Educate me on traveling with a toddler - car seat related

Tink112011 · June 2013

Warning - I'm clueless.

DH and I are planning on taking our first vacation with DS in August. We'll be headed to a resort in Branson, Missouri with friends.

We may end up driving the 12 hours there, or we might fly. How does the car seat situation work when you fly with a toddler? Do you bring yours along and check it? If yes, how banged up does it get? Can you get a car seat with a rental car?

Any other tips for a first time traveling mom would be greatly appreciated!

blue33 · June 2013

So, we fly alot with DS, because my husband's family is out of town. I would take my own carseat if you fly, and gate check it. You don't need the seat on the airplane. We use a travel attachment that makes our carseat a stroller, so we don't have to take a separate stroller. Here is a picture:

It straps onto the carseat and you can roll your child to the gate. We have never had a problem with the airline damaging our carseat. They did tear up our stroller, so that is why we looked into a more compact option. Remember you can take milk, juices and snacks over the liquid restriction amount for your child. Just be sure to have it out separately, because the security agents will have to scan it separately in a machine.

As far as road trips.

We have only taken one long trip in the car with DS. I had lots of dvds and streamed movies on my ipad for him. It was okay, but he was definitely restless, and we had to stop more than I would have liked to give him a break from the carseat and to change his pullup.

Good Luck!

EastCoastBride · June 2013

We put the carseat in a huge contractors garbage bag and duck tape it up and just check it at the front gate. No lugging that crap through the airport and it doesn't get banged up since it's in the bag.

missymo · June 2013

blue33:
So, we fly alot with DS, because my husband's family is out of town. I would take my own carseat if you fly, and gate check it. You don't need the seat on the airplane. We use a travel attachment that makes our carseat a stroller, so we don't have to take a separate stroller. Here is a picture:It straps onto the carseat and you can roll your child to the gate. We have never had a problem with the airline damaging our carseat. They did tear up our stroller, so that is why we looked into a more compact option. Remember you can take milk, juices and snacks over the liquid restriction amount for your child. Just be sure to have it out separately, because the security agents will have to scan it separately in a machine. As far as road trips. We have only taken one long trip in the car with DS. I had lots of dvds and streamed movies on my ipad for him. It was okay, but he was definitely restless, and we had to stop more than I would have liked to give him a break from the carseat and to change his pullup.Good Luck!

How cool! I want one. What brand is that? Thanks!

blue33 · June 2013

missymo:
blue33:
So, we fly alot with DS, because my husband's family is out of town. I would take my own carseat if you fly, and gate check it. You don't need the seat on the airplane. We use a travel attachment that makes our carseat a stroller, so we don't have to take a separate stroller. Here is a picture:It straps onto the carseat and you can roll your child to the gate. We have never had a problem with the airline damaging our carseat. They did tear up our stroller, so that is why we looked into a more compact option. Remember you can take milk, juices and snacks over the liquid restriction amount for your child. Just be sure to have it out separately, because the security agents will have to scan it separately in a machine. As far as road trips. We have only taken one long trip in the car with DS. I had lots of dvds and streamed movies on my ipad for him. It was okay, but he was definitely restless, and we had to stop more than I would have liked to give him a break from the carseat and to change his pullup.Good Luck!
How cool! I want one. What brand is that? Thanks!

We got the Go Go Babyz brand from Buy Buy Baby. They also sale it at Babiesrus and Amazon.

blue33 · June 2013

GhostMonkey:
blue33:
So, we fly alot with DS, because my husband's family is out of town. I would take my own carseat if you fly, and gate check it. You don't need the seat on the airplane. We use a travel attachment that makes our carseat a stroller, so we don't have to take a separate stroller. Here is a picture:

It straps onto the carseat and you can roll your child to the gate. We have never had a problem with the airline damaging our carseat. They did tear up our stroller, so that is why we looked into a more compact option. Remember you can take milk, juices and snacks over the liquid restriction amount for your child. Just be sure to have it out separately, because the security agents will have to scan it separately in a machine.
We had a cart similar to yours. We did not gate check though- we used it on the plane. DS would not have done well without it.
I'm LOLing at the suggestion to take liquids and snacks. I couldn't get a pouch through security unless I wanted a manual search. So be ready for that.

Oh, yes! now the airport security definitely searched me and my liquids. They had a special line for passengers with small children, because we had to basically take the top off all of the sippy cups and bottles. They did allow capri suns, but I didn't push it. I think I packed 2. But I didn't take any on our first trip after ds transitioned from a bottle, and I paid the price.

MonkeySender · June 2013

As far as the car seat, I would never check or gate check mine. I have seen how they handle luggage, and the soft handles on my stroller were destroyed when it was gate checked. Even if the fabric is protected... I can't imagine being thrown around like that is good for the plastic. If you want to take pouches through security, in my experience, you would want to buy the smaller ones. The ones that are 3.2 oz are within their size restrictions and I have never been questioned on those. I have heard of others having to open each and every pouch to have them tested when taking bigger ones through. I have taken bottles of milk through and they test those, too. To keep them cold I took ziploc bags of ice and threw them out just before security, then just went to a restaurant with fresh bags and asked for ice once we were through.

firewife9278 · June 2013

We're traveling to Italy this summer - our first flight with DD. She'll be 17.5 months going and 18 months coming home. We actually bought a seat for her since the flight is so long, so we're bringing the carseat on the plane with us. We bought a cosco scenera carseat (for only $39) just for this trip.

kristennd · June 2013

We fly regularly but we bring the seat onto the plane. LO is a really good traveler in his carseat and it helps put him in the "sit still" mindset. It makes it much easier for him to fall asleep as well. But it all depends on how they do with a carseat in general.

We put his pouches in the ziploc bag with the other liquids like shampoo and they just send them right through. The sippy cup of course stays empty until we get through security. Milk is easy to buy once you're inside too, even at our tiny three-gate local airport.

firewife9278 · June 2013

kristennd:

We fly regularly but we bring the seat onto the plane. LO is a really good traveler in his carseat and it helps put him in the "sit still" mindset. It makes it much easier for him to fall asleep as well. But it all depends on how they do with a carseat in general.

We put his pouches in the ziploc bag with the other liquids like shampoo and they just send them right through. The sippy cup of course stays empty until we get through security. Milk is easy to buy once you're inside too, even at our tiny three-gate local airport.

So good to know! I was hoping to bring a few pouches, and as long as I can fit them in the quart size bag, it's fine then, right? She's a ticketed passenger, so she gets the same as we do, I think.

As for the milk, I was wondering about that. DD only drinks organic milk, but I think for this vacation I'm going to have to lighten up a bit about that since I have NO idea what kind of milk we'll be able to get in Italy!

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