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And the TSA folks that shook me down last weekend only served to make my trip home even worse. After confiscating my one small bottle of purified water that I intended to use to make infant formula, they took me out of line and unpacked my diaper bag and gave me a stern lecture because I had attempted to conceal two jars of baby food. Evidently, Gerber's Chicken Noodle Dinner counts as a liquid, and as Stage 3 jars are more than 4 ounces, it was verboten. They might have allowed it, they said, but because I didn't have the sealed and shrinkwrapped jars in a clear 1-quart (not 1-gallon) plastic baggie, held out at arms length when I walked through the X-ray machine, I was obviously plotting something. Not wanting to "conceal" anything else, I asked if I could keep the emergency can of formula I had in the bottom of the bag. "Oh, a can is fine. That's powder." I pointed out, that actually, the can was ready-to-use formula for emergencies, like, in case I was without a bottle of water (which had already been confiscated before the X-ray machine.) They said, it's 8 ounces, you can't have it. Unbelievable. I was facing a cross-country flight with an already hungry and unhappy baby, and they were telling me I couldn't take any of his food or formula! Luckily, a kind young man who appeared to be in charge took pity on me and let me through with my contraband so that I could feed my son. I don't believe hassling a mom over her diaper bag for 20 minutes helped anyone feel safer, and the experience reduced me to tears. In contrast, my much smaller home airport didn't hassle me about any of the above items, recognizing that I was traveling with a BABY. The TSA regulations have gone too far, and the inconsistency between airports is beyond maddening.
