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Rachels
10-24-2002, 08:18 AM
I have traveled alone with my baby several times, but always with her infant seat and Kolcraft carseat carrier. Not easy, but certainly manageable. Now, though, I'm headed on an airplane trip with her-- and she has a regular stroller and a Roundabout! How on earth does one manage a stroller, carseat, diaper bag, and baby alone in an airport terminal? Does anyone remember if those big wheeled carts you can rent for a dollar have places for babies to sit? I have a Buggy Bagg I could use if so, and then just load up everything else. Any ideas will be very welcome. This freaks me out!

-Rachel
Mommy to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

egoldber
10-24-2002, 08:54 AM
The luggage carts generally DO NOT have a place for children to ride. It won't help you too much even if they do, because you can't take them past security, so you would still need to get from security to your gate by yourself.

Here's what I do. Put the RA on the stroller. Put your carry-on on the stroller (either underneath the RA or hang from the handles). TRY TRY TRY REALLY REALLY hard to limit yourself to one medium sized carry-on (for me this is usually a medium sized diaper bag). Put your baby in a sling or carrier.

When you get to security, go to the farthest, most out of the way security line (they will probably direct you that way anyway). Put the RA and your carry-on on the ground. Fold the stroller (make sure to have one with a one hand fold). Put RA, carry-on and stroller on the Xray belt. Give the security guard your most pitiful, stressed, over-worked mommy look and hope they don't ask you to put the carrier/sling through Xray as well (I have had the best luck with a fabric sling). Walk through Xray and get all you stuff at the other end. Unfold the stroller first and then pile all the stuff back on. No troubles! I find that the MOST trouble I have is PREVENTING people from "helping" me and ruining my system. You also never know when a "helpful" person is really a thief. Make sure you don't send your stuff through the Xray machine until you are ready to walk through yourself.

Make sure your ID and any other info you need to show a ticket agent/gate agent/security personnel is in a very handy place so that you don't have to unload all your bags to find it. And remember that they will want to see you boarding pass and possibly your ID again at the security check point. You will also need your ID AGAIN when you actually board the plane.

After you gate check the stroller, you will have to manage best you can with the RA and your carry-on to get to your seat. (This is where having ONE carry-on REALLY pays off). You may be able to ask a flight attendant to help you, but they may be too busy.

Using this method, I can even handle my luggage by myself as long as I limit myself to ONE piece of baggage with the wheels and the handle that pulls out. It can be a pretty large piece of luggage as long as it wheels, just pull it behine you while you push the stroller with one-hand. :)

How long is the flight? If the flight is long enough to get a meal, make sure to ask the airline for an infant meal for Abigail. An infant meal is usually some jars of baby food and formula. Maybe not what you would prefer to feed her, but it won't hurt her once. Generally flights have to be 3 hours or longer to get a meal these days, so don't necessarily count on a meal being served.

HTH,

Rachels
10-24-2002, 09:12 AM
Thanks, Beth! How daunting. Luckily it's just a 2-hour flight, and she tends to conk out on planes. Airlines should come up with a way to make this easier!

-Rachel
Mommy to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

brubeck
10-24-2002, 02:18 PM
If this is just a one time flight then ou can do what was previously suggested, but if you plan on travelling with baby more then you might want to invest in a Sit N Stroll. This is a reversible carseat/aircraft flight seat that converts into a stroller. This makes one less piece of stuff to carry through the airport (and those RAs are HUGE) and it is worth the convenience if you travel a lot. Babycebter carries these for $175 and if you wait for a 20% off sale you can get them for $136 there.

egoldber
10-24-2002, 07:12 PM
Hmm. Am I the only the person who doesn't think the RA is that big or heavy? :) I've hauled it all over the world (OK, it was only Europe) and it I really didnt think it was that big of a deal. My problem with the SitnStroll is what do you do for a stroller when you get to your destination? I sure wouldn't want to have Sarah in that stroller all day. When I travel, I actually prefer to have a medium size-ish stroller (my current fav is Chicco 2002) since it is plush for her to be in for a long time and it's large enough to be able to hang bags from the handle without tipping.

Just my 2 cents,

trumansmom
10-25-2002, 09:31 AM
I don't have a Roundabout, but when I've travelled with Truman, I took his car seat (I've only travelled with his Century Accel) and latched the straps around the handle of his stroller and let it hang upside down kind of off to the side. I was using a big clunky Graco at the time, so the weight wasn't an issue. What was nice about doing it this way is that I was still able to put my diaper bag in the basket, and still put Truman in the stroller. It looked stupid, but it worked! And it wasn't that hard taking everything apart at security.

We're going to be going to be making a couple of trips in November, and we're using the old Graco just because it worked so well with the car seat in the airports. (And because I hate it and hope the airline employees destroy it!!!)

Good luck!

Zansu
10-25-2002, 12:02 PM
Beth,

We travel quite a bit with our RA too, so you're not alone. On the last trip, DH just carried the RA off of the plane and into the terminal with DS still inside. I waited for the stroller and hauled the carry-on items.

And I've read that you bungee your RA to your stroller. We have a Pliko, and I just plop the RA into the stroller. DH wanted to put the RA, with DS inside, directly into the Pliko. I vetoed that one immediately <lol>.

Suzanne

egoldber
10-25-2002, 03:19 PM
I always figure that since DD has to come out of the stroller anyway at security, it's no big deal to just have her in the carrier already. But I like the idea of using the straps of the carseat to sling it over the stroller handles. I will definitely try that next time!!