Family Vacations with Baby Made Easier - Two Apps and a Bath. It is refreshing to see the new products and travel apps to make family travel easier. I am sharing three staff favorites worth a look.   

A bath for your baby. Flying away with a baby anytime soon? I have discovered a useful new product which will make baby baths away from home easier. Puj, the makers of the popular snap-together Puj baby bathtub, recently created a mini travel bathtub dubbed the Flyte! Our new baby on staff will be testing it for use on his upcoming vacation but from what I can see he will be happy and I am passing along the idea because it would make a terrific gift for any parent traveling with an infant.

 
Most of us know traveling with an infant comes with challenges and bath time is often among the stress points because there’s never been an easy and safe way to bathe an infant in a hotel, cabin or cottage. This new product - Puj Flyte - is a mini bathing solution easily folds into any suitcase, making your tiny tyke’s bath time much easier while away from home. The foam tub is compact, nonslip, anti-microbial and adjusts to a wide range of sinks without any buttons or fasteners. (Details at www.puj.com )

A family travel app solution anyone?  Because children just don’t behave like adults, family vacations are by their very nature unpredictable. Timely travel apps have the potential to improve family vacation experiences. As any parent who has traveled with children will confess, children have needs, sometimes very pressing needs and parents need solutions. KIDzOUT app has the potential to solve vacation challenges and relieve stress. KIDzOUT, available for free in the app store, directs parents to diaper changing stations, kid-friendly restaurants, play places and medical facilities using a proprietary database of more than 260,000 known locations. 

Developed by parents, for parents, KIDzOUT has filters that allow users to indicate what their family’s needs are. Need a restaurant with a kid-friendly menu? Where is the closest park to burn off energy? How about the nearest all-night pharmacy with baby pain reliever? Traveling with dad and need a diaper deck in the men’s room? No problem. KIDzOUT allows users to filter for men’s rooms, women’s rooms or family restrooms. Looking for restaurants that have high chairs AND gluten-free menu items. No problem. KIDzOUT has filters for that. The family-friendly filter divides into four categories - Diaper decks, Restaurants, Playgrounds, and Meidical. From each of those categories there are sub-categories and then options. For example, if you’re family is vacationing in Dallas and you’re looking for a family-friendly restaurant something fun to do. Selecting ‘Play’ will provide you a list or map of attractions. If you select one of those attractions, you’ll also see what amenities are offered, the address and driving directions. I like that this app allows parents who use it to add their own discoveries and to confirm inforamtion already displayed.  (More details at www.kidzout.com)

Stow the maps and enjoy the ride with NeverLost. While this app is not focused to the needs of families it does offer useful and entertaining information. My Explore apps offer customized information for Hertz Neverlost. The app uses images, augmented reality, customized voice narratives and text descriptions for requested must-see sites, tours, shopping, neighborhoods, and restaurants along with 5-day weather forecasts, and a way to share your experience via Facebook and Twitter. A simple click of the app launches six categories and from there users create their own action list. I like the audio portion and the app creates a floating image on the screen making it possible to be – never lost even without a compass. 

I clicked My Explore ‘Must See’ in Dallas Fort Worth area and a curious but expected list presented itself.  I searched for the Ft. Worth Stockyards – easily found and then continued to browse for family-friendly activities. As a vacation activity baseline this app is useful. And when paired with the Hertz online planning tools it makes sense. The app is available for 10 of the most popular cities in the US at 99 cents per location. The My Explore apps were designed to complement the Hertz NeverLost Gen 5 GPS device in select Hertz vehicles for $12.99 per day and are supported by free online trip planning. (Details at www.neverlost.com or the itunes store)