Monday, September 24, 2007
Kids on the Gogo
Posted by Andie V. @ 1:00 PM
Editor’s Note: Here’s the second brave soul to guest review on the site. This entry is written by my pal Andie, a professional writer by trade and a darn fine mother by nature. Thanks for taking the time to write this, Andie! Enjoy.
If you’re like me and find yourself rushing to board the plane on time, be prepared to answer the questions of onlookers coveting this little baby (and I don’t mean your baby—I mean the Travelmate). Every parent, grandmother and curious child will stop you and say one of three things:
1) I wish they had those when I was lugging around my kid’s seat!
2) Did you make that?
3) Where did you buy that? That’s the smartest invention I’ve seen in a long time.
I try not to lie to the poor mom with the car seat weighing heavily on her shoulder (“Yes, I made it while my son was napping Tuesday afternoon.”) and instead, as I make my mad dash to the boarding call, blurt, “Yes, it’s fabulous, and you can buy it online.”
I can’t sing enough praises for this. The gogo Kidz Travelmate essentially turns your child’s car seat into a stroller by attaching a frame with wheels directly to the car seat. Side note: Earlier models only fit Britax seats, but now the company includes with the newer model several different attachments that make most car seats attach to this little wonder. The newer model also features easily detachable wheels so you can fit the outfitted seat through the x-ray machine.
I have a Britax Boulevard car seat (the largest and heaviest Britax model, one which I regret buying for these reasons). The Travelmate was a breeze to put on—I did it in seconds and under extreme pressure as I accounted for luggage coming out of a taxi and a wayward toddler. The key is to read all the easy-to-understand instructions and do a couple of test-runs before you embark on your journey.
My son also enjoyed being strolled around in his car seat. You can push it forward or pull it behind you. It’s sturdy—no jiggling or rattling. And the device comes off easily for when you need to use your car seat on the plane. (Yes, the Travelmate fits nicely in the storage compartment above the seats.) The one thing you must be careful with is losing the parts. With mine, we use a brace that fits between the ribs of the car seat and is secured to the Travelmate with two screw knobs. When the Travelmate was not in use, we did one of two things: screwed the knobs back into both the Travelmate and brace, or left the brace in place (in the car seat) and put the knobs in the car seat’s pouch that holds the extra strap from the top tether.
Snapshot:
• You might balk at the price, but after one roundtrip your back will be thanking you.
• These wheels are the real deal.
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September 26, 2007 @ 10:54 PM
danielle said:
The concept is great and we were quick to buy this product because we travel so much. It has been handy many a time BUT Buyer Beware: MOST airports have asked us to disassemble the car seat from the contraption at the security detail. With the car seat attached, it does NOT fit through x-ray machines. They have not allowed us to have the item & carseat bypass the x-machines even though they can tell what the damn thing is! My husband or I have to disassemble the thing hoping my toddler doesn’t run off. Especially hard when I’m traveling solo with him. Also, it usually doesn’t fit down the plane aisles too well or at all. I just want people to be prepared for these aspects when using the item.