Traveling with car seat...

Mom2Livi

New member
I want to make a trip to California with my daughter in about a month or so... and I'm wondering how the heck I'm going to travel with her!? :confused: I am going to have to bring a car seat with me... and I'm thinking that her Roundabout would be my best option because it's light and easy to install. I know that I don't want to check the car seat, because I've seen how they handle your luggage and it is not pretty... there's no way I'd trust them with my baby's car seat. So my only other option would be to carry it on the plane with me and use it, but I really can't afford 2 plane tickets right now. :( And how do I manage lugging a car seat, a 1 year old, a stroller, and my luggage through the airport!?

LOL! Okay... so how do the rest of you manage to travel with alone with your babies???
 
ADS

CTPDMom

Ambassador - CPS Technician
First, if I could not afford a ticket for both myself and my child I wouldn't go on the trip. Carrying a child in your lap on the plane is dangerous.

I've traveled with ds alone, with luggage and car seat. I put ds in a carrier, placed the car seat in the stroller (just laid it on top) so I could push the stroller and then pulled 1 large piece of rolling luggage behind me. It's not pretty but it works! You can also put dd in the stroller and get a rolling bag to pull your car seat in until you get to the plane if you think you can pull 2 pieces of rolling luggage at once. (I think that's harder personally.)
 

MomToEliEm

Moderator
I've traveled with 2 kids by myself and it was a pain getting everyone (and all their belongings) onto and off the plane, but we made it. The roundabout is my favorite travel seat. It really works great installing on the plane. I would never check it as luggage though. Whenever we traveled, I was able to get half price tickets for my under 2 year old, though I thought I heard most places did away with that policy.

I always installed the carseats on a folding luggage cart and used a sling or backpack to carry the kids.

It really is in your best interest to get a seat for your child. It will be so much less stressful on you if you have a place to put the child during the flight. I don't think I would want to gamble on the possibility of a spare seat on the plane.
 

natysr

New member
First, I would find a way to afford a seat for her on the plane. It just is not worth the risk to your child safety to have her as a lap baby. Not just in crashes or crash landings, but even bad turbulance, you could loose your grip on her and she could be injured...or injure someone else, as she would become a projectile.

The link below is hard to watch, but worth it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC4Q3ofz7SI

Another question is, do your really need the stroller? Are you visiting family or just touring alone? Is there someone you could borrow a stroller from when you get there? Is there someone in California that could go buy a really cheap umbrella stroller for you to use while there, then donate it when you leave?

The way I have flown (alone) with my son, has been to strap his Marathon to a small carry-on luggage using the Traveling Toddler. The strap is about $15 on Amazon. It securly straps the carseat to the luggage, and you can use that as a stroller at the airport. My son LOVES riding around that way. Also, I would bring a backpack as a carry on. I was able to travel alone for a week with just a backpack and the small carryon...but I did it because there was someone on the other end buying diapers for me. If you needed to check another bag, bring a wheeled one. it would be easy enough to wheel them both to the check in area.

As far as boarding the plane, I unhooke the carseat from the wheeled carry on, at the door to the airplane and have the carry on stored at the front on the plane for me. Then I carry the carseat onto the plane. Normally I let my son run ahead of me down the aisle while I carry the carseat, but there were sometimes when de-boarding that he was asleep in the carseat, and I was able to unistall the carseat and carry it whole thing with him in it off the plane, hook it to the carry on at the front of the plane and get to our next gate before he ever woke up.

The reason I unhook at the front of the plane is because the Marathon does not fit down the aisle and has to be carried above the armrests of of the plane seats. I believe the roundabout may fit down the aisle, but I might reccomend the unhooking at the front of the plane anyway, just to avoide a traffic jam on the plane w/ other passengers.

Also, if you weren't planning to already, keep your baby rearfacing on the plane. Not only is it safer, but she will sleep better and be easier to be entertained.
 

groovymom2000

New member
I used to travel by myself with one child(those were the days....:whistle:) The roundabout is a great choice to take on the plane, and the pp is correct about keeping it RF--it will be easier on everyone! As far as buying a seat--I know that it is really expensive, but it is the best option. If you can't buy a seat, then try to book your flight at a time when you think the plane may not be full--this is getting harder to do now, as they are often overbooked. Allow plenty of time for check in, and when you get to the gate, check in again. Tell the gate agents that you have a lap baby, but would really prefer to have her in her seat, as she will be much happier and calmer that way. Ask if there is an open seat next to you or two open seats together. You may have to wait until they can ask someone to switch, but most people would rather switch than sit next to a mom and lap baby anyway! :p

The risk that you run is that there simply won't be two seats together anywhere, the flight is overbooked, or that you get a nasty gate or FA who simply won't work with you. Then you'll have no choice but to gate check the seat and hope for the best. If you've paid for a ticket, then there are usually few problems, especially if you act as though you know what you're doing. Good luck!
 

Mom2Livi

New member
Thank you for all of your responses. :) That YouTube video made me cringe when I watched it! :eek: I'm glad you posted it, natysr. :thumbsup:

I have read something about "infant fares" on Southwest.com... you can supposedly get a seat for a child under 2, so that you can use a restraint, for a reasonable price? Anyone know anything about that?
 

NVMBR02

New member
I don't know about Southwest, but we fly frontier a lot and they have half price tickets for children under 2. Usually you have to call to get the infant fare, although on a few airlines you can book online.

When I used to travel with the kids by myself I put dd in the front seat of the dounle stroller, both carseats in back (one on top of the other, secured with a bunjee cord) ds in the sling, diaper bag and kids blankies in the stroller basket, my carry on on the stroller handles. We checked the luggage, since I couldn't drag all 4 suitcases behind me...

Next time I will have ds in the stroller, dd on the buggy board all their stuff in the stroller basket, back pack carry on and carseats will be on a luggage cart, stacked up and bungee corded.
 

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