i just bought my first camper trailer and cant wait to get out and use it. The only thing im worried about is my toddler playing with all the switched especially the ones on the stove. We will be with him most of the time but im scared hell wake up in the middle of the night or during a nap and play with them. Does anyone have any tips or is there anything i can buy to place over the switches?

do the knobs come off like on a range for the house? turn the propane off at the shut-off valve before you go to bed? do you sleep that hard with a toddler? i never could, lol. have fun, we did…my son had the incident though, cleaning up camp, i set some totes close enough to the steps going in our pop up camper so when he stumbled down (he had been making it fine the whole weekend, of course) his head hit the crate…5 stitches in a small town in OK…they had to strap him down…i had to leave the room at one point, so glad my husband was there. i think my son freaked out so bad bc of all the blood, you know how heads and lips pour it out!

I’m thinking of booking a Caribbean Cruise and will be taking my toddler (14 months). Can anyone give me some advice as to how to get around on the islands. I can’t see lugging my car toddler car seat around in taxis, and doubt that some of them even have seat belts. Renting a car on each island would be difficult as well. Please help!

most of the islands don’t require car seats for little kids.

I like the idea of the car seat with base and matching stroller combo. But I realize after a little while, I will have to buy another car seat since the infant travel system combo is for babies up to 22lbs. I currently have a practically new stroller.

So I was wondering if I should get the combo or just make do with the stroller I have and buy a convertible car seat, that I can use well after the infant stage?

Pros – don’t have to pull a sleeping baby out of a car seat and dump him into a cold stroller.
-tons of storage room under the stroller
-baby faces you when in the car seat in the stroller
-so easy to pop the car seat in and out of the car with the base installed and you know it is in the correct position each time
-with both sun shades up on stroller and car seat it becomes completely sheltered from light or rain

Cons – Car seat and growing baby equals very heavy!! and getting heavier!
-stroller is big and bulky and hard to use in small shops or get through non automatic doors
-the peek through window shows his feet
-stroller doesn’t fit in the trunk of a compact car or in a mid size car trunk if you have anything else in there
-stroller is very heavy to be lifting in and out of a vehicle

I have one of the Graco travel systems and yes I use it since it is the only stroller I have right now. I don’t know if I would pay the money for a new one but since this was given to me I make the best of it. I’m getting an umbrella stroller though soon since my boy plus the car seat is just too heavy and he likes to face forward and sit up in his big stroller, the lighter smaller stroller just makes more sense now. However, not having to wake a sleeping baby (especially when you’ve taken him for a car ride to get him to sleep) is worth putting up with all of the cons!

I need to travel cross country on an airplane with a 11 month old baby and I was wondering if it is a good idea to travel on a red eye airplane flight with infant baby? The thought is that she would be sleepy when we got on the plane and hopefully would sleep thru the flight. Has anyone done this before or have seen it themselves when they traveled on a red eye?

Our observations and experiences are that actually babies sleep more on red-eye flights (and therefore are quieter–for which we are very grateful!) than on daytime flights. Maybe because its dark?

The main thing is to remember that infants sleep over 60% of the time anyway, so their sleep won’t be as disrupted by a night flight as an adult or teen’s would be.

I have a big stoller its heavy … Should I take the stroller? only the car seat? what should I so? Should I bring the carrier? I might spend the night at my sisters house… I live in NJ its not a long trip but I do need to grab subways to get to her…
I guess if I use my stroller I need to use elevators?

strollers help carry stuff. bring it. It will make things so much easier so its worth the effort. Im from nyc but sometimes I wish I had a stroller with me to carry my shopping bags. Its not so convenient to use a car here, so Im always carrying stuff.

edit*** everyone manages to use the stroller on an escalator.Subways have escalators. You basically never have to use the stairs. And if there is no escalator, there is a 99% chance a gentleman will offer to carry the stroller for you. You dont even have to ask. They will see you and offer.

What about Childrens consignment stores like Once Upon a Child? Try them : )
Good Luck!

A list of some of the alternative medicine practices you’re likely to encounter in the United States. Some of these are considered border-line acceptable even in the professional medical field, and many understand that this is unfortunate. Mostly these are just scams, quackery, and nonsense, which unfortunately gullible people believe in if they are desperate and grasping at false hope. Keep your eyes peeled for any of these, and be prepared to stamp out the harmful ones.

Applied Kinesiology
Applied kinesiology is the term most commonly used to identify a pseudo-scientific system of muscle-testing. It was initiated in 1964 by one George J. Goodheart, Jr., D.C., and has become quite elaborate. Its basic notion is that every organ dysfunction is accompanied by specific muscle weaknesses, which enable diseases to be diagnosed through muscle-testing procedures. Most practitioners are chiropractors, but naturopaths, bogus nutritionists, massage therapists, nurse practitioners, and multilevel distributors such as Nature’s Sunshine are also sometimes involved.

Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is described by its proponents as the therapeutic use of the essential oils of plants. The word ‘essential’ doesn’t refer to nutritional value but to the volatile, aromatic components that are the supposed essence of the plant. Essential oils are said to be highly concentrated substances extracted from the flowers, leaves, stalks, fruits, and roots, and also distilled from resins of the plant. They are alleged to contain hormones, vitamins, antibiotics, and antiseptics and to represent the “life force,” “spirit,” or “soul” of the plant. The oils are administered in small, holistic quantities through inhalation, massage, or other applications to the skin. The products include a wide range of products such as diffusers, lamps, pottery, candles, pendants, earrings, shampoos, skin creams, lotions, and bath salts, and shower gels.

Subliminal Tapes
Thousands of videotapes and audiotapes purported to contain hidden repeated messages are being marketed with claims that they can help people to lose weight, stop smoking, enhance athletic performance, quit drinking, think creatively, raise their IQ, make friends, reduce pain, improve vision, restore hearing, cure acne, conquer fears, read faster, speak effectively, handle criticism, relieve depression, enlarge breasts, and do just about anything else. At least one company has offered a subliminal tape for children; a toilet-training tape for toddlers. Many tapes contain music said to promote relaxation, and all are claimed to contain messages that are inaudible or barely audible. Videotapes have the same concept; they may feature images, said to be relaxing, combined with repeated visual messages shown so briefly that they cannot be seen at normal playing speeds.

Body Wrapping
Salons and spas exist where clients supposedly can trim inches off the waist, hips, and thighs. These facilities use wraps or garments with or without special lotions or creams applied to the skin for their treatment. The garments may be applied to parts of the body or the entire body. Clients are assured that fat will “melt away” and they can lose several inches from the problem area. Some claim that wrapping works because cellulite is water-logged fatty tissue.

Ear Candling
Ear candling, also known as auricular candling or coning, refers to various procedures that involve placing a cone-shaped device in the ear canal and supposedly extracting earwax and other impurities with the help of smoke or a burning wick like a candle. The origins of this candling are obscure. Ancient Tibet, China, Egypt, the pre-Columbian Americas, and even the mythical city of Atlantis are cited as possible origins. The procedures supposedly create a low-level vacuum that draws wax and other debris out of the ear canal along with whatever the ailment is. Some proponents even claim that impurities are removed from the brain itself, which is somehow connected to the canal.

Coral Calcium
Coral calcium is alleged to be a dietary supplement said derived from “remnants of living coral that have fallen from coral reefs, as a result of wave action or other natural processes.” It is also said to be mined from the old ocean beds at the base of the coral reefs in Okinawa, Japan. Actually, these “coral remnants” are limestone, which coral organisms originally manufacture as a protective shell. Since coral reefs are protected by the law, “coral calcium” is made by grinding up limestone that no longer contains any live organisms.

The Feingold Diet
Started in 1973, “Dr.” Benjamin Feingold, a pediatric allergist from California, proposed that artificial colors and flavors in food caused hyperactivity in children. To treat or prevent this condition, Feingold suggested a diet that was free of such chemicals, claiming that in addition to ‘hyperactivity’ it could also cure asthma, bedwetting, ear infections, eye-muscle disorders, seizures, sleep disorders, stomach aches, and a long list of other symptoms that supposedly respond to the Feingold program. It is also claimed that sensitivity to synthetic additives and salicylates may be a factor in antisocial traits, compulsive aggression, self-mutilation, difficulty in reasoning, stuttering, and exceptional clumsiness. The “Symptom Checklist” on the Feingold Association web site includes many additional problems. Mr. Feingold has since been revealed to have never gone to medical school and is currently serving time for child pornography charges.

Gerson Method
The proponents of the Gerson diet claim that cancer can be cured only by way of toxins being eliminated from the body. They recommend “detoxification” with frequent coffee enemas and a low-sodium diet that includes more than a gallon per day of juices made from fruits, vegetables, and raw calf’s liver. This method was developed by Max Gerson, a German-born physician who emigrated to America in 1936 and practiced in New York City until his death in 1959.

Josh Stone
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/medical-resource-a-list-of-alternative-medicine-79842.html

I am looking into traveling to Spain and in particular the South. I would like to head there before my baby boy turns two. He is 7 months right now. Have you traveled with your baby in Spain? Where did you stay? I am looking for inexpensive accommodations and would love to go to Seville and Granada. Is is safe and doable with a baby?

I’m English, living here in Spain for 5 yrs and we had our Baby over here. Whilst we haven’t travelled extensively, I can say that Babies and Children are welcomed with open arms almost everywhere and at any time of time or night. Of course, you will find exceptions to every rule, but if you speak a little bit of Spanish, you will find that you should have no problems.

We are scheduled to travel to South India from Japan with an infant of 3 plus months. In Japan the vaccination scheme is not as aggressive as in India. So until now he has got only DPT ( 1st shot) and BCG vaccine. We are unable to give him Polio vaccine here because as per the japanese system we need to have 4 weeks difference between BCG vaccine and IPV.
My question: Is it ok for the infant to travel without the above 2 vaccines to India and give the vaccines as soon as he lands in India ( 1- 2 days)?

Perhaps you should discuss this further with a health provider. You have several issues here in that 1. the child is very young & may not respond to vaccines with antibody production due to an immature immune system. 2. it takes weeks to build immunity to a vaccine, so the infant will not be covered for some time even receiving the vaccine upon landing. The child is young enough that you can control his diet, so he should not be at risk for many illnesses. Be sure & boil all water for him.

I am just trying to decide if I should get
a) car seat & light weight or jogging stroller
b) infant travel system
How often do you pull the stroller out and put the car seat in the stroller and use the whole infant travel "system"

Every time I went to the store. He began using a convertible car seat when he was around 8 months old. I used the car seat in the stroller up until about 6 months, then began putting him in the stroller w/out it. I would highly recommend a travel system, I just wouldn’t recommend getting one that costs $350 like mine did w/out getting tons of reviews on it. For the most part I was happy w/ mine but there were certain things, like there is not a slot to put the car seat on a shopping cart & one of the stroller seat belts in shorter than the other, that had I researched, I would have gotten a different one. Not being able to put the car seat on a cart is a major inconvenience. If you think though, by the time you buy a car seat & a stroller (its not like a newborn can go in an umbrella stroller) you’ll be spending as much as you would if you got the system. You can get nice ones for $150. Plus, not having to get the baby out of their car seat & putting them in a stroller is the best! Also, they do make jogging strollers as part of a travel system too.