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Hey Kids: Tote Your Junk-y in a Trunki

TJ is fast approaching the age of those little kids we see dragging their cute little rolly bags around the airport.  I always wonder what exactly's in those things.  I'm guessing teddy bears, Elmos, and dolls that are too precious to risk in checked baggage, for fear of being sucked out of the plane.  But, can you actually get your little kid to pull his or her own weight?  In other words, to actually carry some of their clothes or other necessities, thus reducing the parents' ever-increasing load? 

Maybe you can, now that there's Trunki, a sort of animal-shaped (horse? bull?), wheeled, plastic, carry-on suitcase that children (the site says ages 3 to 6) can either pull themsleves or ride along on through the airport.  I haven't tried one, but (at $39.99) I'm pretty tempted, as I can see kids getting excited over something that looks more like a ride or pet than a boring old suitcase.  They've even got names-- Terrance is the blue one and Trixie is the pink one.

From the boring adult's perspective it also seems pretty practical.  The website's FAQ's say that Trunki measures 18" by 7.9" by 12", has a 5 gallon capacity, and weighs only 3.8 pounds.  It'd be interesting to see just how swiftly and smoothly you can pull your kids through the airport on a Trunki.  If the little video they play on the website is any indicator, it looks pretty easy.  I'll be keeping my eyes out in the airport to see if I can catch any Trunkis in action.

Thanks to Intelligent Travel for spreading the word on Trunki. 

Mother's Day: Finally, A Product So You Won't Have to Tell Your Children to "Turn Down The Volume!"

iPods, mp3 players, video games, and portable dvd players all make traveling with children easier.  Long car rides are bearable when your kid can listen to his own music on an iPod, and airplane flights are downright delightful when TJ is watching Elmo's World on our portable DVD player.  But with kids in charge of the volume dial, safety becomes an issue.

That is why Christine Ingemi, a mother of four herself, invented iHearSafe Child Earbuds and Child Headphones which are designed to keep the volume at a safe level to prevent hearing loss.  No matter how savvy your kids are, they cannot turn the volume up past 85 dB SPL (a level within the recommended safety limits of ASHA-OSHA and NIOSH).   Both the earbuds and child headphones cost $19.99.  Although the earbuds are available now, currently you can only order the headphone in a "pre-manufacturing sale", which places you on a list to receive them once they become available. 

My only question is, how did a mother of four young children have time to invent such a cool product?

Great (Travel) Expectations

There are several good ways to prepare your child for his first airplane flight, or even subsequent flights.  There's the good ol' fashioned "talk to him about the trip" method.  There are also many books telling kids what to expect when they fly, such as Richard Scarry's A Day at the Airport, Airport, Going on a Plane (First Experiences), and the aptly named We're Going on an Airplane!  All good stuff, as your travels will go more smoothly the more your child understands where you're going, what's going to happen, and what's expected of him. 

But, there's one gift TJ received for Christmas that has quickly become our favorite travel prep prop:  The Little People Lil' Movers Airplane.  Almost immediately, TJ started chartering pretend flights to destinations he'd been before.  Then we'd discuss what the passengers would do when they got to a specific destination, who they might see there, even what food they might eat ("Pizza" for New York, "Chuy's" for Texas.  I'd say he's got the basic idea.).  So, then we extended the game to include upcoming trips. 

He now knows he's going on a plane to "Ara-zo-na-na" in a few weeks, where, according to TJ, he'll see "cacti", "dip chips" in salsa, and hopefully, "swim- pool."  He hasn't mentioned Daddy racing to the bottom of a fishbowl-sized margarita, but that's really not essential trip prep info. 

So, if you're looking for a fun toy that will also help prepare your child for an upcoming trip, give the plane a try.  Although I will warn you, it's not all fun and games with the Lil' Movers Plane.  Due to freshly cleaned floors, yesterday's pretend trip ended in an ugly incident where the plane skidded off the runway and collided with a full LeapFrog Phonics Bus, flipping it over.  Fortunately, the plane passengers and all three frogs on the bus survived.  But, I don't think poor Lilly will ever play the guitar again. 

Mother's Day: Traveling With Glass Baby Bottles

Everyone has heard about the possibly unsafe chemicals found in baby bottles, namely bisphenol A.  As a first-time mother, I try not to freak out about too many things, but this is one news story that really made me feel sick to my stomach.  Instead of trying to find a plastic BPA-free bottle, I figured I'd rather be safe than sorry, so I went with what I thought was the easy route and bought glass bottles.  I wasn't alone - about the same time I purchased TJ's glass bottles, they were selling out.  TJ seemed to like the glass bottle, I loved feeling he was safe (at least until the scientists come up with some other new discovery, like how organic milk is actually bad for babies or something), plus the bottle had a cool retro-look.  What isn't so cool is traveling with a glass bottle.  I worried about just shoving it in my diaper bag (what happens if the glass cracks or breaks), or giving it to TJ on a plane (what if he decides to chuck his bottle against the back of the tray table while demanding an Elmo DVD)?  Fortunately, here are two possible solutions:

• Babylife sells the wee-go bottle.    This glass bottle comes with a plastic protective cover (don't worry, Babylife assures this plastic is non-toxic) that helps protect the bottle from breakage and bumping into other items in the diaper bag.  Choose from a variety of colors (like "sky" or "ocean," or as TJ says, "ba-leeuw").  At $18 a pop, the bottles are pricey, but probably worth it to avoid glass shards in your diaper bag. 
• Silikids sells a similar product called a Siliskin Baby Bottle.    A translucent silicone sleeve encases a glass bottle so that it is easier for the child to grab and hold, and avoids slippage.  The Siliskin bottle is a little cheaper ($12 for an 8 oz. bottle), and also comes in several colors.

Don't let the travel factor hold you back from purchasing a glass bottle.  These products should help you avoid accidents (at least the bottle-breaking kind).  Another benefit - your child's bottle will be easily identifiable at any playdates. 

Do You CARES?

I've been meaning for some time to write about the CARES harness.  If you're not familiar, it's an FAA-certified harness that children one and older (and between 22 and 44 pounds) can use on an airplane in place of a car seat.  The harness weighs only one pound and easily installs on your child's seat.  Despite constantly whining about my difficulties lugging TJ's car seat through the airport, I inexplicably haven't purchased one yet (I guess  I need the airport workout).  But, I've seen them in action and they look as effective as they are convenient. 

The great Family Travel blog revisits an earlier discussion we had about car seats and air travel safety and poses an interesting new question:  Would you pay a little more for your plane ticket to cover the airlines' expense in stocking their cabins with some CARES restraints for passenger use?    I'll give my two cents over there, but my main point is that the cost would be incredibly minimal.  If you have an opinion on the matter, please join in.   

Mother's Day: Breastfeeding On The Go

I am a modest person.  During gym class in my formative years,  I always turned the front of my body toward the locker when changing.  Nowadays, at the YMCA, I dive into a dressing room to get changed.  I never liked breastfeeding in public (I certainly wasn't as carefree as that mom I saw the other day breastfeeding her child in the Jewel while grocery shopping), but traveling with a baby definitely puts some extra constraints on feeding time.  During the 11 months I breastfed, I did it:  in the back seat of the car (don't worry, the car was safely parked), at a drive-through hot dog stand, in a restaurant, at Millennium Park, in a hotel room, in other people's bedrooms, in an airport waiting area, and on the airplane.  From my experience, I learned a few things:

• The toughest thing about breastfeeding in public is getting started without flashing the rest of humanity. There are a lot of products out there to help, but at the end of the day, you still have to do some unbuttoning, releasing of bra flaps, and positioning the baby.  For a while, I tried to hide this process with a blanket.  But it always seemed to slip down at the most inopportune moment (like at the outdoor concert in Millennium Park when a bunch of high schoolers on a field trip walked by me at the exact moment I was pulling my boob out to feed TJ, and the blanket fell down).  Ugh.
• So, I purchased The First Years Nursing CoverUp by Learning Curve, which did help a little.  Of course, then I got a few questioning looks because TJ liked to punch and kick the shawl, so it looked like I was hiding a small raccoon or something on my lap.  But at least I had a little more privacy.  There is another clever product that some of my girlfriends swear by (although I've never tried it), called the Hooter Hider Bloomst by Hooter Hider.  Even if the Hooter Hider doesn't work so well, at least you have a good conversation piece!
• You know how mobsters always want to sit in the back corner of a restaurant facing everyone?  Well, breastfeeding moms are like the anti-mobster.  If you know you'll be breastfeeding in a public place at some point during your visit, scope out a more secluded area or a corner where you can face away from the crowd and choose to sit there.  This advice works for restaurants, airport waiting areas, and public parks not currently hosting field trips. 
• High school kids notwithstanding, most men are actually pretty oblivious to public breastfeeding, so don't worry about it too much.  If you stare at the wall and pretend like nothing is going on down there, they will likely believe you are just a lady with a shawl sitting in the airport.  I am now adept at spotting other breastfeeding mothers, and if I drop a comment about it, Travelin' Dad inevitably says, "Who is breastfeeding?  Oh, that lady over there, really?"  Women are more likely to notice breastfeeding, but they are usually very understanding.

Of course, there are bound to be a few downright humiliating incidents while breastfeeding on the road. I've flashed passengers boarding an airplane, found breast shields clinging to my clothes hours after breastfeeding, and had to pump in the middle of a Las Vegas airport bathroom, but I received few stares during even these most embarrassing moments (of course, anything goes in Vegas-- if you have to breastfeed/pump in public, that's a good destination to do it).  So, you should take solace that: (1) most people will either not notice or not care that you're breastfeeding in public and (2) if you take a few simple precautions, breastfeeding during travel will hopefully be the least memorable part of your trip.