The Itsabelly Blog

A Great Travel Stroller by Mia Moda - Compact, Light and Easy Fold

A fellow mom asked me if I had any recommendations for a good travel stroller that she could take overseas.  She wanted to be able to fit it on the plane and be able to wheel it around on cobble stone streets.  I found the Mia Moda Cielo Stroller  through Baby Gadget and thought it looked like a great product.  I did a search for feedback from parents who have actually used it and only found one opinion posted.  Luckily, it was positive.  I don't think this product has been out long enough yet to generate much consumer feedback. 

My friend actually ended up buying it through Ebay for a better deal than through a retail store and she told me how light, compact and easy it was to fold.  It cost her over $100 not including shipping.  It also came with a carrying case that you could swing over your shoulder.  It received an award for innovation by JPMA in 2007.

The Cielo baby stroller is a traveler's dream. Folds with one hand in less than five seconds and fits comfortably into all kinds of spaces. The Cielo is the winner of the 2007 JPMA Innovation Award for its Unique Compact Fold!

For more pictures and feedback check out Baby Gadget

Traveling With a Toddler Internationally/Overseas - Making Your Vacation as Stress Free as Possible

I was recently speaking to a fellow mama about her first trip overseas to Brazil with her 16 month old toddler.  She had some great tips to share!  Below is what she recommends you must-have and don't need if you're traveling with a toddler, making your trip much easier!

 

Our goal for our 10 day trip to Brazil was to survive on two roller bags, a diaper bag, and a backpack.  Granted, we were going to a tropical destination, so we didn't have many clothes to pack for ourselves, but our main goal was to not check anything in.  We were traveling on buddy passes (always flying on standby), not knowing whether we (or our bags) would make the next flight, so we opted to travel light.  This was a good experiment in figuring out what you REALLY need to pack.

 

Here's what we did pack:

1) 60 diapers for the trip - we'd heard that the diapers in Brazil were horrible, so we opted to pack half of one of the roller bags full of diapers

2) Small cooler with two bottles of milk and snack box full of crackers, pretzels, fruit bars and cheerios

3) Two jars of baby food - I wish I had brought more, but we ended up buying more at a grocery store (more on baby food under "other tips"). Thankfully, Gerber is internationally distributed.

4) About 3-4 days worth of clothes for all of us

5) Cloth sling - surprisingly, the Moby Wrap can still handle a 25 lb. toddler, and is not as bulky as a framed backpack carrier and is obviously lighter than a stroller.  WAY awesome for containing a toddler who wants to run around the airport and into other people's luggage carts.  AND, our baby is into seeing everything at our level, so this was perfect for us.

6) DVD player (thanks Melissa!) - our daughter was very entertained by watching Little Mermaid, but if your baby isn't used to watching TV, it's DEFINITELY not a good thing to turn on before going to bed.  We were hoping she would fall asleep watching TV on the plane, but it just kept her up longer.

7) 4 books, rattle, beads, and cribbage board - for some reason, our baby LOVES playing with the pegs on a cribbage board, putting them in and out of the holes.  And then mom and dad got to play on the beach and at night.

8) Blanket and pacifiers - bring ANY AND ALL comfort items with you on vacation.  Absolute must-have.  And this is the one time of the year when all rules are thrown out the window - blankie and paci while you're walking around in the restaurant?  Sure!