travelling alone with touriva and 7 month old? Tips please!

[nfowife]

I will be travelling to my in-laws for Thanksgiving alone (DH will be joining us, but not until right before the holiday. I am saving well over $300 by going earlier and leaving later). DD will be about 7 months, and she's average sized. I am planning to buy the touriva/regal ride carseat for the trip and future travel/as a spare carseat. Is it easy to install rearfacing on the plane? I'll practice with it in my car at home beforehand but it isn't going to be our everyday carseat at home. I was planning on bjorning/slinging her in the airport and possibly during the layover, using my messenger diaper bag as my only carry-on, and carrying the seat to change planes. I was just going to check my stroller as luggage so I don't have to deal with it...Is that doable? Or should I keep my stroller out and gate-check it (I have a zooper swing, but I am thinking I will also buy a quest before the trip too- the 04's are pretty cheap right now). What do I do with my DD when I pre-board to install the seat? I'm trying to figure out how I will handle everything, it seems like so much! Any tips on travelling alone and with the touriva would be great!

[KentuckyRK]

We have the Touriva for our car for my best friend's baby who we babysit each day and it's a relatively easy seat to install. The instructions are simple, it's basic, there's a level marker, etc... so it makes installation a less daunting task :O)

It's also a pretty lightweight seat so it should be easy to manuever... I actually easily carried Connor (will be 1 on Sunday!) into the house in the seat last week when he was asleep, and that's with purse, diaper bag and several other bags from shopping slung over my arms... so maybe you could just strap her in and go if need be!

Good Luck!
~Rachel

[kijip]

I suggest taking the stroller. Just place/strap the Touriva onto the Qwest or Swing and sling DD as planned. The stroller will come in handy in a pinch and it is safer gate checked than in with the regular luggage. You also have a built in cart for your bag and snacks etc.

[Joolsplus2]

Yeah, gate check your stroller...just hang your carseat over the handles or buckle it in the seat itself (security is a pain, but security's ALWAYS a pain, so take it in stride and don't panic :) )
The Scenera seems to have finally replaced the Touriva...it's only $39 at Walmart (and called the ScenAra and $49 at Target). Your definite best bet is to try installing it a few times in your car. You *may* need a rolled towel to get her a good recline, so pack an extra baby blanket to roll up and use for that. Otherwise, you should be fine... just keep telling yourself, "It's safe for the top of the seat to wiggle"...because it will be quite wobbly, but it's safe :)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[mommy2maya]

Will baby still fit in the infant carseat? Both of mine did at 7months. I think it'd be way easier to bring that, you can pop it right in the stroller, which would be way easier to manuever around with. I flew by myself with a 19mo, a diaper bag for a carryon, a fpse carseat, and a hip hammock to carry her in. It was a nightmare, lol. Seriously, just trying to carry all of that around between flights and just getting to the first flight was awful. If I ever had to do it again I would definitely bring a stroller. Also, she was big enough that I could just sit her on my seat while I installed her carseat, but with a 7mo you might not be able to do that, which is another reason to try to bring an infant seat. I think it would just be easier, imo

[nfowife]

Well, I don't know if she will still fit in the infant seat. If she will, I will definitely take that, although I will still plan to use the touriva/scenara at our destination. Our infant seat (the combi tyro) is super easy to install without the base, but the belt goes right over her legs and kind of "binds" them and it's pretty uncomfortable for her. She definitely won't be over the weight limit but might be at the height limit by then, we'll see. If she fits in her infant seat I'll just have MIL go out and get the touriva at her local walmart and have it installed/checked before we arrive. Then I can ship it back home to myself when we leave :).
I am giving myself a bit of a longer layover (1 1/2 hours) so that I am not stressing about changing planes alone. Normally I'd travel with DH but with such a savings over the holiday it just makes sense to go earlier than him!

[pittsburghgirl]

Margaret -
You can do it! I travel alone with my DS all the time since I'm a SAHM and DH doesn't get much time off (my parents live in Iowa). My DS grew out of his Snugride at 4 months for height, so we never had the opportunity to use it on a plane.

I carry him in a mei tai on my front to get on and off the plane, but use the stroller otherwise. The Touriva is light enough to hang on my stroller handles (Zooper ZStreet). I use a backpack diaper bag which is easier/more secure than trying to use a shoulder diaper bag.

We use the stroller through the airport (incl security) and then when it's time to get on the plane, he goes in the mei tai, the carseat is propped on top of the empty stroller so I can easily fold it down when we get to the bottom of the jetway. I carry the car seat in front of him while getting on the plane.

I can usually get the seat installed while he is still strapped on me :) But I have also put him in the seat after I got it situated and did the final part of the install while he was in it. Once, when I was put in a bulkhead row (avoid, since the armrests don't raise) I had to have a nice lady across the aisle hold him while I manhandled the seat into place. Sometimes the flight attendants are helpful, sometimes not (I never count on it).

The main thing I would do is practice installing it several times before you go so you can do it easily.

Marilee
mommy to James
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040120/1/1/1/-5/.png

[nfowife]

Marilee, thanks! I have the zooper swing (new version of your zstreet) and would prefer to use that than buy a quest since DD is still pretty young and prefers the cushiness of the stroller (well, actually she most prefers the cushiness of mom's arms but the stroller is 2nd to me LOL she's still getting used to being in the stroller and most times I end up holding her and using it as a shopping cart). That's great that I can hang the touriva from the handles and travel with it that way. Sounds like a good plan! I'll get it in the next few weeks to practice installing in the car.