Tips for traveling with 3 yr old?

[Satori]

This is the 1st time I've had to do this type of travel and I'm at a loss how to pull it off. Were flying out to the hospital next week and I'll need to bring my 3 yr old (who is a runner), convertible car seat, luggage + diaper bag/backpack. Would like to bring the stroller too but need to see if there's room on the plane (small private air craft though Angel Flights)

Now in the past I just put her on my back in the Ergo, put the carry on in the stroller and checked the car seat at the curb then checked the stroller at the gate then was met at the baggage carousel where someone else (family) would carry the car seat.

This time I'm on my own and I can't carry her anymore since it messes with my sciatica. I can not for the life of me figure out how I'm supposed to carry the car seat and juggle her (I know she's gonna run and even on a leash its gonna be like the kid walking Marmaduke), rolling travel bag and hopefully the stroller and a small ice chest since we need to bring at least 24 hours worth of food until I can get to a store and pick up a a couple things to get us though the next 48 hours.

Advice on how to pull this off please?

ETA: We'll need to take a cab from the airport to where ever were staying, won't know that until Monday, were pretty sure where but won't get final confirmation until Monday. I can just see her taking off out of the cab while I'm trying to install the car seat.. assuming I can even get the stupid thing installed!

[4Jet]

Get a rolling suitcase and a rolling cover for your car seat (I bought mine at BabiesRUs). Check the car seat with your suitcase (I know some may disagree but do what you have to do), have an umbrella stroller, a diaper bag (you can wear messenger style) or a backpack. Maybe have a small purse for the flight you can put in the backpack/ diaper bag. Do you have someone to take you to the airport and walk your bags to the check in counter? Then you’ll just have to get you LO with you through security with the stroller and backpack. I’d get a soft sided cooler with a long handle you can put on the stroller and then store with you on the airplane. The larger suitcases usually have a strap where you can link suitcases. Use this to hook on the car seat bag and pull along. Do you think Angel Flights will have someone to assist?

I don’t know your situation but I’m sorry to hear you are going to the hospital- wishing you a safe and easy flight!

[Satori]

Originally Posted by 4Jet

Get a rolling suitcase and a rolling cover for your car seat (I bought mine at BabiesRUs). Check the car seat with your suitcase (I know some may disagree but do what you have to do), have an umbrella stroller, a diaper bag (you can wear messenger style) or a backpack. Maybe have a small purse for the flight you can put in the backpack/ diaper bag. Do you have someone to take you to the airport and walk your bags to the check in counter? Then you’ll just have to get you LO with you through security with the stroller and backpack. I’d get a soft sided cooler with a long handle you can put on the stroller and then store with you on the airplane. The larger suitcases usually have a strap where you can link suitcases. Use this to hook on the car seat bag and pull along. Do you think Angel Flights will have someone to assist?

I don’t know your situation but I’m sorry to hear you are going to the hospital- wishing you a safe and easy flight!

Were flying in a small Cessna 4 seater plane so we'll walk straight up to the plane with everything in hand so nothing to check. Anyway my travel bag does have that strap, I honestly had no idea what the thing was for! The car seat came with a travel bag with carrying handle. I just bagged it and it attached to my travel bag just fine, never thought about doing that. Thanks! If I can manage the stroller with one hand and the rolling bag with the other I think we'll be fine. I can stick dd in the stroller and the diaper bag/cooler in the bin below the stroller. Sounds much more doable! Its one of the bigger strollers though and not an umbrella since the umbrella can't carry the stuff we need to keep with us at all times and it all fits in the basket of the other stroller.

hmm.. wonder if I can't figure out a way to attach the bag to the stroller without messing with walking..

[Satori]

Now this looks cool lolhttp://toteatot.com/

[Satori]

ok, got an idea, I'm worried the bag will tear with that kinda stress on it but I can make one of these for $5 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B000JHN3AS

Just get a luggage strap and attach a D ring in the middle to attach the latch hook then run the rest of it around and though the back like a seat belt. Should work the same as the above and I don't plan on putting her in it that way so no real worries about the weight but will help with not having it so wide and bulky with having the car seat on its side making the luggage much wider.

[Satori]

ok, now I'm panicing, got a call this evening from Angel Flights deciding to tell me a couple of things, most of which is no big deal, one thing sorta is a big deal, they basically told me at the last minute my luggage needs to be soft sided! (we leave 1st thing tomorrow morning) Means I have to use my smaller bag which thankfully does have a handle on it but it cuts the space by 1/2 and I have no idea if I can get the car seat to attach to it and won't know until its packed and I can't find the darn leash! I had to run errands today with her and OMG, I seriously miss my Ergo! She tore off at least 5 times the second I let go to pay for something or pick up something she knocked off the shelf and I've never seen a kid escape a shopping cart so fast

Its gonna be a long trip

[weliveintheforest]

that toteatot is such a great idea!

did you tell the airline what you have to bring with you? maybe they can offer some advice as to how you can manage.

[Satori]

Originally Posted by weliveintheforest

that toteatot is such a great idea!

did you tell the airline what you have to bring with you? maybe they can offer some advice as to how you can manage.

yeah I told them, going to see if I can get a hold of both pilots tomorrow morning before we leave and see if they have room for the bag I had planned. I'm really worried about the car seat attaching to the bag, the car seat is bigger then the bag!


oh this is good, in the middle of writing this inspiration hit! I went and grabbed the stroller and holy crap the car seat fits PERFECTLY in the seat! If she leans forward though the seat will fall out so I grabbed the luggage strap and routed it though the back of the car seat and around the back of the stroller then grabbed the latch anchor/tether thing and attached that to the metal bar at the bottom of the stroller so its nice and snug. The seat is firmly attached to the stroller without having another bulky thing to carry! Now I hope there's room for the stroller! I'm assuming there is, its not a huge monster thing but its not an umbrella either. Now to see if I can fit all our stuff in the smaller bag I know the clothes and stuff will fit, I'm worried about the food we have to bring fitting. hmm... have another idea... question is.. where is the bag I'm thinking of using that I can just throw in the bottom of the stroller..

[Satori]

Originally Posted by Satori

yeah I told them, going to see if I can get a hold of both pilots tomorrow morning before we leave and see if they have room for the bag I had planned. I'm really worried about the car seat attaching to the bag, the car seat is bigger then the bag!


oh this is good, in the middle of writing this inspiration hit! I went and grabbed the stroller and holy crap the car seat fits PERFECTLY in the seat! If she leans forward though the seat will fall out so I grabbed the luggage strap and routed it though the back of the car seat and around the back of the stroller then grabbed the latch anchor/tether thing and attached that to the metal bar at the bottom of the stroller so its nice and snug. The seat is firmly attached to the stroller without having another bulky thing to carry! Now I hope there's room for the stroller! I'm assuming there is, its not a huge monster thing but its not an umbrella either. Now to see if I can fit all our stuff in the smaller bag I know the clothes and stuff will fit, I'm worried about the food we have to bring fitting. hmm... have another idea... question is.. where is the bag I'm thinking of using that I can just throw in the bottom of the stroller..

ok, made the trip and what I ended up doing was took the carry strap off a gym bag that stayed in place a lot better and it hooked onto holes in the side of the seat and around the stroller then attached the latch to the bottom bar of the stroller and it was pretty snug. I ended up throwing the luggage bag in the seat, the small soft sided ice chest in the bottom basket along with the jackets when we were not wearing them and I wore the back pack/diaper bag half the time and put it on top of the luggage bag half the time and for the most part dd stayed with me. The only time she tore off was at the airport while getting on the plane when I was installing the car seat. Thankfully the pilot stopped in and kept her busy while I wrestled with the seat (installing a car seat in a small plane is a nightmare!). The ipod and video's on the laptop kept her pretty busy, she was awake most of the trip on the way there and slept most of the way back.

I'm glad I switched to the soft sided luggage, the other bag would not have fit though the cargo storage door, the bag I switched to and the stroller barely fit though it.

All in all it wasn't a bad trip, RMH was amazing and dd is begging to go back. She wasn't thrilled with the Dr's or the skin biopsy but she LOVED RMH. I'm just a tad miffed because we didn't discover the play park until 15 minutes before we left for the airport and were just walking around killing time until I needed to call the cab. They asked if I had any suggestions for improving the house, I told them to make sure they include the park on the tour and not just the play room We could have spent sooo much time out there instead of stuck in the room.