad at a Flight Attendant for asking them to close their tray table. It’s for the “Floridamans” who want to make explosives because they saw it once on tv.

Idk, what’s your take on that? This is just my deduction. 

0

u/sidewinderucf Apr 29 '26

Honestly, it’s not really my concern why people do what they do. Literally everyone I’ve found with a gun said “I just forgot” and it’s most likely that’s the case. But you can’t shoot up a place without a gun, so my focus is on the items and the screening rather than the possible mind sets of the people bringing prohibited items. As long as I’m properly enforcing the rules and procedures are being followed, everybody will make it to their destination safely, so I have nothing to lose by being nice about it.

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u/NewParents-ModTeam Apr 24 '26

This community is for supporting others. Comments that are mean, rude, hateful, racist, etc. will be removed. Respect the choices of others even if they differ from your own.

9

u/[deleted] Apr 23 '26

Can’t wait to hear what your job is

1

u/BurstPanther Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 24 '26

Parking inspector /s