March 8, 2007

Snack and Play Travel Tray

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A week ago, we embarked on an 800 mile car trip with Anderson. Previously, the longest we had been in the car with him was 3 hours. That trip didn't go so well, so we were definitely anxious about this trip. In anticipation, we bought the Snack & Play Travel Tray. We were hoping that it would allow Anderson to feed himself, and play with some toys while we were on the road.

We ordered from Traveling With Kids because they were able to guarantee that the item would arrive before we left. Their customer service people were nice and friendly, and were able to help us through a billing issue (since we had already changed the billing address on our credit card, but the item had to be shipped to our old address).

The problem we had with the tray is that Anderson's car seat still faces backwards. While facing backwards, car seats are still reclined fairly far back. So, when the tray was placed in front of him, Andy could only reach the first few inches of the tray. So any food or toys that rolled away from him were out of reach, and caused him to get frustrated. I think that once his car seat is turned around the tray will be much more useful as he won't be reclined as much.

The tray is made of 100% nylon with a foam insert which creates a relatively firm surface to play with toys and eat dry snacks. At the same time, this allows it to collapse on impact, so it will not present a hazard in a car accident. However, make sure that you don't use any toys that can become dangerous missiles in the event of an accident.

The Snack and Play Travel Tray is also available at Amazon.com