Advice needed for flying with two kids and car seats

[mom2ethan]

I hope I can get some advice on how best to do this... In two weeks, my husband and I are flying cross country (5 hour nonstop flight) with our two kids: 3.5 year old (40 pounds) and 15 month old (we bought her a seat). Both kids use Marathons in our car. We need to bring both car seats with us to use in our rental car. We will bring one car seat on the plane for our younger one. We will have our older one use the seat belt on the plane.

So, do we check one car seat when we check our bags? I'm so torn about checking it and risking having it damaged, lost, etc. If we do check it, what should we put it in? I thought about gate checking it, but I worry that we won't be able to haul both seats, the kids, and everything else through security very well.

I was thinking of using our umbrella stroller for our younger one in the airport and having our older one walk. (He's pretty good about staying with us.) I suppose I could put the younger one in a carrier and use the stroller for the older one.

Is there a better way to do all this? Any advice or tips? Thank you!

[o_mom]

I would not check the carseat, because if you get there and the seat doesn't, you are stuck. I would at least gate-check it, and if you are going to bring it that far, your 3.5 year old might as well use it on the plane.

I have travelled with one child and a carseat by myself, so it shouldn't be too bad with both of you. I had an umbrella stroller, a backpack and a carry-bag for the carseat. I just kept DS in the stroller, hung the backpack on the stroller and carried the carseat.

Some ideas:

Get a Gogo Kidz - it will turn the MA into a stroller. Also, people have reported that a small wheeled luggage cart fits a MA perfectly.

Get a Cosco Scenara for the younger one - at $40-50 it is a good travel seat, about half the weight of the MA. That way you only have to bring one MA along. It can hang off the back of the stroller, so you don't have to carry it.

Use backpacks for your carry-ons - that will free your hands to push strollers or carry carseats.

[charmcitymama]

this scenario is precisely why we are going to be driving to our next far away destination. I hope you're going somewhere good!

[mom2ethan]

Thank you for your ideas. We do have a luggage cart that we have used with the MA before and it worked pretty well, but maybe the Gogo Kidz will work better. I will definitely check out the Scenara for DD.

I was hoping not to use the car seat on the plane for our 3.5 year old. He has really long legs and will probably kick the person in front of him the whole time if he is in his MA (based on past experiences!). Still, taking the MA on the plane will be the only way to ensure that it arrives safely...

Another thought...Is there something comparable to the Scenara (lightweight, inexpensive) for him (probably 41" and 40 lbs)?

[mom2ethan]

>this scenario is precisely why we are going to be driving to
>our next far away destination. I hope you're going somewhere
>good!

Not really! (But Nana will be very sad if we don't celebrate her birthday with her)

[o_mom]

He is just a little too big for a Graco Cargo - a nice light combo seat that is $80-100. It only goes to 40 lbs. The only other options in the over 40 lbs category are somewhat pricey. The Radian65 ($180) or the Cosco Apex($130). The Apex requires a vehicle seatback or headrest behind it, though, so if you happen to get a rental car that doesn't have high enough seats, he won't be able to use it.

There is also the RideSafer Travel vest ($100) that can be used in the car (not on the plane) it requires a top tether, but any rental car should have that. It is kind of a pain because it is worn, but for a week it should be workable. The Safeguard Go ($180?) is also a car only (no airplane) seat that is very light to travel with.

I hear you on the seat kicking. It would also mean no tray table if he is in the Marathon. :-( I would at least gatecheck it if you don't use it on the plane.

[samiam]

No great advice here. I've travelled a number of time with my kids, but all when my youngest was still in his Snugride. However, I did want to mention that I purchased a Scenera for my 3 year old so I wouldn't have to lug his Roundabout around and I was very happy with the purchase. Lightweight and easy to install.

So we travelled with an infant and toddler. We bought our P3 stroller with us and actually used it to wheel around the carseats. We stacked them on there and also hung our heavy backpack diaper bag off the P3 handles. Older son walked and I wore my infant in a carrier. We gate checked the stroller and bought car seats on board for both of them.

It is kind of comical travelling with 2 kids just because of all the stuff you need, but it can be done. Good luck.

[hipmaman]

I have done it numerous times with 2 convertible carseats, stroller(s), gear and kids. They are now 5 and 7 yrs old and just gone on their first 2 trips w/o carseats this past summer.

As other said, the only safe travelling way to ensure nothing happen to the MA is bring it on board. So if you do travel with 2 convertibles (regardless if they are both MAs or MA+Scenera), here is what I did...

I had a larger foldable luggage cart, I put one MA the normal way (right side up and front of the carseat facing away from the luggage cart handle) and the other one in the opposite way (upside down and front of the carseat facing the other carseat). I then secure them with the luggage cart and extra bungee cords. Don't secure them so much that it would take you so much time to undo the whole thing when going through security. Just secure enough so they don't fall off the cart while going through the airport.

Your dh can pull the carseats, and you can push the stroller with baby and diaper bags and such. If your son can walk, let him walk. Just give yourself plenty of time for check-in, walking through the airport and through security.

At the gate and around boarding time, I pre-boarded so I can install the carseats without the rush and crowd of general boarding. Dh entertains the kids outside and usually the last people to board the plane. By then, I would be done with installing the carseats and the kids didn't have to wait around for everyone to finish boarding.

Gate-check the stroller.

And don't forget the ff-installation tricks for airplane usage. Ask for seatbelt extenders. If they are not available, then don't forget to flip the female part of the seatbelt upside down so the releasing latch faces down, before you secure the seatbelt around the carseat. This helps you to un-install the carseat later at de-plane time. W/o the seatbelt extender or flipping the female part of the seatbelt, then it would be very hard to lift the releasing latch as it would be facing and tightly wedged against the carseat back in the seatbelt route.

[mom2ethan]

Thank you all for your great advice! I'm going to get a Scenera for DD, but I'm still deciding what to do about DS...but now I have lots of ideas!