No, this isn't about Korea or Iran or some other
axis-of-evil concern. We're talking about the Nuk (TM) pacifier (our boy's preferred brand - yes, you CAN be seven weeks old and have preferred brands). Flying out of
New Orleans a few weeks ago, we were passing through security when the agent shuffling us past the metal detector requested that my wife remove the pacifier from the baby's mouth and put it through the X-ray along with our keys, etc. The pacifier. From the baby's mouth. Now I know we may be closer than some parents out there to having DCFS take a second look at our child care tactics (no, we do NOT wipe the pacifier with a sterile pad every time it hits the floor) but really: would we actually have placed something that posed a threat to the safety of a commercial airliner IN HIS MOUTH? Yeah, I feel supa-safe now. Thanks, TSA!
Note: for those that might want to get actual use out of this post, see
this page on the TSA's website that does give very good instructions on traveling with children and what to expect -- the vast majority of the time, screeners have remained true to the guidelines posted here, so I'm thinking that the MSY check was a judgement call, which brings up all sorts of other interesting questions.
