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Flying nowadays with kids

706 views 13 replies 13 participants last post by  Mere 
#1 ·
So I am thinking of flying into the winter from the mild climate I am in next week. Do you bother taking your carseat? The stroller? It will be mighty cold where I am going (nyc, my home). Do you bother using your cloth diapers? What brand of sposies work best, if you use them? Thankfully it is a short flight, and I have my 11 yo dd to help me and baby. Any other tips I may have forgotten in the mists of time since my dd was a baby? I am really a road-trip person myself.
 
#3 ·
Last time we flew our youngest was 10 months. We didn't take a stroller we used one of those baby backpack things for him. We held him in our laps on the plane and he was fine just squirmy because he wanted to get down and crawl. I didn't start cding till he was 15 months so that wasn't a problem. I probably would do sposies for a trip but that is just me.
 
#4 ·
I recently flew to my ILs for the holidays. I did not take the stroller, just my Sutemi pack. I never use the stroller at home though. If I did, I would definitely have taken it as it would have been nice when my flight was delayed.

I was going to do cloth, but decided to do 'sposies for the trip, mostly because I wanted to be able to chuck dirty diapers en route.

A friend recommended packing our carseat in a heavy-duty lawn bag using duct tape, which would have been easy to pack. One Step Ahead also has a carseat bag. We ended up borrowing a car seat at our destination though, and so I didn't have to worry about it.

I wore slip-off shoes and going through security on the way there had to take DD out of my carrier to go through security. On the way back a nice security person put me through the flight attendants line and I did not have to take her out of my carrier.

Don't forget toys for en route, a blanket in case you have to walk onto the tarmac (it happened to me and I was not expecting it, but hopefully you won't have to deal with it,) water for yourself and a luna bar or something, and a big open tote bag to smoosh it all in.
 
#5 ·
DD is almost, but not quite 2.

I did take the car seat as a checked bag, because the last time we rented one with the car was a horrific experience! Car seat was nasty and moldy and didn't have the right clip to be installed in non-latch car.

You must purchase a ticket if your kid is over 2, in which case you MUST put the car seat in the seat if you have it. Otherwise the car seat WILL go in checked baggage. You MAY NOT put an unused car seat in the overhead bin. Dunno why, but it was this way on SW and this other family had a big issue with it.

However, you can "gate check" your car seat and stroller. Which means you take it all through security and down the ramp to the door of the plane. You leave it there and get it back right at the gate on the other end. In that sense it doesn't get quite so banged up since it's not going through all the conveyer belts and baggage carts.

However, usually if you put the seat in as checked baggage they give you a big bag to put it in so all the straps are encased. I put mine in with regular checked baggage since I had no desire to lug it through the terminals.

Stroller? In NYC? Heck ya, I'd take it, but maybe I'm not as NFL as the next mother. And we've never been great with the sling (It too tight!) I did take my umbrella stroller to the Virgin Islands over the summer and didn't really use it. Terrain was too funky.

Since DD is not quite 2 we haven't bought a ticket and just flew with her in our laps or in a sling in the airport. Worked out just fine.

DD refused her cloths around 17 months. We use day care and had been using disposables half-time anyway. I like 7th Generation because they don't use bleach and her skin seems better off. Plus they're brown and I think that's cool. Counts as my NFL creds! Apparently they do have gel, but it's never irritated her like pampers etc. Day Care ran out of our diapers (my fault) so they put a different one on her and she beet red.

more q's?
 
#6 ·
We've flown twice with DS. Once at 4 months and once at 6.5 months.
We did not take the car seat either time (we don't have a "bucket" seat, we have a large Britax convertible)
At the 4 month old trip, we rented a car seat from the rental car company, all was fine.
At the 6.5 month old trip we didn't use a car at all. Took a shuttle bus to the hotel/resort and stayed there the whole time! (we were there on business)

We used the sling for everything and it was a breeze, especially at the airport. They will make you take it off through security. Some airlines say no slings in flight, some don't care, others say just not during take off and landing. Your flight attendant won't be shy about letting you know.

We don't cloth diaper anyhow (for a variety of reasons, long story) I would suggest CottonTails or Seventh Generation for sposies. Avoid Pampers like the plague. Huggies are ok of there is nothing else around.

You'll do fine, have a great trip!
 
#7 ·
We've flown with our older DS many times as a baby/toddler ... no trips yet w/ both boys though. When he was an infant we didn't buy a ticket and just held him in our laps, but would bring the carseat to check at the gate (like PP said, it gets knocked around slightly less that way). Plus, sometimes if they have an extra seat they'll let you use it, and then we would bring the seat on to the plane and use it. After he was 2, we always used the carseat during the flights. We use a Britax Roundabout and Marathon, which are pretty unweildy to carry through the airport, so would bring the stroller and let the carseat ride in that (and the diaper bag in the bin underneath), and sling the baby. The stroller can be checked at the gate.

It's been a toss up whether or not I've had to take the baby out of the sling at security ... sometimes they waved me through, no problem. Other times I had to take him out and run the sling through the xray machine. No huge biggie either way.

We've always used cloth on the go ... It's really not a big hassle. Between a friend/family's home / laundromat / hotel laundry facilities, I've always been able to find a way to get things washed up.

Have a fun trip!
 
#8 ·
We took the carseat with us for 2 trips because we had to use cars at the destination and I was more comfortable with safely installing our carseat than one that was unfamiliar (remember that some ridiculous percentage of carseats are not securely installed--70% or somesuch). We gatechecked it and the stroller. We pretty much only used the stroller getting around the airport, but it was MUCH more convenient to put the carseat and baby on the stroller getting from terminal to terminal, b/c we also had dh's copious fragile photography equipment.

However, since you're coming to New York, the question is do you think you'll take taxis, friends' cars, and such? If not, then I'd skip the carseat. You don't legally need a carseat for a taxi, but I'd be worried about that b/c they're some of the wildest drivers on the planet. You don't need one (and it won't fit on the seats, and there are no seatbelts anyway) on the buses--both public and commercial ones going to/from the airport.

Also on the plane, I preferred not having the carseat (we were given a seat for it on one of our 6 flights), because she was in my arms nursing anyway for most of the time. I also preferred holding her in the bjorn facing me, arms through the little arm holes, to in the sling on the plane b/c it seemed to do a better job with securing her to me during turbulence. I simply unfastened one side completely to nurse her, and once she fell asleep fastened it back up.

We took the cloth diapers when it was a 3 day trip, and that was fine. We did not when it was a week long trip, because it was darn near impossible to lug that many around and we had no washing facilities. I'd pack first and then see what size bag you'd need to carry enough cloth diapers, then you can more easily judge if it's feasible to carry that as well. I use 7th Gen as well when we need disposibles, Tushies were very very leaky for us.
 
#9 ·
There are 2 cloth diaper services that deliver to NYC. They each have different boroughs they deliver to, but all go to Manhattan. Depending on where you're staying, you might be able to arrange them to drop off and pick up for just a week or two from wherever you're staying and bring your own covers. I use NatureBaby and it's about $12/week. Their # is (800) 344-3427. The other service is Tidy Diapers at (800) 732-2443.
 
#10 ·
We're flying in a month with our son to visit the inlaws, and he'll be just about 7 months old.

We have to bring the carseat - which will be the convertible one by then - because we'll be driving a bit to get to where we're going. The gate-checking idea sounds like a good one and we'll probably do that.

we use cloth on him, and haven't ever used anything else - but then again we EC as well so there's not a lot of dirty diapers to cart along - lately anyway.
It seems to go really well when we're out and about so i'm not concerned.

we're not going to bring the stroller, it's just too much to pack in the trunk in addition to our luggage and i doubt we'll need it anyway, we use an Ergo baby carrier... it's awesome.

it's going to be cold where we're going too - Manitoba - and we need to pick up some kind of snowsuit.. seriously he's usually close to naked around here.. a shirt, bib & socks on a good day. so the snowsuit is the only thing htat's bugging me - finding one that's not too expensive because i'ts only going to be used a week.

hope your trip goes well
 
#11 ·
Just want to throw out another POV on carseats on planes...

Yes, it is more expensive to do this, but PLEASE buy a ticket for every passenger, including babies, and put them in their carseat on the plane! The plane can hit rough turbulence, and there would be no way you could hang on to your baby, and he could be thrown around the cabin. Yes, it has happened! After all, you put your child in a carseat everytime you go in the car, even though it's very unlikely you'll get into an accident! Planes are no different. Many airlines give discounts to babies in carseats, so you won't have to pay the full price, anyhow. Plus, you'll have the peace of mind of knowing your baby will be safe, just as you do in your car...

We flew across the country when my DS was 9 months old. We brought his Britax Marathon and his giant travel-system stroller (Evenflo). When we got to the airport, we just uninstalled the carseat with DS still strapped into it, and sat it on top of the stroller. (Since we also had all our luggage and carryons and junk to carry, it was easiest to do it this way!) It fit fine. People traveling with children get to board before other people, so we gate checked the stroller, and then just carried DS onto the plane while still in the carseat. We strapped the carseat into the plane seat rearfacing with him still in it, and it took all of a minute. Some flight attendants might give you grief about the carseat being rearfacing, but all you have to do is point to the sticker on the side that says, "it must be rearfacing up to a year" and they'll usually leave you alone.

DS stayed in his carseat always during take offs and landings (there's a reason why they tell adults to fasten their seatbelts during those times!) and if we were in the air and DS needed to nurse, we'd take him out of the carseat and I'd nurse him, cuddle him, etc. To relieve his ear pressure during the take offs and landings, I gave him water so he would swallow to "pop" his ears. During our layover, we found a secluded area and let him crawl around and stretch his muscles and whatnot after being in the carseat so long. Then when it was time for the next flight, back in the carseat he went. Since we had gatechecked his stroller, we had it during the layover, so it was no problem maneuveriong the carseat around the airport.

Yes, it's an un-AP way to travel, but for that one day and the return flight, my child's safety took precedence over the sling.

Just my .02 for anyone interested.
 
#12 ·
We just came back from a trip to China with our 3-1/2 month old. We didn't buy a seat for our baby since we were told we could use the on-plane bassinett at our seats. It turned out we couldn't (since we didn't have bulkhead), which was very annoying. We would have bought another seat for baby if we had known this (50% of fare instead of the 10% it cost for a lap child - int'l flight).

It was a completely full flight on the way there, so we had the three of us stuffed into two airplane seats and another person in the aisle. It was OK, but I wouldn't want to do it again on a 13 hour flight.

We gate checked the carseat and stroller on the way there. The carseat came out at baggage claim for some reason. We put it in a carseat bag so it wouldn't get banged up. This may have confused the baggage handlers? We checked it on the way back since we didn't have a connecting flight and didn't have to worry about it missing the connection.

On the way back our 10 hour flight turned into 14 hours due to fog in SF, but it was fine. We were so lucky to get an empty seat. We didn't use the carseat - we held DS on take off and landing and he slept in the seat between us for the most of the flight. Soooo much better than the way there! I was glad we didn't have the car seat b/c DS doesn't like to be in it all that much.

In the US, you have to take your baby out of any sling or carrier to go through security and put your stroller through the xray. In China, they just wanded the stroller and inspected it and let me go through the scanner with baby attached to me. That was much easier!

We found our stroller invaluable. It was very cold there and it was easier to have DS bundled up in this sleeping bag thing in the stroller than trying to get him warm enough for the Bjorn. (He doesn't take to the sling.) We did bjorn useful at times. We were also coming from a mild climate, so it was weird to be in such cold weather. We bought the sleeping bag thingee there. We also had a fleece suit to put DS in when using the Bjorn.

We actually only used our carseat once or twice while we were there b/c the cabs don't have seat belts in the bag and neither did a private car we used. We took it anyways b/c we needed it for the shuttle to the airport. No problem.

We are using disposies all the time now
:. I actually switched after using disposies for a different trip and finding it was more convenient. So if you're weak like me, you may want to stick with cloth otherwise you may be lured to disposies. But there's no way I would have used cloth on a trip like this one - 2 weeks with no laundry facilities.

Anyways, have fun! It was a lot easier than I expected it to be. (This was actually our 3rd plane trip with the babe and they were all relaltively easy.) Of course, now we are dealing with the 8 hour time difference now that we are home.
 
#13 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by eugenemama
I'm interested to hear what others have to say too. We'll be flying in a couple months for the first time w/ds. Our carseat is too big for carry-on, but i don't want to risk it getting banged around if it's checked... looking forward to hearing more...
I may be wrong about this, but I was reading about flying w/ baby and what I read said that all car seats are airline safe. So, while you couldn't put in the overhead you could buy a seat (usually at 1/2 price) for your baby and strap it in.
 
#14 ·
I flew twice with ds when he was less than 3 months old; while it was easy because he was so small and slept most of the time, I swore that the next time I flew with him (coming up this summer) I'd buy a seat, even though he could fly free. It was sooooo cramped that I cannot imagine flying with a baby on my lap any older than 3 months. It sucks to pay the extra fee, but remember that an infant seat is 50% of the full fare. Even if they don't sit in their seat the whole time (and I wouldn't expect them to do so), having the extra space is well worth it IMO.

Also, a word on checking your carseat - don't do it! The last time I flew with ds he was on my lap so I checked his carseat. Well, the luggage didn't make it until a few hours later! We had to wait around the airport until our luggage arrived. NOT fun. If you do decide to do the lap thing, I would definitely gate check the carseat (along with your stroller).
 
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