November | 2010 | Travels With Baby Tips

Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) and child passengers

On November 18, 2010 · 12 Comments

There’s been much discussion and debate at my house about the new AIT at airport security vs. the alternative TSA pat-down. While it’s one thing to decide for yourself which is the preferred method of compromising your personal privacy, it’s the matter of the child passengers we’ll be deciding for that troubles me more.

I’m not a fan of subjecting small people—babies and toddlers especially—to unnecessary radiation. Yet I can only imagine the profound psychological damage that might come from subjecting my young daughters to physical groping by a complete stranger that is required as the alternative.

After thinking it over and reviewing the facts, it boils down to two significant points for me that I think are worth all of us noting. Those are:

The millimeter wave technology used in some AIT booths emits thousands of times less energy than a regular cell phone transmission.
The backscatter scan technology used in other AIT booths produces the equivalent exposure any person receives during 2 minutes of flying in an airplane at altitude.

In other words, if you let your child talk to friends and relatives on your cell phone, you’re exposing him or her to greater radiation risk than an airport scan. And if you allow your child to spend more than 2 minutes flying in an airplane… well, you get the picture.

Still, whether or not having security officers stationed in backrooms watching passing images of naked bodies pass by—including those of children—is really the best way to improve our security is a topic I think we should continue to consider and discuss.

For my part, I think beefing up the number of crotch-sniffing dogs at airport security might achieve many of the same results (physical invasion of privacy, element of potential surprise, sensitivity to non-metallic threats, a certain percentage of false-positives to help keep things interesting) and for far less money.

In the mean time, since we do occasionally let our children talk on our cell phones, and occasionally subject them to flights lasting more than 2 minutes, we will comply with the new AIT scanning procedures on our upcoming flights—and hopefully no further screening will be necessary.

What about you?

Have you and your family passed through the new AIT scanners yet? Did you opt for the pat-down instead? How did it go for you? Are you still undecided? Share your thoughts and experiences below or on the Facebook page.

More information about AIT here:

Watch a video of how it works

See the list of airports that already have AIT

Read about the safety of AIT

And don’t forget you can always share your feedback concerning U.S. airport experiences with the TSA here.

FOLLOW UP : Read about Advanced Imaging Technology at San Fancisco International – with children in this post.

Safe journey,

Shelly Rivoli, author of the award-winning guide Travels with Baby
http://www.travelswithbaby.com/ facebook

What stroller tags are good for

On November 11, 2010 · 1 Comment

I’m a sentimentalist. In the side pocket of an ugly old purse I seldom use tucked in the back corner of my closet, I still keep a used Metro ticket from my first visit to Paris. In my dress-up coat, which is very rarely worn (I assure you, especially now with three children), I keep a collection of ticket stubs to the various performances I’ve been so lucky to attend while wearing that coat.

You can probably imagine how this obsessive compulsion manifested itself one I had my first child—and began traveling with her. Now lap child ticket stubs and inspection stickers on car seats and strollers are sacred at our house. And after any trip, I like to keep what airline tags we’ve earned waving proudly in the wake of our travel stroller like the feathers of a ceremonial headdress, reminding me with an occasional glance of the great places the stroller has been and the moments we’ve shared together with it.

This morning I had a good reminder of what else stroller tags are good for, as I opened my front door and found my trusty travel stroller standing there on the doormat, greeting me like an old friend dropping by because she was simply in the neighborhood.

Since I’ve been keeping it in the back of the car lately, this seemed a rather odd placement. Yet as you can probably imagine, while in the thick of final edits, proofing, cover design, and several other matters concerning the publication of this next book, “Mommy Brain” has been wreaking serious havoc on some of the other aspects of my life of late. Like the kiddie carpool.

No, thankfully I have not forgotten any of the kiddies in the carpool this week. Just the stroller I used to get my youngest to and from my streetside parking space while collecting the bigger kids.

Thank you, stroller fairy.

Safe journey,

Shelly Rivoli, author of the award-winning guide Travels with Baby
http://www.travelswithbaby.com/ facebook

Three things you can do this week to simplify holiday travels with baby

On November 8, 2010 · 3 Comments

Travel in peak seasons with the added chaos of gift shopping and possible weather issues can be challenging enough. For those of you who are setting out for Thanksgiving travel or journeys through the rest of the upcoming holidays with young children, do yourself a favor this week and simplify what you can—while you still can.

Here are three things you can do this week and thank yourself for later:

1. Reserve the baby gear you will want to rent at your destination. Whether it’s a car seat or a crib, a box of toys, or baby safety gates, think it through now and getting your reservations in if you haven’t done so already. See the worldwide directory of baby gear rental agencies.

2. Create a shipment of baby essentials or toddler necessities to meet you at your destination. Although nothing says, “I love you,” like a Thanksgiving hug and prompt exit to go shopping for diapers and baby food, it will be a great convenience for you and comfort to your hosts to have the goods waiting for you on arrival. Use a service like Babies Travel Lite (and save $5 with our checkout code TRAVELS) or send a package to your hosts’ address using Amazon.com.

3. Prepare, or update, your child’s Travel Kit. These are the basic products that could help your young child through a wide range of challenges that might crop up during your travels (full list of suggestions in Chapter 3 of Travels with Baby), but could be hard to come by in the middle of the night at a hotel or relative’s home. Especially recommended this season: Baby vapor rub. That’s a photo of my TSA-ready modified Travel Kit I take in my carry-on above, when I put other Travel Kit items in my checked suitcase.

Safe journey,

Shelly Rivoli, author of the award-winning guide Travels with Baby
http://www.travelswithbaby.com/ facebook

Ask Shelly: Follow-up to "Which twin travel stroller for Europe?"

On November 3, 2010 · Leave a Comment

I dish out a lot of advice, so it’s always nice to hear a follow up after a family travels. Those of you who might recall this post from a mom with a Phil & Ted’s double, or any of you contemplating which double travel stroller to take on a trip to Europe may be interested in the outcome. Thanks, Rachel, for letting us know how it went for your family! Her note follows:

Thank you for your advice, Shelly!

The Maclaren Twin ended up being perfect for our trip and I am so glad we got it. There ended up being multiple times where my husband and I had to carry the stroller up stairs (in train stations with no elevator) or push it up the escalator and it never would have worked with the Phil & Teds double. It was great being able to recline one seat (for the 4 month old) while our 2.5 year old sat up. It was easy to quickly fold it up for airport security. The baskets were useful and we used the rain cover often in the rainy European countries we went to. I was amazed how well the wheels did on the cobblestone AND that it fit through just about every standard doorway in Europe (we often got skeptical looks from people who thought we wouldn’t fit through though!) While many of the locals in Europe had Phil & Teds or other all-terrain strollers and we love using ours at home, I am so glad we went with the lightweight Maclaren for our travels through 3 different countries.

So thanks again–perfect recommendation.

Rachel

Coincidentally, I’m pretty much decided that my own Maclaren Twin, which worked great for juggling 3 weary kids 5 years apart through the airport in the middle of the night, will not be making our next journey to Europe. Wow! Could we really be back to only one in the stroller–even with red-eyes, layovers, and jetlag!? Well, we’ll see.