How do you carry car seat, stroller, luggage, and toddler all by yourself?

[Lucia]

At the end of May I am getting ready to make a very long trip (from Japan to Louisiana) with my one year old son. I have been trying to prepare and I have read some other posts with good suggestions about traveling with little ones (luckily my little guy has flown quite a bit, but this is the first time without my husband). So my question is for parents who have experience flying solo...how do you physically carry all of the necessary things while also trying to keep track of an active toddler?

I am planning to travel with our Roundabout seat (son will have his own seat on plane), our Kelty convertible stroller (not traditional stoller so I don't think I can put car seat on stroller if needed), one large suitcase to check in and one large backpack (that also rolls) for carry-on. I will have to change planes three times and also have to navigate customs. Total travel time will be close to 22 hours including lay over time...yikes!

Does anybody recommend using a luggage cart for car seat and if so, which one? I have also heard that it is possible to wear car seat on my back...how feasible is this?

Any tips, advice, encouragement would be great! I just wish I had a few more arms!:)

thanks,
Lucia

[Kate888]

I'd flown alone with DD to Taiwan twice (17-18 hours), once when she was 8 months, and another when she was 22 months. For the first time, I went with the carseat in stroller, diaper bag in carseat, baby in sling route. It went ok, but I still needed some assistance to get to our seats. For the second time, I bit the bullet and purchased a Sit'n Stroll.

http://www.elitecarseats.com/safeline-sit-n-stroll.shtml?engine=overture!452&keyword=sit+n+stroll&OVRAW=Sit'n%20stroll&OVKEY=sit%20n%20stroll&OVMTC=standard

I wish I had done it sooner! It made the trip SO much easier!! You can wheel it all the way to your seats on 747s. When we arrived in Taiwan, DD was sound asleep (because she hardly slept the first 14 hours), so the male fly attendant just carried the Sit'n Stroll out with DD in it for me. Then I just pushed the wheels out and DD slept the whole way till we got in the car!

It's very easy to install and very comfy. DD even enjoyed pushing it, thus kept her from running away from me at the airport. If you travel a lot, it's a good investment. If you decide to bring the RA (we have this seat too), you can use a Samsonite luggage cart to pull it behind you (it's the compact one, will try to find a picture later). Wearing the RA on your back is doable, but it would make me clumsy and exhausted.

Here is a thread that I posted before my travel and there is some good info there: http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=14&topic_id=25437&mesg_id=25437&listing_type=search

HTH :D You CAN do it!!! Remeber to bring a camera, so you can document your adventure :)

Kate
Mama to Maya 2-17-02

[american_mama]

Hi, I did some solo travel from USA to Europe when my daughter was 19 months old. I purchased a bag from Babies R Us in the USA to put the car seat in and then wear on my back or shoulder. It fits our Graco toddler seat with plenty of room to spare, and I packed clothes around it and in the seat to make use of the space. It will also fit our pack n play, since I find the short handles on most pack n plays to be brutal to carry long distances.

It is by SafeFit, cost about $30 at Babies R Us, tag inside says Item #50110. It came in a box and looks like a giant duffel bag. The bag can be reversed to used as a car seat cover (it has some shiny reflective material on one side to deflect the sun), a shoulder bag, a backpack, or wheeled along on two little wheels. The shoulder straps are just plastic webbing material, not padded like a real backpack. If you think it will help, maybe someone can buy it for you in the US and ship it to you.

Having described all that, this bag is not very comfortable, but if you need it, uncomfortable is better than nothing. It helps to pad the shoulder straps with two handtowels or the rubber shoulder grips that are sold on garment bags.

One alternative is to see if you can jerry rig some carrying straps around you car seat. That would be easier than removing the car seat from the bag on each of your transfers. Let me know if you have other questions, and I'll try to help.

[american_mama]

Oh, and your specific question about carrying things... well, I pushed daughter in stroller, wore a regular backpack as a carry on, and checked two items of luggage, a rolling suitcase and the backpack bag with the car seat. I had help from my parents in the US right up to the point of checking my luggage, so that was no trouble, and I got an airport luggage cart when I arrived by myself in Belgium. I put everything on the luggage cart and pushed or pulled it while pushing of pulling DD in stroller in other hand. Very slow, but it got done. DH met me after customs, and we then had plenty of hands.

As I repeat this, I start wondering WHY I bought the carseat bag/backpack in the first place! I think we needed the car seat bag for navigating the trains and buses AFTER the airport, plus I used it a few other times when I had car seat, daughter, and stroller in tow with only my two hands and feet to get us over a significant distance.

[cuca_]

I travel often with my daugther by myself. Like Kate, I purchased a Sit n' stroll. While it is not the best stroller nor the best car seat, it has been a life saver for me. I push DD up to the plane, and then have one of the flight attendants help us to our seats. I also carry a diaper bag (messenger style) and an additional carry-on. I am able to hang this second bag from the handle of the sit n' stroll. DD is very good when we travel, and I think this is because she is so used to it, she has been travelling almost every months since she was 2 mos. old. I am sure you will find this to be the case with your DD. One last suggestion - I bring along my Baby Bjorn when we travel, and find it very helpful when I have to use the restroom in the plane (although I have also asked a flight attendant to hold her), and whenever DD needs a break from the seat (I am paranoid about turbulence).

I am sure that you will have a wonderful trip, and that you will surprise yourself with your ability to handle so many things at once while travelling alone.

Have a safe trip.

Carmen

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I have one suggestion that may cut down on how many things you have to carry. The Kelty Backpack diaper bag will zip right onto the Kelty Convertible stroller. If that is big enough to hold what you need for the trip, that will be one less thing to carry.

You could then get the backpack straps for the car seat to carry it that way.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[Lucia]

Thanks for all of the advice and encouragment...I love this board! I started looking into buying the Sit-n-Stroll but came across a recall notice and also worried that it won't arrive in time.

The kelty backpack attachment is a good idea...how big is the diaper bag and does it put the stroller off balance? ours came with a small back pack already attached, but this sounds like a bigger bag.

Thanks,
Lucia
mom to Noah 2/2003

[Sarah1]

It sounds like you've already considered this as an option and are going another way, but I have to add more praise for the Sit 'n Stroll. While it is by no means a perfect contraption, I cannot tell you how much easier it makes air travel--especially traveling alone with no DH!

The fact that you are changing planes 3 times and navigating customs...you are really going to have your hands full. How quickly can you move a stroller with a huge Roundabout on top of it, and with a huge backpack strapped to your back? You're going to be slow. You'll manage, but I'd just make sure you have plenty of layover time.

I hadn't heard anything about a SNS recall--what's the story with that? Anybody know?

[stillplayswithbarbies]

It is bigger than the one that comes with it. It's wider but not deeper, because it zips onto the same place.

http://store.yahoo.com/kidsurplus/bgkdd.html

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03