Airport security with children
In the US, the TSA screens children who appear to be 12 or younger with modified procedures and does not separate them from you. Formula, breast milk and baby food over 3.4 oz are allowed in your carry-on: tell the officer at the start. Spain also allows baby food over 100 ml.
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Updated October 2026
Before you go through the checkpoint
Rules differ by country: this page covers the United States (TSA) and Spain (AESA). If you are flying from somewhere else, check that country's rules before you pack.
In the US, the TSA officer has the final say on whether an item is allowed through the checkpoint.
Some US airports have dedicated Families on the Fly lanes for parents travelling with children 12 and under: look for the signs at the checkpoint. When you travel as a family and the adults have the TSA PreCheck indicator on their boarding pass, children 17 and under can use TSA PreCheck without their own Known Traveler Number (KTN).
Liquids, formula and baby food
In the US, your carry-on can hold one quart-sized bag of liquids, aerosols, gels, creams and pastes, in containers of 3.4 oz (100 ml) or less. Keeping that bag apart from the rest of your carry-on makes the screening easier, and larger containers go in checked baggage.
Formula, breast milk, toddler drinks and baby or toddler food, puree pouches included, are exempt: they are allowed in your carry-on in quantities over 3.4 oz (100 ml), they do not need to fit in the quart-sized bag, and the TSA considers them medically necessary liquids.
If you carry them in amounts over 3.4 oz, tell the officer at the start of screening and take them out of your carry-on to be screened separately. The TSA may test them for explosives or prohibited items, and you may ask for private screening at any time. If you do not want them X-rayed or opened, say so to the officer; the TSA says its X-ray machines are not harmful to food or medicines.
Ice packs, freezer packs, gel packs and liquid-filled teethers are allowed in your carry-on, whether or not you are carrying breast milk, and your child does not need to be travelling with you for you to bring breast milk and cooling accessories. Use clear bottles for formula and breast milk when you can: liquids in plastic bags or pouches may need other screening, though nothing is ever placed into the liquid.
In Spain, AESA, the national aviation safety agency, allows liquids in hand baggage in containers of 100 ml or less, inside a transparent, resealable plastic bag of up to one litre, presented apart from the rest of your hand baggage. Baby food over 100 ml is allowed: it is presented outside your hand baggage and goes through the liquids check. Security staff may ask you to open liquids for inspection.
AESA says these measures apply to every passenger departing from an airport in the European Union, Norway, Iceland or Switzerland, whatever the destination.
Strollers, car seats and children's things
In the US, strollers, umbrella strollers, baby carriers, car and booster seats and backpacks must be screened by X-ray, and children's toys, bags and blankets go on the X-ray belt too. Equipment that does not fit through the X-ray machine gets a visual or physical inspection by the TSA officers.
Take infants and children out of strollers and car seats and carry them in your arms through the walk-through metal detector. An infant may also be carried through in a sling or baby carrier, but may then need additional screening.
How children are screened
The TSA uses modified screening procedures for children who appear to be 12 years old and younger, and its officers consult the parent or guardian about the child's screening. From the age of 13, the standard screening applies.
Children 12 and under can keep their shoes, light jackets and headwear on; for the body scanner (advanced imaging technology), light jackets come off and go on the X-ray belt.
Children who can walk through the metal detector without help may walk through it on their own, separately from you. If they set off the alarm, they can go through again, and other procedures may be used to reduce the need for a pat-down. A child who can stand still in the required position for 5 seconds may be screened by advanced imaging, but you cannot be screened by it while carrying a child.
Children are not separated from their parent or guardian, and the modified procedures are there to reduce the likelihood of a pat-down.
Medicines and medical needs
In the US, medicines in pill or other solid form must go through screening, and clear labels make that easier. Medication may be screened visually or by X-ray, and may be tested for traces of explosives.
Medically necessary liquids, gels and aerosols are allowed in larger amounts, in reasonable quantities for your flight, but you must declare them. Before screening begins, tell the officer and put them in a bin apart from your other things, with their accessories, such as freezer packs or syringes.
If the officers cannot clear a medical liquid with their technology, they may ask you to open it. If you do not want your child's liquid medicine X-rayed or opened, tell the officer: other steps will be taken to clear it, and you will go through additional screening, which may include a pat-down.
In Spain, AESA also allows medicines and special dietary products over 100 ml in hand baggage; like baby food, they come out of your bag at the checkpoint and go through the liquids check.
What to tell the officers
At a US checkpoint, tell the TSA officer:
- At the start of screening, that you are carrying formula, breast milk, toddler drinks or baby food over 3.4 oz.
- Before screening begins, that you have medically necessary liquids or medications.
- If your child has a disability, a medical condition or a medical device, and whether your child can walk through the metal detector or needs to be carried.
- If you would rather the baby food, breast milk or liquid medicine were not X-rayed or opened.
Travellers with disabilities or medical conditions who need more help can call TSA Cares on (855) 787-2227 at least 72 hours before their flight.
Sources
- Official page of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on travelling with children: modified screening for children who appear to be 12 and younger, formula, breast milk, toddler drinks and baby food over 3.4 oz (100 ml) in carry-ons, cooling accessories, the X-ray screening of strollers, car seats and toys, the walk-through metal detector and advanced imaging, and children not being separated from their parent or guardian. — tsa.gov (checked 21 October 2026)
- Official TSA page on Families on the Fly: dedicated family lanes at the listed US airports for parents travelling with children 12 and under, TSA PreCheck for children 17 and under when the adults have the indicator on their boarding pass, and help from TSA Cares. — tsa.gov (checked 21 October 2026)
- Official TSA page on the liquids, aerosols and gels rule: a quart-sized bag in the carry-on, travel-sized containers of 3.4 ounces (100 milliliters) or less, larger containers in checked baggage, and medications and infant and child nourishments listed as exemptions. — tsa.gov (checked 21 October 2026)
- Official TSA What Can I Bring? entry for liquid medications: allowed in carry-on bags with special instructions and in checked bags, with a reminder that the officer decides whether an item goes through the checkpoint. — tsa.gov (checked 21 October 2026)
- Official TSA page on disabilities and medical conditions: the screening of medication in pill or solid form, the 3-1-1 exemption for medically necessary liquids in reasonable quantities, telling the officer before screening, a separate bin for those liquids and their accessories, and the extra steps when a passenger does not want a liquid medication X-rayed or opened. — tsa.gov (checked 21 October 2026)
- Official passenger page of AESA (Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea), Spain's aviation safety agency: liquids in containers of 100 ml or less in a transparent plastic bag of up to one litre, medicines, baby food and special dietary products over 100 ml allowed and carried outside the luggage through the liquids check, and the measures applying to departures from airports in the European Union, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. — seguridadaerea.gob.es (checked 21 October 2026)
Frequently asked questions
Can I take baby formula and baby food through airport security?
Yes. In the US, formula, breast milk, toddler drinks and baby or toddler food over 3.4 oz can go in your carry-on outside the quart-sized bag; tell the officer at the start and take them out for separate screening. In Spain, AESA also accepts baby food above 100 ml.
What about the liquids rule when I fly with a child?
The usual rule still applies to everything else: in the US, a quart-sized bag with containers of 3.4 oz (100 ml) or less, and in Spain, a transparent bag of up to one litre with containers of 100 ml or less. Baby food is exempt in both countries.
Do I have to take my child out of the stroller and the car seat?
Yes, in the US: you take infants and children out and carry them through the walk-through metal detector while the stroller and the seat are screened by X-ray. A baby in a sling or carrier can stay in it, though that may lead to extra screening.
Can I bring liquid medicine for my child?
Yes. In the US, medically necessary liquids are allowed even over 3.4 oz, in reasonable quantities for your flight, as long as you declare them to the officer before screening and put them in a separate bin. In Spain, medicines over 100 ml are allowed in hand baggage and are shown separately at the check.
Will my child be separated from me at the checkpoint?
No. The TSA does not separate children from their parent or guardian. It screens children who appear to be 12 or younger with modified procedures, and its officers talk to you about how your child will be screened.