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).
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Travel is like a box of chocolates
I think one of the reasons why travel with children can be stressful is you never, ever know what version of your child is going to show up. When we embarked on our first international trip, the husband and I were a bit nervous because it was, after all, a 30-hour trip from start to finish (one way!), but we felt comfortable that we had the domestic leg of the trip down. After all, before making this trip, we'd already made multiple trips across the country with baby and they had all gone swimmingly. So as we arrived at the airport on the morning of our big adventure, we told ourselves the trouble would start over the Pacific; the three and a half hour leg to California would be cake.
I still remember how frazzled we were the morning of our departure. Our flight left fairly early, before 8 am, and we were all cranky from not getting enough sleep and baby didn't like having been woken up well before her usual 7:30 am wake-up. On top of that, we had a lot of stuff. A LOT OF STUFF. After all, we were heading halfway around the world to Singapore and then after that to Japan and we would be gone for nearly two months. I thought we had packed relatively light, but I quickly reconsidered that as I watched the husband load suitcase after suitcase into the taxi cab. Five suitcases, one diaper bag, one backpack, a carseat, a stroller, a purse, camera bag and Go-Go Babyz Kidz Travelmate later, we looked at each other, kind of in shock: How the heck were we going to maneuver all this stuff AND a baby? We were both super relieved we had decided to call our trusty cab driver Louis to take us to the airport because there was no way we would have been able to fit everything into the long-term parking shuttle bus.
We made it to the terminal and lucky us, found a cart that someone had neglected to return to the rental station. We took this as a good sign and loaded all of our stuff onto the cart and headed over to the United counter to check-in. Since we have elite status on United, our bags didn't cost us anything extra, thank goodness. At that point, I was well ready to leave something (all of it?) behind. We made it through security fairly easily though TSA did give us some issues with the amount of baby food and formula we were carrying onboard the flight. We pointed out we were traveling 30 hours from here to Singapore and after some additional security procedures, we were allowed to pass.
We breathed a sigh of relief once we got on the plane and made ourselves as comfortable as possible. This was, after all, going to be the easiest part of the trip, right? RIGHT? Wrong. Things started going south almost immediately. The plane's departure was delayed and we had timed our fussy baby's bottle wrong. In our previous trial runs domestically (the most recent being just 3 weeks before to Myrtle Beach), we had done beautifully timing the bottle to coincide with the roar of the jet engines and the combination always made baby fall asleep. Not this time. Baby drank all of her formula and then refused -- REFUSED! -- to sleep. None of this would have been an issue if our sweet wonderful baby hadn't suddenly evolved into a banshee. Yes, we were THOSE people on the airplane, the ones every other passenger alternately feels furious at and then sorry for.
We figured baby was hungry so we gave her a food pouch which she promptly squirted all over herself and then over the seat and a bit on us, her completely perplexed parents. We changed her clothes and I was mentally congratulating myself for packing two outfits in her diaper bag so we had this. A few minutes later, we smelled the tell-tale stink of a poopy diaper. More screaming. I couldn't get down the aisle because the beverage service was in progress and so I started setting up on the floor of the airplane only to be reprimanded by the flight attendant (more on changing diapers on a plane here and here). So we sat there with our miserable stinky baby (but hey, at least her clothes were clean!) until I could make my way down to the bathroom to change the diaper.
By the time we made it to San Francisco, we'd been asked by half a dozen people what our final destination was and we could see palpable relief when they realized they wouldn't be traveling any further with us. A couple of people sympathized with us but yeah, it was mostly relief. We were among the last to drag our miserable selves off the plane and in our frazzled tired state, we didn't realize we had left part of our carseat on the plane. That led to whole 'nother "adventure" that involved running through multiple terminals and trying to get back onto our original aircraft, only to be told too bad, so sad; the plane had already been cleaned and our carseat attachment was on the other side of security. We looked at each other, hot and sweaty, still weighed down by all our stuff, and tried not to dwell too much on the fact that we still had two planes and 27 hours more to go.
I still remember how frazzled we were the morning of our departure. Our flight left fairly early, before 8 am, and we were all cranky from not getting enough sleep and baby didn't like having been woken up well before her usual 7:30 am wake-up. On top of that, we had a lot of stuff. A LOT OF STUFF. After all, we were heading halfway around the world to Singapore and then after that to Japan and we would be gone for nearly two months. I thought we had packed relatively light, but I quickly reconsidered that as I watched the husband load suitcase after suitcase into the taxi cab. Five suitcases, one diaper bag, one backpack, a carseat, a stroller, a purse, camera bag and Go-Go Babyz Kidz Travelmate later, we looked at each other, kind of in shock: How the heck were we going to maneuver all this stuff AND a baby? We were both super relieved we had decided to call our trusty cab driver Louis to take us to the airport because there was no way we would have been able to fit everything into the long-term parking shuttle bus.
We made it to the terminal and lucky us, found a cart that someone had neglected to return to the rental station. We took this as a good sign and loaded all of our stuff onto the cart and headed over to the United counter to check-in. Since we have elite status on United, our bags didn't cost us anything extra, thank goodness. At that point, I was well ready to leave something (all of it?) behind. We made it through security fairly easily though TSA did give us some issues with the amount of baby food and formula we were carrying onboard the flight. We pointed out we were traveling 30 hours from here to Singapore and after some additional security procedures, we were allowed to pass.
We breathed a sigh of relief once we got on the plane and made ourselves as comfortable as possible. This was, after all, going to be the easiest part of the trip, right? RIGHT? Wrong. Things started going south almost immediately. The plane's departure was delayed and we had timed our fussy baby's bottle wrong. In our previous trial runs domestically (the most recent being just 3 weeks before to Myrtle Beach), we had done beautifully timing the bottle to coincide with the roar of the jet engines and the combination always made baby fall asleep. Not this time. Baby drank all of her formula and then refused -- REFUSED! -- to sleep. None of this would have been an issue if our sweet wonderful baby hadn't suddenly evolved into a banshee. Yes, we were THOSE people on the airplane, the ones every other passenger alternately feels furious at and then sorry for.
We figured baby was hungry so we gave her a food pouch which she promptly squirted all over herself and then over the seat and a bit on us, her completely perplexed parents. We changed her clothes and I was mentally congratulating myself for packing two outfits in her diaper bag so we had this. A few minutes later, we smelled the tell-tale stink of a poopy diaper. More screaming. I couldn't get down the aisle because the beverage service was in progress and so I started setting up on the floor of the airplane only to be reprimanded by the flight attendant (more on changing diapers on a plane here and here). So we sat there with our miserable stinky baby (but hey, at least her clothes were clean!) until I could make my way down to the bathroom to change the diaper.
By the time we made it to San Francisco, we'd been asked by half a dozen people what our final destination was and we could see palpable relief when they realized they wouldn't be traveling any further with us. A couple of people sympathized with us but yeah, it was mostly relief. We were among the last to drag our miserable selves off the plane and in our frazzled tired state, we didn't realize we had left part of our carseat on the plane. That led to whole 'nother "adventure" that involved running through multiple terminals and trying to get back onto our original aircraft, only to be told too bad, so sad; the plane had already been cleaned and our carseat attachment was on the other side of security. We looked at each other, hot and sweaty, still weighed down by all our stuff, and tried not to dwell too much on the fact that we still had two planes and 27 hours more to go.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Another changing diapers on an airplane tip
We recently took another long airplane trip, this time to Hawaii. We knew ahead of time by checking the airplane configuration it was unlikely the aircraft would have NOT have changing tables available. Baby is now too big and squiggly to do the whole "changing on the toilet seat" (and ewwww, by the way) or on my lap and my husband and I don't like to change diapers on tray tables/seat cushions. We'd change baby on the floor of the aircraft but the last time we tried, the flight attendant told us we needed to use the restroom. Plus, unless you're in first class or economy plus, you're not going to have a lot of room to change the diaper on the floor.
Cue our solution: Huggies Little Movers Slip-On Diapers.
We had originally bought these diapers because Baby is in the process of being potty trained and we thought it would be easier to use these diapers. How that worked out is another story entirely (hint: it didn't), but for plane travel? Perfect. I love these diapers because you can quickly remove them (the tabs are removable), clean baby up, and then slip on a clean diaper just like a pair of underwear. Once we got the clean diaper on, we usually just took Baby back to the seat and made the proper adjustments and put her clothes back.
Speaking of clothes... we usually go for one piece outfits with snaps at the crotch to make it easier to actually change the baby. A onesie and a pair of pants works too if you take the pants off at the seat and put them back on when you get back. My preference is always to take as little as possible into that airplane bathroom simply because it's so cramped in there and did I mention the ick factor?
You might also be interested in: Changing diapers on an airplane
Cue our solution: Huggies Little Movers Slip-On Diapers.
We had originally bought these diapers because Baby is in the process of being potty trained and we thought it would be easier to use these diapers. How that worked out is another story entirely (hint: it didn't), but for plane travel? Perfect. I love these diapers because you can quickly remove them (the tabs are removable), clean baby up, and then slip on a clean diaper just like a pair of underwear. Once we got the clean diaper on, we usually just took Baby back to the seat and made the proper adjustments and put her clothes back.Speaking of clothes... we usually go for one piece outfits with snaps at the crotch to make it easier to actually change the baby. A onesie and a pair of pants works too if you take the pants off at the seat and put them back on when you get back. My preference is always to take as little as possible into that airplane bathroom simply because it's so cramped in there and did I mention the ick factor?
You might also be interested in: Changing diapers on an airplane
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Link of the Day
I thought this article was great: How to survive plane travel with toddlers.
What I like about it is that the author is completely realistic about what it's like to travel with a toddler and how difficult it is and no two situations are alike. Well put.
What I like about it is that the author is completely realistic about what it's like to travel with a toddler and how difficult it is and no two situations are alike. Well put.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Passports for Minors (under age 16)
When traveling outside of the United States, all persons must have a passport; a birth certificate is no longer acceptable as a travel document. This includes countries like Canada or some Caribbean nations where the birth certificate was once accepted as an appropriate document.
You can find instructions and forms for applying for a passport for your minor child at the State Department's website. The government is also helpful enough to post current processing times for a passport here. In general, plan on at least 6 weeks processing time to get the passport after submitting the application if you don't want to pay the extra feeds for expedited service. Also take into consideration any time for applying for a visa for the country you're visiting; entry/exit requirements for countries can be found here.
For passport pictures, there are specialty places where you can get them, but it might be cheaper and more convenient to stop in to your local Walgreens or Costco to get them. The passport processing facility might also do a passport picture for you for an additional fee. Expect to pay about $10, give or take, for the passport pictures. If you're looking for a more frugal method, I used a free software called Cam to Print* for my daughter's recent visa application pictures. The software produced a 4 x 6 photo with 6 passport pictures on it; I had the photo printed at my nearby Walgreens for a total cost of 19 cents (including tax) for the six pictures. However, using this software is at your own risk; please evaluate your risk level before using.
* This software puts a lot of 'extra' software on your computer. Please be aware when adding it and use your Control Panel to remove if desired.
You can find instructions and forms for applying for a passport for your minor child at the State Department's website. The government is also helpful enough to post current processing times for a passport here. In general, plan on at least 6 weeks processing time to get the passport after submitting the application if you don't want to pay the extra feeds for expedited service. Also take into consideration any time for applying for a visa for the country you're visiting; entry/exit requirements for countries can be found here.
For passport pictures, there are specialty places where you can get them, but it might be cheaper and more convenient to stop in to your local Walgreens or Costco to get them. The passport processing facility might also do a passport picture for you for an additional fee. Expect to pay about $10, give or take, for the passport pictures. If you're looking for a more frugal method, I used a free software called Cam to Print* for my daughter's recent visa application pictures. The software produced a 4 x 6 photo with 6 passport pictures on it; I had the photo printed at my nearby Walgreens for a total cost of 19 cents (including tax) for the six pictures. However, using this software is at your own risk; please evaluate your risk level before using.
* This software puts a lot of 'extra' software on your computer. Please be aware when adding it and use your Control Panel to remove if desired.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Measles and traveling abroad
I want to give you a head's up regarding a major measles epidemic in the UK, and more specifically, in the greater Swansea area in southern Wales. As the UK is a very popular summer vacation destination, please do your research ahead of time, especially if you're traveling with an un-vaccinated child. This is not an insignificant epidemic; as of April 29, 2013, the number of cases reported in Wales has approached 1,000 and as of April 19, 2013, the the first measles-related death may have occurred. The BBC has some maps showing current measles cases in the UK here. You can read more about measles and vaccinations at the CDC's page here. Note that measles is highly infectious and can cause death. The World Health Organization has some sobering statistics on measles here.
If your child is under the age of 12 months and has not yet received a measles vaccine (commonly known as the MMR), talk to your pediatrician about it, especially if you are traveling to a part of the world where a measles outbreak exists. I got the MMR for baby at age 11 months as I was traveling to a part of the world where 50 percent of the cases originate; she had absolutely no reactions. The downside, however, is that baby did need to get another MMR at 15 months as any MMR prior to 12 months won't count for official vaccine paperwork.
Please take the appropriate precautions when traveling overseas after speaking to your trained health provider. Measles is a highly infectious disease that has the potential to cause serious complications in small children, including death.
If your child is under the age of 12 months and has not yet received a measles vaccine (commonly known as the MMR), talk to your pediatrician about it, especially if you are traveling to a part of the world where a measles outbreak exists. I got the MMR for baby at age 11 months as I was traveling to a part of the world where 50 percent of the cases originate; she had absolutely no reactions. The downside, however, is that baby did need to get another MMR at 15 months as any MMR prior to 12 months won't count for official vaccine paperwork.
Please take the appropriate precautions when traveling overseas after speaking to your trained health provider. Measles is a highly infectious disease that has the potential to cause serious complications in small children, including death.
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