Cheap way to protect your carseat from airplane grime.

[goodcents]

This trip we decided to send the car seats to the cargo hold. 1. My toddler is almost 3 so a 12 hour fllight in a car seat would've been nuts. 2. My ds was a lap infant.

So, as I considered putting the seats "down under the aircraft" I got the icky yuckies. Dirt, germs, & lord knows whatelse. Not to mention the possible damage to the seats themselves. What is a mommy to do??

Well you could buy one of those pricey car seat covers for over $50 bucks.... OR you could buy a big ol'laundry bag. The gigantic ones kids lugg their laundry home in from college. We bought ours for $4 and it was large enough to cover a britax. I am so happy we did tooo - sure enough the bags had grime on them when the trip was over!

[MinnieMouse]

I would use the seats on the plane! A 12hr trip is all the more reason to use the seat for the almost 3yo IMO...makes it all the more comfortable for him/her.

FWIW, my dd has flown about 6 or 7 round trips now and sleeps away almost every flight.

Also... if there are empty seats on the flight, you can use your ds' seat as well.

If you still cannot use the seats I would NOT check them w/ the luggage...take them to the gate and gate check them. Gate checking allows for less "handling" by the airport personnel which will equal less chance for the seats to be damaged or even worse lost outright!

Not sure about bags for the seats... we've always used ours so they haven't been necessary.

[starlein26]

in case you don't bring it on board they actually warp it for you in big thick plastic bags, so no worries about grime!

[srain]

Good idea! I'm always afraid they'll get lost if I put the seats in baggage, and then we'd be stranded at the airport.

[goodcents]

Originally Posted by MinnieMouse

I would use the seats on the plane! A 12hr trip is all the more reason to use the seat for the almost 3yo IMO...makes it all the more comfortable for him/her.

Your lucky I guess. My dd has hated the car seat since day 1. Still does. She loved sprawling out on the extra seats though.

Originally Posted by MinnieMouse

FWIW, my dd has flown about 6 or 7 round trips now and sleeps away almost every flight.

Flying there was easy - it was a night flight so she sleept for most of it. Flying home we left @ 10am and it was 12 hours DURING THE DAY. No such luck other than a 3 hour nap.

Originally Posted by MinnieMouse

If you still cannot use the seats I would NOT check them w/ the luggage...take them to the gate and gate check them. Gate checking allows for less "handling" by the airport personnel which will equal less chance for the seats to be damaged or even worse lost outright!

How many children are you flying with? Lugging around two car seats with two kids + carry-ons, even with 2 adults, is very challenging. You can't take the carts past 1st level security.

Originally Posted by starlein26

in case you don't bring it on board they actually warp it for you in big thick plastic bags, so no worries about grime!

While some airlines provide this service, many do not. & Actually plane checking can really present problems in terms of lost luggage - especially because they aren't bar coded.

[MinnieMouse]

We actually have a collapsible cart that we pull the car seat on (we only have one child now...but the second is only days away!). We strap the car seat to the cart and place any extra carry ons inside the seat (there are bungees on the cart that keep the stuff in it). If we were traveling w/ two seats we would put the second seat upside down/inside the first.

Dd actually LOVES her stroller so one of use pushes her in that the other pulls the car seat...but if she didn't ...it would be pretty easy to sling her and pull the seat behind us.

Each of us (including dd) has their own backpack (mine is a diaper bag/backpack) and that really helps in getting us through the terminal. When we have our luggage as well (before checking in and after picking it up) we actually can strap the car seat on TOP of one of our large suitcases using the luggage strap and then just wheel the entire thing to the parking area.

It really isn't difficult at all.

When we are about to board, dh takes the car seat onto the plane and installs it while wait w/ dd to board...it lets her run around and burn off some last minute steam before the flight. We gate check the stroller and her seat is all set up for her when we get to our seats.

There have been a few legs of travel that dd didn't sleep, but we have small toys and amusing things for her to do while flying...and she has always done just fine. She is 4.5yo now and has been flying since she was 1.5 (we have relatives pretty far away so we fly about 1-2/year). Our next flight will be the first one where she won't be in a harnessed car seat (we will bring a booster for her to use once we get there)...so that should be interesting for her...but we will have the baby so we are starting all over again with hauling the car seat in the airport.

Oh... I should mention.. the luggage cart that we have to pull the car seat... it collapses VERY small and we can put it in one of our backpacks when we don't need to use it.

HTH