Osan Parents Sound Off: Flying with liquids

Question: Hello, I'll be flying back to the States with my 2 month old baby (alone) and I was wondering if I'll be able to take breastmilk/baby formula through security? Also, I'm taking the baby carseat with me since we purchased a seat for baby girl on the plane but I'm still deciding if I should take my stroller with me? I plan to bring a baby carrier along but does anyone know if I would have to take her out of the baby carrier when I go through security at Incheon? We'll be flying with Delta and would like to hear your experience flying with an infant or any advice:) Thanks so much.

Answer 1: We moved here when my baby girl was also 2 months. We took her carseat and the stroller. You will be able to check the stroller right as you board the plane and they will keep it for you until you exit it. It was very handy to have the stroller because we didnt even take her out of the infant seat unless was for diaper changes or feedings.. Since the infant seat locked into the stroller it was easier to have her in it and just stroll instead of having to carry her and the infant seat.

They will allow you have the formula , I had 1 of those 12oz can of formula.I dont know about breast milk. Because I had one bottle of formula that was already made for her and they said I am only allowed 3oz of it . Even then they tested the formula for chemicals.

Answer 2: I brought formula on the plane with no problem. Baby formula/breastmilk as far as I know is fine. I had to take off the baby carrier to go through security. The baby carrier was nice because I had both hands free. My 4 month old did great on the plane. I do wish I had taken the car seat on the plane for him to sleep in.

Answer 3: I just traveled with two babes by myself to the states.

I brought 42 oz of formula with me and it was fine. I would advise bringing the 8 oz ready to feed cans of formula (you can then pour into an empty bottle) Since you can't bring water to mix powder with through security. You can always buy bottled water on the other side of security but it will be cold, and I don't know many babes who will drink ice cold formula.

Also, if you buy a big can of concentrate, you then have to worry about keeping it refrigerated after it's opened, and I'm not sure how to do that.

If you have a paid seat for the baby and the baby is in an infant travel system, I'd just bring the whole thing through security and do what Tally said. That way you basically just leave the baby in the carseat the whole time and just snap her in and out of the stroller at the gate.

If you're carrying her in arms then I'd recommend a sling or moby type carrier where she can stay all curled up. She'd probably sleep through the whole dang flight that way!

I carried my little one (who's a bit older) through security with a baby bjiorn and they didn't make me take him out, but that might have been just a fluke.

I had all of my snacks, formula, liquid baby medicine and toddler food in one carryon and when I arrived at the security checkpoint just told them, "Here are all of my liquids. It's for the babies" They took a look around in it and gave it back to me on the other side. It wasn't a big deal and they didn't measure any of the liquid or test it for anything.

Answer 4: We just did this on Saturday so here is what we did. I took both powder and caned formula, the commissary has Enfamil in packs of 4 8ozs can(I bought 6 packs) I also had the premeasured ready to mix with water also (but didn't use them) We had no problem with the formula at all they even let us thru the security check point with opened bottles of water no testing either. When we came to Osan I had ten bags of frozen breatmilk (6ozs each bag) and kept in in a cooler bag no problems with security. The flight crew would bring me hot water to thaw it out or I would go to the galley to thaw it there. Like everyone mentioned they checked the stroller at the gate and it was right there when we got off the plane waiting for us. The agants at the gate kept asking us to check the car seat because kids under two yrs didn't need a ticket and sit in your lap. We kept our seat and used it for the 9 month old with no problems. It worked well and he "watched the movie" with no sound and wa fine. Traveling with five kids was pretty easy with two adults this time. Going alone wasn't to bad either with four when we were going to Osan but Mommy need a stiff drink afterwards.

Answer 5: I flew over here with an 11 month old on Delta as well.. They were pretty lenient when it came to the formula. There are certain rules on the Delta airline website about formula but they didn't seem to care too much since I had my son with me and I guess they trusted it. I had two 3 compartment formula things from Wal-Mart and that was fine. When I checked in at the gate they told me they prefered for us not to take the car seat on the plane and it was actually a great idea. My son was older than your baby and could sit in the seat fine but when it came to napping it was nice to be able to lay him down in the seat without having to mess with the car seat. With one so young it might be different. We took our big stroller all the way through security and all the way to the door of the airplane where they took it and stored it for us. As soon as we got off the plane they had it waiting for us too. I had to take my son out of the stroller and carry him in my arms through the metal detector but again he was a little bigger. Well I hope that was a little helpful but they do have lots of information on the Delta website if you need more info.

Directions and coordinates: DMV

GPS Coordinates for the Songtan Branch DMV: Lon 127:06:05, Lat 37:02:11

Directions to the Songtan Branch DMV:

First, go out the Main Gate and turn right

Turn left at the triangle

Go 2.3 miles- Pass the Songtan Bus Terminal
Cross "Little 1" (blue oval road number)--McDonald's on the corner

Pass the Switzen Apt complex

Turn right on 317 (yellow square road number)

It's the first MAJOR intersection, bear to the right more than turn (otherwise road curves a little left)

Go 2.6 miles

Pass the tree in the middle of the road

Cross Road 302 (yellow square road number)--golf driving range across street--blue scaffolding

Turn left at the first light after 302 (about a block)

You'll see the little brown building on your left

Turn left at the first opportunity

Turn left into the parking lot

You're there!!!

If you go on a Wednesday, you may choose to stop by Happy Quilt on your way home:

Turn right out of the parking lot

Turn right at the corner

Turn right at the light

Turn left onto 302 (right hand left turn lane)

Get in the right lane quickly

Go through one light

Turn right into the parking lot at the dark brown building just past the gas station

Osan Parent Sound Off: GPS

Question: Can anyone tell me what the deal with the GPS's is here?
Do you have to buy a Korean GPS or can you buy a Garmin and just have
to buy the maps here?


Answer: We had a large Garmin Nuvi when we got here. So we thought we would just buy the map and put it on, but the maps cost $220 US dollars to buy from the Garmin dealer here and you can't get it anywhere else. So we opted to but the Garmin Nuvi 200 that the Garmin dealer in Songtan is selling. I checked the price and he sells it for the same price you would get in the USA plus the $220 for the map so I think around $350 US dollars is what we paid him for the unit with the maps. It is the best deal around unfortunately. I even spoke with Garmin about it and they don't sell the maps directly.

If you want to go check him out, he is the guy who was in Seoul, but opened an office in Songtan a few months ago. Walk out the main gate, go across the street and down the little alley to the right of the main walkway. It is the alley with the car dealership, BMW I think? His store is right across from the car dealership. It has a large Garmin sign above it. I don't think it is open on Tuesdays.

There is a large screen $400 unit you can buy from the PX up at Yongsan, but we heard not so good reviews on that one and you can't use it in the states. But it is huge!

Hope this helps, $350 is a lot of money, but totally worth it. We used it to go to Daechon beach and it took us right there.

Garden Update for July

The garden is growing great! There are some things ready for harvest in the community herb garden: Mint, Rosemary and Lemon Balm. Some great culinary uses for mint can be found here, and some medicinal uses are here. Some uses for Lemon balm can be found here.

There are also some cherry tomatoes ripening in the community vegetable garden. Please wash everything thoroughly before use- while the garden itself is organic, the smoke from the hospital generator and the yellow sand in the air may settle on the produce.

Please do not pick anything from the big square garden area- these are individual gardens. There are still some spots available if you would like one. Email osanparents@gmail.com for information about garden plots.

We also have some teeny watermelons coming on, and some potatoes coming up in the sod pile; go check them out if you haven't already seen them. With all the rain lately, the ground is nice and soft and perfect for pulling weeds, so take the kids out there and get some of that summer energy burned off!

The composters are available for your kitchen waste and shredded paper. No dairy, meat or garbage- they will produce unpleasant smells and could attract rodents. Also, there has been some garbage left at the garden lately. Please make sure you clean up anything you take to the garden.

2009 Sunscreen Guide

Summer is here! For the past few years, the Environmental Working Group has been studying hundreds of sunscreens. Surprisingly, many of the most popular name brands don't provide the protection they promise and/or have dangerous ingredients. Click here to find the safest and most effective sunscreens, and check out EWG's main site to find information on many cosmetics and other household products.