car seat

Posts Tagged ‘car seat’

Win Baby Travel Gear for Your Next Trip from Travel BaBees

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Want to lighten your load on your next family vacation? Travel BaBees is giving away $30 baby equipment rental vouchers to TWO lucky Travel Mamas readers. Read on to find out how to win.

Remember that scene in Sex & The City when Miranda thought she was a terrible mother because she couldn’t get her infant to stop crying, only to discover a vibrating bouncy chair was the only thing that would soothe her baby? My firstborn was similar; she refused to nap for the first several months of her life unless she was in her bouncy chair with its little motor humming. In fact, during one of my first trips as new mother I wound up buying a bouncy chair just so my daughter could get some rest (and I could get a break!).

Travel Bouncy Chair

My daughter in her beloved bouncy chair

But then what to do with the bouncy chair afterwards? While I could have dropped it off at a local charity, I had no time on take-off day between final packing, caring for the baby, and transport to the airport. So, I crammed the extra, unneeded gizmo into my overstuffed bag and lugged it home. If only I had known then about travel gear rental companies like Travel Babees. Today, with ever-increasing luggage fees, there is all the more reason to rent baby and toddler travel equipment.

Travel Babees Car Seat

Choose Your Gear, Baby!

A plethora of baby and toddler gear is available for rental from Travel BaBees: pack n’ plays, strollers, baby swings, high chairs, safety gates, humidifiers, potty chairs and beyond.

As a more experienced Travel Mama, I have rented full-sized cribs for weeklong trips to Grandma’s house. Travel BaBees even assembles the crib, complete with bedding, and takes it down at the end of your stay.

I have also rented pristinely cleaned car seats from travel equipment providers for use when being carted around in someone else’s car during faraway visits with family and friends. Although you can rent car seats from car rental companies, if you don’t want to lug yours on board the airplane or cruise ship, Vanessa advises renting this life-saving device from a baby equipment rental company instead. She said, “Because rental car agencies are not in the primary business of baby equipment it’s most likely the seats will not be in as good of condition as if you were renting from a company that specializes in it, like Travel BaBees. We guarantee that all of our seats are less than five years old (in most cases that’s even less than the manufacturer recommendation), sanitized between every use and monitored for recalls.”

Travel BaBees has received last-minute calls from panicked customers because the car seat they reserved from the car rental agency was not available. She said, “There is nothing more unacceptable than to arrive at the airport and not have a car seat available. It is not only dangerous but in most cases it’s illegal.”

Travel Babees Crib

About Travel Babees

Travel BaBees was founded in 2006 by Vanessa Reed and her sister, Elisia Chestang. Vanessa said, “Before I moved to Charlotte from the San Francisco Bay Area I was travelling with my children two to four times a year to my in-laws in South Carolina. It seemed like every time we visited, the kids had grown out of the gear we stored at their home. So I began to search for an alternative and discovered the baby equipment rental industry.”

Travel BaBees has locations in nine popular family travel destinations: Orlando, Oahu, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Phoenix, Tucson,Washington DC, and Virginia Beach.

Vanessa believes its the Travel BaBees’ commitment to customer service that sets them apart from other baby gear rental companies. She said, “As a franchise, we are positioned to offer our customers the same quality products and the same great service at every Travel BaBees location they travel to. Our goal is to exceed the customer’s expectation every time we interact with them.”

Travel Babees Logo

Enter to Win!

Win one of two $30 travel vouchers for use in any of their nine locations in Florida, Hawaii, California, Arizona, Washington DC and Virginia. The winner will be chosen at random using RANDOM.org and will be notified by email. If the prize is not claimed within 48 hours of notification, the prize will be forfeited and another winner will be selected. Enter by 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time on Thursday, July 28, 2011. THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED. Find out who won!

The vouchers require a 7-day advance rental reservation. Not applicable towards retail items, delivery fees and installation fees. 48 hour cancellation policy.

There are two ways to enter to win. Do one or both! Be sure to make a separate comment below for each entry to count.

1. Take a peek at the Travel Babees website and add a comment below about how you would spend your $30 voucher if you won.

2. Follow @TravelMamas and @TravelBabees on Twitter; then copy and paste this tweet (provide a link to your tweet in your comment below!):

Got a baby or toddler? Love to travel? Win @TravelBabees baby & toddler travel gear http://tinyurl.com/5svkqn4 on @TravelMamas

Would you like to be notified of other giveaways and happenings on TravelMamas.com? Sign up for the Travel Mamas e-newsletter now! Mailings are typically sent out once per month.

Tips for Traveling to India with Children

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

As a mom, avid traveler, and owner of a specialized travel company, India is bridged between my personal and professional lives. I promote India, write about India, and have a passion for India. As the wife of an Indian man and a mom to a toddler, traveling to the country has become more than visiting the Taj Mahal and relaxing on palm-fringed beaches. It is now focused on family, home visits, and exposing our son to half of his heritage. My roles and observations are split between tourist and resident, as I navigate hotels, transportation, and a 20-month-old in a country of over 1.2 billion people.

My family at a wedding in India

When we first visited India with our son, Alexander, he was six months old. The entire trip was certainly a learning experience. (Example: We believe in the method of self-soothing. Indians? Not so much.)

We recently returned from another family vacation, and I found myself more flexible with the schedule and routine – or lack thereof. I often reminded myself, “It is only two weeks. He can miss naps or eat more sweets from Dadi and Dada.” I also did more research before our departure. Which hotels offer larger rooms or walk-in closets to accommodate a portable crib? Which airline would allow us to check an extra bag for no charge, even on an infant fare?

Here are seven tips for making your Indian experience family-friendly:

My son in the bassinet on Air France

Find the right flights.
Invest time to find the flight options and airline amenities best for your family. From U.S. cities, many airlines offer nonstop or one-stop itineraries to larger Indian airports, limiting your layovers and travel time. We selected Air France and Lufthansa for our visits, both for schedule and the ability to check an extra bag plus portable crib for no charge.

Ditch the stroller.
Indian streets can be very crowded with limited sidewalks, so strollers are not recommended. Instead parents of little ones should pack a baby carrier. We learned this the hard way, after bringing our stroller all the way to Delhi only to have it folded in the corner for two weeks. Our second time around, we used our child carrier, which was also an excellent resource for transporting our son between terminals at airports.

Pool at The Oborei Hotel in Delhi, India
Alexander in Maidens Hotel pool in Delhi

Pick a big room.
Many Indian hotels are converted forts, palaces, and/or private homes, which means larger rooms for spreading out. We love Maidens Hotel in Delhi. Although Oborei is considered a luxury hotel chain, this particular property is more budget-friendly. The rooms are very spacious, and Alexander loved the swimming pool and peacocks that roam on the lawn.

Pack an inflatable booster seat.
With the exception of hotels, it is difficult to find high chairs in Indian restaurants. If traveling with a baby or toddler and you prefer to not have a lap child during meals, pack an inflatable booster seat. We also used it at friends’ houses when Alexander wanted to color or play at the table.

Bring the car seat.
Car seats are not a common commodity, so expect questions and pictures from curious locals. Our son thoroughly enjoyed the attention, and made many friends along the way!

Driving in India with a Car Seat
Alexander sleeping in the car seat after his traditional head shaving

Skip the bus.
Though buses provide a cheap mode of transport, most are overcrowded and do not offer air-conditioning. Instead, consider hiring a private car and driver, either for a day or proposed itinerary. Not only is it an affordable option, but also it offers more comfort and convenience. It was also nice for us to keep Alexander’s car seat in the vehicle for a multi-day trip, as it saved the time of buckling and adjusting every morning.

Grandparents in India
With Dadi and Dada in Delhi

Embrace the culture.
Finally, immerse in the culture and integrate with the locals. Indians are some of the friendliest people in the world and enjoy interacting with foreigners. Children are considered an integral part of the culture and they are welcomed and included in almost any function or event. So if you are walking down the street and randomly get invited to a wedding, go for it and enjoy the experience!

Allison Sodha is the owner of Sodha Travel, a company that specializes in travel to India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. She has been featured in Little India, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and various travel blogs. Allison resides in Portland, Oregon with her husband and son, but considers India her second home. Read her blog at blog.sodhatravel.com.

10 Reasons to Rent Baby Travel Gear

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Here are ten reasons to consider renting gear when traveling with your baby or toddler:

1. When flying with a baby, lugging less stuff through the airport means less stress and baggage fees for you.

2. Many babies and toddlers sleep better in a big crib than in a portable pack n’ play. This especially makes sense when you are staying in a loved one’s home or rental property where you have room to spread out.

3. Air travel is easier with a compact one-pound CARES safety restraint than with a cumbersome toddler seat, but you will still need a car seat to keep your child safe in on the road at your destination.

4. If you reserve a car seat from a car rental company, you might be disappointed to find there are none available upon arrival.

5. From my personal experience, the car seats are much cleaner and better maintained from a gear rental specialist than those you might get from a car rental company.

6. If you’re going on a road trip with a baby in a smaller car, you just might not have room for that stroller once you cram all of your suitcases and paraphernalia into the trunk.

7. Some babies simply can’t part with a bouncy seat or baby swing!

8. A full-sized crib with wooden slats is more easily disinfected than the portable crib with cloth sides that will likely be provided at a hotel.

9. If traveling with more than one little one, you just might have too much stuff to bring along.

10. If you’ll be eating-in quite a bit at your destination, a high chair will make meals easier, particularly on longer trips.

Check out the list of Baby Gear Rental Companies on TravelMamas.com for your next trip!

Have you ever rented baby or toddler gear for your travels? How’d it go? Leave a comment below!

Tags: car seat, CARES, flying with a baby, road trip with a baby, travel gear
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