If you are still in the shopping mode, Amazon still has some New Year's Eve deals available, not to mention if you're looking for some great deals before 2013 draws to a close, check out the year end sale here. As a reminder, when you click on a link and make a purchase at Amazon, you're helping to support this site! Thank you so much for reading and shopping; I appreciate it!
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
So how did that trip turn out anyway?
So a while ago, I blogged about our absolutely nightmarish flight to San Francisco -- the first leg of our 30 hour journey to Singapore. That first flight was an eye opener for us because as I mentioned in that post, my husband and I are seasoned travelers and we had taken Baby on several flights prior to this one and they had all gone swimmingly. And yet on that particular flight, something had gone wrong.
I think it's worthwhile to take a postmortem every now and then and in this particular situation, we really wanted to avoid the hellish situation again. Did I mention we had 27 hours to go? And that at some point in the future, we'd have to return to the States? And that we were planning a trip to India that would be at least 19 hours one way? So yes, a postmortem analysis was absolutely necessary so we didn't repeat the same mistakes we made on that San Francisco flight.
Here's what I came up with:
1. We were tired. We were tired even before we began the journey. Knowing we'd have to leave for the airport before 6 am to catch our flight, we still didn't go to bed before 11 pm. And if you've ever had an early morning flight, you know it's next to impossible to sleep well because you're so worried about oversleeping and missing your flight. The lack of rest ahead of the trip made us cranky and stressed out and I think Baby caught on to our nervousness. On all of our other trips, we were laid back and so was she.
2. We had lots of little bags. We are light packers in general, but when you're heading overseas with a baby for an extended period of time, your bags fill up quickly with things like formula, diapers, and food pouches. That's all fine if you have big enough bags to consolidate the stuff into, but we didn't. My husband and I are business travelers and as such, we had lots of little suitcases. It made for a difficult transportation issue as with the Baby, we just never had enough hands to transport it all and it was just distracting to manage it all.
3. You can never time a bottle on the plane. It's a myth that one can do this, but it's not possible. On our San Francisco flight, we were delayed on the tarmack and so our timing was off. Baby was well done her bottle and agitated by the time we took off. This, however, was a "mistake" we repeated a few months later when we went to India as we were delayed on the ground for nearly 2 hours and as a result, our crabby Baby got her bottle well before take off. We didn't have a back up plan in case of The Delayed Bottle-Take Off Problem and to be honest, we still don't.
4. We were in a rush to get off the plane and didn't take a moment to compose ourselves. We only had a 90 minute or so connection and so we rushed to get off the plane and didn't take the time to double-check our seats and make sure we had everything we needed. The result was we left a piece of our car seat behind and I spent most of my time running between gates trying to locate the piece (which, by the way, I didn't; we ended up ordering a replacement when we returned to the US). We now don't rush off the plane unless we really have to; we take our time and catch our breath and make sure we got everything off the plane.
There is, however, a happy ending to this story. We were so exhausted after our frantic interlude in the San Francisco airport that we settled in nicely on our flight to Tokyo and Baby actually slept a chunk of the time too! We ended up having a nice flight (and a nice time in the Tokyo airport, which has play areas, yo!) and our connecting Tokyo-Singapore flight was also uneventful. I guess when you start from absolute chaos like we did that day, there's really nowhere to go but up (pun unintended).
I think it's worthwhile to take a postmortem every now and then and in this particular situation, we really wanted to avoid the hellish situation again. Did I mention we had 27 hours to go? And that at some point in the future, we'd have to return to the States? And that we were planning a trip to India that would be at least 19 hours one way? So yes, a postmortem analysis was absolutely necessary so we didn't repeat the same mistakes we made on that San Francisco flight.
Here's what I came up with:
1. We were tired. We were tired even before we began the journey. Knowing we'd have to leave for the airport before 6 am to catch our flight, we still didn't go to bed before 11 pm. And if you've ever had an early morning flight, you know it's next to impossible to sleep well because you're so worried about oversleeping and missing your flight. The lack of rest ahead of the trip made us cranky and stressed out and I think Baby caught on to our nervousness. On all of our other trips, we were laid back and so was she.
2. We had lots of little bags. We are light packers in general, but when you're heading overseas with a baby for an extended period of time, your bags fill up quickly with things like formula, diapers, and food pouches. That's all fine if you have big enough bags to consolidate the stuff into, but we didn't. My husband and I are business travelers and as such, we had lots of little suitcases. It made for a difficult transportation issue as with the Baby, we just never had enough hands to transport it all and it was just distracting to manage it all.
3. You can never time a bottle on the plane. It's a myth that one can do this, but it's not possible. On our San Francisco flight, we were delayed on the tarmack and so our timing was off. Baby was well done her bottle and agitated by the time we took off. This, however, was a "mistake" we repeated a few months later when we went to India as we were delayed on the ground for nearly 2 hours and as a result, our crabby Baby got her bottle well before take off. We didn't have a back up plan in case of The Delayed Bottle-Take Off Problem and to be honest, we still don't.
4. We were in a rush to get off the plane and didn't take a moment to compose ourselves. We only had a 90 minute or so connection and so we rushed to get off the plane and didn't take the time to double-check our seats and make sure we had everything we needed. The result was we left a piece of our car seat behind and I spent most of my time running between gates trying to locate the piece (which, by the way, I didn't; we ended up ordering a replacement when we returned to the US). We now don't rush off the plane unless we really have to; we take our time and catch our breath and make sure we got everything off the plane.
There is, however, a happy ending to this story. We were so exhausted after our frantic interlude in the San Francisco airport that we settled in nicely on our flight to Tokyo and Baby actually slept a chunk of the time too! We ended up having a nice flight (and a nice time in the Tokyo airport, which has play areas, yo!) and our connecting Tokyo-Singapore flight was also uneventful. I guess when you start from absolute chaos like we did that day, there's really nowhere to go but up (pun unintended).
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Link of the Day: Scary Mommy Travel Guide
Looking for things to do with kids while you're traveling? The Scary Mommy Travel Guide can help. Check out their tips on what to do in many US cities and a handful of international destinations. I checked out their recommendations for a few cities -- Austin, Baltimore, and San Antonio -- and found them to be a pretty good starting point for creating a kid-friendly itinerary (though I'm wondering about the exclusion of the National Aquarium from the Baltimore guide and the Alamo from San Antonio guide).
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Link of the Day: Take these steps to make your air travel better
CNN has a neat article on how to make your travel experience better. You can read their tips here.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
The Baby Bottle on an Airplane Problem -- Solved!
As a follow up to my post on whether milk is allowed through security, I wanted to address another problem we encountered when we were getting ready to fly to Singapore. At the time of our flight, Baby was 11 months old and still mainly getting nutrition from formula and she was on a three hour schedule with some solids sprinkled in here and there. As I was planning our trip, I realized it would be 30 hours from the time we left our house until we arrived at our hotel at the Singapore Airport (it would be another 12 to 15 hours after arrival in Singapore before we moved to our apartment). Once I realized it would be 30 hours door to door, I did what any good mother would do: I panicked.
After panic set in, I set about thinking through the issue. I need to pack enough food for my 11-month old to be able to eat. I calculated that at most I would need 10 bottles and an equal number of food pouches (we assumed she would eat little to nothing of the kid's meal we had ordered for her on the flight; we were able to order a kid's meal, by the way, because we bought Baby her own seat). Food pouches are easy (you can occasionally score them for 10 for $10 at Babies R Us) but what to do about the formula? As I said in the milk post from earlier, we knew we didn't want to use the ready-made formula even though that would be easier to deal with on the plane, so instead we went with the individual powder packets. So there you have it -- we were good with formula (we bought water inside the terminal) and we were good with food pouches. Here was the problem: how does one carry enough bottles and nipples for a 30 hour journey?
We didn't think we would have enough time during our layovers in San Francisco and Tokyo to wash bottles; we were right about the first (long story that I will blog about one day) and our experience in Tokyo was surprisingly smooth and laid-back. We also knew washing bottles in an airplane bathroom would be ridiculously crazy (not to mention, ugh). I had some Playtex bottles but the drop-ins didn't really solve my problem because I would still have to carry at least 10 nipples since I wouldn't be able to wash them properly. And really, if you've ever smelled formula, you do want to wash the bottles properly because otherwise, the stench is foul and it's like chipping away at chalk to get the stuff off the bottles. The idea of lugging around unwashed formula bottles for 30 hours sounded just nasty and I wanted no part of that.
A friend had seen an advertisement for Steribottle -- a product out of the UK -- that is basically a ready to use disposable bottle that came with a nipple. No sterilization required. You use it once and then you toss it. It sounded great to us, except it was only available via mail order and it was (you guessed it) back-ordered. Luckily, the husband was in the UK at the time and I found out it was carried in a store called Boots -- the US equivalent of Walgreens and CVS (and as ubiquitous as those stores are here!) -- and he went from store to store until he found the bottles. I asked him to buy two packages of 10 bottles each, assuming we would need 10 on the way over and 10 on the way back.
Now, the bottles themselves are a tadbit bulky and are not as elegant as your regular bottles. The lid snaps on tightly and while they say it can't be removed for reuse, my husband managed to get the lid off a bottle to add water to leftover formula (i.e. Baby had finished the bottle and wanted a bit more, so we would add more water to what was left in the bottle). The nipples are also fast and a bit wide at the base, so I think it would be difficult for a very small baby to use. The bottles are disposable but are also recyclable, though recycling isn't always an option on an airplane.
We have gone through about 30 of these bottles (still have about 5-8 of them in my pantry) on our international trips. They are pricey -- $1 a bottle (more when my husband actually purchased them in the UK) -- but they solved a key problem for us: how to safely dispense formula to our baby while traveling. If you are thinking about trying this product, I would recommend giving buying one box and training your baby to drink out of that bottle before you get on the plane. Our Baby is pretty adept at bottles and non-fussy; she doesn't care what temperature the milk is, what the shape of the nipple is, etc. But not all babies are that easy going so it's best to try it ahead of time to see if it will actually work for you. All in all, I recommend these for long journeys. Truth be told, they are a bit too expensive to carry for any other reason.
After panic set in, I set about thinking through the issue. I need to pack enough food for my 11-month old to be able to eat. I calculated that at most I would need 10 bottles and an equal number of food pouches (we assumed she would eat little to nothing of the kid's meal we had ordered for her on the flight; we were able to order a kid's meal, by the way, because we bought Baby her own seat). Food pouches are easy (you can occasionally score them for 10 for $10 at Babies R Us) but what to do about the formula? As I said in the milk post from earlier, we knew we didn't want to use the ready-made formula even though that would be easier to deal with on the plane, so instead we went with the individual powder packets. So there you have it -- we were good with formula (we bought water inside the terminal) and we were good with food pouches. Here was the problem: how does one carry enough bottles and nipples for a 30 hour journey?
We didn't think we would have enough time during our layovers in San Francisco and Tokyo to wash bottles; we were right about the first (long story that I will blog about one day) and our experience in Tokyo was surprisingly smooth and laid-back. We also knew washing bottles in an airplane bathroom would be ridiculously crazy (not to mention, ugh). I had some Playtex bottles but the drop-ins didn't really solve my problem because I would still have to carry at least 10 nipples since I wouldn't be able to wash them properly. And really, if you've ever smelled formula, you do want to wash the bottles properly because otherwise, the stench is foul and it's like chipping away at chalk to get the stuff off the bottles. The idea of lugging around unwashed formula bottles for 30 hours sounded just nasty and I wanted no part of that.
A friend had seen an advertisement for Steribottle -- a product out of the UK -- that is basically a ready to use disposable bottle that came with a nipple. No sterilization required. You use it once and then you toss it. It sounded great to us, except it was only available via mail order and it was (you guessed it) back-ordered. Luckily, the husband was in the UK at the time and I found out it was carried in a store called Boots -- the US equivalent of Walgreens and CVS (and as ubiquitous as those stores are here!) -- and he went from store to store until he found the bottles. I asked him to buy two packages of 10 bottles each, assuming we would need 10 on the way over and 10 on the way back.
Now, the bottles themselves are a tadbit bulky and are not as elegant as your regular bottles. The lid snaps on tightly and while they say it can't be removed for reuse, my husband managed to get the lid off a bottle to add water to leftover formula (i.e. Baby had finished the bottle and wanted a bit more, so we would add more water to what was left in the bottle). The nipples are also fast and a bit wide at the base, so I think it would be difficult for a very small baby to use. The bottles are disposable but are also recyclable, though recycling isn't always an option on an airplane.
We have gone through about 30 of these bottles (still have about 5-8 of them in my pantry) on our international trips. They are pricey -- $1 a bottle (more when my husband actually purchased them in the UK) -- but they solved a key problem for us: how to safely dispense formula to our baby while traveling. If you are thinking about trying this product, I would recommend giving buying one box and training your baby to drink out of that bottle before you get on the plane. Our Baby is pretty adept at bottles and non-fussy; she doesn't care what temperature the milk is, what the shape of the nipple is, etc. But not all babies are that easy going so it's best to try it ahead of time to see if it will actually work for you. All in all, I recommend these for long journeys. Truth be told, they are a bit too expensive to carry for any other reason.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Link of the Day: TSA Pre Check
Here's an amusing take of the new TSA pre-check program. Two CNN reporters pit the pre-check versus the normal security protocol and you can read about their "race" here.
Friday, December 6, 2013
Link of the Day: Where is the best airport in the world?
If you're going to be stranded in an airport, NPR recommends one of these. I have been to a handful of these airports, including Tokyo, Singapore, Berlin, and Amsterdam and the Tokyo and Singapore are by far the most kid-friendly airports I've been to. Both airports have ample and comfortable locations for nursing and changing diapers and play areas for the kids.
Singapore's Changi Airport, in addition to the butterfly garden mentioned in the article, also has an awesome play area in the basement (admission required) as well as other amenities (including foot reflexology, which I recommend whole heartedly but OUCH!). There's also a very nice room for changing diapers with real changing tables and very clean and spacious and with some amenities provided like water and paper towels. You can find out more about this airport here.
Tokyo's airport has "soft" play areas for the kids scattered throughout the terminal as well as nursing stalls with comfy chairs and nice changing areas that are dedicated to changing. None of this absent-minded "Oh let's put a changing table into the handicap toilet stall!" business going on there! I especially appreciated the play areas -- nice areas with soft foam blocks for kids to burn off steam during layovers. You can find out more about Toyko Narita here.
Singapore's Changi Airport, in addition to the butterfly garden mentioned in the article, also has an awesome play area in the basement (admission required) as well as other amenities (including foot reflexology, which I recommend whole heartedly but OUCH!). There's also a very nice room for changing diapers with real changing tables and very clean and spacious and with some amenities provided like water and paper towels. You can find out more about this airport here.
Tokyo's airport has "soft" play areas for the kids scattered throughout the terminal as well as nursing stalls with comfy chairs and nice changing areas that are dedicated to changing. None of this absent-minded "Oh let's put a changing table into the handicap toilet stall!" business going on there! I especially appreciated the play areas -- nice areas with soft foam blocks for kids to burn off steam during layovers. You can find out more about Toyko Narita here.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
The Transportation Security Agency (TSA) Holiday Checklist
If you are traveling during this holiday season, take a look at the TSA's travel tips/checklist. It gives a good rundown on what's allowed, what's expected, and where to get good information. It's especially helpful if you're not a frequent traveler or if you're coming to the United States from another country; we do have some differences in our security procedures such as needing to take off shoes when going through the TSA checkpoint. You can also check the TSA's website here if you need more details.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Can you take milk on an airplane?
A common concern that comes up a lot from parents traveling on airplanes with small children is how TSA deals with milk -- either cow milk, formula or breast milk. The short answer is YES, you can take milk in reasonable quantities through security (note: "reasonable" is obviously a judgement call, but be prepared to explain why you have the amount of food on you that you did; we had 12 food pouches on us when we flew to Singapore and were questioned on the quantity. Once we explained where we were going and that we expected our 11 month old to need one packet every 3 hours, TSA told us we were fine) . However, some things to make taking milk through security easier:
You'll also find that strictness varies airport by airport and also day by day. When we flew to India, TSA in Newark scanned every single one of our formula packets (and we had 16!) and I noticed they were scanning another woman's baby bottles -- she had 5-6 of them. Our home airport, however, just ran 2-3 of our formula packets through their scanner, visually checked our food pouches, and called it a day. Expect the type of screening we encountered in Newark to be the norm though and plan accordingly.
As always, I recommend carrying copies of TSA guidelines on you just in case you run into someone who says you cannot bring milk for your baby through security.
- Carry your baby's food in a separate carry-on and declare ahead of time -- BEFORE you start putting your things in the x-ray machine -- to the TSA that you are carrying baby food. Carrying it in a separate bag will make it easier for you to take it out when TSA asks.
- If your child is old enough, you could consider using milk boxes, like the Horizon Organic ones. Unfortunately, they do not have whole milk options, but for a short trip, it might be a good and convenient option (and less messy too!).
- If you are taking formula, I recommend taking powdered, not ready-to-feed formulations; I did hear one horror story from a mom who had to cancel her trip after TSA made her open every single one of her ready-to-feed formula bottles and as a result, she had to throw them out as she didn't have enough for the trip. When we traveled with formula, we always took the individual Enfamil formula packets as well the tub as a back-up. We never had a problem.
- You can also ask the flight attendants for milk. We have started to take this approach because it's the easiest option.
- Buy milk/water once you have passed through security. Items purchased after you go through security are perfectly acceptable to bring on the airplane.
You'll also find that strictness varies airport by airport and also day by day. When we flew to India, TSA in Newark scanned every single one of our formula packets (and we had 16!) and I noticed they were scanning another woman's baby bottles -- she had 5-6 of them. Our home airport, however, just ran 2-3 of our formula packets through their scanner, visually checked our food pouches, and called it a day. Expect the type of screening we encountered in Newark to be the norm though and plan accordingly.
As always, I recommend carrying copies of TSA guidelines on you just in case you run into someone who says you cannot bring milk for your baby through security.
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