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Austin Babies
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Traveling to Boston and SF- a few questions
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1. I am going to end a week-long trip in Boston and want to go to a baseball game. Is that something I can take a 2 yr old and 7 month old to?
2. Tell me about the CARES system thing for the plane. Does my 2 yr old need one? I really don't want to take her carseat on the plane, because I will already have one for DS and carseats have to be on window seats, and it just would be a PITA in general.
3. We're taking another trip to San Francisco- can I take the kids on public transportation? Do they just ride in our laps? Should I just rent a car?
ETA 4. I've never been to SF- what do I need to do while we're there?
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Re: Traveling to Boston and SF- a few questions
#1 When are you going? We are taking our 11 month old to Fenway in July, so I could probably give you a good idea of how it would work after that! I have been to Fenway many times and I've seen lots of kids there, so it is definitely do-able. How many adults are going? We took DS to a spring training game when he was 6 months and we had a great time, but we had a lot of adults to pass him among. Fenway is an old ballpark, so I am not sure what kind of changing stations/family restrooms they have and my other concern would be keeping track of a mobile 2 year old....
#2 No experience with this yet!
#3 I think you could just take them on public transportation without a car seat. I have a friend that used to commute on a bus with her baby, and she would just hold the baby on her lap.
Good luck! I love SF and I am a native bostonian so those are two of my favorite cities!
1. I would think so, but you may end up doing lots of walking around with the two year old instead of sitting in seats watching the game.
2. Yes, you should have some sort of restraint, either restraint or car seat. Just because the little lap strap won't hold in a little kid. (although legally, I think you might be able to fly without either, but for your sanity, you should have the harness of some sort, either car seat or CARES). I think you are allowed to have two car seats in an aisle, it's just that if you only have one, it needs to be in the window to prevent an adult getting trapped trying to get out over a car seat. If you have two, then that isn't going to be an issue. It's not like you are the first person to travel with two car seat aged kids, and they aren't going to put your kids in separate aisles just to keep them in window seats. Now, to your question, the CARES is pretty nice and small. It's got it's own drawstring bag to carry it in. You loop it over the back of the seat, slide in the airplane seatbeat, and you've got a five point harness. Babytaffy is good about unbuckling the plane seatbelt though, so it causes a lot of headaches for me with "Buckle your seat. No! Not safe! No touch!" comments until he gets tired of the game. You can also consider getting the GoGoKidz Travelmate which turns the car seat into a stroller. It can stay on the car seat when you fly, although it takes a bunch of room in the seat and puts their little legs into great seat-back kicking position for the person in front of them. I have trouble getting car seats through airplane aisles, and I had to pick up Babytaffy and the seat/travelmate and carry it up high the last time I took him through the plane, since the aisles are just a tad too small to push it. (stupid airplane design). But it's a godsend for getting the kid and a carseat through an airport. The GoGo, I purchased from USABaby, but you can also get online (and maybe at BabyEarth). The CARES I ordered from the CARES/Flysafe web site.
3. Kids love public transportation, especially things like trolleys and trains/subways. The two year old can sit in a seat. The little one can sit in your lap. If you don't need/want to rent a car, you wouldn't have to just for the kids. I've not needed to have a kid in a car seat when we ride in a cab.
4. Never been. I think there's good chocolate to eat there, though.
About Fenway; the seats are small, as is the space around them. Just something to think about. We go to games there all the time and half the time we end up standing in the back because we feel cramped.
However, Fenway is definitely something to experience. I love it there.
I took DS to SF when he was 15 months old. He rode on my lap or in his own seat on the bus, cable car and BART. I don't know what the rules are, but nobody said anything to us and we felt safe.
SF doesn't have many big box stores, so it can be really hard to find baby stuff downtown if you forget anything. They have deptartment stores and drugstores. (I tried to buy a cheap umbrella stroller and it took me nearly 4 hours to find one.)
3) I wouldn't recommend renting a car. Parking in SF is hard to find and really expensive. You can take the kids on public transportation, although it can get crowded and difficult to maneuver a stroller. If possible avoid taking MUNI or BART between 8am and 9am and 4:30pm and 5:30pm
4) With the kids it would be fun to do the Exploratorium and the Academy of Sciences (fun for adults too!).
Thank you! This is great info! We are going in late September and staying downtown. The weather should be great- right? I normally get baby stuff (food, diapers, etc.) when we get there, so it's really good to know that won't be easy.