For most of three and four, it was the GoGo Kidz through the airport and then the CARES harness on t

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The easiest way to spot a traveling family in the airport ( other than the actual presence of children ) is the big car seat that is getting carried, wheeled, pushed, or kicked through the airport. I have done many trips both with and without the car seat, and yet am still conflicted on some trips whether to bring it or leave it at home.
It is safer. I know if the plane plummets to the ground from 36,000 feet that having a car seat or not isn't going to make a heap of difference. However, a hard landing, nasty turbulence, etc. would be much safer to deal with in a car seat than without.
My daughter sleeps much better in her car seat on planes that without. Recently she has started falling asleep in her car seat before the plane even gets off the ground. Once she is asleep she stays asleep much longer when she is in her car seat.
I am familiar with my car seat and trust its quality over what I may get at car rental agencies hotel franklin roosevelt paris when I land. That doesn't mean it is always easy to install as some vehicles are easier than others, but at least I am familiar with and trust the seat.
The number one reason I sometimes leave the car seat at home is it is a royal pain to lug around, especially when it is just Little C and I on a trip. It is so much easier to just throw the CARES Harness in my purse than to deal with the car seat the whole time.
It is much easier for toddlers to kick the seat in front of them when they are in a car seat on a flight. The car seat puts them so close to the seat in front of them that there is a tremendous hotel franklin roosevelt paris temptation to just kick and kick and kick while on the flight. Of course, this problem is mitigated if you are in a seat with extra legroom or you know the person in front of you, but even then it is still an issue.
The car seat may not comfortably fit or even be allowed on the flight. Some of the more advanced/fancy airplane seats (especially hotel franklin roosevelt paris the ones with outer shells) don't allow car seats to be used at all. Also, some car seats are so large that they don't fit in some of the more narrow airplane seats, so be sure to check the dimensions of your airline seat and your car seat.
There are some gadgets that make bringing the car seat easier. One example is to get something like the Go Go Baby Kidz Travelmate. This allows you to place your kiddo in the car seat and push them around the airport, so it is solving two problems at once. You have a secured child, and you have an easy way to push the car seat around. Of course, if you are already managing lots of bags or a stroller this is of limited use. There are many different types of similar products hotel franklin roosevelt paris available.
Another idea is a strap that connects the car seat to one of your carry-on roller bags and then you are potentially solving three problems at once. Those straps are typically much less expensive than the carts that connect to your car seat, but the process is only as good as the roller bag that you have.
For a while I was so obsessed hotel franklin roosevelt paris with the convenience hotel franklin roosevelt paris of the CARES Harness that we left the car seat behind quite a bit, however I quickly grew tired of the crummy car rental car seats, hotel franklin roosevelt paris and I hated how my kiddo was hardly ever comfortably sleeping on flights. We have since gone back to bringing the extra car seat whenever we can.
We leave our big and fancy Britax at home and bring the less expensive, small, lightweight Cosco Scenera model with us. Bringing hotel franklin roosevelt paris the car seat still does get tricky when it is just me, but I have managed by building a mountain of luggage and placing the car seat on top. It may not be the best plan, but it works. If you have several kids in car seats, then my Mt. CarSeat hotel franklin roosevelt paris strategy would not really apply.
Considering that children have to be in car seats until they are about 18 years old now, this is not an issue we will escape in the immediate future. What plan does your family use? How do you manage multiple car seats? Which type of car seat and other gadgets do you use to make your travels easier?
A trick we often use is to pack our son s carseat in an Eddie Bauer carrying case (about $20 at Target) and check it. Checking a carseat is free, and the bag is so big we still have a ton of room for toys, extra snacks, etc. we want when we get there.
I also agree on not renting car seats from the rental car places. Our experience has been they usually won t install them in the car for liability reasons. So, instead of wrestling to install someone else s seat that we are not familiar hotel franklin roosevelt paris with, we d rather wrestle with our own.
I hate traveling hotel franklin roosevelt paris with a car seat on planes hotel franklin roosevelt paris after about 18 months. They are big, awkward, puts kids at the right angle to kick seats, and generally are a hassle. We check ours in a padded car seat bag, and have never had an issue. I know there is a train of thought that this isn t smart, but it works for us. We are getting a Diono Radian seat which folds for our next overseas flight hotel franklin roosevelt paris in a few months hotel franklin roosevelt paris for our younger child, so if she hates it or it gets to be too much we can put it above.
Traveling hotel franklin roosevelt paris with 3 under the age of 6, the problem multiplies because you then have to worry about getting the rental car that is too small to fit 3 seats across. Have to either pick the full size option and hope for the best or go for the 2x cost of a van. In the end, we have always just relied on public transit and only rented once for a weekend in Denver. We flew Southwest there, so we just checked the seats.
MP. Thanks for the post. We are traveling next week with a 18 month boy. I m not bringing car seat but have reserve one from the rental car. Just wondering where I can get the free promo code. Could you guide me?
Good post. My daughter hotel franklin roosevelt paris hasn t flown since she was a lap child, she ll be 3 next week. And now we have a new baby. I think I ll get the Cares harness for my daughter and check her car seat. For the infant seat, we take a backpack hotel franklin roosevelt paris when we travel and I use a carabiner to attach the infant seat shoulder straps to the loop handle on the very top of the backpack, and then tighten up the infant seat straps so the infant seat just fits neatly over the back and top of the backpack so it ceases to be something else I have to carry.
Rear facing is safer and also let him rest his feet against the seat back rather than dangling hotel franklin roosevelt paris in space which meant more comfort. How do you like your legs dangling in space? More comfort means longer naps.
So far we ve only flown with my 3 year old to one destination, hotel franklin roosevelt paris where his grandparents always meet us at the airport with their carseat. Guess we ve been spoiled! Will have to figure this one out once we start venturing to other places Thanks for all the great info!
Thank you sooooo much for posting this. My daughter is 3 1/2 and a frequent flyer and I debate every time about bringing the carseat on. I think she does so much better with it. It s her seat. She sits higher, sleeps better, and I never have to worry about her wiggling around. I use the Gogo Baby and people stop me all the time to ask about it. But it s a total pain in the a** hauling the seat on the plane, and the Gogo baby doesn t fit through the aisle and like Alaska has airbags installed in bulkhead, so can t have those seats. I ve used CARES too, especially in Europe where they won t let you keep your car seat on the plane and my daughter is too restless, especially when she s tired and cranky, to be comfortable. I feel like I get about 20 minutes of peace on the flight using the CARES belt before she wants it off and starts wiggling around, so that s the tradeoff. Thanks for letting me ramble! hotel franklin roosevelt paris Most people I feel don t seem to debate this they just don t bring their seats, so I appreciate knowing someone else feels this way!
For most of three and four, it was the GoGo Kidz through the airport and then the CARES harness on the plane. We would check the seat and pick it up and install it on the other end. Now that she s almost five, we ve switched to an inflatable booster seat. Lightweight and easy to carry, it s made traveling super easy.
MP, what is the policy (e.g. price) on bringing car seats and strollers onto planes? I am flying Delta for Thanksgiving and have a 3-month old. Need to bring car seat and stroller, but without high cost. Are they considered carry-on or baggage?
My sons are now 5 and 8, and last time we traveled with backless booster seats that we gate checked to use in the rental car in San Diego. I have since discovered the inflatable booster seat, called the Bubblebum Booster Car Seat, and plan to purchase them before our next trip involving a rental car. These are made by a British company, but Target sells them in the US. The Bubblebum meets Federal Safety Standards, and while it may not be as safe as the 5 point harness seat we use at home, I think it is plenty safe for a rental car. Plus you can fit three of them in the back seat of most rental cars if you have the need.
For regular destinations (grandparents, etc) we d make sure there was a car or booster seat stored there permanently. For other destinations (when checking luggage) we d travel with a half-full army-style duffel bag (with outerwear, shoes, etc) and dump the seat in at the check-in counter.
We gave up bringing the car seat on board when our daughter was 22 months old and kicked the seat in front of her for five straight hours on a flight from Hawaii to the West Coast. For longer trips where renting a car seat with a car is more expensive, we will occasionally check our own car seat. But for weekend trips, we just rent