I need a car seat/stroller solution for the airport!
I need a car seat/stroller solution for the airport!
Just read on your site about taxis and car seats. I’m having real issue trying to figure out how to get my nine-month-old around when traveling. He has outgrown the Snap ‘N Go, and it seems the only alternative is to get a lightweight stroller and a car seat and the wheels to transport the car seat through the airport. Why can’t they just invent a Snap ‘N Go for toddler seats, i.e a base on wheels (not the ones low down to the ground, but a base that can act as a stroller), and then you can click your toddler seat into the base? Isn’t this an obvious invention? – Lighten My Load
Dear Lighten,
We would have thought so too. As city dwellers without the convenience of car ownership, as soon as our kids outgrew the portable infant seat, we found ourselves musing on the obvious hole in the market. When we talked to a friend, the designer of this fantasy inflatable car seat, he gave us his theory on why this niche may not be filled any time soon. Before something can be sold as a car seat in the U.S., it must be approved according to government standards. This process is at the intersection of child safety and bureaucracy, which as you might imagine, is a rather tough intersection to cross. Many genius ideas have been squelched at some point along this road, often, probably, at the “imagining how hard it might be to get approval” stage, and we encourage some hardy inventors to forge ahead and change the car seat landscape.
In the meantime, there are some newer products available that could meet your needs.
The Tote a Tot will actually allow you to affix your child to your rolling luggage, an odd-looking but possibly convenient solution. Here’s a simpler solution from Go Go Babyz. It’s not quite a Snap N’ Go situation (your child will effectively become a piece of rolling luggage), but it’s a start. Then there’s the good old Sit N Stroll, a car seat that grows wheels and becomes a stroller; this product has dominated the market in this area for awhile. It’s a great concept, but the actual design is pretty clunky: it’s an okay carseat, but its strolling capabilities leave something to be desired. And finally, there’s the Baby B’Air vest. This takes care of the airplane part of the equation; you may be able to rent a carseat at your destination and get away with a lighter load.
It would be so nice to have an easy solution to reduce the formidable logistical hassle of traveling with children. We’re surprised sometimes that some parents don’t seem to mind dragging multiple ginormous toddler seats through the airport along with their army of rollie bags. So it may be that we are in the whiny minority who won’t just grit their teeth and schlep. But, hey, if it weren’t for complainers, would there ever be any progress?
Have a question? Email beingpregnant@babble.com
I LOVE GO GO BABYZ!!! I bought it when my daughter was two and a half, and I wish I had gotten it sooner. The only small drawback is that the car seat doesn’t fit through the x-ray scanner at security with the wheels on. A tip I picked up in the Amazon reviews was to ask for a hand inspection- TSA regulations say they have to give it to you and can’t force you to take the wheels off just to get it through the machine (not that the wheels are hard to remove, but it’s a little cumbersome at security). We had to argue with one TSA agent, but ultimately they gave us the inspection. It might cost you a little extra time at security (like 5-10 extra minutes, not like hours).
Otherwise, this is such a lifesaver!
I also love Go Go Babyz. We fly a lot with our son, and only one time did the TSA person give us a hard time about hand-wanding. Every other time was really easy.One tip – make sure you buy a car seat that is narrow enough to fit down the aisle of the airplane. We have the Graco convertible car seat (not sure the name, but it was a cheap one, around $80.) It fits great, on Southwest anyway. Otherwise, you have to lift the whole contraption over your head while guiding your child through the aisle.
We recently traveled with our 2 year old and used this Kids Fly Safe Harness and it was great. http://www.kidsflysafe.com/
Actually Orbit baby stroller system has a toddler seat that fits it’s stroller base.
it’s a bit pricey though…
http://www.orbitbaby.com/products/tcs.html
I think I would caution against the Baby B’Air… It may work okay for turbulence, but since it can’t be used for take-off and landing (when most crashes occur even if it’s not when the most injuries happen), I can’t imagine it would be of much use in an otherwise survivable accident (the term “human airbag” is often used). I guess it’s better than nothing if you absolutely can’t afford a third seat, but it’s not a risk I personally am comfortable taking.
Being an Australian family residing in NJ with twins, we have had a bit of experience in this area. My girls have travelled from JFK to Cancun at 5mths, JFK to Perth at 10mths, NWK to Bahamas at 1 1/2 , JFK to Perth at 2 1/2 , JFK to London at 2 3/4 and most recently JFK to Sydney at 3 1/2. In Australia there are other internal flights we also do whilst there as we are a “bi coastal” family.And no- it wasn’t easy and it gets better in some ways and worse in others. And caution- this will get long….As infants on the 2-3 hour flight to Cancun we took on board one infant carrier and with one Baby B’Air vest for the lap baby. That worked OK…I mean it was barely tolerable because we had 4 adult laps (grandparents with us) but squashed in “coach” on a domestic airline carrier was torture in of itself and would not have been fun even if travelling without twins (and another child). I was frustrated by family members who removed the Baby B’Air because they thought the babies were hot in them. I had to bite my tongue…really hard. We had checked in our other infant carrier and 2 single umbrella strollers.At 10 mths to Perth I think we took we took aboard 1 infant carrier and rotated babies through the bassinet that the airline provided, front of cabin so there was a bit of extra room. We wore the babies in the airport in Baby bjorns, and possibly we gate checked our 2 umbrella strollers. In Australia lap belt extensions ARE given for lap babies on take off and landing. Our babies were petite so still fit the infant carrier comfortably. We hired another for the car but should have checked our other one in as infant carriers in Australia are not very nice. The infant carrier onboard Australian flights is not often seen and the staff caused us some frustration over their lack of knowledge. When the girls were 1 1/2 going to the Bahamas we took both their carseats aboard and used the Go Go Babyz for the Florida part but they were lapbabies on the 20seater plane on the short flight to the island. This worked acceptably because we brought our babysitter and she is a nice strong girl. She and my husband would board first with the car seats and instal them. Then my older daughter and I would shephard the little people in. We would NEVER attempt to use the carseat with wheels attached down the aisle of the plane beacuse I can barely manage to roll my carry on down the aisle on many flights,(unless maybe we were flying International Business class) , the other reason being that even if they did fit, you still have to take the wheels off in order to instal the car seat…not as easy as it should be(esp with two) and frustrating when there are 200 people trying to board the flight. However the biggest problem we found on board was that there is nothing to prevent the passenger in front of your child from reclining their seat and crushing your childs feet- and apparently blood curdling screams do not alert such passengers. On these trips I was the designated installer and uninstaller of the GO GO Babyz wheels. I have to say that the wheels and telescoping handle work great but the attachment mechanism is a pain in the behind… esp at security. The car seat makers and the wheelie people ought to get together to design a universal attachment that clips/snaps on. My girls LOVED sitting in their car seat strollers and being wheeled around the airport- we would not use them for regular “stroller” use. Better still the airlines could hire passengers airline booster seats that have integral wheels and telescoping handles, that fit into their seats. passengers could then check in all strollers and car seats.After realising the problem with legs ie that small children have them, we gave up on the idea of taking car seats on planes even though it is highly recommended by aviation authorities here and in Australia. Having passed the age of being a lap baby, the girls sit in their own seats and most of the time don’t sleep….that I’m aware of anyway. We still check in at least one car seat (and book another with the hirecar – be prepared for fights) and one single stroller (maybe we need a buggy board now) for the child who has broken legs.Since our girls turned two we have become Trunki users- carry on luggage that is ridden by the toddlers and can be foot powered or pulled. These are great but also have a design flaw…fixed wheels- cornering can be very difficult- and we do have topples… but for the most part they are great for those airports where there are big long walks (Heathrow) and Immigration queues (LA) and as ride on toys in boring apartments at your destination whilst your parents wait a zillion hours to get your visa at that really efficient Embassy. We have only encountered a few other Trunki users here- they are available here in the US- I think I may have got mine online from Target.. Of course if child is in a deep slumber on arrival then it would be handy to have a stroller but that is where you should ask for a ride on the little golf cart with the flashing light
.There I told you it would be long…but hopefully you have an idea of some different ways to juggle stuff on your way around the world.