holy genius! : traveling toddler car seat stroller

don't you love when a $15 item solves all of your travel problems? well, traveling toddler makes this simple little strap that safely attaches your toddler car seat to a rolling piece of carry-on luggage.

i am here to say that i have used it, and it works!!!  and it's easy--wahoo!

i attached it curbside at the airport while glancing at the instructions in about 20 seconds.  your LATCH clips clip right onto it.

if you're going on vacation and want to bring your car seat, you have to buy this!  if you need a stroller for your destination, maybe just buy a really lightweight one like this or this.   believe me, carrying a small umbrella stroller over your shoulder through a terminal is much easier than a bulky car seat....

then, just check the car seat and stroller at the gate!  if you're worried about them getting messed up under the plane, get a couple of these for $13 each.

it's that time of year...what the heck kind of sunscreen is safe for my child?

by now, you know that i am not cool with loading up on chemicals whether it is what goes into my mouth or onto my body---or my child's for that matter.  last year, i went into ocd-research mode about sunscreen when we first took our then 3-month-old on a beach vacation.  well, after hours of reading, purchasing, etc, i was on the beach about to apply a little bit of the lotion to the only part of my son's skin that could see the light of day (i put the poor kid in a full swim "spacesuit") and read on the bottle that you should not put sunscreen on babies under 1-year-old.  ok, well so there's that.

basically, i vote to cover the kid up in a full body suit, swim socks, and a hat and stay in the shade when possible.  yes, i know i'm a nutter.  you see, i am not uber anti-sun, since it's good for producing vitamin d in our bodies,  but i AM somewhat anti-sunscreen.  i just don't trust what's in most sunscreens.

but, of course, you HAVE to put some sunscreen on exposed delicate body parts, so for that the best i have found is mercola's because it has 2 main natural mineral ingredients : titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.  the additional ingredients are also from nature.  mercola makes a spf 15, 30, and 50, plus he has some good combo offers with natural bug repellants.

photo via here.

car seats : keep 'em rear-facing to age 4!!

there's something kind of exciting about turning your kid's car seat around to face forward (once they fall within the 20lbs/one-year-old previously recommended guidelines)...i know, what can i say...simple pleasures.  there is this hope that he will be more amused, and in turn, more content with long car rides.

well, i have been hearing mixed messages about this and apparently some compelling information is coming out saying that car seats should remain rear-facing until age 4.  read more here.

photo via here.

what can i say...i have a thing for yurts

what the heck is a yurt you might ask...well, a yurt is a kind of round teepee house hut thing.  i am only mentioning yurts, because i came across the beautiful treebones resort in big sur that is a wonderful land of yurts.  this is the kind of place we gotta take the kids.  ok, well, i only have one baby, and the resort doesn't allow kids under 6, but we're definitely going.  later.

check out treebones resort here.