Stroller Couture

We have to admit that being a parent now is super-cool. Aside from the joy of just being a parent, there is so much out there that caters to kids and parents in a more sophisticated and dignified way. From room design to family vacations to nursing covers, options abound to express your style - and your child's - with nary a puppy dog, cartoon character or flower in sight.

Add stroller covers to that growing list of products. In our last post, we noted that a pediatric dermatologist advised that the best way to protect baby from the sun was to keep her out of it altogether. Bellah May LLC, out of Orange County, California, has a line of reversible sunshades for the stroller that will expose nothing but style. Okay, there is a dog or two in the mix, but they're featured in the modern (or totally retro) way that today's fashionable parents are accustomed to sporting.

We like that the shades are reversible. Junior can check out his ABC's on the inside while the world sees a gingham check outside. But what we really love is that the sunshade comes in its own also-reversible bag, which then hangs off the stroller to hold all that "stuff" that you'll inevitably have with you. The website has a cute and quick tour on how the sunshade and bag work. (Don't worry, it's very simple, but the owners must know that tired parents can be notoriously slow.)

Bellah May also says that proceeds from sales will go to a child-focused charity, meaning you can feel good about helping someone else's child while protecting your own from the sun.


Sunshade in Paige pattern
www.bellahmay.com
$80

We Had Joy, We Had Fun, We Had Seasons in the Sun

Unless "we" included your baby, of course.

When we were growing up, sun protection consisted of our parents slathering on the same oily coconut-scented concoction that they were using to protect themselves. That was if they remembered to put anything on us at all.

Times have changed. Now, parents don't feel they're doing a good job of protecting their kids from one of the evils of the world - skin cancer - if the little ones aren't lathered in 100+ sunblock before the slightest hint of sun touches tender skin. To that we've had sun hats, bathing suits that hide shoulders and backs (and sometimes legs), and sun shades in the car. We have to admit, we're not as rabid about this as perhaps we should be. We put on the sunblock, to be sure, and we keep dear daughter shielded from the sun in the car, mostly because she yells "I can't SEE!" if it's in her eyes. But we no longer buy a separate kids' sunblock for her (she's 3) - and now we've learned that perhaps we never needed too.

We came across some advice from Babycenter's pediatric dermatologist, who had these points to make about applying sunblock to baby skin:
-keeping baby out of the sun altogether is preferable to applying any sunscreen
-you should look for sunscreens that have zinc oxide or titanium oxide, which provide physical barriers to the sun as opposed to chemical ones. Chemical blocks may cause allergic reactions and irritation.
-If you have to use chemically-based sunscreens, look for PABA-free ones. PABA has been linked with skin irritation.
-If you're concerned about blocking both UVA and UVB rays, definitely go with the physical barrier sunscreens, which block both.
-You don't really need to go above an SPF of 30. The added protection is minimal and doing so with the chemical sunscreens just means more bad stuff on baby's skin. Go lower and reapply as necessary.

In short, many of the sunscreens for kids with the super-high SPF's and chemicals are not advisable or even necessary. Buy a physical-barrier sunscreen for the family, and baby can use it too.

Next: Adding style and sun protection to your stroller

Allergy-Free Rooms

Electron photograph of rotavirus particles
courtesy of Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

Also in today's NY Times Travel section, an article about hypoallergenic rooms.

In a dual-purposed bid to help allergy-sufferers and stand out from the crowd, many hotels are now offering hypoallergenic rooms. (We've stayed in and noted many hotels that are offering special scents in the lobbies and rooms, and it had occurred to us that there might be some people for whom that must be awful.) Brands like Hilton, Wyndham and Millennium are rolling out hypoallergenic rooms in different locations across the country, sometimes devoting several floors to the allergy-suffering traveler.

While the trend may claim to help those who can't tolerate the plush down pillows that beckon most travelers to their beds, this movement is also, in part, an attempt to rise above the flatscreen TVs and WiFi access that are now considered de rigueur by savvy travelers. And with a recent Conde Nast Traveler article noting that even 5-star hotels had rooms awash in germs, it might not be only the chronic allergy sufferer looking for a cleaner room.

There are currently no standards in the industry for creating a hypoallergenic room, and some of the methods hotels are using seem more designed for marketing purposes than actual allergy treatment or germ removal. Still, some travelers have noted a difference in the air quality of their rooms, and say they are willing to pay the premium that hypoallergenic rooms often command in order to have a sneeze-free stay. For those that don't need to go to such lengths but would still like to fight the germs and nasty habits of those-who-came-before, check out the end of Conde Nast Traveler's article, which has several helpful suggestions on how to make your hotel room less of a health hazard.

For the Toddler Jetset

We're not going to judge you if you've flown with a baby on your lap instead of in a carseat, but once kiddo reaches age two, you've got to ante up the dollars to get him his own ticket. We don't know about you, but the first time we put D in a seat by herself she didn't look the slightest bit safe - we had visions of her either slipping right under the belt or breaking her neck with whiplash.

Thankfully, we can now feel a little bit more secure when we head for the skies. CARES, an FAA-approved harness for children, is a recent entry on the market and a must-have for those too big for a car seat but too small to be truly protected by a mere seatbelt. According to their website, CARES (which stands for "child aviation restraint system") has been designed for children 1 and older, weighing between 22 and 44 pounds. It fits all economy and business-class seats, and should fit all but the biggest of first class seats as well.

You've probably seen similar devices on the market, but CARES is the first product that uses the five-point harness that defines safety in carseats. More importantly, it's the only product to be approved by the FAA for all aspects of flying. (Other devices are not approved for takeoff and landing.) It's probably a hell of a lot safer than us throwing our hands across D's chest whenever the plane hits a bump, and the $75 pricetag is a small price to pay for her safety and our peace of mind.


www.kidsflysafe.com
$74.95