Air travel with breast milk... but sans kids

I have an upcoming trip planned alone.  Without the kids.  So on one hand, that means I'll probably be able to sleep through the night for the first time in months.  But on the other hand, I have anxiety not only over leaving my kids for a few days, but about the whole pumping on the airplane thing and carrying breast milk with me through security.  According to the "new" TSA regulations, nursing mothers can carry breast milk with them through the security checkpoint in quantities greater than 3.4 oz, provided that it is declared prior to screening.  Breast milk is supposed to be treated like liquid medications.  However, I'll be gone for 3 days, and I'd really hate to pump and dump, and I'd also hate to pay the $25 fee to check in baggage, just for the sake of saving the milk.  So I'm wondering, does TSA have any restrictions on how many oz of milk can be brought through the security checkpoint?  If I were, say, to attempt to carry 15 bags of milk with me, would they turn me away?  Make me throw out the milk?  Call me a security threat?  Anybody have any firsthand experience with us?  Perhaps I'll do the responsible thing and email TSA to see what they have to say.  Or perhaps I'll just try to bring the 15 bags of milk with me anyway, and if they tell me that I have to throw it away, then I'll live with it...

Keeping the kid(s) occupied

So when you're in for a long car ride or plane ride, how do you keep your kids occupied?  Of course, there's the ever-popular DVD player, but are there any other creative (or not-so-creative) options out there?  We haven't purchased a portable DVD player yet.  We're hoping to never have to resort to that option.  It's partly out of principle, but mostly out of practicality.  I mean, if the DVD player doesn't entertain the kid, what option do you have after that?  At least for our family, the DVD player is the nuclear option - there's no going back, and if it fails, I'm not sure there are any options left for keeping the kid entertained.  So we've been utilizing low-tech solutions so far, starting small so that we can work our way up to the nuclear option if absolutely necessary.  For those of you with kids with eczema - it's like starting with the lowest steroid cream (hydrocortisone) to see if that can get rid of those itchy red bumps, and then working your way up to the stronger steroid creams.

Anyway.  One thing that our son really likes is the Aquadoodle Travel Doodle.  I found it at Target on clearance in the summer, and my son loves it.  It's simple, compact, and there's no mess.  It can keep him occupied for quite a while.  Also found at Target on clearance were Travel Tangoes.  I haven't yet introduced them to my son yet, since he's still a little young for them, but I'm hoping they'll keep him occupied and silent when he's a little older.  He also loves books, so we make sure to go to the library to get him new books to read (though if you're worried about losing these library books, you can always bring books you have at home already or purchase books at a garage sale or book sale and keep them hidden until you plan to be sequestered in a cramped space with a young child.  We've also tried getting books on CD from the library.  The kid wasn't too interested in them - I think he was a bit too young and certainly couldn't follow along in the book, since he can't read yet.

Another tip is novelty.  To make sure that a toy will keep my child's interest for at least a small amount of time, I make sure to keep some toys as only travel toys.  He doesn't get to play with the Aquadoodle at home, thus ensuring that it will be a new fun toy for him to play with whenever he gets to play with it.  I've also tried wrapping up some of his more regular toys - the whole process of unwrapping the toy not only takes time, but also seems to make the familiar toy more interesting.  Get new books from the library.  Or when you see something on clearance at the store (even the dollar store) and have an upcoming trip planned, don't give it to the kid right away, but save it for the trip.

What are your tips for keeping a kid occupied during travel?

Here's an article from the Wall Street Journal about the increasing difficulties for parents flying with children.

Luckily, my selected seats have never been reassigned by the airlines, though I'm pretty obsessive about checking my seat assignments periodically before my departure date to make sure that they haven't been changed.  And when I fly Southwest, I also set an alarm for 24 hours before the departure time to make sure to check in as soon as possible so that I can board the plane earlier.

One particular bone to pick with the article - it mentions that one reason why airlines are less baby-friendly is the lack of microwaves to warm up bottles (though it notes that flight attendants can still warm up bottles with hot water). Who warms up bottles with a microwave? That's a very big no-no. Which reminds me, don't assume that the flight attendant knows how to warm up your bottle. If you ask a flight attendant to warm up a bottle for you, clearly specify that the bottle should come to room temperature, no hotter. I had a flight attendant once warm up a bottle to a scalding temperature.

Cell phone SIM Cards - Hong Kong

While in Hong Kong, I knew that my husband and I would be split up for at least part of the time, since I was there for a conference. Cell phones were very helpful to us - not only when we were apart, but also so we could contact our local friends, etc. We consulted our friends in Hong Kong and were told not to buy SIM cards in the States (for example, through online retailers that specialized in international SIM cards) but rather to wait until we got to Hong Kong. So, we brought our unlocked phones that take SIM cards (we have T-Mobile here in the States) to Hong Kong. The SIM cards we found were incredibly cheap in Hong Kong, especially since we weren't planning on making many calls anyway, and all of our cars originated in Hong Kong and were to phones in Hong Kong. We went to 7-11 (and in fact, I think most if not all convenience stores carry them) and bought a SIM card for around 68 HKD (approximately US$10)! I don't remember how many minutes were included (maybe 50???), but there were plenty for our modest cell phone usage during our stay in Hong Kong, even though we were charged for both in-coming and out-going calls. With this basic phone card, we could technically call international numbers - but the per minute rate was pretty expensive. If you're planning on making calls mainly to international numbers from Hong Kong, you can purchase a basic IDD card. I think the price for the IDD phone card was 98HKD.

The lesson here? If you're looking to get a SIM card for your phone, do so in Hong Kong. They're readily available and very inexpensive. Just go to a 7-11 or some convenience store.

If I can find our phone card and the information I came with, I'll be sure to upload some pictures.

Costco Travel

I love Costco. I love their products, I love their return policy, I love their food court. If I were to get married again, I'd get my wedding catered by Costco. Heck, maybe I'd get married at Costco.

However, when most people think about Costco, big barrels of pretzels and large sides of beef usually come to mind. Not travel. But I've been using Costco Travel to book my cruises lately, and I've been very happy with my experience. They have great prices (and often have incentives like an added $100 Costco cash card). For example, the price for our Alaska cruise as booked with Costco Travel was at least $300 less than if we had booked through Norwegian Cruise Line directly. And the service has always been stellar.

My one complaint is that when I asked specifics about NCL, the agent with whom I spoke wasn't able to provide many details. She had never cruised NCL and wasn't able to give me much information about the individual staterooms. This wasn't too much of a problem, since I like to research my travel plans on my own, and I was able to get the answers to my questions through CruiseCritic.

In addition, I've also used the Costco Travel website to book rental cars. They have great discounts on rental cars, and their prices are often cheaper than if I booked my rental car elsewhere.

Cruise to Alaska - packing tips

At the beginning of May, we took a cruise to Alaska! We were on the Norwegian Pearl, and we had a fabulous time. I'll slowly get some posts up about our cruise and our experience cruising with a child. In the meantime, here are some packing tips if you're taking a kid on a cruise. These packing tips need not be cruise-to-Alaska-specific. I'll update this list as more ideas come to me.

-Over-the-door shoe organizer. When you travel with kids, you'll have a bunch of little items like sunblock, saline spray, tylenol, etc. In the cabin - whether you're in an inside stateroom or a suite, you'll have limited storage space. So to keep your cabin neat and to quickly and conveniently locate small items, the shoe organizer works perfectly.

-Stroller rain cover. The weather in Alaska can be pretty unpredictable, and they get lots of rain there. You'll need a rain cover for your stroller. While on our cruise, we found the rain cover very convenient for walks on deck - it kept out some of the wind while we made laps around Deck 7, trying to get our son to go to sleep in his stroller.

-Pack n Play Sheet. If you're requesting a crib for your cabin, they'll likely provide you with a pack n play. On our cruise, we got a pack n play, and a full-sized flat sheet. The sheet was a pain to put in the pack n play without being a suffocation hazard. Luckily I brought a Pack n Play sheet with me. Unluckily, my son threw up all over it, so we ended up having to use the flat sheet anyway. So bring 2 Pack n Play sheets!

-Clothespins. You never know when you'll need to clip something. The clothespins came in handy when we tried to stroller our son to sleep around Deck 7. Without the blanket blocking his view of the outside world, he would be too stimulated by all the people and the sites. When we clipped the blanket onto the stroller to block his view, he was more ready to fall asleep. And the blanket keeps in some heat and blocks out some of the wind on the boat and in chilly Alaska.

Stroller Use in Rome?

Like I said in an earlier post, I didn't get to do much sight-seeing in Rome since I was working the whole time. So I didn't get to walk around with my son very much. Nonetheless, we did bring his stroller, and we actually used it! Rome is much less crowded than Hong Kong, so it was markedly easier to maneuver a stroller around the streets than in Hong Kong. (Please note, however, that we stayed mainly in the Piazza Navona area, which is dominated by pedestrian zones.) There were paved sidewalks in addition to cobblestone streets, so if you bring a stroller, make sure it has somewhat sturdy wheels.

Things you should note, however, are that most of the restaurants and stores are very cramped. So you'll find that it will be difficult to maneuver a stroller in the tiny restaurants and stores. Also, if you plan to take public transportation, a stroller might be difficult. If you're taking the subway, elevators down to the subway platforms are either non-existent or very hard to find. So you'll have to carry the stroller down the steps. Further, the subways and in particular the buses can get very crowded, so you might prefer to have your child close to you in some sort of carrier rather than in a stroller. Best bet? Take both - a carrier and a stroller. Even if you don't end up using the stroller in Rome, it will likely be helpful in the airports. However, make sure you check your airlines for the baggage limits and their policies on strollers. More on this later. (Grr - Air France made me pay for an extra bag because they wouldn't allow me to gate-check my stroller in Rome.)