Help! How to ship retainers without melting?

[lunalibre]

DS14 realized several hours into a 14 hour drive that he left his retainers at Grandma's! The ***ONE*** thing he was responsible for... ARGH!!!!

Anyway, clearly going back for them was not an option. Now we've got to get these things shipped. I'm going to go with FedEx, because he really does need them back ASAP.

What I need help with is how to pack them. We were told explicitly never to leave the things in a hot car because the plastic would warp and render them unusable. It's getting to 110F in the shade in parts of Texas now, and it's getting much hotter than that inside vehicles. Any suggestions for shipping them short of putting them in a cooler with an ice pack (ay yi yi, that would be expensive, but less so than buying new retainers)?

I'm going to call the ortho first thing in the morning to see what the office suggests. We'll be meeting the grandparents for a family reunion in 12 days. *ANYTHING* other than these $#@!@#% retainers could have waited 12 days. Sigh.

I was thinking...what about using one of those soft-sided insulated lunch bags with an ice pack, and shipping that? I don't need these things to be truly cold, but they absolutely cannot melt in transit.

Anyone else's kid pulled a similar stunt? I swear, my son would lose his head if it weren't attached to his body. GRRRRRRR.

 

[SandrA9810]

Do you have one of those freezer gel packs? I would wrap it in one of those, inside of a ziploc bag. The lunch bag might be an overkill. You could even wrap that inside some foil for insulation.

Either option, FedEx and UPS have the large bubble mailer envelopes that are rather large for shipping overnight. Where exactly is he headed to? Is it still a 100+ at the destination or are you just worried about it getting out of Texas heat?

I'd also use the main Post Office there off of I-30 on the west side of Dallas. I would assume the closer you get it to the truck center, the faster it will get out. Fewer stops, fewer hands. And get there early in the morning.

I'm here boiling with you... this heat sucks.

 

[CTdiznymom]

DS14 realized several hours into a 14 hour drive that he left his retainers at Grandma's! The ***ONE*** thing he was responsible for... ARGH!!!!

Anyway, clearly going back for them was not an option. Now we've got to get these things shipped. I'm going to go with FedEx, because he really does need them back ASAP.

What I need help with is how to pack them. We were told explicitly never to leave the things in a hot car because the plastic would warp and render them unusable. It's getting to 110F in the shade in parts of Texas now, and it's getting much hotter than that inside vehicles. Any suggestions for shipping them short of putting them in a cooler with an ice pack (ay yi yi, that would be expensive, but less so than buying new retainers)?

I'm going to call the ortho first thing in the morning to see what the office suggests. We'll be meeting the grandparents for a family reunion in 12 days. *ANYTHING* other than these $#@!@#% retainers could have waited 12 days. Sigh.

I was thinking...what about using one of those soft-sided insulated lunch bags with an ice pack, and shipping that? I don't need these things to be truly cold, but they absolutely cannot melt in transit.

Anyone else's kid pulled a similar stunt? I swear, my son would lose his head if it weren't attached to his body. GRRRRRRR.

Kids! You just can't win sometimes!

Anyway, while reading your post I couldn't help but think of how they ship my medications. They come in a flat box, that is wrapped next to a gel like frozen ice pack which is then wrapped in bubble wrap. I would do what you were thinking, but wrap the retainer in a face cloth next to a frozen ice pack then wrap that in bubble wrap and place it in a soft side cooler. As the ice pack melts the face cloth will absorb the water and still stay cool insulated in the bubble wrap. Good luck.

 

[Leajess99]

From my experience, 14 days without a retainer should not see movement or if it does it will be very little and the retainers would still fit. Our last trip to Disney my oldest forgot his retainers so he went without them the whole trip. My middle one has also gone without her retainers with no issues. She lost one and I was unaware of it for almost a month cause she did not want me to be mad (it was not the first lost one).

 

[lunalibre]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'll be calling the orthodontist's office as soon as they open to get their opinion too.

FWIW, the retainers are in Illinois, and we're in Texas. While the package could sit for a while and get pretty warm in Illinois, it's the transit through Oklahoma and Texas that worries me. This time of year, it's always going to be 100 or hotter, which makes shipping a lot of things more difficult.

I'm going to cross my fingers and hope the orthodontist's office agrees that we can wait the 12 days and just pick 'em up at our family reunion. If not, well...I'm going to make my son pay for shipping his retainers home. It's a steep price, but that kid has got to learn how to take care of important things.

 

[Maddle]

Hopefully the Orthodontist will give the go ahead to wait the twelve days. If not, I would talk to the people at FedEx. They ship all kinds of perishables on a regular basis (cakes, flowers, medicine, etc.) and should be able to tell you how to handle it. You may have to use a more expensive shipping method, but it will still be cheaper than having to replace a misshapen retainer.

Maddle

 

[mickeymaker2003]

Post Office Overnight might be the cheapest option.

 

[lunalibre]

Talked to the orthodontist. While it's certainly possible my son's teeth might move enough to make the retainers unwearable after 12 days, it's apparently not very likely at this point in his treatment. They thought it would be okay to wait and pick them up rather than risk having them warp in the heat. DS will just have to wear them 24/7 for a couple of weeks -- including through the reunion. He's not thrilled about that, but HE was the one who forgot the darn things in the first place!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

 

[beavismom]

It looks like you have your resolution now, but I was going to point out that you could probably FedEx them without any issues if they are not dropped off until the latest possible time in Illinois then they would travel overnight when it is cooler and be delivered by 10:30 the next morning before the day turns quite as hot.