Well it’s official. BabyTravels is no longer a baby or considered an infant. We celebrated her 2^nd birthday on Saturday. While we were happy to celebrate her being in our lives we mourned the loss of our infant in arms privileges with her and are slowing realizing the cost and annoyance of having to purchase three airline tickets.Which will make it difficult when looking for cheap international flights. I’m not sure what change one day makes in all of a sudden you can’t sit on my lap but you must have your own seat, but rules are rules. I do have a sneaking suspicion that even though we purchase her a ticket she will still end up on my lap during the flight. At least we will have more wiggle room.

She will use the same seat as an adult, yet she weighs much less than my carry-on which gets to ride with me for free. So where did this rule come from? How did the airlines determine this age? To be honest she probably could have used her own seat starting at the age of 18 months. I did a little research and apparently this is an FAA regulation that children over the age of 2 must have a seat. I also found out that you can only fly with two infants at a time per adult and that you can only have a maximum of one lap child per adult. So I’m guessing what this means is that a mom with twins can fly alone with her twins but one infant would need a seat along with an adult. However a mom with triplets would not be allowed to fly alone and would need both parents or another adult to fly with. They would only need to purchase three tickets however all four of them could not sit in the same row of three seats due to oxygen masks.

I had never thought of that before, yet I doubt I would be daring enough to try to fly alone with infant twins, nevermind infant triplets! I do think it won’t be long till I am brave enough to try to fly with my two year old and newborn baby solo. I know it will be a challenge but I bet I will be up to it!

TSA finally hears the complaints from parents on pat downs and bringing children through security. That is no doubt one of the most stressful parts of traveling with young children is getting them and yourself through security in what usually isn’t a seamless process. In an effort to make it easier TSA has lifted the restriction on taking shoes off children under 12 and will now take steps to avoid invasive pat-downs. You can get more information about it here.

BabyTravels has been on almost seventy flights and we have NEVER had an issue with her needing a pat-down or even being touched by a TSA agent. But we all know that there have been You-Tube videos of toddlers being patted down and other such outrageous events in the media lately that this is surely a response to the out-cry poured out by angry parents and media officials.

The changes should be in affect by the end of the week and should help out when it comes to holiday travel. I am looking forward to not removing BabyTravels shoes anymore. I always cringed when she walked barefoot on the floor and I always thought it dumb I had to remove shoes from her when she was a little infant. What are your thoughts?

Whenever I had a question or was about to do something for the first time and needed advice my first thought was to Google it.  The advice and answers were often time hit or miss and sometimes not from very reliable sources. But I have good news for you- at least for all your family travel questions. What if I told you that if you had a specific family travel question you could submit it to a website and not only get a quick response but from a panel of experienced family travelers all from a myriad of different backgrounds and specialties? Amazing right?

A website of such does exist by the name of Best Family Travel Advice and I’m a contributor! My specialty as you all know, is traveling with babies and toddlers. I’m not going to pretend that I have experience traveling with older children and teenagers (except from being one) but I don’t have to, there are other contributors who specialize in teen travel and all in between. This site really has it all folks! So if you have a specific question I can’t answer here already- head on over right now!

Brundage Mountain Resort, West Central Idaho

It’s so nice to be able to go on vacation and be able to bring baby along.  You can even bring along baby to your winter ski destinations and find solace, knowing that she is being taken good care of while you are hitting the slopes. Here is a list of ski resorts that offer daycare services (most even offered for infants!). This list will be constantly updated and added to.

Bear Creek Mountain Resort is a beautiful ski resort and conference center in Macungie, PA. The resort’s facility accepts children ages 6 months to 6 years of age. For additional information, please click here: http://www.bcmountainresort.com/summer/winter_childcare.aspx

Big Sky has a daycare that will be open Wednesday-Saturday for drop-in hourly care. (Please contact if there are other days or hours that you may need childcare) Please call 406.993-2220 or email lonepeakplayhous@aol.com The friendly and caring staff welcomes your child to the Lone Peak Playhouse (LPP), right at the base of Big Sky’s slopes. Relax and enjoy the area while your child plays with other children in a safe and fun environment. This is a center that operates in conjunction with Big Sky Resort and the Snowsports School. LPP is conveniently located in the Snowcrest Lodge, across the hall from the Snowsports School.

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