Air travel with LO?

chaywardvt · November 2011

I was wondering if anyone has travelled by air w/ their LO? We are renting a car at our destination and I am thinking about bringing our car seat, not excited about renting one. If you brought a car seat, did you check it? I was thinking about attaching the car seat to the stroller for gate check and packing the base..

Also, the hotel only has a crib, which seems a little sketchy.. did you bring your own PNP for LO to sleep in.

Any other tips would be great! Thanks.

LacieMI · November 2011

We flew with LO when he was about 4 months old. The car seat situation was a huge nightmare. I was so organized and packed his car seat, base, and lots of his clothes, diapers, toys, etc... in a car seat travel bag and the airline checked it (for free... no baggage fee). HUGE MISTAKE! We only had one layover and during that short little stop, Delta lost the bag and it was MIA for almost 24 hours. The airline had a replacement car seat that they lent us for the time, but it was a very uncomfortable seat and we had to do a TON of driving, so LO cried the whole time. Not to mention that I was missing all of the stuff I packed IN the seat/bag!

My advice? Definitely gate check whatever is necessary for LO!

Kristysyr · November 2011

We are traveling in Decemeber and we bought a seat for our LO so we will bring the car seat and base on and gate check the stroller

kristennd · November 2011

Kristysyr:
We are traveling in Decemeber and we bought a seat for our LO so we will bring the car seat and base on and gate check the stroller

That's what we did when we had to fly in August.

We were staying with family and they borrowed a PnP from a friend, so hotel cribs weren't an issue. I wouldn't try to haul one, though. If the hotel crib looked too sketchy I'd just let him sleep in the car seat.

JUSTBEYOURSELF · November 2011

I would go to BRU and look at there portable beds. we have one and it folds up and during the power outages up north here we had little one sleep in it while at my inlaws till our power came on.

this is similar to ours

Infantino Travel Bed - Infantino - Babies"R"Us

we just put a blanket on the bottom wrapped around (It has a small pad on the bottom that comes out)

It worked for my 5 1/2 month old.

Mine has a strap so it folds up and carries.

iris427 · November 2011

When I flew in August, I checked the car seat at the ticket counter (no charge) and brought an umbrella stroller and my Ergo into the terminal. I gate checked the umbrella stroller. You should check with your airline about their gate checking rules, because some will not allow you to do it if the stroller weighs more than a certain amount. When we took our daughter to Argentina we gate checked her travel system and that worked fine--but with our babies being old enough now to go in a stroller without a car seat, I'd rather not have to bring it through the terminal and have one more thing to deal with.

I have used hotel cribs before and don't see a problem with that. You could certainly bring a PNP of you don't mind having another thing to check (not sure if they would charge you to check it).

jeffrae · November 2011

we brought her car seat and gate checked it along with the stroller. we just used the crib the hotel had.

shellindcwife · November 2011

We took E at 1 mo and again at 2 mo on a short, 1 hour hop, first to TN and then to MI, lap-held. We brought an umbrella stroller for the airport (which we gate checked); although he was a 9 lb baby at birth, he still didn't fit into it very well, but we stuffed blankets around him to help hold him in. It was kinda comical. We did NOT bring our car seat, stroller frame, PnP or any other equipment. We rented a car with a car seat, and we requested a crib at the hotel. It was actually really easy, not having to carry all that extra equipment. The car seat was a good one, it had the snap in base so we didn't have to keep installing and uninstalling it, plus, b/c he was so young, he could hang out in there when we were in restaurants, etc. The crib was fine (clean, not gross, etc.).

We're doing the exact same thing when we travel to the mid-west at the end of the month (equipment-wise). I fully expect him to fit into the umbrella stroller way better this time around, LOL.

You might want to consider not lugging all that equipment, esp. if you are renting a car and/or staying in a hotel.

MeredithElese · November 2011

I flew with LO last month and we rented a car seat with the car. I had to choose with US Airways between a car seat and our snap-n-go stroller. The car seat was oldish, but it worked just fine. I was pretty worried about the carseat getting lost or broken with the airline so it was worth it for me. We also rented a crib at the hotel and it turned out to be a pack-n-play. I just lay down a blanket on the bottom and it was fine. The biggest factor for me was that I just couldn't lug all of that stuff by myself, plus I couldn't afford to check all of those things seperately.

disneyfan0511 · November 2011

We traveled two weekends ago. We checked the carseat and had no problems. We gate-checked the stroller, also very easy. We didn't bring a PnP, used the hotel crib which was just fine as well. It was much easier than I anticipated!

kdelynko · November 2011

We have traveled twice with LO and both times brought his carseat. When you get to the gate, check with the attendant. If the flight isn't full, they can sit you next to an empty seat and you can use it for your LO for free if you have the seat. If not, you can gate check the seat (just make sure you remember to pick it up on your way out).

tokenhoser · November 2011

I brought his car seat and the snap-n-go, both of which we gate checked. I didn't bring the base - I just belted in the seat each time, which was fine as I was switching cars a lot at our location.

Owen slept with me, so we didn't bring anything for him to sleep in.

He did really good - cried on the runway while we waited, then fell asleep for most of the flight all 4 times. It's a good age to go - once they get mobile, it gets harder to keep them still for a flight.

kelly321 · November 2011

I've got a transatlantic flight coming up in December and I'll be alone with LO for the way there (DH is joining us later and then we'll fly back together). I'm only bringing my cloth wrap, but that's because my parents (who we're staying with) have arranged for a car seat, crib, etc. I'm more concerned about bringing enough formula / diapers / changes of clothes for that long flight... I actually had a nightmare last night that no one would give me hot water to make a bottle for LO.

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