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@ travel question...high chairs?
So we're leaving for the states in a few weeks )super excited to see my friends...wish we had more time to see others and I'm not sure how to deal with the high chair situation. We are doing BLW so a high chair is important, she eats most meals with us at the table and it's not practical for us to hold her on our laps any more...she goes for the plates etc.
We're going to see my sister, friends in SC and then back to GA to see other friends so we won't be bcd where we started...well the airport but thats it.
We just got one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0002VZ21E/ref=s9_simh_gw_p75_d0_g75_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=15SZ9X9TAY8G1XY4N18X&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294 to keep in our car as most places we go eat here have horrible high chairs. I was thinking we could put it in DD's bag but DH thinks that it would be too big.
So what to do you guys do when you travel?
Re: @ travel question...high chairs?
That's the high chair we kept at my parents' house when DD was younger, but for extended road trips, we really just ended up sitting her on one of our laps or putting her in the stroller (which had a tray). This is what we did on trips to two places I specifically remember without many public restaurant high chairs- Key West (when DD was 11 months old) and Paris (when DD was 15 months old). I was not inclined to travel with any more gear than necessary, but we also didn't rent a car in either of these two places.
I do think that high chair will be too big to slip into a bag. Have you considered using a soft booster seat? I didn't start using one of these until DD was about 18 months old, but ours felt very portable (we kept it in the undercarriage of her stroller for jaunts around NYC). It was Kushie or Cooshie or something like that, but a quick search on diapers.com didn't yield it. If I can find the actual model online somewhere, I'll post it later.
We had a Chicco portable high chair
It folds up flat came with a travel bag. I either put it in a suitcase when flying or strapped it into the car seat before putting it into the plastic bag the airline gives you when you check a car seat.
I used it a lot when we visited North America when visiting people's houses, I founnd that every restaurant has a high chair over there! I brought it back to France, but I never used it here, M would just sit in a stroller at the table or use the restaurant high chair if they had one.
we have a chicco one too, but ours is a 360 degree one, and kind of bulky to pack
I want one of these - they are SO compact its crazy!! http://shop.philandteds.com/feed/metoo-high-chair-phil-and-teds
I don't know what other big baby items you're packing, but you are allowed to check one baby item for free. Most people check their stroller, but I think that's not a requirement. I was reading up on details before our trip to the States over Christmas but don't remember everything now.
Personally, I would ask my parents to go to a used baby store, ebay, or craig's list and pick one up for me to use in the States. That's where they get almost everything we use for DD while we're there since it's not practical to bring most of it with us. If that didn't work I would probably buy a second one for the trip and then, when it was clear we were done with it (no more babies planned), I would resell it. It's not a huge expense and it would be worth it to me to not have to worry about dealing with such a bulky item in the airport. My litmus test for packing something is: will you be able to carry it with your hands full of kids and luggage while trying to unpack your laptop and medicine for the security check while trying to take off everyone's shoes and coats at the same time?
Are you flying within the US to visit everyone? If that is the case it might be a pain to have the booster seat. If you are driving it should be fine. Even if you start in one place and finish somewhere else (if you are diriving) it would be worth the $20 (if you buy it in the US) IMO, even if you never use it again. The other option would be to see if someone could get you a used bumbo here in the US with the tray. She could sit on a chair (though not recommended on elevated surfaces I have done that with my DD if the chair had arms on the sides) or on the floor and it could be packed in a duffle bag or large suitcase.
Why does you DH not want to take her to the US next year? He may be pleasantly surprised at traveling with her. She may be a great little traveler. Yes, it is a bit more labor and equipment intensive but it probably won't be too bad. We actually travel fairly light (relatively speaking). We bring a travel crib (checked) and the car seat (gate checked) and that is it as far as equipment for baby. We leave the stroller at home (use the Ergo) and like I said we have the booster seat in Europe and Maine.
Anyway, good luck and have fun visiting your family!
We'll be driving, we're flying with a stroller (we'll be doing clothes shopping so it's easiest to have her in a stroller for trying things on) so that'll be checked with the bags and her car seat which is coming on with us (she has a seat). We have a crib for her over there.
We're going to try this flight and see how she does, she's a very good natured easy going one but DH doesn't think that at one and a half (when we would go next) she'll be happy to sit for 8+ hours...we'll have to see
I've been looking on line and wish Ikea sold their super cheep highchair on line so I can get that shipped to our first group of people we're seeing!